Hi Guys,


I bought some heat insulation from home depot. Its about 1/4 of an inch thick with a reflective surface on one side and a heat resistant backing. My question is would this go best on the outside of an airbox? My dad who's an engineer at raytheon, (in fluid dynamics?) said alot of stuff I did'nt understand,but told me to put it on the inside of my airbox with the reflective surface facing "out". Well, I value my dad's opinion but I was just womdering if this made sense to anyone. And if so try explaining it to someone a little less inclined with heat dynamics. Thanks. I guess I'm just one of those people that has to know why what and how things work.

Thanks

marcus

 

Dad's right, reflect engine heat back out to the engine compartment.

Let me edit that. I think it should be on the Outside of the box though. Not only would it be a better reflector outside, you wouldn't be changing the volume of the box.

[Edited by Bobway on 02-27-2001 at 01:08 PM]

 

the insulation on my box is about half and half:

Argh! photpoint is offline till noon! Ill post all my pics then . . .

 

Silver side out. Shouldn't make a difference whether the it is on the inside or outside. The energy still has to go through both the insulation and the airbox wall. That said, the inside would give you a smooth surface to adhear the insulation. Make sure you completely enclose the surfaces the face the engine cavity. Don't leave gaps, or you'll defeat the whole purpose of the insulation.

Might I ask what type of insulation that is? If it is the foam insulation, I would take some insulating tape and close up the edges before you install it. The foam will degrade over time. You don't want to suck the particals in to your engine.

Brent

 

Hey viscreal, where are the pictures of the girlfriend in the mini -- or did she kick you to the curb!?!

 

OK so now that photopoint is MUCH slower because of all the crap they put on there . . .

Here they are:

The hood(just in case)


In the car

Top of the airbox off, notice the radiator sheild


A better shot of the inside of the airbox



I say that it really does help out alot in hot weather.

 

Anyone have the brand name on these insulations? I'd like to get some specs and have my friend, who is a thermal engineer, run some simulations to estimate the effects. We've already done some tests that show intake temps at a stop (measuring inside the airbox) are 50-60F hotter than ambient. Just covering the radiator would help, and the insulation couldn't hurt. In the intake manifold, according to the OBDII sensors, intake temps soar to nearly 90F over ambient at a stop. While underway they drop to about 50-60F above ambient in the manifold (don't know about the airbox).

Seems like this is a good way to minimize the dreaded "heat-soak hesitation" when starting from a stop in hot weather.

UL

 

I can tell you it really does help, I have had it on for about a year. Since then have done the TB, K&N filter, and the FPR.

The insulation I used was called Rubatex, a closed cell type similar to neoprene. I would have taken more temp. readings but I want to wait 'till it gets a bit warmer around here.

 

STL- " Hey viscreal, where are the pictures of the girlfriend in the mini -- or did she kick you to the curb!?!"

Wow! Thats an old forum cry. I still have'nt gotten gold status yet! Hmmm..



not yet but she did marry me, so far so good (:

-m

[Edited by viscreal2000 on 03-01-2001 at 08:02 AM]

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ultimate lurker
[B]Anyone have the brand name on these insulations?....