Header temps

[Peter Serwe]

wmc_sr20@bellsouth.net wrote:

> Any idea what sort of temperatures the header primary tubes typically get
> up to on a regular N.A. motor?

I have only tried to paint a pair of 350 chevy headers -
and I don't know the actual temps on ours, but I would
add to the confusion by saying that running richer or leaner
affects it dramatically, and same with advancing/retarding
the timing - my understanding from 350 chevy experience
is that retarding leaves more fuel to burn in the tubes, and
heats them up quite a bit.  I'd also mention that I used that
'1200 degree' header paint out of the spray cans in autozone,
and it did char somewhat.

Assuming your cars running perfectly, and a little advanced
if anything off bone stock timing - well grounded o2, and
all that fun stuff, I'd imagine that the 1000 degree PC would
work, but I'd probably want to go ahead and do the ceramic
myself, just to keep a little more heat in the tubes, and keep
the exhaust velocity up as high as possible.  I think of ceramic
coating in this case, kind of like a more permanent sort of
header wrap - but I don't know how much of a thermal
barrier that ceramic PC is.

Anybody with better, different, or geekier experience -
please feel free to chime in :)

--
Peter Serwe <peter@easytree.net>
Cheaper, Faster, Better, pick any two.
finger peter@easytree.net for public pgp key