355 manifolds

Fabspeed headers don't have shields on them..

 

I've had mine on for almost a year (10mo.) and have 6500+ miles since install. I have a alt. shield that's just a piece of 16ga. steel over the top of the alt. and I've had NO problems. I did have the headers coated inside and out, and don't have any other shields.

 

If u are thinking of getting the Fabspeed headers or any other make, without heatshields over the primary pipes, i recommend you to wrap the piping with a good quality Heatwrap of some kind. I have wrapped my headers and the result is so good that you hardly cant belive it... When driving my car hard, i can after a few minutes only, put my fingers/hand on the headers without burning them... With the ordinary steel heatshields you can not touch the shields within a half hour or so without burning your fingertips... Something to think about.

It takes A LOT of time to wrap headers like this. I spent apx 6 hours on each side... And all together about 45 meters of Heatwrap...

Mine looked like this after wrapping them.

Kimmo.
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I've had my uncoated fabspeeds installed for a little over a year and 2000 miles. Several drives have been in 110+ degree weather. Have a heat shield on the alternator and some shielding on the corregated plastic brake line tubes. I have seen no heat related issues. I really don't think there will be any either.

 

Where has it been determined that the primary source of OEM header failure is due to the header heatshielding?

If that is the case then post #5 should experience the same failure as his wrap is evidently doing a better job of keeping the heat in the headers.

My OPINION is it is a material/geometry issue rather than a shielding issue that causes the failures.

Either way going with wrapped/coated or QV rebuilds (I did the QV) is better than the stock. The Tubi headers are nice but expensive (they use shielding similar to OEM.

 

I agree. Whait till you guys see what Competizione has built me!

 

Mr. Dobermann.....your engine looks very very clean! fantastic

 

The OEM shileding is far from uniform causing hot spots between the pipes. I am not a big fan of wrapping headers, but it's far superior to the OEM heat shields.
I recently cut apart some factory headers with less than 10,000 miles on them. The material inside was already breaking down, exposing pipes to each other that were originally kept apart from by the wrapping material.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=138620384&postcount=2

 

OK, spill it!!! custom headers?!

 

Great wrap job! Are these OEM tubes or QV upgraded?

My new exhaust system taken my 355 to the next level ........... the car is just phenomenal now ............ overall running heat has been reduced by 10 degrees on average, under similar driving conditions ................... ............. my new 'intake heat shield' came out of the mold last night ........... so intake temps should be reduced by at least a similar number ............ the new setup along with new hi-flow intake tops will be making their debut this weekend .......

 

You can't be doing that Luke....spill the beans.

 

OK, Competizone custom long tube headers, Kressig Y Pipe, HyperFlow straight pipes -- All done with a swain tech coating. (in white of course... )

They are also taking care of a few other maintenance issues while it is there... Engine mounts, CV boots, shift seal, etc...

 

WOW! Sounds very cool. I can't wait to see (and hear) them in person. Perhaps it's time for another "Sound Off" between you Nate, Robbie and you.

 

SHAWEEET!

 

I'm anxiously awaiting long-term results. Header wrap, while very effective at keeping heat where it belongs, can be a destructive influence on the headers.

 

Its only destructive because the OEM tubes were cheap stainless and very thin. The heat is ment to be kept in the pipes. I believe that running long term open pipes with or without coatings will do harm to the engine parts. I will be replacing mine with Tubi soon. They have much thicker 304 stainless tubes and are insulated and best of all the have a lifetime warranty.

Here is what Tubi wrote me:
Replacing the 355s stock manifolds with the Tubi manifolds is a job that we are doing with ever increasing frequency for various 355 owners. The problem lies primarily with the quality of the original Ferrari supplied manifold. Put simply, they are made with very thin, and low quailty stainless steel unable to withstand the temperatures within the F355's engine bay. The heat generated by the cars running causes the manifold's mild steel to expand... when the car cools (when not running) the steel contracts . This continuous cycling of expansion and contraction results in minute cracks which eventually widen into full blown exhaust manifold failure and an exhaust leak which causes more engine bay damage, power loss, and a sound like a tractor!

The Tubi Style manifolds are actually not replicas of the original Ferrari part. They are actually sport manifolds - i.e beautiful headers optimised to reduce exhaust backpressure from colliding exhaust flow pulses from the seperate exhaust ports on the engine. They are made of thicker AND of much higher quality grade 304 stainless steel. Furthermore they are then given a very expensive thermal insulation coating to prevent them getting as hot as the original equipment.
There's three reasons why we are selling so many of them:
1. They will genuinely give your 355 a very definite increase in BHP (and also give a fuller, deeper sound).
They have been backpressure optimised - i.e exhaust pulses from the individual exhaust ports in the engine do NOT collide with each other because of the length and shape of the manifold tubing - as a result the engine breathes MUCH more freely as the revs climb and particularly with a Tubi exhaust, it pulls like a freight train to the red line. We've seen some 41bhp on a Ferrari 360 with these headers and we would expect some 30bhp on 355 in good shape with a tubi exhaust on as well...
2. They make the engine bay run cooler.
3. They'll never need to be replaced again (they are under warranty).
3. Furthermore they are cheaper than the pathetic quality original Ferrari manifolds which Ferrari price at £1800 + VAT per side!
The Ferrari manifolds whether new or used are prone to failure and there is no reason to suggest that you could be replacing a new set of Ferrari parts within a year of putting them on! (this is the typical scenario a Tubi manifold buyer comes to us with - exasperation).
The Tubi manifolds really are a jewel-like quality item and they are designed for the 355 Challenge car - designed to last a full 2 seasons of racing... anything you do on the road cannot hurt them EVER or they are replaced for free. The fact that they give so much over and above the stock manifolds (actually being an equal length header) AND they're cheaper make them a great buy. Installation with the Tubi manifolds is as straighforward, non-invasive job as replacing with normal manifolds


Further to this we would absolutely recommend the Tubi Evo exhaust for the car as well...... The combined package of tubi manifolds and Evo exhaust is fabulous - The power increase and sound. We have many customers that have been in the same position as you and fitted the whole lot as a long term investment into their 355s in getting the ultimate exhaust and never spending money on those parts again.. all have been rendered speechless the first time they drove the car and were totally thrilled by the result.