I took a brand new set of headers out of box wrapped them then installed them on a gasser truck I was building a few years ago... then in a few months (it was a daily driver) I stopped at a gas station to get some cheetoos and such and when I came out I heard an exhaust leak so started looking for it, well I noticed that there some movement out of the header wrap, so I felt around and bingo there it was way so I touched it...
ok bad move....
When I touched it the metal collapased and my finger was in the stream of a running engine...
well when I got home I removed the header and found that the metal was crystalized, it was crumbling away from just touching it. So I promptly called Summit racing up (dealer of both the headers and the wrap) talked to their tech line and the guy acted like I should have known that this stuff was not for a daily driver, he said that it did not surprise him at all because the wrap traps the heat so it will shorten the life of the pipe... He was nice enough to sell me another set of headers and I passed on the wrap that time... It was amazing how the metal just crumbled. So wrapping the pipes is ok but only if it's going on the strip, it's not for street use...
go with the ceramic coating if you wanted coated parts. Other wise just leave them the way they are and enjoy.
Now you can wrap them in that stuff that looks like alumnium bubble wrap - it's not bubble wrap but you know the stuff I'm talking about. This works because it shields heat but also allows air to get between it and the pipe because it does not fit snug, it's sort of loose and this makes a difference. But the tight fitting wrap stuff... nope pass on that...
