i was wondering how hot it will be around the tranny housing after removing the tar. and if anyone thinks its necessary to remove the tar that is on the firewall.

 

I don't see how it could make a difference in drifting, but it makes a weight difference in real racing. Can't say about heat, I've never run a car with the crap still in. If you're worried about it go to Home Depot or Lowes and look for some stuff called Reflectix. In case they don't carry it anymore, it looks like bubble wrap with tinfoil over it. Wrap the tunnel and the exhaust path and you'll notice a huge difference in temps. I'll be doing that this summer in my car, I've almost killed myself too many times not to.

Works great under the carpeting in a motorhome, too.

 

I usually refer an RX without tar as a car-b-que. Racers just deal with it----- drink more fluids! I've seen floor paint change color and remote batteries melt. Keep your stock heat shields around the exhaust they don't weigh much and are well designed.

 

^ Oops

 

My tranny tunnel gets pretty hot, but as long as you're moving and getting airflow down there, it really isn't that bad. The bump on the passenger side right above the cat is probably the worst. I could honestly see someone burning their leg there if the car had been running and sitting for a while. The heat doesn't bother me one bit in the winter/fall/spring months. There are some days in the summer (85+ deg) where it just plain sucks, but whats new? It just sucks a bit more that it would if I had the tar in place.

I plan on putting some Reflectix, or something similar, under the tranny tunnel in the summer also.

 

The reflectix may melt under the car, but it should keep the inside pleasant. My only in-car experience with it was a buddy's Hobby Stock (circle track) car.

In the summer, the interior of the car was only 5-10 degrees hotter than ambient, so it was still 110 degrees on the interior!

It does wonders for sound/temp in the motorhome, though, and everybody knows what a connection a FWD 455 Olds and a RWD 12A have!

 

yep. it will be hot.

 

chris taylor i dont actually just drift lol, but i love to get sideways in my free time, but i do autocross and would like to start roadracing after experiencing some lapping sessions. but thank you all for your feed back, too bad i have removed my exhaust heat shields about 2 years ago lol. im gonna be cooking. o well ill deal with it.
thanks again

 

The heat shields really don't make much of a difference... at least not for their weight. Some aluminum panels fabbed in their likeness might, but not worth my time!

 

I firmly believe in heat shields for the exhaust system. I tried running without them for awhile, but the floor temp was above 212 degrees; water would boil on the inside of the floor. I fabricated a new set of heat shields from firewall all the way back. It is very important to have a heat shield keep heat off the side of the transmission too.

 

Never noticed any difference on my FD, but the tar doesn't completely cover the tunnel anyway. It was only worth about 6 lbs for the entire car. I can't say it was worth it. I increased my running and laid off the Big Macs.

Gene

 

lol easy for you to say, if i could lose more weight i would but already at a wopping 135 after losing 20 pounds after i got about 4 different appliances in my mouth to fix it lol, but thanks for the opinions everyone. has anyone used a block of dry ice to remove it before.

 

that whole 135 pound thing was exxageration. if i lose more weight it wont be healthy lol

 

Drifts...
Dry ice is the ticket. I broke it up and spread a layer on the floor, working about 1 square foot at a time. You will hear the tar pop and crack as it freezes. When it does, move the dry ice to another section, and quickly hit the frozen tar with a hammer. It will shatter into easily removed pieces. It is a little more difficult to get it off the sides of the trannie tunnel, but with a little patience, you will get that off to. There was very little wiping with mineral spirits to get rid of some small bits. It looks alot cleaner this way also.
I did leave the exhaust heat shields under the car AND between the exhaust and the fuel tank. (I notched one of the ones under the car for easier tranmission removal )

Jim

 

Dry ice is the ticket if you don't have real winters where you live. When I lived in Ohio I just put the car outside on a nice cold night(below 20 or so) and worked it over with a ballpeen hammer in the morning. The stuff popped off in sheets. The areas directly over the exhaust pipes and cat. were still tough though.

 

last year i de tarred the back by spraying co2 all over then it shatterd off no problem but the other day i began on the passenger side in front of where the seat is and i also got the top and side of the tranny tunnel. but now i have a bunch of black gew leftover stuff, that looks like hell. will that mineral spirits remove all of that stuff. because i think next weekend me and a bud of mine are gonna throw down together on dry ice so he can detar is wb first gen also. thanks lol j grew i tottaly missed out on the free way to do it. my car did sit outside all winter behind my buddys house i shoulda taken a hammer to it then . lol

 

You could use Diesel fuel also, but the mineral spirits might be cheaper with current fuel prices...

 

lol alright, iv never heard of using diesel for anything before thats pretty cool.