Ceramic wool

[Jeremy Edmondson]

FreshMar at aol.com wrote:
> 
> >
> >You can buy a ceramic wool blanket which will withstand high temps and has
> >good insulating
> >properties.  The stuff I used was around 3/4" thick.  Just wrap it around
> >and wire it on, then
> >tape over it with aluminum tape.  It wored very well on my MG
> ..snip... You will
> >also make more hp with lagged exhaust, not much more though.  It does keep
> >the under hood temps
> >down.  The down side to this is that with steel headers high temp
> >oxidation takes place and large
> >amounts of scale form very quickly on the pipe under the lagging.  I also
> >had a big problem with
> >the headers cracking all of the time.  You will really need stainless
> >steel or inconel headers if
> >you want to do this properly.
> >
> >Jeremy Edmondson
> >
> .. thanks for the info..
> ceramic wool? is that like fiberglass?
> And <hope this is not a dumb q>what is lagged exhaust?
> Rust avoidance is one of my concerns- VW heater boxes are getting rare
> and expensive to replace- W/O them i freeze.
> Mario T.

Ceramic wool is a very fine fibre that is pressed together to make a
blanket.  I am thinking of something to compare it to but cannot come up
with anything.  I am not sure what it is typically used for nor do I
know where to buy it in the US.  The fibres are fine and are very
irritating to breathe when you are working with it.  The scheme that I
used was to paint the headers with high temp paint, cut the the ceramic
wool into strips and wrap it around the pipes and wire it in place with
SS wire.  Then wrap fibreglass strips around it to hold it together and
then aluminum tape over the whole lot.  The glass and tape are necessary
to stop the vibration from disintegrating the ceramic wool.  Just don't
lag the heater box, this will stop the accelerated oxidation.  Lagged
being insulated.

Jeremy