Fire blanket for engine insulation

[Ecky]

Why don't they come this way from the factory? This sounds like a fantastic, easy mod.

[christofoo]

Originally Posted by christofoo

The exhaust gas gets up to around 500-600 C, but exterior to the pipe nowhere near that hot. I put a K-type thermistor inside the cat shell, for my curiosity, on my Corolla which has the cat located under the floor. My highest reading was 260 C, IIRC. Inside the engine bay with grille blocks it could be hotter, but I'd bet against anything much over 350 C, even touching the exhaust manifold.

I remember someone around here having a fire blanket attached to the hood. I can't find the thread or remember who it was.

EDIT: I remember now:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post333037

I can't help but play devil's advocate, the exhaust components may be ~300 C when surrounded by 80 C air, but if you put an insulative material over them, the pipe could get a lot closer to exhaust gas temp.

Still, exhaust gas itself isn't that much hotter than the max fire blanket rating. I think if you don't go out of your way to create a hazard, i.e. multiple layers of fire blanket all the way around part of the exhaust, you'll very likely end up with a significant safety margin.

That's my guess, FWIW.

BTW, I'm pretty sure lean burn is cooler than stoichiometric (conservation of energy).

[Frank Lee]

Another option would be to cut a hole in it where you fear it's too close to the exhaust parts. It would still be mostly effective.

[2000neon]

I'm still pretty sure that running lean results in hotter temperatures.

That's a good idea Frank, I should be able to put a hole right above the exhaust and converter but still get a nice improvement.

I'm going to ask around and see if someone has an infrared thermometer that I could borrow to see what sort of temps I've actually got.