Exhaust manifold gaskets...

[mattjk]

Just a quickie really obviously people "mummyfi" heat wrap exhaust manifolds to keep the heat in to allow the gases to pass through quicker and keep block temps down.

Now I was thinking could you have a gasket between head & manifold, I was trying to think of a material that would resist the temperatures and not conduct heat. I guess you would want it about 3-4mm thick? Would some sort or ceramic material work possibly?

Any thoughts? Would this further reduce block temps?

 

[r8byb]

www.seatcupra.net - Search for PTFE gasket.

They do exactly what youev just said, not sure what material and i cant go on there to find it for you at work for some reason

 

[Fred@BTM]

^you ain't putting a PTFE gasket on an exhaust manifold!

to answer the question, no

 

[r8byb]

Oops read it wrong, my mistake.

 

[mattjk]

Can I ask why it isn't possible? I mean it doesnt need to be a flexible gasket there must a material you could use I'm just doing a bit of hunting around just for my own interest.

 

[sideways danny]

a copper gasket would work, Ferriday Engineering would be able to cut them for you

 

[mattjk]

a copper gasket would work, Ferriday Engineering would be able to cut them for you

Copper is an excellent heat conductor so would be no good for this instance unfortunately

To be honest I'm struggling to think of anything that would be suitable that wouldnt melt lol. The only thing I could come up with was some sort of ceramic meterial which wouldn't be cheap. Anyone think of any high temp material?

 

[sideways danny]

OK, in that case you want to get some aero grade gasket material (composite) and cut it by hand. A mate worked for an aero company and had ofcut bits of some stuff that would be ideal, not sure what it was but gives you an idea where to look

 

[mattjk]

Yeah thats what I was thinking

What are heatproof mats made out of? Like an asbestos based material I would have thought.

Not actually going to go through with it I was just interested in what material and would there be a benefit

 

[Henry22]

The gains for the amount of hassle wouldnt be woth it alone.. The heat isnt coming from the exhaust its coming from the combustion chamber, so you would'nt be insulating anything from anything!

Exhaust wrap is only really worth it with a straight through system where there is very little or no resistance in the system.. Altough it is a good form of heat protection for everything else in the area..

 

[Mark One]

Hang on a min.
If I could take this thread back to the drawing board just a sec.

The idea behind heat wrap is to contain the heat in the exhuast manifold. The theory is hot gases have more energy and travel faster away from the engine.

Why then are you aiming to cool the manifold with an insulating gasket. Heat the bugger up surely?