Hello everybody, it's been a long time since I posted. I have been enjoying my MINI for 10 years now and it is time to spice it up. I have been talking to Mario and we have been working on a plan to tune my car to Stage 2. I bought his downpipe and the NM Engineering turbo back exhaust. I plan to remove all the heat shield and wrap my turbo with the forge blanket and wrap my downpipe with some thermal wrap. I do not plan on putting the stock heat shields back on as I think the heat wrap should protect the engine components. I have 2 questions for the group. 1. Has anybody done this and ran the car for an extended time with no heat related issues? 2. What kind of heat wrap for the downpipe? I was looking at the Lava Wrap as it seems to be legit and American Made. All help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Larry

 

The Forge turbo blanket replaces the upper heat shield, so there’s that… I don’t like those heat wraps. They look like an afterthought. Plus, you haven’t mentioned anything about the manifold?

If I was going to go all in and replace the turbo, I would get the manifold, turbine housing, and down pipe coated with Swaintech white lightning. It is much thicker than other popular ceramic coatings, and much more effective at heat retention, just maybe not as pretty. Then, I would still run the OEM heat shields, but have them painted black to match the rest of the engine.

 

I've got the Forge turbo blanket and the downpipe wrapped with with Amazon's finest header wrap. Looks nice and clean. Zero issues with temps.

 

Great info but that’s not in the cards at the moment. Already stretching the budget with the tune, exhaust, and downpipe. I have read some posts about deleting the heat shields I just can’t seem to find many. I could put the shields back on they are just a huge pain and if the blanket and wrap could do the same job, that would be ideal.

 

How long have you ran the car without the shields?

 

Three summers or approx 15,000 miles with the turbo blanket and header wrap combo. Like I mentioned, zero issues with plastic parts under the hood.

 

Again, the Forge turbo blanket replaces the upper heat shield, so using it is the same as running the OEM upper heat shield.

Seriously, replacing the OEM heat shields is minimal work compared to swapping out the turbo, so I can't see why you would get lazy with that task, and decide not to replace them. It would be easier to just replace them, than it would be to wrap the down pipe.

 

The lower shield is a PITA to deal with. At least with hands the size of mine anyway, plus the upper is plain ugly. Wrapping the pipe can be done when it's on the car is still easier than screwing around with the heat shield.

 

Sounds like you've already made up your mind, and just looking for validation. Hope it works out for you!

 

Yeah I’ve pretty much made my mind up, I just wanted to see if others have been okay with the same process. Thanks for your input.

 

I’m not replacing the turbo at all, not sure where you got that from. I’m not being lazy, just looking to the group about a different solution to the pita heat shields.

 

Awesome car, thanks for the info. How do you like the AEM intake, I’ve been looking at that one.

QUOTE=scottyb043;4606360]Three summers or approx 15,000 miles with the turbo blanket and header wrap combo. Like I mentioned, zero issues with plastic parts under the hood.[/QUOTE]

 

Regardless... I have the OEM heat shields in place, and would NOT want to run without them. Hopefully, your experience proves OK.

And, once more for good measure... the Forge blanket replaces the OEM upper heat shield, so it will be just as much a pain to install as the OEM heat shield, for minimal heat isolation. It also won't sit right without the lower heat shield in place, since the lower heat shield holds it in place. It would suck to have it flap into the radiator fan...

 

That would suck, thanks for the info. I will definitely keep that in mind during the install.

 

Part of my AEM intake melted when I ran the car without the heat shield because it extends almost directly above turbo. I should take a picture of it sometimes... its goddamn ugly and pisses me off whenever I look at it.

 

Did your turbo have a blanket or nothing at all?

 

I finished the install of the downpipe, full NM exhaust, wrapped downpipe and Forge turbo blanket. Took it out for a spirited test drive, came back and could literally hold my hand right next to the turbo. I don't think that there is going to be a problem with the heat shield removal but I will keep you all posted if anything changes.

 

100%. Same as my real world experience. Enjoy.