Ferrari F430 Header Blanket Creation DIY [ 8/23/2012 ] TERMS: ======= Header == Exhaust Manifold Blanket == Heat barrier to keep engine bay temperatures in check by reducing header to engine compartment heat transfer. ISSUE: ======= The exhaust headers get very hot and this energy is transferred to the engine bay and engine bay components. Heating up engine bay components beyond their designed operational temperature will decrease their Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF). Energy is transferred in the engine bay via two mechanisms; 1. Radiation: Radiation is energy transfer in the form of photons without the need for a medium. In this case we are talking about Infrared (aka IR) wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Please note that this energy can be viewed as a wave or particle (just not at the same time). The headers will radiate IR radiation omni directionally as a function of their temperature. This radiation is generated when the header atoms get excited to the next energy state, then settle back to a lower state and emit a photon in the process. These photons travel at the speed of light and carry energy. When these photons collide with another material and interact they release some or all of their energy. This increases the surface temperature of the target material. 2. Convection: The transfer of energy via a medium, air in this case. Think Oven. You heat the resistive elements with electrons traveling through doped glass (resistive), the resistive elements heat the air in the oven, the air heats the food, the food temperature is elevated. SOLUTION: ========== Create a heat barrier that reduces both radiated and convected energy. I have selected a barrier type that reduces energy transfer through containment. The containment in this case is created by wrapping a thermo insulating blanket around the heat source. Thermo Blanket Material: ==================== The thermo blanket material would actually be more effective if it was mounted with the cloth side outward. But this is not recommended because this would put the kevlar cloth side facing outwards. This cloth could absorb oil in the event the oil lines failed. A "wet" header blanket would increase the probability of a fire in this case. A naked header would be more likely to start a fire under this failure because the oil would "flash" instantly on contact. Fuel would be the same only more likely to flash. Fire Considerations: 1. (Best) Blanket bounded with shiny, non absorbing side toward the engine bay, away from the header. 2. (Medium) Blanket mounted shiny side toward header, kevlar side facing the engine bay. 3. (Worst) No blanket, leaving any oil or gas to hit the header pipe and flash instantly. *the stock header has a metallic jacket and insulation basically making it similar to (1. Best). PARTS: ============ 1. $90 USD : Thermo-Tec 16850 26" X 40" Kevlar Heat Barrier : Amazon.com (raw blanket material) 2. Strapping Material - Two Options [strap_option A] $15 USD : Thermo-Tec 14002 1 1/2" X 15' Thermo-Shield Roll : Amazon.com : (used for straps). *If you can find strapping material that is NON adhesive this would be better. You can NOT sew the adhesive material, it will gum up the needle in 2 seconds needing an alcohol bath. [strap_option B] $17 Exhaust Insulating Wrap 11154 15' 2" wide : amazon.com : I would have used this instead had I realized the option_A had adhesive backing 3. $15 : Kevlar Thread - Size 69 (Tex 60) - Natural - Bonded - 1 Oz Spool - 418 Yards - Strength 23 Lbs : thethreadexchange.com : *must use kevlar, it can withstand the heat and is VERY strong. **I used a different vendor that no longer sells the thread. I will report back to tell you for sure if this is the right weight, ordered some just to verify for the forum. You may have to go one or two weights smaller to work with your sewing machine. 4. $17 : 101 Piece Canvas Snap Fastener Kit : Wholesale Marine on eBay (used to snap the straps to the blanket) Stuff you should already have: $0 : Brother sewing machine : your lovely should have one $? Roll of heavy brown paper from lowes painting section $? Roll of blue 3M painters tape, 2" wide. $? Fiskar scissors (good ones). You don't want to try and cut Kevlar with junk scissors! $? Sharpie black pen $? Hammer. If you don't own a hammer, go immediately to the nearest home improvement store, buy a hammer, and hit yourself over the head with it repeatedly. Total: $137 USD ASSEMBLY: ============ 1. Take heavy paper and make templates for the two pieces of header blanket per side. This is important because there is just enough blanket material in one Thermo Tec 16850 kit to make two blankets. If you want it to be easier, order 2x 16850 kits. I did it with one. I got the heavy paper from Lowes in a big roll in the painting section. Grab a roll of blue 3M painters tape as well. You can take my image with the brown paper and ruler to try and scale yours. Me giving specific measurements is worthless because of the organic shapes. Maybe one could mail me a large sheet of paper and I could "trace" my templates for you and send them back. I am nice like that. 2. Tape the templates to the header making sure to leave at least 1/4" of overlap in the center to sew. 3. Test fit the paper 5x times to make sure it will work. Measure twice, cut once, etc, etc. 4. Use the paper as a template for the Thermo Tec blanket and draw out the 4x pieces (2x per side). *NOTE: the headers are mirrored left to right, so one set is drawn (stenciled) on the Thermo tec face UP and one set face DOWN. Don't accidentally make two left ones 5. Cut the Thermo Tec material per the stenciled templates using GOOD Fiskar scissors. A razor will not work with Kevlar, its bullet proof material for goodness sakes. 6. Tape the Blanket pieces together on the headers as a test fit. Make sure you have enough overlap to sew. 7. Sew the two blanket "halves" together using Kevlar thread and a sewing machine. Don't try and do this by hand, the blanket material is difficult to hand sew. Kevlar is very strong and the seam is not stressed post install, so don't go crazy, I used two passes and a #3 zig zag pattern. 8. Test fit the two piece blanket post sew. 9. Cut a hole for the temperature sensor and O2 sensor. Its hard to cut kevlar. I made a pilot cut with an exact knife and then used many small cuts with scissors. 10. Cut 6-8" pieces of the strap material and remove half the adhesive (if you have the adhesive strap). Tape or stick the strap on the bottom half of the header blanket and outline it on the top (mating side) using a sharpie. You will use these outlines to install the snaps. 11. Fasten straps to blanket. Use rivets if its an adhesive strap. I would sew it if they are non adhesive (part 11154). The rivets are fast and easy. Just poke a hole using a pick, widen it using a phillips head screwdriver, then slide the rivet through. Make sure you put a washer on both sides of the rivet, before riveting, to increase the holding area. 12. Install snaps using a hammer and the snap tools that came with the snap kit. Poke a pilot hole using the same method as for the rivets. Fairly easy, or you can watch a you tube video on snap installation. I used one snap, don't see the need for two, but would only take a few minutes to add a second one per strap. 13. Test fit final product. 14. Some people have commented it might have been easier to install the headers with the blankets already installed. I have no car right now so can not comment from experience. But I will try to install the headers with the blanket already on the headers. The blanket fits so tight and low profile I don't see it being in the way. TIME: ======== The total process for both blankets was 6 hours. This did include at least an hour trying to figure out how to get the sewing machine loaded (what the hell is a bonbon?). The second blanket was around 2 hours. If I was to make 10 pair it would be 30-40min / blanket. NO I will not be making any more, just trying to give a perspective on actual labor time verses "what the heck should I do next how will this work etc". I also lost some time due to a few "interruptions" by a very persist-ant cutie. SHOULD YOU DIY: ================ A. If you want to save the $2500 and buy the Fabspeed or other non-capristo headers, and still want the blankets, then sure. Fabspeed=$3300 + blanket parts $150 = $3450. Capristo $6k, Delta $2500. B. If you like to do things yourself because it makes you feel productive and good inside. I like DIY projects, even when they end up costing more than the off the shelf solution. C. This solution is Kevlar based. There are no off-the-shelf kevlar blankets to my knowledge, so if you want a Kevlar system you are forced to DIY. SHOULD YOU JUST BUY THE COMPLETED CAPRISTO SOLUTION: ================= Sure, why not? Then you don't have to do anything but give a CC number and have them installed. WILL I STILL NEED THE CAPRISTO EXHAUST BRACKETS: ================= YES! Whatever you do, buy the Capristo exhaust brackets, they are $550. Capristo is a FChat sponsor and good people. [ http://www.capristoexhaust.com/index.php/shop-online?page=shop.product_details&flypage=vmj_color_plus.tpl&product_id=87&category_id=76 ] TESTED?: ======== Not yet. I still don't have my F430 back. Its at Ferrari Palm Beach waiting for the MK2s to come off of allocation. As soon as I get her home I will remove the MK2s and install the Fabspeed headers with my blankets. I will report any issues and make updates as needed to this thread. DISCLAIMER: =========== Warning; As with all DIYs, use this information at your own risk. I am not responsible for your car bursting into flames, or anything else as a result of this DIY.
I already addressed that question. It is for risk reduction. It would not have a significant reduction in engine bay temperatures. This is the key. Reflective coatings will reflect IR, UV and Visible wavelengths of of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because this is a wrap, we can assume that all surfaces have two opposing targets. The header and the other side of the blanket. Energy can not be created or destroyed. So the energy of the system inside the blanket should be "about" the same reflective or non-reflective. Thought experiment; Take an oven interior. If you wrap it completely with this blanket assuming the heating elements are in the center of the oven then the oven temperature would be about the same independent of the surface reflective nature. What you will be doing is shifting the heating process percentages to less radiation and more convection. I will concede that the less reflective blanket will get hotter but the heat source is nearly infinite in fuel and constant in temperature, its a heating element. The air in the blanket will be about the same temperature either way. I thought of this possibility. There were a few considerations: 1. Sewing through multiple layers of this fabric is difficult. 2. It would be less flexible with two layers 3. It would require more material cost 4. Because of double the thermal material the insulating properties would be better, yielding lower engine bay temperatures. But there is a law of diminishing returns for insulation. 5. One possible issue would be too much insulation. The headers do need to be cooled somewhat to prolong their MTBF, and that is why you would not want to wrap the individual pipes. I doubt a double walled blanket would cause a real reduction in MTBF, but its plausible.
Very nice write up. Use a cheaper temperature gun to see what temperature you get on various parts of the engine bay and we can all compare.
Trent, The blankets look very good and well done. I like your style of being proactive and working to solve the problem, and save some $$$ along the way. Will be following your progress on this. Should take some IR temp readings, stock headers vs after market headers vs wrapped headers. Good Luck!!! George
I will take IR readings on the Fabspeed+Trents_Blankets, but will have to rely on third party numbers for comparison temps because I do not plan to run my vehicle with the MK2s installed. Maybe during the next meet-n-greet I can take IR readings on Anzir's 430 Vs my 430 and report the data. All I have is a really nice temperature gun; will that work? But seriously maybe now is a good time to buy a thermal FLIR infrared camera, but they start at $1100 for a "cheap" one and $3k for a good one.
Why don't you want to run the car with the new replacement factory mk2 headers? Certainly the F dealer will take the car out for a serious test drive after the repair.
Excellent questions: After the failure of my second set of factory MKx headers, there was at least one piece of metal in Cyl 6. The dealer will NOT be driving it, nor will I until the fabspeed headers are mounted and the cylinders are visually inspected, cleaned and compression is tested. I do not believe I have any engine damage but will want to verify to minimize damage if a foreign object is still in a Cyl. Please see post: (I should have referenced it, but not really germane to the blanket DIY) F430 Header Failure (it CAN happen to you!) http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377467
Great writeup Trent and excellent work on that header. I've been researching the pros an cons of heat shields and exhaust wraps since your last post in the other thread. While Some claim that more heat trapped in the headers is good because air flows faster the hotter it gets and the added heat will increase the engines air cycle. I am afraid with the blanket you are not allowing the metal on the headers to vent into the engine bay which is good for all the various systems but the heat is now trapped under the blanket and the temps must be very high, could this affect or possibly harm the engine? gaskets and seals? Overheat the muffler etc ... Do you foresee any possible side effects to it? Finally, thanks for all the time and effort you have put making this DIY writeup.
Excellent post and pics but one of your own comments is something I have been wrestling with (to some extent) as well, namely: 5. One possible issue would be too much insulation. The headers do need to be cooled somewhat to prolong their MTBF, and that is why you would not want to wrap the individual pipes. I doubt a double walled blanket would cause a real reduction in MTBF, but its plausible. How do you know (or suspect) that the line drawn where there would be too much trapped heat would be wrapping individual pipes vs doing the overall blanket thinger? I would think the difference in heat transfer (or heat loss) from the perspective of the header's metal would be the same or virtually the same in either case. I've also thought about the possibility of transfering heat back to the heads and the exhaust valves and seats. Put differently, if the headers are exposed and they radiate more heat into the chamber of air in the engine bay, then in a sense that is good because they are also evacuating the heat away from the heads on the engine. I guess what I'm getting at is the headers themselves are almost like a heat sink of sorts for the engine heads, and part of me has this thought that by letting this heat escape more quickly (without blankets) you are reducing the likelihood of a burnt valve. Trap all that heat in the header/manifold/engine heads and, sure, you are helping out all the hoses, plastic, fuel lines, etc but isn't it at the expense of increasing the likelihood of overheating valve seats?
Mo T, we are kinda saying the same thing I think (and it appears we were both typing at nearly the same time as well!)
Lol yep same concerns. When looking at Therotec website (no affiliation with them) I thought their Louver air shield was the better solution simply because it features micro air louvers, which allow air to flow through the metal textured surface creating more area for heat dissipation. http://www.thermotec.com/products/11710-micro-louver-air-shield.html The bottlenek IMO is improving air ventilation of the compartment instead of reserving the heat in any of the engine's related components.
I've been thinking about looking on eBay for used motorcycle radiator cooling fans and getting either two or four of them and fabricating a mount that would go right under the vents which are on either side of the rear window such that they would suck the air from over the headers and push it out the vents. I figured used ones could be gotten cheap from m/c wrecks and those fans are pretty small (maybe 4x4 inches), are shallow, and are designed for high heat because they are typically immediately behind the header (like, within 2 inches) of most sport bikes. Just haven't gotten around to it.
Would it be possible to scope the head through the plug holes before the new factory headers are installed? Its in the dealers interest to make sure there is no debris in the cylinders. Then let the dealer finish his installation and start it. And after a suitable break in period, then change to the aftermarket headers. Where I am going with this......since this is a warrantied repair....should there be any motor damage the dealer is responsible to fix it. If you change to aftermarket headers immediately and run the motor and there is a failure......could the dealer not simply state that they are not responsible ? note: I like where you are going with the header blankets
Good idea with the blanket! Almost wish they had an aluminum shell that you could screw over the header and put the blanket material underneath it with no need to finish it nice n' purdy.
Headers are not a heat sink. The block is internally cooled via water/glycol. The headers are heated from the exhaust gas. The headers add no significant heat, and do not provide any significant cooling to the engine block. The header-block footprint is too small to sink or wick heat from the block. The heat is evenly distributed to all components of the header. The reason a header wrap can cause premature header failure is the same reason a panic stop can warp disc brakes. because the part of the brake clamped cools slower than the rest, causing the disc to warp. If you wrap portions of the header pipes but not the entire pipe, or wrap it inconsistently (both likely), then the header heats and cools at different rates stressing the structure because the heated metal grows longer. The heat inside the blanket will only affect the materials inside the blanket. The heat inside the blanket should be below the maximum tolerable stainless 304 temperatures. Regular headers should be in the mid 400 deg range. Stainless 304 can handle constant high 500s and intermittent low 800s (all deg F). Depends on the grade of 304, etc. I think there is wiggle room to allow the blanket to increase the header temperature. The exhaust gas temp (EGT) should run in the low 400 deg F range, thus cooling the header if the header temperature is > EGT. So I can not see a the header going above the EGT with or without insulation. Full EGT is well within the thermal specifications of 304. Capristo wont sell you a header without their blanket. I recommend Marine fans, they are water proof, small, have high CFM and are inexpensive. I have seen challenge cars use them, and I have used them in my Porsche to cool the air to air intercooler. I have a 7mm scope I purchased just for this inspection. I used my 12mm scope to look through the plug holes from the outside already. The car is outside of warranty. The fact the header is covered under the 8 yr emission warranty does not implicitly make the engine covered even if the damage is collateral. In some cases FNA has covered some of the engine repair cost but it appears that this is handled on a per-case basis. I would not want to have a 50k repair bill and a disassembled engine / car when I went to argue this fact with FNA. This has happened on this forum. Search for header failures. ==>> Thanks for all of the feedback!!!
Trent... what percent of the time is your car apart vs. together and running I love your posts and learn tons from your experiments and experiences. Frank
FWIW, your temp readings are off. On my 2001 E320, the factory headers (with 184k miles on them) 'read' at between 450 and 550 degress when the car is running -- and these are with the encapsulation /heat shields that comes standard on every factory header I've ever seen in modern cars (whether its my E320 or my 360). My AP headers are usually in the 600s and sometimes get to the 700s. I imagine that if I peeled off the encapsulation of the mercedes headers and 'shot' the headers themselves, they would also be reading in the 600-700 range. I personally think the factory heat shields have more to do with bringing the cats up to temp faster so the emissions will pass certain testing procedures. The heat shields trap the heat in the headers and helps them get up to temp more quickly. I think all this other stuff about engine bay temps and exhaust gas velocity is a very small part of it, but its just speculation on my part.
Once the weather here in central FL improves (less rain) and I can take my 360 out for a spin, I will take some temp readings with my less than $100 IR reader on the Agency Power headers, High Flow CAT, & muffler. Not sure how fast things cool down by the time I stop, pop the lid, get out and take readings. May have to do each area separately. Will post results when I can...
That would be a great data point, thanks! The agency power headers will be good because they do not have pre-cats in them. Most modern cars have pre-cats in the headers, thus greatly increasing header temperatures, maybe to the 1k deg F range because catalytic converters operate at 1200-1600 deg F So it would be nice to have IR measurements of: -Stock F430 / 360 Manifold -Uninsulated : Aftermarket stainless manifold -Insulated with Blanket : Aftermarket stainless manifold
I'll volunteer for the stock 430 reading. Readings should all be done with the same instrument for reliability.
I hope not, it is designed as exhaust blanket material. But I will keep everyone posted (once installed). Its temperature range is well above my header temp estimates, and it is not really visible once installed in case it degrades visually. The reflective outer surface is not part of its insulating properties mounted shiny side out.
