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Do under car heatshields help?

taipeichris

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
1,752
Hi Guys,

My feet and I are melting! Normally I wouldn't care too much but I'm driving my 66 as a daily driver and dam, my interior is HOT!

So my question to you is, do metal, under car heat shields really help reduce the heat through the floor?

My top is off 10 months or more out of the year so spending bucks on new carpet carpet and new sound deadener wouldn't make sense for me.

Any suggestions? I was thinking about making a set of sheet metal heat shields the length of the exhaust but will it really make a big difference?


And does the heat shield new cars have under the hood really help?

Thank you, as always, I appreciate your input.
:cool:
 

Apogee

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
Messages
6,033
Yes, they really do help. I haven't made any for my EB, but I made some for my F150 after doing an engine swap, and it made all the difference in the world...about a 40 degree temperature drop with a 16 gauge 304SS sheet metal shield above the exhaust collector and a 3/4" air gap to the body.
 

toddz69

Sponsor/Vendor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 28, 2001
Messages
10,080
X2 on what Apogee said. lars on this board made some real nice formed aluminum pieces that fit on the underside of the body near the exhaust (with a similar air gap) and he says it helps a lot. I'll do it someday to mine as well - about #47 on the to-do list right now.

Todd Z.
 

savage

Contributor
Bronco Nut
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
2,482
Loc.
Renton
X3 on what Apogee said, I had to make one for my 74 bronco, when I had long tube headers, the floor on the passenger side would get toasty on the feet. But now I have shorty headers and don't need the shield anymore.
 
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taipeichris

taipeichris

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
1,752
Apogee,

Thank you for the reply. I was wondering on the distance from the floor boards, stainless steel or aluminum and if it would make a big difference.

I think I'm going to bump this to the top of the "to do" list, up near fixing my steering column and horn... very important in traffic.

Thanks guys!
:cool:

PS Toddz69, if you have time, could you link me the post with Lars heat shields? I just looked up his profile, searched and couldn't find it.
 

toddz69

Sponsor/Vendor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 28, 2001
Messages
10,080
Chris - I don't think he's ever posted pics here. I'll ping him and see if he did.

Todd Z.
 
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taipeichris

taipeichris

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
1,752
yakelys69,

I have the BC Shorty headers with a two in one running down the passenger side but the foot wells are scorchers.

Anybody got some good photos of their heat shields?

Also, does that under hood thing help?

Thanks again!
 

yakelys69

Sr. Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
734
How are your body mounts? Just thinking extra space air and heat shield may help
 

ford man

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 31, 2008
Messages
2,206
Loc.
Leesburg Ga
One thing that has not been mention is auto transmission they put off some more kind of heat. I thought about putting a piece of metal about one inch off the body tunnel between the trans and floorboard and do some kind of reflecting material on the metal. I have not even looked to see if it would work but it has crossed my mine a time or 2 %)
 
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taipeichris

taipeichris

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
1,752
ford man,

Thanks for the input. In the past on cars with a C-4 I used double the insulation above the trans tunnel just for that problem.

Fortunately, I'm running a NV3550 and I don't think it gives off that kind of heat.
:cool:
 

5001craig

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
1,180
The first time I fired my engine up for a few minutes the brake fluid that leaked from my old master cylinder started to smoke inside around the gas pedal area. My father-in-law had some 3/4" thick foil-backed insulation he got from Summit and I put this material with a headliner adhesive under the seat areas and the firewall. Pics are in my build thread. This helped a lot (no more smoke lol) but I still can't touch it after running for a while with bare skin. It's held up fairly well but I think some aluminum plate on the hot side would help a lot in the durability dept. Mine gets sprayed with sand.

I just checked and see I don't have any pics of the insulation in my build thread. Maybe it's not that pretty. I'll have to get some.
 

ford man

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 31, 2008
Messages
2,206
Loc.
Leesburg Ga
One other thing is this exhaust wrap that you can get auto parts stores I have use it some and it does help.
 

lars

Contributor
Been here awhile
Joined
Jun 29, 2001
Messages
3,041
Loc.
NorCal flatlands
aluminum heat shield

Hi-

20+ years of various exhaust systems. A constant was scorching hot temps on the floor behind the seats when traveling with a load of gear in the back, which is mostly how I've been using my Bronco for the last 10+ years. A year or three ago (old guy, time becoming an abstraction) I bought a piece of 1100 alloy (basically pure) aluminum 1/16" thick from McMaster Carr and fabbed a rectangular heat shield attached from approximately just under the passenger side seat (I should note that I have a 2 into 1 exhaust that joins adjacent to my NV4500 transmission) to way back under the aft floorboard. Attached to the floor with 1/4-20 threaded standoffs about 1-1/2" long. If anyone is interested I can try to get some pix but it's kinda dark under there. In any case the difference is remarkable. I used to fret because during my typical trips, I'd notice that the floor behind the seats was way too hot to touch after an hour of driving. After a long day, I'd worry that I was melting stuff. With the (extremely crude) heat shield in place, I can drive all day in any condition and the floor is cool to the touch. Gotta love science...
 

dholder

Full Member
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
227
Haven't done it myself but someone once mentioned salvaging factory exhaust heat shields from a late model van and adapting to fit.
 

Apogee

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
Messages
6,033
Has anyone used the adhesive backed heat barriers that go on the bottom side of the floor? No real air gap but they probably work.

I have been thinking about using DEI floor and tunnel shield from summit in a few areas.
https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/dei-050503/overview/

I haven't used them (yet), but would like to try them out. This company has a bunch of interesting products for NVH and heat shielding, plus some pretty good explanations of what their products do and how they do it.

https://www.heatshieldproducts.com/
 
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