Anyone know how to build a intake heat shield? I have a apexi intake system and want a heat shield while I save up for a pettit racing intake.

 

make your own like this guy!

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=164836

 

Save up for Pettit? Contact "RR&R" for their version (link). I think it looks alot nicer. They don't have any pics, maybe someone that won one from Sevenstock can post a pic.

Otherwise, buy some K&N filters yourself and a RE-A cooling panel from jt-imports and make your own. Ack, now that i'm staring at it. I'm not sure if it lays flat or it's vertical. If it's flat it should work with your Apexi intakes (like the Blitz).

You could also trace the heat shield from the Blitz kit, cut it out of aluminum and have it heat coated but you also would need the L brackets, screws and nuts.

 

Maybe it is just me, but does anyone else see a problem with most heat shields including the homemade one on this post? They leave a huge gap to allow heat from the turbos to soak the pipes and surrounding air. If I were building a heat shield, I would focus on 1500+F turbos as opposed to 180F radiator air.

Anyone else with me on this one?

 

the thing you are forgetting white, is the air flow factor, the air flow fromt eh front to the bak of the engine bay (in general) and especially when the radiator fans are kickin in, .... the turbos are behind the filters....so the cold front air that gets by the filters actually helps cool the turbos ....... but at slow speeds and at a stop, i do see the concern

 

by the way, i will be posting my templates soon, just posted a preview pic...

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=164836

 

Don't forget to rig up some sort of cold air ducting from the nose of the car... When I used to have an RE Amemiya intake, I had two 3" ducting tubes zip tied to the filter grill ramming cold air into it.

Every little bit helps.

 

agreed jpandes, i use the unused oil cooler opening and made a small cut in the undercarage panel that 'scoops' the front ground air

 

Damian,

Please don't take this as being snotty: If you have ever done any Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as I have, you would know that you cannot assume air flow is front to back in the engine bay. There are so many factors that affect air flow in the engine bay such as external air flow under the car, convection turbulence, radiator fans, air flow blockages from hoses, etc...

I am simply stating that it wouldn't be too difficult to build a back to your shield that would fit under your intake pipes that would keep hot air from the turbo off your filter element. It could still heat the intake pipe. That is why you should have some ceramic paint on your pipe and not chrome finish.

 

i also recommend looking at Rotary Reliability and Racing. i was going to get one myself, but the shield would not fit with my FMIC.
their system is really nice...5 K&N filters and that powder coated shield. not a bad price too.

 

oh they should have picks on their website.

 

ahh i dont take it wrong at all, its all for teh good of figuring out what is really happening, and u are right, im sure it is not a perfect front to back flow, I welcome any and all your input

>>I am simply stating that it wouldn't be too difficult to build a back to your shield that would fit under your intake pipes that would keep hot air from the turbo off your filter element.

true, but my reasoning for not making a backing plate (and maybe im way off from the actual physics of the flow) is so that i dont restrict the air flow there, with the ram air mods and the engine bay vent mods I will do next (leveraging the brake duct vents like one guy posted a while back), i hope to make a nice front to back flow in teh engine bay, pushing cold air in the front and sucking hot air out the back, and in this case a backing plate on the intake sheild would inhibit this, BUT...you are correct, those who do not have any ram/engine bay venting mods will probably benefit from making a backing plate, at a minimum to isolating the turbo heat from the filters

>>It could still heat the intake pipe. That is why you should have some ceramic paint on your pipe and not chrome finish.

actually, mine are just polished aluminum, i would never chrome them for the heat reasons... dont have $$ to ceramic coat them or i would :-) either way, you make a good point

 

Damian,

You are correct in saying that a backing plate would restrict the front to back air flow over the entire engine. I wouldn't be concerned with this though. The engine has been hot, always will be hot and is fine with that. I would focus more on getting cold air in to the intake.

The beauty of ram air is that you create a high pressure region in the intake to force air into the intake. Ideally, you would have a pipe/hose from your brake duct or second oil cooler location that would connect to a filter element that is sealed off to the outside world so that the filters would see a positive pressure. By routing cold air to the filters and only having a heat shield surrounding the filters, you are losing the ram effect.

As far as ceramic coating, you can get a can of ceramic spray paint in aluminum color from any autoparts store for $4 that does a great job for this lower temp application. Hope this helps.

 

>>By routing cold air to the filters and only having a heat shield surrounding the filters, you are losing the ram effect.

hmm, good point... I may try to fab a backing plate

>>As far as ceramic coating, you can get a can of ceramic spray paint in aluminum color from any autoparts store for $4 that does a great job for this lower temp application. Hope this helps.

ahh, i though it had to be 'coated' on like powder coating, bonded on the metal with some baking proccess, ..on my way to auto store ...

 

also guys, don't mean to step in or anything, the back sheild also creates a drag...just something to think about

 

I have heard of a couple people who have had good success with the ceramic exhaust paint that has an aluminum look to it. On a Honda board, one guy says his intake with the ceramic paint was cool to the touch all the way up at the manifold and his friends with no coating was too hot to touch.

 

xstacy7,

What do you mean a backshield creates drag? I am not clear. Are you saying that the coefficient of drag for the car will go up with an intake heat shield backshield? If it did, it would not even be measurable.

 

>>Are you saying that the coefficient of drag for the car will go up with an intake heat shield backshield?

nope, what i ment was the flow of the air in teh engine bay, not the surface of the car...

 

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=166196