Road Ready Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I'm the newbie here; wondering what y'all do about the heat issue? Do any of you have scar tissue on the right side of your right leg from touching the bare metal of the tunnel? I've seen some footwell pictures. Glorified floormats? Special insulating material? How is it attached? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobone Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I covered my tunnel with two layers of sound deadening/heat insulation from a company in Alberta (b-quiet). It made a difference. I also have a carpetted tunnel. I have a heater as well and blocked some of the vent holes. Lastly, I don't have a pedal box cover so I made sure there was good heat insulation material sealing where the levers enter the foot well. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I used spray on 3M adhesive to attach multi-layered space craft insulation to the tunnel. There is carpet over the insulation. For the floor I glued the same insulation to the underside of the carpet. I also insulated the underside of the pedal box cover and made a standoff aluminum heatshield in front of the pedal box to deflect heat coming off the turbo and downpipe located just in front of the box. The car went from a foot cooker to pleasant enough to drive with sandals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceral Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I used a truck roll on box liner on both sides of the tunnel footwell. No heat issues on mine so far. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBEARDEN Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I used an Eastwood Thermocoustic rubber barrier with heavy foil. It was very heavy but did a great job...I lined the floors and the footwell, the panel behind the seats, and firewall. It reduced the heat and road noise...still would have liked some direct air to my feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I have added fiberglass insulation tape to the header and it has reduced the heat in the footwell/tunnel area. :cooldude: :hurray: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunshipDriver Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I don't have much extra space to play with on my car... ended up using the "heat issue" to justify getting an entry level sparco race suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klasik-69 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 A lot depends on how you're going to use the car. Is it a track car or are you going to take it on road trips ? I use mine for the track and although the foot well is hot, I usually don't notice it during a 20 to 30 minute track event. I will either wear jeans (HPDE) or my race suit (SCCA Track event) and it is usually enough to ward off the heat. Mine has insulation on the inside of the tunnel but it isn't much and I doubt it does a whole lot of heat reflecting. I know of some people who have used a special ceramic paint to insulate the heat with really good results. The paint is hard to get and is pretty expensive. It was a spin off of the space program in developing heat shields for incoming space ships. One guy had his aluminum panel painted with it and had me hold my hand on the inside while he applied a propane torch on the other side. After about 3 or 4 minutes, you could barely feel any heat and it wasn't enough to pull your hand off either. I don't remember where he bought it but he told me it was about $90 quart, goes on pretty thick with a roller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 That sounds like Lizard Skin. Flyin Miata uses it on their LSx installations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 In my car I lined the entire foot box with thin adhesive aluminum insulation. I also lined the side panel under the door panels with the same stuff to insulate from the exhaust. Under the hood I wrapped all the headers individually with header wrap, and I'll be wrapping the remainder of the exhaust including the muffler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seschm1234 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Hi scannon All of the MLI I worked on requires pretty hard vacuum levels to be better than modern ceramic insulation. Does this have a special separator material which gives the radiation shields some benefit? Something else? Thanks Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I don't know the answer to that. I just know it is very effective and very light. I think the spay on adhesive added more weight to the car than the MLI. I used scraps of MLI that was left over from insulating satellites. I didn't use it in the engine compartment where the heat from the turbo and downpipe would have melted it. Hi scannon All of the MLI I worked on requires pretty hard vacuum levels to be better than modern ceramic insulation. Does this have a special separator material which gives the radiation shields some benefit? Something else? Thanks Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlumba81 Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Just finished putting in header exhaust wrap on my 7. Didn't have my infrared thermometer with me, but I think I had at least a 20 deg F drop in my footwell. If you buy wrap without the metal ties included, buy them from a hardware store for about 25% of what the automotive ones cost. I made the mistake of buying a pack for $20 at auto store and found them for $6 at a homedepot when I needed more. PS: They really stink when they cook off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Thanks for the Home Depot tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihckb2 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 When installing the wrap soak it in water first, it will wrap tighter. Let it dry completely before painting with the special paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlumba81 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Yeah, its a bit loose. I plan on re-wrapping when the engine comes out again to fix a faulty 5th gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihckb2 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Much easier with the header off the engine, you can really get around, hold it in a vice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlumba81 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Oh, be careful when tightening the metal ties. I had one twist in my hand and the edges are sharp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I used stainless steel safety wire to secure mine. It has held well for several years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seschm1234 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Are you at all concerned that the elevated temperatures your exhaust manifold sees is going to have long term issues with stresses on your engine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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