Insulating the engine bay

[Arcticdude]

My 96 has some minor issues with the engine bay insulation. I've found some stuff that looks really good and has a 300 degree rating. I had originally thought about running this up the exhaust column. I'd also planned on eliminating the muffler and jet coating the pipe(s). Any ideas on whether I should look for something with better heat abilities or other ??

[davidbrady]

(02-11-2013 16:09)Arcticdude Wrote:  My 96 has some minor issues with the engine bay insulation. I've found some stuff that looks really good and has a 300 degree rating. I had originally thought about running this up the exhaust column. I'd also planned on eliminating the muffler and jet coating the pipe(s). Any ideas on whether I should look for something with better heat abilities or other ??

John,

Do those ceramic coatings significantly lower the surface temps of the pipe? I'd be worried that 300 deg F isn't enough. I can see pipe temps easily hitting 1000 deg F. I'd be concerned that the insulation may work it's way lose from the chute walls and fall onto the pipe possibly causing a fire hazard. My '02 LXi was shipped from the factory with a muffler blanket that went completely around the muffler and along the full height of the muffler. It was a stout blanket with a thick skin and a fiber fill in the middle - definitely rated for the heat.

david brady, '02 LXi, NC

[encantotom]

on my 90 newell i was looking for exhaust manifold blankets as i had turbo and exhaust pipe ones but not for the manifolds.

i ended up getting some that were already made for an 8v92, but on the quest to get there ran across several places that do the blankets that david is talking about.

ttp://www.firwin.com/pages/contact/01contact.html they were very willing to make something for me.

the ones that i ended up with were from ATP in southern ca. http://www.atpwrap.com/

we stopped by their office when we were on a trip in the coach and they were very helpful.

as for the engine compartment itself, there are several products that you can buy. i chose to make my own with high temp insulation used for under hoods of cars and such and glued two sheets together to get almost an inch. it had a foil cover and i used the tape you use for ductwork (the silver reinforced kind) to seal the seams.

tom

[Arcticdude]

The ceramic coatings will drop the temps maybe 300-400 degrees, but when running a little, the turbo and close parts will still be pushing 700 or so. The polydamp hydrophobic melamine foam that I've got coming handles 375 sporadically. But the same company has a true thermal barrier that handles 800. I'm wondering if I shouldn't be using something like this near the turbo and exhaust.

See here: http://www.polytechinc.com/products/thermal.php and scroll down to the Polytech Heat Shield.

[davidbrady]

(02-11-2013 20:33)encantotom Wrote:  as for the engine compartment itself, there are several products that you can buy. i chose to make my own with high temp insulation used for under hoods of cars and such and glued two sheets together to get almost an inch. it had a foil cover and i used the tape you use for ductwork (the silver reinforced kind) to seal the seams.

tom

Thanks for the links Tom. The engine compartment looks great, and doubling up the stuff made for under car hoods is a very clever solution. Nice job!

(02-11-2013 21:36)Arcticdude Wrote:  The ceramic coatings will drop the temps maybe 300-400 degrees, but when running a little, the turbo and close parts will still be pushing 700 or so. The polydamp hydrophobic melamine foam that I've got coming handles 375 sporadically. But the same company has a true thermal barrier that handles 800. I'm wondering if I shouldn't be using something like this near the turbo and exhaust.

See here: http://www.polytechinc.com/products/thermal.php and scroll down to the Polytech Heat Shield.

John,

As you know, I used the polydamp hydrophobic melamine. I took a propane torch to a piece and held it there for what seemed like minutes (it was 3 years ago and I didn't time it). Eventually the aluminum foil burned thru and the the torch made a hole in the melamine. The melamine never caught on fire. It singed a hole - kinda cauterized it. The stuff has excellent flame retardant properties. On my LXi there's a 180 deg U pipe that comes off the turbo and gets within 1/2", or so, of the PHM - no sweat.

david brady, '02 LXi, NC

[Arcticdude]

That's GREAT TO know!! I won't "sweat" it anymore!

[pgchin]

(02-11-2013 22:09)Arcticdude Wrote:  That's GREAT TO know!! I won't "sweat" it anymore!

David B used some "killer" stuff ( sheets) that was pricey but worth it IMHO in the engine bay, may be he can remember the vendor as I can't! :-) Also that exhaust stacks in 95-97's are insulated on the "closet side" not the stack where your pipes run, if you add any , add it there by removing the closet walls..... much safer as later birds (380/450) have the stuff on the muffler side and when the glue deteriorates, it falls and catches fire! Plenty of examples of burned 380's stacks. Also if the exhaust system needs replacing consider stainless.....lower temps and I believe David has a vendor with the LXI parts already done, ship them you 95 stuff and
Party on!

[markusfmeyer]

I am the middle of redoing my insulation (among other things). I ordered the same insulation David used, and its not that pricey, at least compared to other options I looked at. You can't buy it from the manufacturer unfortunately, but you can buy it from a place called Oshex. They do have a minimum order ($750 for this particular product), I just got together with 2 others and ordered enough for our 3 birds. Not sure I can still add on to that order at this time or not. If you are interested I can give contact info with the guy I dealt with or if you want to add to my order I can check on that (just placed it last week).

[Arcticdude]

How much more would it take to do the genny bay? I probably should get enough for that too.

[markusfmeyer]

(02-14-2013 15:27)Arcticdude Wrote:  How much more would it take to do the genny bay? I probably should get enough for that too.

Don't know, you would have to measure it. When I bought my coach that had already been done so I'm not messing with it.