anyone ever use it and had any success or failures with it?
using it to help protect the starter

 

It kind of depends on the application and what you ultimately want to get out of it. If you have some sort of thermo coating (or chrome) on your headers, stay away from header tape because it WILL NOT compliment the coating on your headers and could cause the coating to come off. If your headers are stainless, you could go either way. The wrap will keep the heat in the headers nicely, but has the potential to make the metal fatigue earlier than expected. If the headers are already on the car, don't bother, it isn't worth the time. If you haven't put the headers on yet, be patient and take your time with the tape. Follow the instructions and finish the job with the sealant that is recommended. Don't be alarmed with a little stink and smoke while the tape is new and settling. It does work, I'm just not certain it's worth the hastle.

How difficult and expensive is it to replace the starter on these cars? If it's an easy swap with less than a ~$200 price tag, skip the tape. If a new starter is a major deal, header wrap may be a good idea. Are people having issues with radiant heat from the headers and starters on these cars? I know it's been a problem with Fords in the past, but I haven't seen the topic on the boards with the S197.

 

i don't know if others are having problems, but because i live in fl., 100% humidity and 100+ deg temp, i have had to replace three starters in 3 months, thank you o'reilly lifetime warranty. the header, on the pass side, is only 1 1/2" away from the starter and it is the only logical conclusion that i can think of to why the starters keep on frying. new starter is going on tomorrow, but if it happens again the headers are coming off and will be up for sale

 

oh and as for the swap not hard with a hydro. lift, thanks muffler shop for letting me use theirs, but on my back with long tubes, a major pain

 

Your starter failures probably are a combination of the header heat and oreilly's crappy starters. But more than likely it's the starters. I know I've replaced two alternators from oreilly's before I finally got a good one. Header wrap will certainly help with the underhood temps and keeping the heat in the exhaust stream where it should be. But, if you have another failure I'd just get my money back from oreilly's and spring for an OEM starter. I'm sure someone will chime in with the same headers you have and say whether or not they're haveing the same problem with the OEM starter.