I know that this subject has been addressed before but had a new question to pose to the choir...

I came across a product called the Cool It Thermo-Tec Tunnel Heat Shield, and wondered if anyone had used it.

The directions say that it goes between the tunnel plate and the exhaust, but the photos of the product seem to show that it's intended to go up inside the tunnel on top of the tunnel plate.

http://www.thermotec.com/c5-corvette...at-shield.html

I'm awaiting a call from the President of the company, who is reported to have an C5 and designed the product.

I've already installed a 1/4" tunnel plate with a ceramic coating, but it's not proving to be a complete solution to the heat, and summer is not here yet.

Interested in hearing from anyone that has used this particular product.

Thanks,

Ken Edney
Chandler, AZ

 

I took some heavy duty aluminum foil and made a heat blanket to go between the cats, and the floor and between the mid pipes and the tunnel plate... aluminum foil and fiberglass insulation.

 

I have the thermal bonded ceramic plate I've also insulated the interior of the car and it still gets warm. True it's not as warm as stock but you'd figure eventually I could get it down to where you couldn't tell it was heating.

 

Wow, $317.51 plus $8.90 S/H

I'll pass (and I don't mind paying a little more when a products works good and fills a need) but that is just Corvette tax at it's finest.

 

That's what I thought too. I'm putting in lg pro long tube headers and I was concerned that the heat would get worse than it already is. I was planning on getting the headers ceramic coated and took the x-pipe assembly with me to see if they could ceramic coat that too and they are able too. It's there now. Not sure how much it will cut down on the heat vs the mats that are available, but at 1/3 the price I'm willing to give it a shot!

 

Don't go by the price posted on the manufacturer's site, I"ve already found them for about $100.00 less than that.

Just want to know if anyone has tried it out yet.

Ken

 

this is much cheaper and it works

Design Engineering DEI 010412 sold at Summit for about $52

 

With the installation of Long tubes you will see a dramatic decrease in the amount of heat transferred via the tunnel. The headers hold less heat than the heavy stock manifolds and catalytic converters. I installed LG streets w/ hi-flows and the heat was reduced by 80% at least. Its a dramatic difference. Lets face it, the tunnel plate isn't a sealed unit and as such doesn't help offset heat that much. In my opinion, people that install the aftermarket tunnel plate with headers are attributing the heat reduction to the tunnel plate incorrectly.

 

I recently added the Elite Eng. 1/4" thick tunnel plate with the ceramic coating (my exhaust is stock manifolds/pipes/CAT converters with Corsa touring mufflers) to my C5.

I chose to add tunnel reflective heat shielding directly to the inner tunnel fiberglass surface, rather than use the Elite ABS plate with the added insulation, since I felt that there still would be air & heat traveling through the tunnel from the engine, and I wanted to stop most of the heat getting into the cockpit. Stuffing insulation on top (or bottom) of the tunnel plate will not do that. It would certainly reduce the heat coming up from the CATs.

The reflective heat shield is very effective, and I can only feel some minor heat where I did not apply it around the shifter (did not want to chance getting insulation into the shifter).

The reflective heat barrier I used came in a 3' X 3' square with adhesive backing on the side opposite the reflective side. It was not "fun" installing it, due to the tight confines of the tunnel with the torque tube going down the center, but I managed to do it in about 5 sections.

However, my source (Competition Products) for this material no longer shows it on their website. It was made by Fel-Pro, and is very thin (.023" with the removable paper backing). It was listed as Fel-Pro ReflectShield, and the cost was very reasonable (shipping cost more than the material). I used about 7/8ths of the 3' x 3' sheet. The material listed by PrintmanJackson from Summit looks to be probably on par or better than what I used.

Note also that the inside surface of the tunnel must be cleaned of all residue to allow the adhesive to adhere properly.

Plasticman

 

As for the Tunnel heat shield. It's hard to explain but cool as heck...There is a link to photos at the bottom:
You need to purchase a sheet of DEI heat shield part number: DEI 050502

1) Remove tunnel plate and write top on the top side of the plate.
2) Place tunnel plate over center of sheet of DEI heat shield (adhesive backing facing up).
3) Trace outline of tunnel plate and "most" of the bolt holes along the perimeter.
4) Look at DEI material and make a free-hand line just inside all the bolt holes about 1/2-3/4"
5) Take a knife and carefully cut the adhesive backing protector along the free-hand lines you created and remove adhesive backing ONLY from the middle (see photos at bottom).
6) Place tunnel plate with "TOP" facing up, carefully over exposed adhesive backing using original tracing lines. Once lined up press onto the DEI material and press down along the entire tunnel plate.
7) Flip over and fold "wings" inward to expose your bolt holes. Trim wings down as desired.
8) Re-install tunnel plate bolts.
9) Press wings against tunnel sides to keep heat away from both the top and sides of the tunnel. You're done!!!

Here is a gallery of photos:
http://www.pbase.com/callaway/tunnel

I've done this twice and I didn't secure them in any other fashion. Mine has held for 10k miles with no issues. The material is rigid so it holds it's form once you get it pressed against the sides of the tunnel. A rubber mallet can be helpful but watch what's behind the material. I've seen some people put a couple rivets in on the ends of the tunnel plate.

 

I did something very similar to KCvetteowner.

I had already installed the 1/4" thick aluminum tunnel plate, but didn't see much improvement.

So, I took it back down and installed the DEI reflective material on the outside of the tunnel. Having more of the stuff, I then put another layer on the inside, but not out to the bolt holes.

Then to top it off, I stuck a 48" x 18" layer of 2" thick pink fiberglass house insulation up inside the tunnel. This last item I found in the "racing section" of Home Depot. It's designed to go inside a hollow core door, but is just the right dimensions to fit into the tunnel. This also has the effect of closing off the front end of the tunnel opening, to keep heat from coming in as easily there.

I pushed the sides of the fiberglass bat up into the tunnel on both sides of the torque tube. Since there are no moving parts, other than the shifter, I couldn't see how it could hurt.

The net results are very good. Just finished a 2100 mile road trip and the tunnel is about 80-90% better. There is still a small amount of heat making its way up into the area of the shifter, but I don't see any easy way to correct this.

I find the problem is now corrected to the point that I can drive the car with a pair of shorts on, and not have to have butter and garlic "at the ready"

Ken Edney
Chandler, AZ (where it hit 109 degrees today)

 

I use the koolmat, here from LG's website

http://www.lgmotorsports.com/catalog...oducts_id=1565

Its pricey but very effective.

 

question - is all of the heat just an inconvenience/attention getter or does it actually do any damage? i noticed again how hot mine was after a full day of driving saturday and was wondering about that

 

Stupid question: if you have to remove the exhaust to install this stuff, why not just wrap the exhaust with fiberglass wrap?

 

Actually, all you need to do is disconnect the cat back, and the hanger springs, and drop the exhaust down. That will give you all the room you need for installation.

 

I've never read of damage resulting from the heat.

One positive is that you can keep a cheeseburger warm in the center console so you dont have to stop for a hot meal during road trips.

 

I just installed some FROST KING heat duct insulation under the carpet and on the tunnel and I have ZERO problems with heat. It even helps with noise. Its easy to install, removable if you need to and inexpensive. I also put some reflectex foil covered bubble wrap on most of the tunnel. I excluded the bubble wrap in the areas where the seat is close to the tunnel so that it didnt

They sell both products at Lowels and Home DEPOT.

 

Reflectex foil covered bubble wrap is what I used, I pulled the interior for the car and covered the entire floor pan with it!
Not only did it reduce the heat but it also reduced road noise considerably.
Did my BIL car also and achieved the same results, his is completely stock right down to the air filter.

 

I'm using the Reflectex right now. I spent yesterday (Wednesday) evening covering the tub on my coupe. The 2-foot-wide version is just right for getting into all the stowage areas, and the product creases just enough to allow you to press-fit it in place, pull it back out and cut along the creases for fine-tuning the fit (at least, that was my experience). It goes in pretty fast too; I spent about three hours working on it, being meticulous, and got about 98% of the tub covered. I'm definitely going to take a page out of Bill's book and get some of that Frost King to go along with the Reflectex for the tunnel; I want to be able to keep my iPod in there without it cooking.

On a side note... It's amazing how much road and exhaust noise that stock carpet and padding block out! I'm still working on covering the tub and drove to work this morning sans carpet; the rear tire noise was LOUD! It sounded like the whole cargo area was just open to the air. On the plus side though, my exhaust was much louder in the cabin as well.

 

Hi Bill,
I was wondering about the frost king install? Do you glue that on or is it the self adhesive type.? I would think that the shiney side faces the exhasut pipe & the foam side attaches to the t/plate. I was at HD earlier this morning. I saw this duct insulation material on a roll.It had the silver foil & a grey foam backing.It is 12" w x1/8" thick x15' long. Sold for about $16. Is this the right item or equal to the Lowes item? If not do you have a p/n or item number for the Lowes item?BTW:HD is giving the military 10% discount everyday,but you have to bring it to their attention at check out.Just found that out this morning.
Thanks for any info. provided.
robsc501