Just bought a 2002 electron blue convertible auto. with 16,000 miles and notice excessive cockpit heat. When you open the center console door it is really hot there too. All gauges and temps are reading correct but I never noticed this kind of heat in my 86 Convertible. Do these aftermarket blanket heat sheids for the Tranny really work? Seem expensive, any other ideas - comments out there?

 

Is this what you are talking about?

http://www.exoticvette.com/insulation%20c5.htm

I really don't think it is THAT unreasonable, considering the time savings you'll experience from not having to do all of the cutting, yourself.

Dave

 

I have my own advanced materials company and have been involved in the manufacturing, sales, and distribution of high-temperature thermal textiles for over 13 years, with customers like Boeing, Lockheed, U.S. Army, Air Force, BP Amoco, Ford, Ferrari, Formula1 Racing, to name a few.I've helped manyfriendsinsulate their classic car interiors, especially Corvette's and Camaro's.The last onewas a'75 Corvette. We insulated thefloor and transmission with the same insulation used to insulate the newestfighter jet engine bays, catalytic converter (OEM only) heat shields, and insulation for military Humvees usedthe desert as they too wereWAY too hot on the inside!

The '75's interior temp with the windows up, in the summer, had to be at least 110F, maybe 120F. All I sayisthe T-Tops had to be off just to keep from passing out! After the install, the interior temperature dropped to normal levels.Here's what I did:

Laida blanket about 1/2 inch thick (blanket compresses) to cover thefloorboards andtransmission. The material is easilycuttofit perfectly. I used high-temperature silica woven tape to secure the blanket as required (Maybe overkill, but I have the tape in stock so why not!) Thenre-installed the interior pieces. A lot of aftermarket guys offer aluminum foil backed insulation. Ididn't bother with aluminum foil because there's so little airflow in those areas (heat-soak) that the aluminum foil simply ends up transferringthe heat anyway.If we would have used foil,we would have used...believe it or not...Reynolds wrap! Why? Because it's just as good, maybe better, than the aluminum foil that's glued onto blankets. Plus, it'sa LOT cheaper!I've outfitted cars with and without the aluminum foil and really couldn'tnote much difference either way.

I get a kick out of all the cheapo run-of-the-mill insulation offered by the aftermarket folks.From what I've found, the aftermarket stuff is designed more for looksthan function. Plus, you're paying through the nose to have some importer tack on a bunch of profitonthe backs of sweatshop laborers simply to cut the material. It's easy, just get a big piece of cardboard, cut to the shapesto be insulated,then use as a template to cut the material.

Hope this helps! By the way, I wrappedmy (always melting) plug wireswith myhigh-temperature woven textile tapes. I can't remember the last time I melted a wire!

Happy "COOL" motoring!