Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Plus 4 cooling issue

Rad fan works fine and the engine was not overheating -- if anything running fairly cool. What,s the problem with manifold wrapping?

My zetec 4/4 has intake and exhaust at least on opposite sides of the engine but still I think suffers from the heat and would benefit from some cooler air going in.
It has Librands manifold and Jenvey TB's which are a fairly tight fit to the bonnet.
I wondered if there is a air scoop mod or similar or is it a major bonnet rebuild?

I believe heat wrapping can cause localised heat issues that can lead to cracked manifolds.

Proper heat wrapping will lower your temps but will eventually rot your manifold

It seems that the louvres are not efficient to extract the hot air. How many and how are they: Inside to outside on the top / outside to inside on the sides?

I live in South of France and driving several times in summer with 39°C I have no problem (2005 PLUS 4). Always 95°C for the coolant.

Wrapping will -

Corrode your manifold.
Not allow the manifold to expand.
Not allow your manifold to sweat.
The wrap breaks up after a few months.

I've just had another set of V8 manifolds done for a customer

I agree Chunky. When you told me of your views on wrapping, I took it off my 4/4 stainless Librands manifold, only to find the start of corrosion. If I went down that route again, I'd use a Zircotec coating.

Thanks for your comments. In the light of warnings about tightly-wound header wrap I've ordered one of these:

http://www.agriemach.com/c7-heat-and-sou...-cyl-straight-6

It is not a constricting fit and seems to offer plenty of air/expansion room around the pipes. I'll also put some flexi alloy ducting over the rubber intake tube which will hopefully reflect radiant heat.

Expect pix/report in a week or so when I've got round to fitting it.

pip pip

Another potential and more serious issue with exhaust wrap is damage to the head, caused by localised heat not being able to be dissipated through the manifold,

Having said that, I wrapped the stainless steel primaries of my 2.3 260bhp Caterham when I built it in 2006, and suffered no ill effects up to the time I sold it last year, nor did the wrap break up, and the under bonnet temperatures were considerably reduced.

You just have to take a view, but I certainly wouldn't consider wrapping a mild steel system.

To come back to the cat (not the pet) inside the engine bay. 38years of development should help perhaps but in 1976, and for this MY only! Mercedes placed the cats inside the engine bay for the USA 450SL models in a very similar way. They melt the wiring in some of the cars and the bay become incredibly hot. For 1977 and younger it was redesigned very quickly and put outside again.