Heat insulation?

[Ron Dame]

Along with cleaning out the hog troughs last week, I also received by White Post restored wheel cylinders, fixed a fuel leak, and finally, after 8 weeks of being pissed at the car, went for a drive! It was 85 outside, but the engine stayed just a fuzz over 180. I think the cabin was also running about 180 too! I have stripped out all of the old, moldy, rotten carpet, so there is nothing but fiberglass. Until this Fall when I start the cosmetics, I wasn't planning on having anything more than generic rubber mats, but that hot, hot drive is making me rethink this.

I know that these cars are pretty hot anyway, but what is the best way to reduce the cabin heat from the cowel and floor that might have some durability while uncovered?

[studegary]

Besides the usual application of modern insulation materials, add the Studebaker console cooling kit, part no. 1562554 (Service Letter F-1964-6, 12/5/63).

[Ron Dame]

I'm mostly wondering what will be both efficient and have a bot of wearability.. . maybe just for the summer, that shouldn't be that big a deal.

[Avanti83]

Megamat by FatMat. Add two layers to the firewall and footrest areas. Others will talk about getting material from the big box stores, but if you do be sure it does not have asphalt in it.

My 83 has no air and was "tolerable" running in 93 deg weather a few years ago on the way home from a zone meet. It was not baked by engine temperature and with the windows open and air moving it was fine. Did the same on my 74 but it has air.

You will need to use small pieces under the dash to get complete coverage. Tape all joints with aluminum foil tape available at the the big box stores.

Put a cheap rubber mat on the floors to protect it. If you tear the hell out of it, add another layer before carpeting but the stuff is amazingly tough.

 

Edited June 3, 2018 by Avanti83

[Ron Dame]

Gary, where can I find the service letter? Or the kit? Or see enough to make my own?

[Ron Dame]

The fatmat  and mega mat are advertised as sound insulation, not heat, thought it might be fine for that too. Being an R2, I'm pretty happy with the sound, but this is almost as bad as being the the cab of a steam loco.

Edited June 3, 2018 by Ron Dame
Stupid auto incorrect.

[silverstude]

On 6/3/2018 at 12:21 PM, Ron Dame said:

Gary, where can I find the service letter? Or the kit? Or see enough to make my own?

 

The cooling kit was a lightweight ribbed hose set that routed from the transmission shifter area to the vent area under the intake grille at the windshield.  The hoses were attached to a pair of ~1" tubes that were fixed to the floor of the under grille vent area and these tubes had 'rain hats' on them.  I'm not sure if all early cars had these tubes as they were only used for the cooling issue.   There is no air control, so if the tubes were not attached, the intake air would dump right behind the dash.  Correctly routed, they dump into the area under the shifter quadrant.     It does make a difference to have these installed, as the shifter can get pretty hot and that heat radiates into the car.  However early cars may just have the flat floor of the vent to divert rain down into the hog troughs and no means to connect a hose.   No sure if the factory kit had the tubes to add if necessary

 

 

[Ron Dame]

Thanks for that info, maybe I can fab up something similar

[studegary]

20 hours ago, silverstude said:

 

The cooling kit was a lightweight ribbed hose set that routed from the transmission shifter area to the vent area under the intake grille at the windshield.  The hoses were attached to a pair of ~1" tubes that were fixed to the floor of the under grille vent area and these tubes had 'rain hats' on them.  I'm not sure if all early cars had these tubes as they were only used for the cooling issue.   There is no air control, so if the tubes were not attached, the intake air would dump right behind the dash.  Correctly routed, they dump into the area under the shifter quadrant.     It does make a difference to have these installed, as the shifter can get pretty hot and that heat radiates into the car.  However early cars may just have the flat floor of the vent to divert rain down into the hog troughs and no means to connect a hose.   No sure if the factory kit had the tubes to add if necessary

 

 

The factory kit included the hoses.  You need to drill two 1.5 inch diameter holes in a specified location at the bottom of the plenum.  It has been decades since I was involved in the installation of one of these kits.   The kit does help with console/shifter cooling.  If you can't locate a kit, something similar can be made up.    

[Devildog]

I had great success reducing the heat by wrapping the exhaust pipes with 2" ceramic cloth webbing. That gets much of the heat past the cabin. JEGS and Summit have it in 25ft rooms for $20 ???????.   I wrapped the pipes before I installed the floor insulation material...it made significant different. 

 

Joe

[Ron Dame]

I ended up using a carbon fiber mat called Heat Blok under the carpets and all over the trans tunnel, even some into the shifter boot. That made a HUGE diffrence, this stuff is really good. From there, I noticed how much hot air was coming from under the dash, and took some foam bard and more Heat Blok and fabbed some under dash panels like modern cars. That really cooled it off, plus it tidies up the look

[Cbitz233]

On 6/3/2018 at 10:45 AM, Avanti83 said:

Megamat by FatMat. Add two layers to the firewall and footrest areas. Others will talk about getting material from the big box stores, but if you do be sure it does not have asphalt in it.

My 83 has no air and was "tolerable" running in 93 deg weather a few years ago on the way home from a zone meet. It was not baked by engine temperature and with the windows open and air moving it was fine. Did the same on my 74 but it has air.

You will need to use small pieces under the dash to get complete coverage. Tape all joints with aluminum foil tape available at the the big box stores.

Put a cheap rubber mat on the floors to protect it. If you tear the hell out of it, add another layer before carpeting but the stuff is amazingly tough.

 

Is that carbon fiber on the instrument cluster panel and the gear shift and other panels? How did you do that and what did you do I really like it.

[Ron Dame]

That is not my car, and that is Fatman insulation. The carbon fiber is black and like a blanket. But I installed it just like this. Putting it over the tunnel means you dont need to put any behind the gauge panel