Engine bay heat removal?

[AlfaBeta]

Hi gang,

Does anyone have any ideas (or has anyone tried) to minimize heat build up in the engine bay? These cars seem to run fairly hot and this heat already causes some typical problems (ABS pump cooking, hose warpage etc.) Would small vents in the hood look stupid? What about installing a small electric fan? Just some thoughts.

thanks
AlfaBeta

[slyalfa]

Yea it is real bad. I put tinfoil over the headers and over the ABS pump that seem to help a lot. I have thought about cuting out the fake vents at the bottom of the windscreen to be real vents. I think that would help a lot but would make the noise level rise too.

[jazig.k]

look for exhaust wrap on ebay or 'Ricer' sites. dont know if it works but you see alot of it wrapping turbo plumbing and extractors in the 'ricer' mags, and street/drag cars.
small vent/s would look a little silly, might suit if your carfull. the only bonnet scoops to suit alfas (that iv seen) is the WRX on a sud's front half of the bonnet. even dad liked it...

[AlfaBeta]

Hi guys,

Yeah I did the same thing with my ABS. They have this flexible heat sheilding material with an adhesive backing (it looks like cloth but with a metallic coating). I wrapped the accumulator and the ABS pump motor with it. That is a good idea Slyalfa with the "vent" behind the hood. You're talking about the plastic portion that the windshield wipers go into right?

AB

[fraz]

Header wrap works well. I haven't done it to my Verde yet but have done it on a few of our race cars. I was waiting to get real headers first (DOM tubing) since I don't know how effective it would be on cast headers. It is essentially fiberglass cloth that you wrap tightly and secure with safety wire.

[slyalfa]

I used the wrap once the the header cracked by the next week.
I was not driving the car the GF was and the was before I added the bar to protect it from bottimg out so she might have hit it. but I never tryed again. it is common for the wrap to crack cast headers. so I never did it again.

> plastic portion that the windshield wipers go into right?
yes that part that look like vents but is sealed. on other cars that part is not sealed the ribs go all the way in. And the hot air is sucked out there. I do not know how hard it would be to get the air out there is might be as easy as removing the back wetherstrip.

[sslim]

i used to use exhaust wrap and the problem i have is the wrap tends to crack after sometime (fibreglass) and i get 'cloth' dangling all over.

now i am using TECH LINE exhaust header coating and it works much better than exhaust wrap. it is a paint that applies directly onto headers, easier and faster application without the hassle.

check it out here http://techlinecoatings.com/Retail.htm

[P.Webb]

I have my headers coated from Jet Hot. It significantly reduces engine compartment temps. It's expensive but worth it. And it saves them from rusting and pitting.

-Peter

[elite38868]

I see several folks on this thread are from CA. What have the smog technicians said about this?

[Duk]

Thermal barrier ceramic coating applied to the inside of extractors/manifolds and secondary pipes helps keep the heat out of the material itself.
Ceramic coatings and/or fibreglass insulations applied on the outside of exhaust pipework keeps the pipework material temperatures higher, promoting thermal fatigue. The rusting and cracking you get.
The best method of keeping exhaust heat inside the exhaust pipework is a thermal barrier coating applied on the inside and the outside. Fibreglass insulation can also be wrapped around the pipe.
Any fibreglass insulaion should be painted with several coats of high temperature paint. This helps stop the fibres from fraying and going every where and makes it less porrous, so it's less likely to soak up any oil spilt on it.

[MarcusHMM]

Jet Hott and similar coatings are mostly cosmetic and do very little as far as heat soak from the headers.

A true thick ceramic coating inside and out is the only cure. Unfortunately the word "ceramic" get abused and used by marketing. Look at Swain Technologies and at their coatings technology. They are truly superior as well as a few other true ceramic providers.

I have used their header coating on Olds 455 headers in a GMC motorhome and they reduced engine compartment temps by about 40 to 50 degrees. I had engine compartment temps close to 190 degrees on hot days. After the Swain coating the temps went down to 140-150 on 80 degree days. I had a 4 temp gauges in the engine compartment and could monitor it directly.

Its not pretty, but it works. Guess you have to decide between show and go.

Take a look:

Racing Coatings - Automotive Coatings from Swain Tech including engine piston coatings, ceramic coating services engine, automotive ceramic coating, ceramic header coating, dry film lubricant, race engine coatings, exhaust header coating

I am not affiliated with Swain Technology in any way other than being a satisfied customer.

I plan on using their coatings on my 24 Valve engine build. Pistons skirts and tops, bearings, valves and heads as well as the headers. They are not inexpensive, but well worth the cost when you figure in the cost of hard to find and expensive parts.

Marcus