Rafal

I followed some good advice on this forum and hand stitched two "thermal socks" onto the plastic air intake hoses.
I used a thick glass fibre, woven and aluminum coated thermal shield fabric.

I made the pattern by sticking paper around each hose on the table.
After cutting it open down the middle, top and bottom and stretching out flat, it was quite easy to transfer the 1/2 patterns onto the thermal fabric, allowing for its thickness and then to stich up two "S-Bend" socks.
To get rid of the bright aluminum appearance under the hood, I overlayed the ducts with thick black stockings which are well tucked into each open end and fastened with cable ties.

Does it work? You betcha!
I tested the thermal fabric first, by wrapping my arm with a single layer and then applying a hot hair dryer at point blank range, 1/4" or so- no heat was getting through at all, but I would have fried my arm without it!
With this mod, intake temperature has dropped from 120-140F to ambient 70F, as no heat gets transfered at all from the engine and manifolds to the intake hoses.
My car used to suffer badly from heat soak in 90-100F Sydney summer.
It now feels and performs like it's 60-70F outside all the time!
Not surprisingly, the airbox does not heat up as much either, as it is now constantly flushed with colder air.

srt10viper

GREAT mod. Where did you get the thermal fabric?

ROB

saber

I did the similiar type of modification some time back. The thermal material I used had velcro on the underside. Did you retain the plastic air tubes underneath the thermal wrap and have you also insulated the boxes themselves, I could not tell from the pictures but it makes a big difference also.

AmenMercedesGo

Derek could probably get us some similiar wrap from NASA in Florida.

jangy

Most US car parts places sell exhaust wrap that is similar in function. I have been planning on a similar mod. It is great to hear a memeber has had good results. i also think there is some Ceramic spray out there that does this???

Nice job and post. the color blends right in and looks very professional!!

Fikse

very nice..... want to make another set? how much?

vrus

Hey Rafal,

Great job on the intake tubes! I'm on my 2nd iteration of trying different combination of materials to make it effective and also esthetically pleasing.

I think you've got it perfect on the first try! Please share the details on the types of materials you used to achieve this final result and where they can be obtained.

SamE55

Any improvements on performance?

L8Apex

Nice Work!! Can you give us some more info?

i.e: What materials did you use & how are you measuring intake temps?

Thanks!!

Mad TKD

you can buy this stuff called Thermo-Shield. website is www.thermotec.com

They have all kinds of stuff. I have a bunch of leftover wrap i am going to use.

Rafal

YES! It has better throttle response, which is constant, irrespective of the weather or how long you've been stuck in traffic. My car was really sluggish off the mark on hot days.

Rafal

www.thermotec.com have a whole range of heat shield products and you might try a different approach too. I think it's worth the effort.

vrus

That's where I've gotten all the materials I've used so far. I was just wondering which particular products you ended up using and where did you get the black flexible sleeve from? I've never seen it in their online catalogue.

I guess you used the regular Aluminized heat barrier without the adhesive backing. I've been using the adhesive backed product but over time the glue comes apart. I since switched over to the velcro slide-over tube cover but I dont like the way it looks.

Mad TKD

they have a big sheet that you can cut to fit. I have a bunch here that i have used in the past. The only way that i have found to make it not come off is to use zip ties to help hold it on. I see he used it also on the ends.

SamE55

Great job Rafal! This totally solves the serious heat soak problem E55s have. I wonder what they would say at the dealer when you take the car in for service and they see it.

OzE55

Great job.
Where in Oz did you get the stuff?
Can you explain the "stocking" bit? Do you mean nylon ladies stockings? Wont they melt/burn?

Again, great job mate.

BenzoBoi

Anyone in the socal area that wants to get in on this? If people are interested, maybe we could all get together one day and all do this? just a thought?

Rafal

Yep, thick black stockings from Woolies Melting point of nylon is over 260C and the black flexible ducting, if it is PVC, will melt at 240C if polyethylene or polypropylene, then it will melt at 160 -230C.
So my stocking will outlast the original ducting!
I first left the inlets silver, but I did not like the silver ducting look, so I put on a sexy pair of black stockings, stretching the cut-off ends one inch over each duct opening so that it can be tucked in when connecting to the airbox and front inlets.
BTW, the thermal sleave fits so snug around the pipe that there is no need for cable ties.There is a long stich top and bottom and two s-bend halves of thermal fabric.
Contact Nigel at www.merlynproducts.com.au in QLD for the glass cloth.

lbE55

Victor:

Which product is the "velcro slide-over tube cover?" (I've been on Thermotec's website, but wasn't sure of the product that you were referring to.)

Is it the product called: "Cool-Air Tube Heat Shield?" (That product has a "lace-up" design, not velcro.)

Your assistance is appreciated.

Mark.

P.S. Haven't heard of your exploits in a while. How's the tuning going? Any new dynos?

L8Apex

Rafal,

How are you measuring intake temps?

lbE55

I just went out and looked at the intake tubes.

It appears that the tubes pull (snap) out. Rather simple. No special tools needed for their removal.
Am I correct in this?

Has anyone (other than Rafal) tested the intake temperature before and after installation of a wrap?

Rafal

Yes you are correct, this is a very simple mod just time consuming if you are not an expert with a needle.
We took surface temperatures of the plastic parts after driving the car, before and after mods.
You do not need a thermometer though, to tell how hot all the ducting gets next to the engine. Now, when I remove the ducts from the airboxes and feel inside both, they're totally cool (and they look cool too .

lbE55

Anyone (Victor?) measure air intake temps with a datalogger before and after application of a wrap?

I have to say, even in my feeble little mind, a drop in intake temps from 120 to 70 seems optimistic. That being said, it doesn't appear to be too complicated (or expensive) and if it helps, I'm all for it.

vrus

Dont confuse IAT temps with SURFACE temps. The surface temp of the intake tubes could be 40F - 50F lower but that doesnt directly correlate to a 50F drop in IAT. It will help, but the exact benefit can only be seen with the datalogger before & after like you stated (which I havent done myself).

The important thing to keep in mind is that the intake tube wrapping will help make the intake temperature more consistent by not allowing the heat soak of the incoming air.

Between all of the thermotec'ing I did and the addition of the Evo Cooling upgrade I was seeing between +5 and +10 of ambient IAT temps.

P.S-> The velcro tube cover that I was referring to is made by DEI and is carried by SummitRAcing. Go on the summitracing site and do a search for DEI intake tube and you will find it.. when I get home I'll check the part # for you.

lbE55

Victor:

I think that it is part no. DEI-010402. It indicates that is 24 inches in length and 7 inches in width. It uses velcro. Does that sound about right?

Also, trying not to reinvent the wheel, did you wrap the tubes with the material (like a bandage), or did you lay the tube in the wrap (length-wise) and attach it that way? Finally, how many wraps did you end up using? It doesn't seem like one wrap is enough for one tube; it seems as though you might need two wraps for each tube (total of four).

Your assistance is appreciated.

Mark.