I am looking at wrapping my 'Y' pipe this winter to insulate it from the engine compartment.

Smoky Yunick says that wrapping pipes keeps more heat in the pipe hence higher flow volumes out the exhaust.

Does anybody have any dyno figures on this?

Pipe wrap is about $70 Canadian. Is it a good investment?

Will it cool the engine compartment and especially the ignition parts significantly and therefore increase HP?

I'm kind of embarrassed to tell what I did but it seems (i.e., no measurements) to work pretty well at keeping the underhood temp down. I had to use a '87 Y-pipe in my '88. An '88 Y-pipe includes a heatshield/wrap, so I wanted to put something on the '87 pipe. I wrappped the Y-pipe in plain fiberglass pipe wrap (no backing or adhesive) and then slit an aluminum dryer vent tube (the accordian-style) lengthwise and covered the wrapped Y-pipe with that (pause for chuckling). I stripped some old Romex wiring (house wiring stuff) and used the thick copper strands to hold the whole thing in place. I thought it looked pretty decent but I showed it to another car guy and he said, "Hey, that looks like a dryer vent." Kinda burst my bubble but it really doesn't look bad and it does keep the heat down and it only cost about $10. I think claiming any increased performance would be a stretch. It smelled slightly for 150 miles or so but not at all after that. Good luck.

I wrapped my manifolds and the Y pipe! With regaurds to HP gains I don't think that it makes a noticeable difference. I know some are going to disagree, but personally I took out almost all the heat shields and just wrapped the manifolds and the Y pipe. In doing so I noticed the engine compartment was a little cooler than it was stock, but I am guessing if you leave the heat shields in it would be much cooler. I would say buy the stuff if you want a cooler engine compartment, but not if you only want more HP, because it just doesn't make that much power difference. As for dyno results and stuff, I can't help you there. I'm just telling you my opinion.

Thanks guys.

Are there any other 'creative' things to use beside dryer vent?

I am open, especially when they want better than $1.40 Can. /ft for the real material.

Didn't I post this for you already? They also have several other things that would work. http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=160014&prmenbr=361

quote Originally posted by MetaLHeaD: I wrapped my manifolds and the Y pipe! With regaurds to HP gains I don't think that it makes a noticeable difference.

IF you go with Ceramic coating there will be a HP gain.
www.hyperkote.com

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I highly doubt that there will be any gain with a ceramic coating, in fact the wraps do a better job at keeping the heat down, so id expect a better gain from the wraps (which is none) However ceramic coatings are really nice and wont rot your pipes if they arent stainless (not a prob in the fiero)

I have my pipes wraped on the fiero and totally scraped all the heat shields in the engine bay, and i can say it is much cooler in there than stock.

Keep in mind that an upgrade in exhaust for the fiero might get you 10-15hp if you get tuned headers and a 2.5" system to the tips... so it would be my guess that there would be no measureable performance difference. But it looks cool and keeps temps way down.

just my 2cents
I have an 86 GT with a 95 3.4 pushrod
the engine bay insulation has been removed and the manifolds and y pipe are all neatly wrapped---this is the coolest running Fiero that I have had to date. prior cars were an 85se v-6 stock, and an 88 2.5 stock.

That's right Avengador1,

The JEG's clampon product isn't exactly what I am looking for and when I order from Canada you can double the price in Canadian dollars and duty.

So I am looking for wrap in Canada.

I'd still like to know if lowering the engine compartment temperature, or speeding up the air flow on the 'Y' will be worth the effort in go power.

I'll be porting the exhaust and intake, and I plan on 2.5" after the 'Y'.

See if a local heating/cooling supply company has any steam pipe wrap. It is about 2 inches wide and made of a woven, heat resistant material which looks a lot like the ThermoTec type header wrap. A friend of mine gave me a huge roll of it a while back and it worked just as well as the stuff I had ordered from Jeg's and Summit.

Actualy if you get them to ship it via fedx or usps, and NOT BY UPS. The exchange rate isnt that bad... it'd probly come out to be like 40 dollars plus shipping..

James Z

quote Originally posted by Arns85GT: That's right Avengador1, The JEG's clampon product isn't exactly what I am looking for and when I order from Canada you can double the price in Canadian dollars and duty. So I am looking for wrap in Canada. I'd still like to know if lowering the engine compartment temperature, or speeding up the air flow on the 'Y' will be worth the effort in go power. I'll be porting the exhaust and intake, and I plan on 2.5" after the 'Y'.

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quote Originally posted by SplineZ: Actualy if you get them to ship it via fedx or usps, and NOT BY UPS. The exchange rate isnt that bad... it'd probly come out to be like 40 dollars plus shipping..

Agreed. UPS is very proud of the way their brokerage department moves items through Canada Customs, and happily sticks it to the receiver to prove it.

USPS may be slower, but they're not as rough when they bend you over the customs counter...

[This message has been edited by dguy (edited 10-02-2003).]

Thanks Cooter.

I'll check you the steam pipe wrap.

I've actually seen some in the office building where I work.

It is white, vs the tweed colour of stock wrap. I'll post when I have had a chance to check it out or try it in the application.

I have my headers and Y pipe wrapped. I can't testify for sure what the exact increase in HP is since I have never dynoed my car. I can tell you that my car runs very cool with the stock 195 thermostat and 230 fan switch. The fan doesn't come on nearly as much even in this past summer's 100 deg+ temps. On the highway at 80 mph the engine temp stayed at 190-200 and the fan never came on.