mikahb

I spent yesterday and today pulling interior out of the T1 car. First surprise I had was what a nice job Phoenix did painting the interior - looks purdy!!

Second surprise was that the tub was burned completely through and the carpet padding burnt pretty badly in the back of the car. Now my car had a full hard-mounted fire system in it, but still - I didn't realize just how hot it gets back there. You can't see super clearly in the pictures, but on the drivers-side, all that's left is the filaments - all the resin has burned away. You can see where I swiped three fingers through the dust/residue in the area.

My exhaust is 3" all the way back with no cats or mufflers. So, as I do my winter maintenance stuff, I'm going to put some header-wrap around the exhaust back there as well as up where my toasty toes will be and possibly add an in-tunnel heat blanket as well.

Next time you're under your car - have a look at this area!!

Holy floorpan, Batman!


Carpet from that area (drivers side on right) - looks like it was warm.


Gutted interior shots.

rasrboy

Looking good Mikah, I will start pulling mine tomorrow and see what it looks like.

Good timing on the interior removal huh?

Aaron

stairman

pulled all the interior out of mine this weekend and the carpet pading along the tunnel by my feet was cooked and the original stick down insulating sound matt in the rear had turned to charcoal where yours burned thru. Need to find some good fireproof heat matt to put up in the tunnel. Aaron you are going to be surprised at what you find.
Since I am not going T1 the car is on a major diet.

rasrboy

I never noticed that much heat by my feet but we will see how it looks. I'll post some pictures of mine too and post.

mikahb

Yup - the carpet backing down the sides of the tunnel along the bottom 4" or so was "golden brown" - but not extra crispy like the back! Thermo-Tech makes a heat blanket specifically for the C5 tunnel - if I can find out how much it weighs, I might look into that. Seems like I picked one up one time and was surprised by it's heft - but that could also be just a hallucination.

I wish I could've weighed what came out - seems like a lot of stuff.

Z06Fix

Looks like the new rule came just in time.

Phoenix really does do nice work.

Falcon

When I took the carpet out mine last year, I left it in the driver's footwell and on the xmissin tunnel where my right leg rests. I knew how hot it was going to be without it.

MJM

What model of Recaro seat is that?

How low can you get it to mount for headroom issues?

Can you adjust the layback angle?

Is it HANS compatible?

Thanks,
Matt

0Randy@DRM

Congrats T1 guys, racing with interior is stupid. And very unsafe.

Randy

gkmccready

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pro...p?Product=1828

I was thinking about using some of this stuff where things get roasty...

SouthernSon

I installed the fitted blanket underneath the tunnel (outside). Kinda pricey but does a great job. It was around $250 but after burning the imprint of an allen key I was removing from the console onto my fingertips I thought I would like one. I do like it. But, also, heavy!

wallyman424

mikah, our cars are twins! I have those exact same marks!

drivinhard

You're welcome

All int plastic trim bits (sans door panels, and all speakers), fastners, visors, seatbelts and bolts - 23.10 lb
Driver's carpet - 11.62 lb
Pass carpet - 10.56 lb
Headliner - 2.62 lb
Remaining carpets (rear tub, etc) - 14.95 lb
Owner's manual glovebox kit - 1.18 lb
Passenger floor mat - 1.50 lb
Driver's floor mat - 1.47 lb
Spare Tire kit 5.74 lb
Stock Driver's power seat - 40.96 lb
Passenger manual seat - 30.32 lb
Radio head unit - 4.38 lb

(haven't weighed the radio bezel/center console)

mikahb

Hey Matt - it's a Recaro Pro Racer HANS seat. Yes, it's fully HANS compatible. You can adjust height and layback using the (side) seat mounts. I have mine mounted where the bottom of the seat is about 1/4" off the floorboard and I've got almost 4" of headroom (I'm about 6' 2"). I removed the slider mechanism yesterday which gained me about 1 1/2" of extra headroom and makes the feel more solid. I love the seat - well worth the investment IMHO. They even make a full carbon fiber version for about $2600!

Mark - thanks for the weights! Looks like the stuff I had left in there should be worth close to 90 pounds - sweet!

Arte - yeah, I thought that thing was pretty heavy. Too bad because it seems otherwise like a nice solution. I like the idea of the insulation being outside which keeps the metal inside from getting quite so hot.

Glen - I've been doing a lot of research last couple of days on different options. I think at the moment, I'm leaning towards some of the heavier felt/laminate type stuff in the tunnel, some header-wrap in the back where the body got burnt and also just aft of the manifolds down to the front of the X-pipe (where the cats were) and then add adhesive-backed stuff like you linked inside as needed.

Walead - glad to know I'm not the only one!

Working on getting an aluminum radio bezel/front center column cover made this week where I can mount my Active Handling button - it's kinda fun to get to do a little fabrication on my T1 car!

L98Terror

The first time I ran my race car at an HPDE I melted my main power cable that ran along the tunnel to the point it started to ground out and fill the car with smoke. Makes me wonder how hard the car was ran before I bought it.

gkmccready

On another note for C6 folks, don't leave anything in your rear storage compartments if you're going to run hard. They get smoking hot since they are literally right beside the exhaust and they're just plastic buckets. I'm waiting for mine to melt...

FasterIsBetter

If heat is a major problem, consider using Koolmat:

http://www.koolmat.com/main.htm

They make a pre-cut kit for C5 Corvettes. I've used their product in several overly hot old cars, including several Jaguar XKEs, and it really is a miracle product. On the E, I used to burn my thigh and the right side of my foot on the transmission tunnel on long trips. Now, with the Koolmat, no more problems at all, and the entire compartment is much cooler. Great stuff. Only drawbacks -- it's not cheap, and it is not lightweight. But it does the job.

davidfarmer

The places that get really hot in OEM configuration, above the cats and mufflers, have aluminum heat shields riveted to the tub...and spaced out to give them extra insulation. You always need to be carefull when you modify the exhaust, and wrapping (either the exhaust or the body) is always recommended. Even the cheap, thin reflective tape can make a huge difference in reducing radiant heat transfer

Slalom4me

Brake line proximity?

DEI (Design Engineering Inc) and now Thermo-Tec both offer
heat sheath in tubular form with hook-&-loop (Velcro) closures.

DEI's product is called "Heat Shroud" and is available in 3/4 to 1-1/4"
dia sections. Thermo-Tec's version is called "Express Sleeves",
however, Thermo-Tec only offers it in 1-1/2" dia sections.

I use the DEI product to insulate brake lines where they pass close to
heat sources. I didn't expect the hook-&-loop to last but it has -
either it is more durable than expected or there is less heat than I
thought.

.

davidfarmer

most of the heat is "radiant" heat, not convection or conduction.....so the reflective properties not only protect your brake lines, but the velcro as well. If the velcro was line-of-site with the exhaust, it would quickly melt.

Even cheapo, reflective HVAC tape can offer tons of protection from exhaust heat, as long as there is an air gap between the hot and cool surfaces.


**btw, are the products you mention wide enough to go around ball joints and tie rod ends?????