renegade4x4

I received a coupon for ebay, 8% off so I have been looking at this and have read the review that one member made and I too am going to try it out. I will let everyone know how it goes! I am going to put header wrap on it so if anyone has ideas on what wrap to get and where i can get it that would be great! Thanks!

Chris

rosedaleny806

idk bout putting wrap on it, ive heard from many people that putting wrap on a header is bad and can cause it to crack but idk

renegade4x4

Good info any one else have comments? I just thought the wrap kept heat outta the engine bay.

rosedaleny806

that it does but I guess its to much heat being sustained in one section making exhaust gas temps raise enough to crack it.

CIONIDE

iTrader: (1)

ScionFred had to do a lot of work to his CXR header just so he could bolt it on:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=158907

FromTheOld

As far as I remember, he bent some brackets, that's about it. The work he did was to fix it because it looked like crap.

The whole heat wrap thing is controversial. Some say it's bad, some say it's good, and some don't care. It keeps heat in better than anything else, but to somewhat correct previous posts, it's not because the gas temperature increases and causes it to crack, but it's because the heat has nowhere else to go but stay inside the wrapping. Also, some say it speeds up the rusting process because the moisture has nowhere to go after the car is turned off, but there are debates on that too. While it is stainless steel, believe it or not, stainless steel does rust depending on the grade. It may be 304SS, but you never know with stuff like that, because you don't know the quality of the metal. Then there's the question of the welds. They look sloppy, and there's no way to know if they're good without other forms of looking at it (IE: X-Ray)

I don't want to keep going on and on, but you bought a cheap part, so you shouldn't be too worried about it. Wrap it like you wanted to and enjoy it. If it cracks or whatever, just put the stock one back on. I doubt you'll notice much more power anyway, and you didn't spend much on that header so you won't be set back too much. For the record, I've got nothing against China, etc, but there is a reason it is cheap. Manufacturing costs, material costs, lack of R&D, etc.

Good luck.

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

The header is fine, the pipes are 18-8 304, the flanges are nickel-plated mild steel, the welds are TIGed SS, the fitment is good. I had to bend the bottom support brackets to fit but the other 3x more expensive headers don't even have them, making them more stress crack prone. The biggest issue, which is common to most headers, is that the head flange tends to warp when welded. Unless the flange is resurfaced after welding it will remain warped and possibly leak. The best fix is to have a machine shop resurface the flange face and the cheap fix is to DIY (carefully) with a belt sander or file. Don't use the CXR supplied graphite/paper gasket, it's crap. If the flange is very flat (check with straight edge) use the oem MLS gasket. If the flange isn't very flat use a thicker composite gasket like the one in the link below. Another option is to use ultra hi-temp RTV with a gasket to help seal small leaks. The RTV won't seal large voids but will seal small ones and stands up to the heat surprisingly well. The oem head studs are long enough for the 3/8" thick flange.

IMO as long as you take the time to check flange flatness, correct it as necessary and use the proper gasket, you'll be very happy with the 5-7whp gain and much improved exhaust note. The CXR header isn't the best header available for our cars but it does offer the best bang for the buck. I've got well over 5k on mine now and it's holding up just fine. If you wrap it, it will probably crack. I'd recommend leaving it unwrapped or having it creamic coated. There seems to be some confusion about the heatshields on the oem header/cat. They do not reduce underhood temps. That heat has to go somewhere and it remains under the hood. By removing the primary cat, a header alone likely reduces underhood temps.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy it.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Scion...Q5fAccessories

renegade4x4

Thanks for everyones response.

redline8k

as far as a heat coating goes, Id say have it jet hotted. Jet hot is a brand name of a company that thermal coats exhaust and other parts. check them out... after that you can find someone local to you that can do something close.
-nick

srb219

Have black high temp coating on my strup headers Problem is that the coating almost costs as much as the headers. Paid $150.00 plus shipping. Jet coating priced about the same.