What did you do to your SMB today?

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by Oogs

Wrapped the exhaust between the muffler and catalytic converters. I used a whole 50' roll and ordered another to go from the cats to the manifolds. Then it's additional shielding on the underside. Trying to cut down on the heat soak into the van, the floors get hot and radiate heat long after we've parked.

I did that on my 460 van. The radiant heat from that big block and headers was insane. I have no idea how it worked out as I sold the van pretty soon after. You'd have to ask the 7th owner since no one seems to keep it for long.

[Oogs]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

I'm trying to decide if that's a good or bad thing. In winter I really like it, not so much in summer though. I'm thinking about additional insulation on the floor that I can remove in winter.

Took our first trip since wrapping the exhaust. Noticed a slight difference but not much. The biggest source of heat are the catalytic converters that sit right between the front seats. I don't want to wrap those, consensus online says it's a bad idea. My plan for the cats is to add additional reflective/insulative barrier to the van underbody as well as on any existing heat shielding above the exhaust pipes. I still plan on wrapping from the cats up to the manifolds to cut down on heat thru the dog box. My wife drove part of this trip and I got hot foot from the passenger floor and dog box. Don't spend much time in that seat!

As far as winter vs summer heat, I'd rather cut down on the summer heat soak, we have heater for the colder temps. Pic attached of part 1 of this mod.

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by Oogs

Wrapped the exhaust between the muffler and catalytic converters. I used a whole 50' roll and ordered another to go from the cats to the manifolds. Then it's additional shielding on the underside.

I think the key is to keep the heat transfer from the exhaust to a minimum, protect the steel floor from getting hot. Wrapping is great for race cars, but unfortunately when cold the wrap absorbs moisture, holding it against the steel exhaust system. If your rig sits unused for a few weeks at a time like mine does, that moisture will rot out a mild steel exhaust system in a few short years. If you live near the coast, or salted roads, the problem is worse.


On an offroard forum, a fabricator on a Baja 500 team talked about using these double wall stainless steel baking pans, and making heat shields from them. The double wall reduced heat transfer by a lot, being steel it was strong enough to drill holes in, weld bracket to, and hold up. He claimed of all the things they tried, this was the best, they'd found for shielding. Magic pan, Baker's Friend, something like that... I guess having your pastry cook through convection, and not heat raising from the metal pan surface is a good thing.

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

... On an offroard forum, a fabricator on a Baja 500 team talked about using these double wall stainless steel baking pans, and making heat shields from them...

Ah, the Pillsbury Mod.


Just kidding, but sounds like a creative and interesting idea.




Herb

[Derek]

Thats actually a really good idea. I've been wanting to find a way to really insulate the floor in-between the front seats since I typically keep a cooler or a case of water there to make it easy to stay hydrated on the long drives.

[simplesez]

Dropped the van off for front axle seals. I've had the seals for nearly 2 months but I just haven't made time to do the job myself. Having too much fun dirt biking and mtn biking lately to spend a day tearing apart the front axle to do 2 stupid seals.

[arctictraveller]

I installed a new ARB awning, and then realized that it now will catch branches like crazy, so I went out and bought some 1.5in tubing to fabricate something of an exoskeleton to protect the awning and the windshield. Now all I need is a tube bender.

[pjpvi]

Originally Posted by simplesez

Dropped the van off for front axle seals. I've had the seals for nearly 2 months but I just haven't made time to do the job myself. Having too much fun dirt biking and mtn biking lately to spend a day tearing apart the front axle to do 2 stupid seals.

You are much much much smarter than I! I just replaced my front axle seals this weekend. What a job! Getting the differential out and back in was a chore to put it mildly. Had to use my winch to extract the differential. Iced the differential to shrink it while I replaced the seals and did clean up. From beginning to end including post project shop clean up was a 9 hour job.

...., but now I know I can fully disassemble and reassemble my axle should I ever need to.

[Derek]

I did an oil change today. First one in 6 months, it looked pretty good. It was dark but not sparky, sludgy, or watery. The oil pressure went up almost 20 PSI afterwards, not that it was low before but now it's really healthy. over all pretty good for a '90 with 216k miles on it.

[arctictraveller]

After replacing the rotors, calipers and pads on the front, and installing a new Redhead steering box, I dropped the fuel tank to re-patch a little crack where the tank was rubbing on the brace by the mounting strap. I epoxied the hole once about three years ago, but the epoxy came loose right at the hole, so I cleaned it all up, buffed it down the shiny steel, cleaned with Acetone, and re-patched it. Then I used rusty metal primer on all the bare steel. Hopefully it will be good for several more years.