I installed a new winter block for the upper grille.
Last winter's block spanned the whole width of the upper grille, this time I left the intercooler side open to keep the intake air cold. This may slightly increase warm-up times, but this will hopefully be made up for by increased efficiency.
As with version 1, the sides are open to allow air to be sucked in if the fan comes on.
And a top view:
Since last winter's block was
yanked out by a gale, this one is not just slipped in behind the license plate, but is held in place by one of the plate's screws. A second screw fixes it under the hood.
During early summer I got my hands on some bubblewrap with foil on one side, hoping to insulate the engine bay with it. In fact, I got more than I needed, a huge 120x450cm piece!
But before I got to work I cut a small piece off and put in the oven to see if it will hold up to the engine's heat. Unfortunately it started to warp and melt between 70°-80°C, which is way to low, since I sometimes see
coolant temperatures around 100°C (once 114°C when the fan wasn't working in a traffic jam). So the bubblewrap will probably insulate something in the house.
Luckily I found something else: While visiting the construction of a friend's house I picked up a few scraps of foil-covered pressed mineral wool. This was used to insulate the fireplace, so it should be fine next to the engine.
The two larger pieces are 100x20cm, the four smaller ones about 22x28cm. It gets dark mighty early now (sunset will be at 4pm after this weekend's time change
), so I only shot some photos before going back home today. I'll post pics when I get some free time to finish the project.
EDIT (next morning): The thought has crossed my mind to use that bubblewrap in the engine compartment anyway, only wrap the intake ducts to keep them cooler. That way the bubblewrap doesn't directly touch anything hot, plus only the front (foil) side will be facing the heat while the rear will be cooled by the air flowing inside the ducts. I'd have to wrap the filter box too, which hangs right behind the engine block. Hmmm...
I recently acquired an Arduino Duemilanove which I'll use to log temperatures at home, so I might throw it in car to see how hot it really gets under the hood.