Excessive heat on the passenger side

[70spider]

Hello everyone,
I just got back from a long ride with the wife and the heat on her side was a bit much. I do not have any carpet at the moment, just finished painting and putting in the old style sound deadening (rubber-like) stuff. I noticed when I was under the car that the exhaust runs pretty close to the trans and close to the floor. This proximity of the exhaust next to the tranny can't be good for it. I was thinking of wrapping it with a heat shield, something like this.
http://thermotec.shptron.com/p/pipe-shield-2-motorcycle
Is this a good idea? Also what is a good thermo insulation to put down inside before I install the carpet?
Thanks Pesto

[spidernut]

All it will take is a little insulation under your carpet. Reflectix from Home Depot works quite well. Almost any foil-faced insulation or radiant barrier will also do the job. Foil faced products like Dynamat and Fatmat also will do the trick.

Re the exhaust, I'm personally not a fan of wrapping the exhaust system with anything.

[So Cal Mark]

we use Dynamat

[wetminkey]

Insulate the floor and do not wrap any part of the exhaust,...that only causes metal corrosion due to trapped condensation.
My Spider came from the factory with the standard asphalt-backed carpet underlayment and a 1/4" thick foam pad to insulate against the heat of the catalytic converter under the carpet. You'll need to substitute accordingly as stated in the previous posts.
Todd.

[RRoller123]

EZ Cool is very thin and works well, not expensive either. I doubled it up over the Cat and there are no heat issues whatsoever.

[njoconnor]

+1 on Pete's recc of EZ Cool. Here's how my 72 turned out:



I added a layer to the kickpanels behind the map pockets, and covered the whole rear seat area as well. Needed 2 rolls, have enough left over for one replacement side if I ever need it. Laid it down with spray adhesive directly over the metal floors (scraped all the old stuff off). I also copied Pete's idea of 2 thin layers of hobby foam over the floor surfaces. Like your 70, my 72 does not have a cat, so a single layer of insulation with the thin foam on top has eliminated heat (and a lot of noise).

Something not always mentioned: new weatherstripping on all the openings does a wonder at reducing panel and general noise. Well worth the cost and effort, IMO.

Neil

[fredguaz]

Are your heat shields installed? Should be 2 metal shields riveted to the underside between exhaust and floor.

[70spider]

Thanks for the info.
As far as heat shields riveted to the underside, the car is a 1970 and has no catalytic so there are no heat sheilds.
I like the EZ-cool idea do you think one roll (http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-x-50-EZ-Cool- ... 70&vxp=mtr) would be enough? , I dread the thought of pulling the seats again but I think it is a must do at this point.

[4uall]

this might help

http://fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php ... =+flooring

[njoconnor]

Thanks for the info.
As far as heat shields riveted to the underside, the car is a 1970 and has no catalytic so there are no heat sheilds.
I like the EZ-cool idea do you think one roll (http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-x-50-EZ-Cool- ... 70&vxp=mtr) would be enough? , I dread the thought of pulling the seats again but I think it is a must do at this point.

If you concentrate on the floor pans and the console, (and really tuck the pattern pieces/carpet sections close), I believe a single roll will get you through. You can also piece it, and cover the seams with aluminum tape (you'll need that anyway...a roll will do). Well worth doing, IMO, even with the seat removal PITA.....

4uall's thread was very helpful when I did mine; Pete's thread as well.

Neil

[fredguaz]

Thanks for the info.
As far as heat shields riveted to the underside, the car is a 1970 and has no catalytic so there are no heat sheilds.
I like the EZ-cool idea do you think one roll (http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-x-50-EZ-Cool- ... 70&vxp=mtr) would be enough? , I dread the thought of pulling the seats again but I think it is a must do at this point.

I have a 77 with no catalytic converter but my heat shields are n place. One is well forward of where the cc would be.
Hope his helps.

[bradartigue]

The transmission gets very hot. A lack of insulating material and the interior boot will bring a lot of heat from the transmission into the car. It is far worse when the top is up / vent windows open. Why the passenger side is worse than the driver's side is the proximity of the exhaust, air passing through the engine bay and under the car is simply heated on that side. Cars with the original pan (even the early cars had them originally) don't experience this quite as much from what I've noticed.

[Exit98]

I dread the thought of pulling the seats again but I think it is a must do at this point

Not sure why pulling your seats is such a chore although getting the screw head bolts out can be a hassle. I replaced mine with these allen head bolt I got at my local Tru-Value store. Now I can use a ratchet to get them in and out. Big improvement.



Sorry for the size. For some reason Photobucket wouldn't let me resize the picture.

Also when pulling the seats its important that the seats go back and forth the full length of the rails to allow maximum access to the bolts. The rails sometimes lock up before full range. You should be able to easily see and reach the bolts front & back. Once the seats are out clean and lube the rails.

Good luck.

[4uall]

+10 on new seat bolts

http://wwwe.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopi ... =seat+bolt

[Exit98]

You know Jay, I'll bet I got that idea from you and that post.

Works great, thanks.