stephens

Talking to an MBNZ guy yesterday, who co-ordinated development of a CLK55 for Targa Tasmania, an Australian street race/rallly, he advised me that they lowered air intake temepratures by 10 degrees celsius, simply by covering the base of the air cleaner box with silver tape. He sais that as the base was so large and being matt black it acted as a huge heat soak. This is apparently worth over 10 RW HP.

pocholin

uhmm... may be I'll try adding an aluminum cover on the bottom of the air box, or find the right silver tape.

JamE55

If you do this let us know if it really works.

pocholin

OK, i'll inform this forum

stephens

yeah, I spent the morning trying to find the right tape, I'll wait until Mon and find out where to get it.

pocholin

What king of silver tape are you talking about?
I hope not duct tape!

I think i've seen a silver-shiny tape that seems to be metallic.

Alfonso

stephens

Duct tape is not reflective enought nor heat resistant enough. he said heat resistant silver tape. If I knew what it was I would have bought it already!!

techbike

I think you're talking about this product. I found this in AVS stores and used it to line the landing light tunnel on a small airplane. It came in 5" rolls, adhesive-backed. It handled like mylar mirror film (very thin). I'm passing by that store today and if I find it, I'll post the exact part#.

pocholin

I've found this Aluminum roll, it is the same material (here we go again) my Impala SS Ram Air Intake duct had, but not corrugated.

I'm going to cut it to size the bottom of the air box and test at the track this friday.

I also hace a cool kill story to share, but I'll do that at the off topic forum (2 stories today)

stephens

What is "this aluminium roll" called and what sort of supplier did you get it from? MBNZ suggested I try a power steering specialist as they often wrap PS hoses to protect them from exhaust heat.
Regards

pocholin

I got the first alimunum piece I could find, It is called:
U-Fix-It, by XCel, Aluminum Roll for body repairs, i got it at Autozone on the body repair section, here are some pictures of the work performed today.

pocholin

Part 1, cutting and molding, what a pain!

pocholin

Part 2, more cutting, molding and trimming!

stephens

Nice job. Don't foget to do the air intake hoses as well.

pocholin

I know we should do the intake hoses as well, but I don't like the fact that it will show a lot.

techbike

Just my 2c; I think there may be too much mass in the material you're using and will absorb and retain heat rather than reflect it. The chromesilver repair tape I mentioned is much thinner(almost like mylar) and adhesive-backed. I ordered it yesterday online but I have address at the office. I'll post it later. It was designed to reflect light and heat.

stephens

techbike
You referred to the film coming from an AVS store. Is this the store name or an acronym for a type of store?
Thks

techbike

talking about. I couldn't find it again but somebody at another forum had it. It was specifically designed for heat.
click here:


heat reflective tape

stephens

Thanks.

pocholin

I found the heat reflective tape locally in houston, i already have it, I'll put it on tonight and post pics a.s.a.p.

I'll go to the track tomorrow afternoon and post the results, I also got this Royal Purple product that goes in the radiator that is supposed to reduce temperature by 15°F, i'll try that at the same time, this is similar to weter water.

stephens

From 2 stroke motorcycle racing it has been my experience that having the engine run cooler is not neccesarily good for power production.
BMW, for example has actually increased the temp that it's engines work at, to improve thermal efficiency. This does not apply to the inlet charge though, where cooler is much better.
You also run the risk of premature engine wear, as the engine clearances are set for the designed operating temperature.

stephens

pocholin
what are your thoughts on the ribs on the top of the airbox and their effect on airflow?

pocholin

Do you mean on the bottom of the air box? where the unfiltered air enters?

They make sense, they split and direct the air, that way it gets more distributed on the whole surface of the air filter.

Here are the pics of the Termo-tec heat shield (this is the self adhesive, I found a distributor in Houston)

pocholin

Air inlet pipes don't look pretty by any means, but if it works I'll have to find a better way to do it.

I got the blanket 12" x 12" at 9.00 each (bought two, barely enough, need more)
I also got the wrap 1 1/2" x 15' at 13.00

it is really cheap, so if it works i'm going to totally re do the air box and do a much better job with the inlet pipes.

stephens

pocholin
have a look underneath the top section of the airbox. You are referring to the base which has the curved ribs to direct the air flow. The air comes in through the bas section you have just put the heatr shielding on, and up through the air filters into the top section and through to the rear section which mounts on the MAS.
There are plastic ribs running horizontally and vertically, in a cross, which appear to be structural bracing of some sort??? The vertical braces would be good to direct the air, not the horizontal ones. Also the lip into the rear section that attaches looks pretty bad.