Successful Heat Reduction

[ronmanfredi]

I'm doing a restoration with modifications to my 63R2.  Knowing that heat is a problem with these cars plus living in Central Texas, I decided to do everything possible to reduce heat.  I gutted the entire dash and interior.  Next, I added self-adhesive heat/sound deadener to the entire firewall area, under the top of the dash, the kick panels, complete console area and the floorboards. All of the rubber boots at the firewall were replaced during this process. Once the new modern A/C-Heater and new but modified dash was back in, I ran the car up to operating condition to see how the heat was affected.  Heat was reduced except the floorboard area above the exhaust system was still too hot. I added a second layer of mat in a small area and found that it didn't really make much difference.  In doing some research, I found a company called Heatshield Products who make an exhaust wrap specifically for the problem.  Their concept is to cover about 3/4 of the exhaust system, leaving the bottom open so some heat can escape as well as condensation.  They sell their product in kits with various lengths and widths plus you can buy the material in sheets and cut it to what you need.  I purchased the precut product in the lengths that I needed for the head pipe to the muffler, and then a larger kit for the mufflers from Summit Racing.  I also bought some of their banding clamps in addition to the wire ties that come with their kits. Once installed, I ran the engine up to full operating temperature and check the floor inside the car.  The floor now had an even temperature every place I checked.  Lastly, I took a laser temp gun and measured the temperature of the shield and compared it to the bare exhaust pipe.  There was a 80-degree average temperature reduction.  I'm happy with the result.  Here are a few photos.

[mfg]

Looks to be a good solution to the interior heat issue that Studebaker Avantis have had from day one… Congrats!!🙂