Heat proofing the bugeye cockpit

[TexasSprite]

Here is a what I was working on this weekend in an attempt to cool off the barbecue pit where my feet reside while driving my bugeye in the Texas heat. The foil backed damping material is from www.secondskinaudio.com and is a whole lot cheaper than Dynamat. It is supposed to limit the heat as well as damp out some of the noise. You get times three effect if you double layer it, so I plan to do that in the footwells. It does make the doors sound a lot less tinny when you close them. I made patterns out of heavy craft paper, then used a heavy pair of scissors to trim the sheets to match the patterns. This worked out easier than using a utility knife. A small roller was useful in pressing it into place.

To get ready for this step, I cleaned all the sheet metal up, applied POR15 to seal it up. With this done, I'm finally getting around to installing the interior (Moss carpet and panels). As you can see, I've got the first two carpet pieces in place, a process that actually went pretty well. No blood on the carpet or fingers permanently glued together!

Mike

 

[Sarastro]

Looks good! Please let us know, when you have it all finished, how much good it does. I've often wondered if these thin insulating materials really do the job--they can't have much thermal resistance, but perhaps you don't need much. And, yes, I've often thought that the insulating material from the Usual Suspects is more than a little overpriced--so thanks for the link to the Second Skin site.

By the way, which one of their materials did you choose?

 

[TexasSprite]

I am using the "Damplifier" product. What I forgot to mention in my earlier post is that the plan is to use a layer of what looks like foil faced carpet padding between the Damplifier and the carpet. I found this material at VB. It is pretty thick (1/2"), so probably can't use it around the transmission hump, but it should work OK under the footwell carpets.

Hopefully, the cockpit will be cooler. It is OK as is for short trips, but after an hour or so, your tennis shoes start to melt! If this doesn't work, I may try putting header wrap on the exhaust pipe where it passes under the drivers footwell and seat.

 

[regularman]

What I done that seems to work pretty well so far was after redoing and painting the floor with pro-15, I put on a think coat of liquid truck bed liner. It seem to have quietened and insulated the metal quite a bit. The just the regular carpet with the foarm backing and I don't notice any heat coming through even after an hour or more of driving.

 

[Whitephrog]

Interesting stuff. I wonder if their "Heatwave" product could be used for carpet padding.

 

[v8mgbal]

I did what Texasprite is thinking about doing, I wrapped my exhaust pipe with header wrap from the front all the way under the cockpit. I then painted it with high temp paint,it seems to help a lot.

 

[Golden_Swan]

I fortunately don't have a problem with heat here, but I really wanted an insulation and sound deadening product for both my Sprite build and my Land Rover.

Thanks for the good link.

How many sq ft did you use on one layer?

 

[John Moore]

I used the same stuff in my MGB and it's been great. Very happy.

 

[healeyboz]

Second skin is great stuff. I've been very happy with it as well. Definatly helps with the sound and vibrations issue. Not sure how much it has helped with the heat though. Doesn't seem to be too bad.

 

[vagt6]

Fire resistance is key, guys.

Be sure the material you apply for sound-deadening, etc., is fire resistant. We don't want flammable material underneath our, umm, backsides while driving an LBC.

Dynamat and most of the prominent materials are used by racers and more than adequate. Beware of cheap fixes. Read the labels and look for NFPA (Nat'l Fire Protection Assn) or UL ratings.

Be safe . . .

 

[TexasSprite]

Good point about lining the cockpit with flammable material, so I checked the second skin web site for their spec. They say 500 degrees. I checked the Dynamat site and they claimed 300 degrees. Just to test for myself, I stuck a scrap of the secondskin into a blowtorch flame and found that it will burn even after the torch flame is removed from the material. Of course by the time it gets this hot, the carpets would have vaporized and the gas tank would have exploded. At a 500 degrees upper range, I don't think the exhaust pipe will light the stuff on fire through the car floorpan.