Cooking (the driver) - can the heat be easily deflected?
madda - 19/7/12 at 11:58 AM
Hi all,
After a complete re-wire my cosworth powered kitcar is now up and running and going like stink!
Naively I was worried about the car having no heaters, but now its running I have the completely opposite problem. All the heat from the engine is
blown over the driver, and even without the fan running it is pretty toasty. Once this kicks in, its uncomfortably warm!!
I am sure vents in the side of the bonnet will help, but cannot find many people reporting the same problem. Is it something you guys just put up
with?
As everyone likes pics, here is one of the first time I got it on boost with the missus in the passenger seat on the weekend 
Thanks,
Joe.
loggyboy - 19/7/12 at 12:18 PM
Do you have a full screen, or just an aero/wind deflector?
madda - 19/7/12 at 12:22 PM
A full screen. Heat seems to be coming through the dash though. Keys are warm to the touch (not hot but certainly warm) after a decent length drive.
snapper - 19/7/12 at 12:29 PM
First thing to do is to seal the engine bay from the cockpit
Tape will do for starters the silver stuff
On my car once the engine bay was isolated from the cockpit I then covered the footwell in heat mat and the engine bay bulkhead + down the tunnel a
foot, wrapped the exhaust and lifted the bonnet rear edge 1/2 inch
loggyboy - 19/7/12 at 12:40 PM
Does the engine run overly hot?
Bluemoon - 19/7/12 at 12:47 PM
Have similar issues, like above make sure the engine bay is sealed off from the footwells ect. This is a good idea in any case should something bad
happen and you need a fire wall.
With this done I still find after 100miles you start to get a bit warm, not a real issue but I am thinking of adding some cold/hot air feed vents from
the heater I have installed, this will be used on cold most of the time.
Cheers
Dan
maccmike - 19/7/12 at 12:49 PM
bit of manifold wrap may help a bit
madda - 19/7/12 at 01:03 PM
quote:
Originally posted by snapper
First thing to do is to seal the engine bay from the cockpit
Tape will do for starters the silver stuff
On my car once the engine bay was isolated from the cockpit I then covered the footwell in heat mat and the engine bay bulkhead + down the tunnel a
foot, wrapped the exhaust and lifted the bonnet rear edge 1/2 inch
I will look at the car again and see what I can do, but I think there is a lot of work to do to completely seal it off.
quote:
Originally posted by maccmike
bit of manifold wrap may help a bit
I think the heat from the turbo means this alone will give minimal benefits. There isn't really much manifold to wrap.
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Does the engine run overly hot?
It certainly runs warm!! The big turbo doesn't help. Water temps are kept below 90deg and I am not monitoring oil at the moment. This will be
added soon.
The bonnet section is very hot if removed/touched after a blast, but I just put that down to the fact a big 350bhp lump has been shoehorned into such
as small space.
If I used a lazer thermometer at the cylinder head, what temps would be considered 'overly hot'?
[Edited on 19/7/12 by madda]
MRLuke - 19/7/12 at 01:11 PM
Its a question of airflow isnt it?
Do you have the "blow-out" wings? Thinking this will vent hot air away from the cabin rather than out of the bonnet which hits you in the
face 
handyandy - 19/7/12 at 01:21 PM
excuse going off topic
But your harness buckle looks very high on your chest 
I thought it was meant to be more around /just above waistline ?
soz for mentioning it, just caught my eye.
Daddylonglegs - 19/7/12 at 01:28 PM
^^^^^^ +1
Norfolkluegojnr - 19/7/12 at 01:32 PM
Turbo jacket may help:
linky
worth a try, i'll be fitting one to my turbo A-series soon.
madda - 19/7/12 at 01:35 PM
quote:
Originally posted by handyandy
excuse going off topic
But your harness buckle looks very high on your chest
I thought it was meant to be more around /just above waistline ?
soz for mentioning it, just caught my eye.
Completely agree, I spent a while adjusting the ladies so she was safe, but mine hasn't been done yet. Wrong attitude but I was too keen to take
it for a spin after getting it running! Will sort before I drive it again.
mark chandler - 19/7/12 at 04:50 PM
You need to work on sealing the bulkhead, if for nothing other than protecting you from flames or steam if a hose comes adrift.
Once you have closed all the gaps off things should drastically improve.
tomgregory2000 - 19/7/12 at 05:12 PM
Have you got any side vents in your bonnet?
tomgregory2000 - 19/7/12 at 05:16 PM
I cut out these vents in my bonnet on my 321bhp turbo powered viento, and you could feel the heat coming out of them and it stopped the rear edge of
the bonnet from lifting at speed
You can see in this photo of the 'shelf' above where your feet are, the air has nowhere to escape to so it gets warm
[Edited on 19/7/12 by tomgregory2000]
andylancaster3000 - 19/7/12 at 06:05 PM
2nd on bulkhead sealing for keeping the heat off you - made difficult if you have an OEM type pedal box as these tend to be very open. As also
mentioned it will also stop nasty incidents if any hoses blow off.
I remember once running the car with the access panel over the pedals removed. Like you say, the heat quickly became unbearable. Having said that,
even with the BH sealed the tunnel will warm up quickly particularly when pressing on.
Simon - 19/7/12 at 06:50 PM
Open the side panels up (a la Dax Rush) - did similar to my locost and I made suce a difference.
ATB
Simon
madda - 22/7/12 at 04:49 PM
Thanks guys, been experimenting today and its amazing what some ducktape and cardboard can achieve.
Mocked it up and it makes a huge difference, so now to try and make it from something which isn't such a fire hazard!!
Hope everyone is out enjoying this fine weather