Well im getting really really sick of heatsoak.
im brainstorming several option to make over my engine bay to keep things alittle cooler.

SYMPTOM, loss of power after approximatly 20-30 minutes of moderate to hard driving.

SOLUTION?

are there any solutions involving ceramic manifold gaskets or such? what about compartmentalizing the engine..
e-fan plus flow through reverse scoop?

im getting really sick of heat soak, i want to keep that **** ventilated!

 

could always install hood vents, that might work!!

 

i'd go cheap, remove the hood

 

I guess your concerned about the heat soak of the intake manifolds and loosing power right? A vented hood will cool things down faster. I also had an idea to make a plastic or carbon fiber spacer to place between the LIM and engine block to help reduce the heat "conduction" that takes place when two metals touch each other. When the engine heats up, so will the aluminum intake manifolds because metal conducts heat. An insulating spacer (think of it as a cooking pan handle)should greatly reduce this effect however, it will be useless after a vehicle has been sitting up for a while because the heat rising from the engine will still heat up the intake manifold. My Scoot hood for my Fd has a center scoop that goes all the way back to the brake booster and ABS unit for cooling. I was going to modify that scoop to also direct some cooling air over and under the UIM. That would virtually eliminate my heat soak while cruising.

 

first question u should ask is...."how much do i wanna spend"...cheap way would be to cut open the hood....expensive way would be to ceramic coat the inside of the intake and gold leafing the outside......

 

Replace all those missing heatshields and heat wrap things like exhaust manifolds, turbos, downpipes, etc. The stock fan does a good job of keeping the engine bay cool while many e-fans do not due to lack of shroud and the fact that they don't spin when they are idle.

 

-Vented hood
-FMIC
-Ceramic coat manifolds
-Turbo blanket
-Heat wrap on all exposed piping(downpipe, intake piping, etc)
-Aftermarket radiator

I think that would about cover it? Many aftermarket hoods have a very nice spacing of the vents. One goes over the manifolds, one over the turbo/downpipe area, and one over the brake booster area. I imagine this would help a LOT.

 

hood risers will drop it a couple degrees I know I have some. I had to custom make tehm too

 

...However they will decapitate you in the event of a front end collision.

 

But Aaron, according to all the really clever people here the heat shields are useless and it doesn't matter if you rip them off! Apparently they do nothing!

 

That's nothing...In another thread a bunch of people are telling me that adding a million extra grounds actually does something past fixing the broken stock grounds...

 

hahahah, nice. Maybe it adds horse power like stickers and wings. :shrug:

 

hey now, i know i couldnt ever beat a civic covered in NOS stickers.......oh wait i couyld around here, because all the people with NOS stickers have no NOS in there car.

 

This has become a running joke on NASIOC

 

Try some poor-man insulating with restaurant grade (thicker) aluminum foil, fiberglass insulation and safety wire (or rigid piano wire). Take 2 sheets, one on top of the other, stuff fiberglass in between (not too thick < 1") and roll the edges of both sheets together to make on piece. Put in places like between the engine block and UIM or wrap the UIM. It's also good to isolate exhaust manifold heat and is very lightweight. Make sure to fasten securely with the safety wire to keep the cooling fan from blowing pieces away.

I kinda feel like martha stewart without the criminal record! ~rich

 

the stock belly pans help as well....

the biggest thing is that the air entering the front of the vehicle has a mind of its own........give it direction and force it to where you want and you'll have plenty of cooling - duct duct duct my friends....

along of course with the obvious things like a nice Koyo or like quailty radiator, vented hoods and such.

 

Will just to let you guys know, I was running without the heatshields for awhile. I got sick of the 90 degrees days plus the extra heat coming from the car it sux'd. So I went out and bought the shield to my surprise it did cut down on the heat. My two cents is get the heatshields its worth it. BTW replacing the radiator doesnt make sense much because it might help the ENGINE stay cooler, but the engine bay heats not really gonna change much due to most of the heat comes from the exhaust.

 

heat wrap the **** out of the exhaust. and a reverse vented hood is a good idea too. I dunno about you guys but i hate when i burn myself on the waterpump and alternator after driving around for a while. do they make a ceramic waterpump housing? there has to be at least 150 degrees comming off of that thing.

 

thats an interesting point on the waterpump housing being coated....

whatwould be best though? inside? outside or both?

one would think that coating the outside would be since it would still allow heat to be absorbed from the housing itself, but it would radiate less into the engine bay.....interesting thought

 

hmm and what is the main source of heat in the ENGINE bay? hmm could it be the engine it self? omg it is!? so your saying lowering the engine temp would not efect the engein bay temp right? how is this care to tell me.

 

Most of the above, plus anything that gets more cool air in & hot air out of the bay..

Jacking up the rear of the hood only works below 30MPH. Above that, the cowl becomes a forced air inlet area. That's why the cabin vent inlet is there.

My favorite - a chin air splitter connected to the front bottom tray.

As for power, a cold air ram intake.

 

I just had a GREAT idea!

Ok..work with me here... there are electronic actuators on exhaust dumps now...what if we were to cut into this area beside the cabin vent on the cowl up top to where engine bay heat can escape based on it, and they would open and close based on mph or whatever the case may be?

So, you've have two huge holes in that area that allow to air to escape or force in based on mph and electronic actuators?

 

ok a small idea for heat wrapping poor man style. My friend's dad has a 91 Gallant VR-4 and his is modified to make 300hp. This engine gets really hot and he went to ACE hardawre (you can find it at almost anyhardwearstore) and bought some shiny foiled bubble wrap. The surface reflects heat and the air pockets absorb it. I think it's designed for home air conditioners, but it is alot cheaper than automotive heat wrap and works the same. Only problem is if you get it too hot, like several hours of hard driving, you'll pop the bubbles. It should work fine for daily and for small periods of hard driving. It may not even pop under long hard driving (never popped on VR-4) but physics say otherwise also rotaries get really hot. This is just a bugeted idea. I suggest you with thin wallets try it, you have nothing to lose except like $20, and that's if you don't like it, but it works.

 

what about ducting air in from elsewhere in the engine bay, and instead of simply having a heat shield, have the air flow around the exhaust mani. or headers but have a shield to block air from the intake, this way the air is not static and thus cannot transmit the heat effectively... this would be a minor decrease in temp. but a decrease none the less. this would also help with heat soak for you turbo guys.

 

bottom line:

Engines need to run in OPERATING TEMP.

with increased radiator cooling capacity, alternative ducting(vented hood, larger front bumper w/ducts) a completly optimzed flow (belly pans) and heat wrap - you will able to shed enough heat to run whatever monster you want as hard as you want without worry...anything else is just dreams and ideas...........ahhhhhhhh dreams......hehe