Stock manifold removal question

Jae 'Bird

Jae 'Bird

2nd Gear Poster
Joined
Dec 11, 2023
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95
Age
19
Location
Edmonton, Canada
Vehicle Details
1990 Ford Thunderbird Base with PEP 151A, 3.8L NA V-6
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Question, I am considering removing the exhaust manifolds for two reason, I want to wire brush the loose rust off of them and the wrap them in titanium wrap to help lower the under-hood temps. I know you guys might say that its not worth the effort and then temps aren't that high but it would be a fun for me mod that fits my budget. My question is if I remove the manifold, should I replace the studs and nuts that hold it on there? is there anything else that might cause me problems? I know it would be a little tough to get the rusty hardware off but that's always a given. Thanks for any input
 
Considering the area your working in is pretty cramped I'd consider the amount of effort you'll have to go through to remove a broken stud
 
If the manifolds aren’t leaking, don’t mess with it! They are not easy to get to, and if you break a stud or 3, then you are stuck having to deal with that before you get back on the road, and without a lift, a welder and an acetylene torch, that can be a daunting task! And since you can hardly see the exhaust manifolds, it just wouldn’t be worth the effort. There are plenty of other small projects you can tackle instead that will give you better results with less headaches.
 
Alright, that's fair, thanks. I guess I could also try to wrap them on the car, and theres no risk cause if it doesn't work, its just a wrap that can be removed
 
I have always heard that wrapping the manifolds can cause them to rust out. Maybe that mostly applies to aftermarket parts not stock manifolds?
 
Sometimes, when our healthy car obsession gets the best of us, and we just absolutely want to tinker with something...anything, this great community's job is simply to talk us out of it.

Remember when I was talking about adding 40+ lbs of electrical motors to my car to add power adjustments for seats which are literally never adjusted by anybody? Thanks to you all, I didn't.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Wraps aren’t worth doing on manifolds with stock(or even moderately above stock) power levels IMO. There are more worthwhile gains to be had elsewhere for similar effort
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My goal was simply to keep more heat in the exhaust and let less of it into the engine bay, I figure even with a stock car, its a good thing to reduce engine bay heat. It was never to increase power or nothing
 
You're welcome to give it a stab, it will do something. Kind of like wrapping the A/C lines in more insulation. Even if the effect is hard to quantify, at the very least it makes you feel better about your car - and that's worthwhile. :)
 
Alright, that's encouraging, there would be no actual risk in titanium exhaust wrap right? like the headers are already quite rusty so if I wire brush them and then install it I cant damage anything right?
 
Only downsides I could see would be possible increases in wear by retaining moisture and accelerating corrosion, and the additional abrasiveness due to contact under vibration. Both a bit of a stretch IMO.
 
Cast iron tends to take decades to rust through in the worst of situations. I think header wrap is much worse for thin steel headers than anything…

….but does header wrap actually help? Color me pessimistic. It’s a lot of work to actually wrap effectively and while I acknowledge the scenarios it’s beneficial a NA 3.8 or 4.6 or 5.0 etc aren’t fitting those scenarios. There’s more fun things to waste time and money on IMO
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Cast iron tends to take decades to rust through in the worst of situations. I think header wrap is much worse for thin steel headers than anything…

….but does header wrap actually help? Color me pessimistic. It’s a lot of work to actually wrap effectively and while I acknowledge the scenarios it’s beneficial a NA 3.8 or 4.6 or 5.0 etc aren’t fitting those scenarios. There’s more fun things to waste time and money on IMO
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Are you doubting its thermal insulating capabilities? I don't see why it wouldn't help keep less heat from going into the engine bay rather than the exhaust. Also, does it matter what engine and whether its stock or not effect the benefit of keeping excess heat out of the engine bay? I'm not arguing, just want to learn more and figure out if its worth it or not. I guess my simpleton thinking was "less heat in engine bay is better" I don't see how its could be a bad thing.
 
It does work with keeping down thermal. But it is also awesome at trapping in moisture and helping speed up the process of corrosion.

If it's a daily, leave the stuff off.
 
removal and inside and out ceramic coating would be far superior then heat wrap. you'll spend hours wraping just to have them fall apart after a few months.
 
Alright, I think that answer is what I needed, You guys have convinced me I won't wrap my exhaust, probably for the best. Thanks
 
Jae 'Bird said:
Are you doubting its thermal insulating capabilities? I don't see why it wouldn't help keep less heat from going into the engine bay rather than the exhaust. Also, does it matter what engine and whether its stock or not effect the benefit of keeping excess heat out of the engine bay? I'm not arguing, just want to learn more and figure out if its worth it or not. I guess my simpleton thinking was "less heat in engine bay is better" I don't see how its could be a bad thing.
Click to expand...

It’s not that I doubt the effectiveness as a thermal barrier, wrap does what’s designed to do. Its the keeping heat out of the engine bay to the end of gaining performance from it I don’t find very worthwhile, and like @Sik97bird said, it’s really internal coating that helps with that more.

Heat in the engine bay doesn’t really matter, the air going into the engine is ducted into the airbox from outside afterall(unless of course it was deleted for a so-called “CAI”)
 
Trying to reduce under hood temps is a moot point; the cooling system from the factory on these cars works very well.
:bdh:
 
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