rv6 j pipe and rv6 hfpc recently arrived....

im wondering if I should get them both ceramic coated or just the j pipe or get them installed as is.

Ive heard mixed things about ceramic coating the hfpcs. On one hand if they aren't coated they will radiate heat into the engine bay. While if they are coated the heat will stay in them but that could increase their chance of failure.

Does it really matter either way? should I bother? any thoughts...

 

that's just how metal works.
if you wrap or ceramic coat the pipe; heat gets trapped and may weaken the welds. it's JUST the way metal properties work.

 

FYI; I have both Jpipe and PCD's unwrapped/un-coated.
WHile heat does play a role; you can mitigate it by removing hood insulation and plastics.
then can further mitigate heat by venting it out of the hood, via hood vents. (cut a hole and drop in a vent from MB, Jaguar, M3's, or other pre-made vents)

While, I did buy exhaust wrap, I havent applied it yet. it's a lot of work to unbolt PCDs.

 

A ventilated hood would be awesome. But I don't think ill be cutting any holes into mine lol. I was also thinking of heat wrap but im not too sure.

 

I heat wrapped my HFPC's. Nothing on the j-pipe. I can't really tell if it makes a difference or not. I just figured I'd do it since the heat shields don't bolt back up and maybe the heat wrap would keep the heat down on the surrounding components.

 

Cutting the hood isn't that scary!!!!!
If you look at regular Mercedes Benz models, most of them have a long vent running across the hood near the windshield cowl.
this is what I plan on doing...

 

I remember reading you saying that you wraped yours and only did a layer or two around the welds with more layers around the rest. Seems like a good idea.

aha I find it a little scary as I would like the ability to put the car back to stock. But I never thought of the vents going near the windshield. That would look cool.

Looking forward to seeing you do it!

 

As a side note you're going to want to find an independent mechanic or someone you know that works on cars to do the hfpc's. Big shops or chain shops are going to charge a lot.

 

Yep good call. Thankfully I have a good independent mechanic. My whole family goes there, I dont think im related to them but the owners have the same last name as me and they are always bustin my chops lol. They do good work and often dont charge me for simple stuff.

I did ask them and they told me theyd want $350-400 to install both hfpcs and jpipe. They also said if it takes less time than expected then they will charge me less.

 

Damn, that's a pretty good price for both. Me and a buddy took off the stock j-pipe and installed mine in around an hour. Hfpc is a totally different story though. I went to a Meineke last weekend and they quoted something like $350 just to install my lightweight crank pulley lol..

 

Ah that's a lot for crank pulley. Sucks when install is more than the part...

When I asked my mechanic I was like well you have to remove the j pipe to install the hfpcs so you might as well just charge me for the hfpc install lol

 

What kind exhaust wrap do people use or recommend for the hfpcs?

Anyone have any specific links to where I can buy it?

 

i bought mine on amazon.
I think mine came with metal zip-ties to help attach it to the piping.


interesting to note; the youtube channel Engineering Explained just did a video on turbo blankets.
they did before and after with temp sensors fitted in various spots around the engine
AND they also used a FLIR thermal imaging camera.
TL;DR
Engineering Explained found that a turbo blanket does its job and doest let heat radiate to surrounding areas

 

Does this seem about right?

2" 50Ft Titanium Basalt Header Exhaust Heat Wrap +6 Ties Kit | eBay

Can you post the link to the wrap you bought so I know what to look for?

 

Your link looks good.
wear gloves when handling the wrap. Can cause itchy-ness

 

Alright looks like ill grab them. Based on their grid I estimate ill need two of those rolls. One for each hfpc. Seems like a lot though, I wonder how many layers that is.

 

I've never done it. my wrap is still in it's box
eventually, i'll want to do it. Stupid PCDs..why you so awkward to remove?

 

They don't want you messing with the precats and dirtying up the air.

And you've got holes to cut in your hood first

 

HFPCs are all wrapped up. Likely not my best work but I got it as tight as I could. It was harder than I thought it would be. Think it looks alright?

 

You should do some temp measurements before and after.

 

Mine look nearly identical to that. Good job.

 

Hey so since ive read some mixed things on heat wrapping the hfpcs I decided to call rv6 and see what they say. I spoke with Richie and he said he did NOT recommend wrapping them. He said if the car is running on a proper tune then it would probably be fine. But if not it could cause the metal to crack because its pretty thin in places. The wrap can keep too much heat inside the core and isn't a uniform coating like the ceramic coating. I also asked if doing so would void the warranty in any way and he said it would not effect the warranty but all the same he wouldn't wrap them.

So based on that conversation and the fact that my car will not be tuned for a while im going to reluctantly be removing the wrap.

 

Dafuq? He told me via email that it would be fine. Eh, screw it. What's done is done. If they crack I'll send them in for a warranty replacement.

 

To be clear his attitude was one of "you can wrap them but I wouldn't especially if the car isn't tuned" (as far as I understood the conversation)

 

Sorry to visit an old thread but I just got my high flow cats and on the same boat. How was it without the coating? I'm still debating whether to get mine coated or not. It's a 50 minutes drive just to go to the place to get them done. Based off my readings it does help with heat and read someone saying that it helps protect other components in the engine. Would like to hear your feedback and if you ever had any issue with it?

 

All good so far no issues at all. Acura even rebuilt the engine for excessive oil consumption with them installed. The coating defiantly helps with temps which helps with performance but if performance is whats most important then you should go PCD anyways. I've idled in drive throughs on the hottest summer days for a long time and experienced no issues at all. So far I would not say its a necessity at all, you'll just have to decide if you want to go with the extra protection of coating. But I can say you wont experience any issues if you do not. Theres a reason RV6 stopped doing it as an extra option... because its okay if you don't.

I actually cant help but wonder how much under hood temp matters here when you consider that the stock airbox is essentially a CAI because it takes cold air from the front/bottom of the car and not from under the hood.