Upper intake heat-wrap?

[Nixon1]

I saw someone's car with one of these once, and decided I really want one, considering how INSANELY fast the car is until it warms up and gets VERY slow.... I'm going to do some custom diddly-crap to my intake arm first because it's SOAKING up heat from that damn upper radiator hose---my intake assembly is custom--- (Home Depot) thin aluminum.

But what I'd really like to get my hands on is a heat shield for the upper intake. I saw a car once with big sleeve-looking one....out of a fabric-type material. Do any of you know where I might find or who sells any upper intake heat shields?

Thanks!

[PKRWUD]

Okay, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you're talking about the air inlet tube, rather than the upper intake manifold. If you are, go to a plumbing supply house and get some pipe insullation with the same inside diameter as your "custom intake" outside diameter. It's basically a foam tube that is slit up one side so it can be placed around a pipe.

Works excellent.

If that's not what you were talking about, nevermind.



Take care,
~Chris

[Nixon1]

Well, in part I am referring to the air inlet tube. Like I said, I made a custom in-fender intake, but it's made out of thin aluminum. What I need to find for it is some 4 in. insulation. Home Depot, Lowes, etc. around here doesn't seem to have any insulation wrap bigger than 2 inches.

But the main piece I'm talking about actually wraps OVER and AROUND the upper intake manifold. Like I said, I KNOW it exists SOMEWHERE because I've seen someone's car with one of them. Maybe it was custom, I don't know. But it looked like it was made to fit and just slipped over.

[fiveohpatrol]

this what you're talking about I assume?


Steeda makes them, and they are almost $300. Not exactly worth it in my opinion unless you're an autocross/roadracer.

[fiveohpatrol]

now come to think of it, you would probably HAVE to run a phenolic spacer to keep the heat from conducting from the lower intake to the upper, because yes this blanket would shield any heat away from the headers, and the rest of the underhood area, but it would also be keeping IN whatever is conducted to the upper from down below.

Theres other things out there for a few hundred bucks that will make the intake charge really cool, and it comes in a pretty blue bottle

[Nixon1]

.....? Pretty blue bottle? Ok, I was all good, but you completely lost me there! God..$300 just for a heat shield. Screw that. I could get some longtube headers for that price. Plenty of other power-adders that fit that bill. Neeeeeevermind. I can just make something myself.

[fiveohpatrol]

this clear things up?

[PKRWUD]

I see. Thank you for clearing that up, Nixon. Your comment about making it yourself out of thin aluminum led me to believe you were referring to the air intake tube.

I agree that it wouldn't be money well spent.

[Nixon1]

Lol...I didn't mean I would make the shield out of thin aluminum...I meant my air intake assembly is made out of thin aluminum. Goes way down deep into the fender to a conical. $40 total...$20 for filter, $20 for Home Depot pieces. Can't beat it! It's just a bunch of various 4 in. and 3 in. pieces connected together. Apparently no one knows exactly what 3 inches diameter is, so I managed to find a combination of 4 and 3 inch pieces that, somehow, fit together without any adapters.

If I could afford nitrous, well.... I wouldn't have it. Because I need new heads first!! Damn stuck-open exhaust valve....

[PKRWUD]

Exhaust valves don't usually just "stick open". What's the story there?

[Nixon1]

Let me rephrase.. There's something wrong with my exhaust valve... I think at least. Low compression on cyl #8, slightly rough idle, still running rich after replacing various sensors (ECT, both O2's, TPS, IAC) AND fuel injectors AND ignition components (plugs, wires, cap/rotor, coil) AND a new intake assembly. The motor shakes constantly when it idles even though the rpms don't fluctuate more than maybe 50, and has intermittent, random misfires, and a constant ticking.

[QuantumMotorsports]

Your engine sounds fuct man!!! Tear that baby down and fix her, but don't use any custom parts when you do that

[FritzDaKat]

At least pull your valve covers and check the pushrods, mabey rig a socket up to manualy actuate the rocker's and pop it on a torque wrench just to see if any of the valves have unusual stiffness.

Also, as long as your playing with duct work at the Depot, why not set up a "Ram air" box to blow down on the intake a bit more?

[Nixon1]

If it weren't such a pain to get everything off to even get to the valve covers, I would've done it already. I've never torn a motor down. I don't have the tools or the skill to do a lot of things like that myself yet. If I were living on my own, and felt more experimental, I would. But I'm living with my dad constantly breathing down my next and secondguessing everything I do. I changed my oil and he WATCHED me the whole time, criticising me.... But ah well. I'll replace the heads when I get to them. The motor's got 147,000 miles....problems like this are something I expect, especially considering the previous owner ran it on nitrous....only a dry kit though.

And as far as a Ram Air box, considering there are so many bends in the intake system because the intake sits at the VERY bottom of the fender, I don't think ram air would help it any unless it was a straight or almost straight shot right into the throttle body. I would think, with my setup, that a ram air box would actually hurt me on the 1/4 mile because of the aerodynamics of it...