I think I've brought this up before but I'm finally sick and tired of being cooked in my car and ready to fix it!
I'm running BBK shorties and a BBK catted H-pipe on my 5.0 HO and my car simply roasts inside, even with windows down or A/C on. Back when I still had my TC interior, the metal ashtray door would get so hot you could barely touch it! I have all the factory padding/insulation and the sticky, stock dampening mat replaced with two layers of FatMat (dynamat type product from those unfamiliar). Still, I get heat from the firewall all down through the console. I'm sick of showing up anywhere with the 'bird covered in sweat so I'm going to attempt some kind of heat shield. I just don't know where to start. Any ideas? I'm looking for a cheap material that can go between the pipe and the underside of the car; maybe some kind of curved metal I can get from home depot?? Not ghetto, but simple....
i have bbk shorters, but i have a catless h-pipe. but theres no interior heat at all. i would think catless would produce less heat then cated to start with. but still, did this start as soon as you put this exhaust on? how close are yours cats to the body of the car? and how old are the cats?
Yeah, I'd think no cats would help as well. This actually all started when I swapped the 2.3 out and put the 5.0 in. I had a custom bent h-pipe at first (no cats) and there was still quite a bit of heat. Then I swapped to the catted bbk on and the heat jumped up to where it is now. The entire pipe is only about 3 years old and has been the same as far as heat the entire time. As far as proximity to the car, the bbk pipe hangs low (POS) so nothing is all that close. But I really don't think it's just the cats... idk, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'll go pick up a infrared thermometer and find out how hot they get compared to the rest of the pipe... I guess maybe I should inspect my smog pump as well. I've heard of cats glowing red when the smog pump isn't keeping air flowing to them...??
My TC heats up in the center console area only(nothing like you describe though) always did that,even when the 4 banger was in it.
How about wrapping the h-pipe and headers in header tape,should lower the temps quite a bit.
I thought about wrap but I don't have any experience with it, plus it looks relatively pricey to wrap headers and the H-pipe. I know it works well for keeping heat in (pretty much the only option to keep heat in a pipe) but I can't help but think a shield would work better because it would block/reflect radiant heat. Is this solid thinking?
a shield should help a great deal, especially if you can keep a space between the shield and the car. and possibly a radiant foil type of barrier on the floor and firewall it's self.
So what's more important: a gap between the barrier and the exhaust or between the barrier and the car? I was looking at thermo-tec adhesive backed barrier (like wrap, also pricey) but this would put the barrier tight to the car with no gap. What else could I use?
I would have to say the gap between the shield and car, would be better then a shield on the car causing heat transfer.
I'm also going to research this soon, because I'll be reinstalling my carpet pretty soon
Ok, so no adhesive backed barrier. I'll try to find some kind of sheet metal I can tack weld on with small standoffs...
yo might want to also use an adhesive foil on the car it's self as added protection
Well, I wanted to avoid sticking anything adhesive based to the underside of the car, espeically if idk if it's doing much.
Just thinking about it now; if I already have some kind of metal shield in place wouldn't that block most of the radiant heat, meaning, the foil barrier adhered to the underside of the car would only receive heat transfer via conduction (for which it would be ill equipped to fight anyway, seeing as it's so thin)?
the foil barrier should reflect the heat and not conduct it unless it was in direct contact with the heat source it's self. (touching it)
the heat shield that you install should have a foil or stainless finish on it.
you could make your own and save a lot of money.
So just the sheet metal shield alone (floated between the pipe and the car) wouldn't be enough to reflect the radiant heat?
It would be ok, but if you add the reflective finish, it would greatly increase it's radiant properties.
Late to the party, but other than the stock AOD shifter handle getting a little warm(never really hot though), everything stays near cabin temp... Have driven the car on a couple loooong trips of 1500-1800 miles, never had a issue, wife stayed bundled up cause the AC is COLD... Only have the stock insulation in place(but it's all there)...
BTW I have BBK 1515 headers and a Hooker off road pipe on mine...
Brett, what did you use on the inside of the car when you put the mat down?
I would have figured, it would've stopped the heat.
are your pipes touching or mabe to close to the floor?
Hmm, so maybe it is the catalytic converters getting hot. I wonder if my smog pump isn't pumping enough air or maybe the sensors/diverters aren't sending the air to the right places....?? I've never heard of this problem with the mustang guys
Jerry, I used Fatmat. It think it's an asphalt based product (i had 'the smell' for a couple days) and is foil backed. I dropped 2 full layers from windshield to just in front of the rear seat (I will finish to the trunk eventually) and this is without the factory material; I have the carpet pad in as well. Anyway, the Fatmat didn't really help much. I can only assume my cats are getting overly hot and since there's nothing blocking that thermal radiation, it's getting soaked up by the floorboards and the being conducted into the cabin at which point the foil on the Fatmat is powerless....?
you should get a laser thermometer and check the temps of everything on both sides, including the floor inside and out. If it's getting that hot in your car that you can't touch something, I would be worried myself. you have a lot of wires running under the carpet. I would hate to see them, or anything else under there get heat damaged.
BTW, are the exhaust tips a million deg. also?
Haven't had tips since thee 5.0 swap, just turn downs before the axle, so, I'm not sure. So, if I picked up a infrared thermometer, how do I know if the temps are extreme?
Do the cats have a shield on them??? If not, that's likely your problem...
I beleive so.. Idk what a sheildless cat looks like but I can't imagine bbk would use a cat without sheilds on their pipe....??