Guest Anonymous Posted May 4, 2001 Share Posted May 4, 2001 Anyone got any tips on how to cut down on the interior heat in these cars? It hit 90 degrees in NY yesterday, and the car is unbelievably hot inside- the 350 is happy with its big aluminum radiator and black magic fan, but it's pumping a lot of heat into the interior of the car. I've aluminum-dynamat-ed the transmission tunnel, not sure I can tell the difference. Anyone used header wrap on the exhaust tubes running under the floor? I've got ceramic coated hooker headers, but the rest of the system is plain ol' tubing. How about heat proofing the firewall, maybe on the engine side? Some kinda stick on aluminum coated stuff? Seems like the vents are just blowing out piping hot air, hotter than ambient- must be heat from the engine compartment heating up the air intake? Alternatively, what kind of AC setups do people have with these cars? I've still got the in-car half of the 280's AC system- all the engine compartment stuff is gone- anybody attempted an aftermarket install? Maybe I should just move to Canada. Or fill my socks with ice. Q 1977 280z 2+2 350, t56, now with CV joints- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted May 4, 2001 Share Posted May 4, 2001 Q, Glad to see another 2+2 q/the 350/T56; other than the heat. How's the charachteristics of your car? It has been an idea of mine that the longer (slightly longer) wheelbase of a 2+2 & the fact the 2+2's integrity has been stiffened more than the coupe...should hanlde the a extra power of the SBC 350 &T56 & equate to a "smoother" ride. Did you have to pound on the trans tunnel to get the T-56 to fin? Anyway; about the engine heat; I havent done this yet...but I've thought about installng engine vents. Of course this means cutting the Aprons & welding tubing or installing plastic tubing & directing it outward to the sides just behind the rear of the wheelwells; something like the Pontiac T/A's of the 70's & early 80's. Many sport cars now days incorperate Fender Vents; so your choice of style depends upon you. I've also thought about using my Hood Vents (already on my 78Z) by replacing the Vents w/a low profile Hood Scoop (like something from the mid 80's Twin Turbo hoods) onto the top of my hood & directly underneath my hood redirect that air to my transmission tunnel; not sure how much I'ld benefit....but something would definately need to be done as the heat does become quite unconfortable in the summers. Wow; NY @ 90*F already; we N.Tex's have been lucky-lately w/all the wind; its given us cloud cover & kept us just at 80*F...for now/I'm sure we're only a week or so away from the 90's as well. Let me know how your ride feels/how crazy did you go w/your SBC build? Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted May 5, 2001 Share Posted May 5, 2001 move to alaska ;>>>> just joking... header wrap everything and use heat reflective material in teh eng compartment. will work good for a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted May 5, 2001 Share Posted May 5, 2001 Thanks Q, appreciate the commentary; I've done the Poly Bushings & Tokico Illuminas. Cant afford the engine/trans swap yet! Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 5, 2001 Share Posted May 5, 2001 Kevin- The 2+2 is definitely a 'milder' beast- milder compared to my friends 240, anyway. Much more solid seeming, and the extra 12" in the wheelbase makes a big difference. I had to bash out the bottom of the tunnel a bit- I originally but in a 700r4, which has a very wide oil pan- the 6 speed fits much better. I used the JTR book, and used their mounting for the v8, and invented my own trans bracket, although it looks like theirs would have worked. The v8 is a crate motor- a camaro block with corvette heads- currently using a 650cfm 'road' demon carburetor- nothing real exotic about it. The wiring was a bit of a kluge - I kept pretty good notes of everything I did, so if you have any questions, let me know. I basically scanned in the wiring diagram out of the back of a Chilton's manual and printed it out on the big plotter at work, and traced it one circuit at a time with a highlighter- not too terrible. Everything works- I'd like to replace the fusible links with something more modern, because they keep vibrating loose (especially on these sucky NY roads). I also put in poly bushings, Tokico struts (non-adjustable), and Eibach springs (the 1" lowering ones, from Motorsport Auto). The ride is wonderfully hard. And the car is a blast to drive- all that tire spinning torque under your right foot is pretty addictive. I love it. Except for the heat and exhaust fumes! Details, details. Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted May 6, 2001 Share Posted May 6, 2001 I've been wondering about the header wrap myself. Not on the headers mind you but on parts of the exhaust like you're talking about near the floorboards. We've already discussed and agreed that header wrap trashes headers. Keeps in too much heat, retains moisture and oil yadda yadda. However where you're having problems there shouldn't be so much heat that it will trash the meatl - I think. What you WILL have to worry about is water and oil. I would be sure to spray the wrap with the coatings made for this purpose to keep water and oil out. Oil soaked wrap burns like mad once it catches, not cool (nyuk nyuk). Water would not only make the wrap "rot" but also hold the moisture against the header. I suspect that the wrap WILL make the exhaust "age" faster but if taken care of and coated it will keep your feet cooler and lost longer than it would uncoated. Heh, you'll note that Scottie's car has a good bit of wrap on the downpipe. Scottie, how long does that pipe last wrapped? You didn't coat it too did you? I didn't notice any on it... Oh, and who makes good wrap that doesn't cost a mint? Are they all pretty much the same? What about maybe some stick on reflective coating on the floor under the car? Last but not least - one thing I learned with my turbo car - an air gap is better than ANY wrap or coating. If you can increase the gap between what you're trying to protect do it. Those neato' spark plug boots that are made from ceramic? Yeah, they don't burn but the wire inside cooks if it touches a header or turbo manifold! A 1/4 inch air gap can prevent that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 7, 2001 Share Posted May 7, 2001 It's been in the 60's for the past few days, lucky me. I'm going to start with trying to get some more air gap between me and the exhaust- I had another look under the car, it definitely makes a difference- the pass. side floor is much cooler, and it's because the pipe is farther away. I need to take the exhaust off anyway, because the freakin' gaskets are blown again between the headers and the down pipes- very frustrating. And to swap out the differential, which is clunking itself to death. I get some real nice noises after turns. Especially if the tires are slipping while turning- oops. Burnout again?! How did that happen? I did make the car more driveable by clamping on some 15" long tailpipe extensions behind the mufflers, looks real goofy but cut waaay waay down on the fumes. The exhaust now exits 4-5" behind the big ol' 280z rear bumper. It's just 2-1/4" tubing sticking out, maybe I'll get some nice chrome tips and make 'em even longer. Blah, blah- Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fast Frog Posted May 7, 2001 Share Posted May 7, 2001 Another thing you might do is cut 3" or 4" holes in the front wheel wells just forward of the firewall-down low at header level. This will allow heated air to flow out behind the front wheels and not stack up at the firewall. I think someone did a tech discussion regarding this idea a few months back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted May 7, 2001 Share Posted May 7, 2001 Henry Costanzo (Georgia Z club pres, ZCCA assistant director), has an article on something like that where he put 12V pancake fans in holes in the inner fender in that area http://www.georgiazclub.com/v8cooling.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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