Hood blanket... literally? (engine compartment thermal insulation)

[tasdrouille]

Originally Posted by Christ

The fact that MPG/Ton has been increasing says nothing, nor do I believe it.

You should do a bit more reading. It is accepted as a very good indicator of powertrain efficiency. It have been increasing steadily 1.2% each year for the last 22 years.

[Christ]

How exactly does it say that powertrains are more efficient? I just got done debunking it by showing that MPG has not gone up while weight has gone down... it's quite easy to make a comparison rise while not actually having any good effect.

I can say that I have 5 apples and 5 oranges, and I want more oranges...

I now have 50% apples and 50% oranges.

Now, I remove one apple.. Now I have 4 apples and 5 oranges... I can say it this way now: I've taken away 20% of my apples, which shows irrefutably (sp) (read: without a way to challenge) that I have more than 50% oranges, and less than 50% apples... thus, I must have more oranges now... b/c I have more than 50%.

To quantify:
Remember, 5 minutes ago, I had 50% oranges, and 50% apples.
I didn't add any oranges (MPG), but I DID remove apples (weight).
My ratio went from 1:1 (even), to 5:4... skew that result over 22 years, and you have something that looks alot better than it is.

Think what youre saying... if it's gone up steadily by 1.2% each year, that means that over 22 years, MPG/Ton would have gone up more than 22% (rule of compounding percentages suggests closer to 40%)

That said, I don't remember ANY car in history losing 40% of it's original weight, nor getting the like in additional efficiency... in fact, if this WERE the case, we'd hardly be in the predicament we're in.

For the sake of your own sanity, please don't read so far into a single subject, and begin thinking further than the first search result. No offense intended.

You may read into my answers as far as you want, fact is, MPG has stayed the same, or even varied slightly, while weight has gone down, which still says that overall efficiency has also gone down, for the reasons I've stated previously.

[Frank Lee]

How many "experts" here have tried underhood insulation?

[Christ]

I've only done it to the extent of relieving underhood noise and vibration... never to keep heat in.. I was always against that, actually. Being a racer, I determined that it's a bad idea to rev an engine to 9k constantly and keep all that heat in.. something will melt.

[Frank Lee]

I've done it and it does indeed help.

[Christ]

Help with what? FE or noise/vibration? If it helps with FE, I'm a douche, and I'll be engineering something to put back on my hood... roffle.

[Frank Lee]

It does make things noticeably more quiet.

It does retain engine compartment heat noticeably better, allowing for quicker warm-ups. Getting into closed loop is much quicker thus FE and emissions are better.

Do I have temp probe test results? No. Do I have FE charts before/after? No. Still, I know it works.

Works even better with a grille block.

Material choice doesn't even need to be hi-tech. I think a large component of it working is simply in reducing compartment drafts (convection losses). On my car there is no room for anything more than a single thickness of corrugated cardboard to span the entire engine compartment. On my pickup I have the luxury of using foil faced 1" thick foam board.

P.S. I started fooling with this stuff about 14 years ago cuz I hadta commute through crap conditions kinda like this:



I wanted to be kinder to my engine, and I wanted more instantaneous defroster function at the end of the workday.

[Christ]

Not exactly scientific, but at least a positive basis for which to start testing.. good input.

BTW, you say your tempo needs a 5 speed swap? Get one from an escort. The pedals and all fit, the shift linkage has to be made to fit.

My dad used to have an 89 Topaz... we took the pedals from his 86 Escort and the 1.9 engine's tranny... put everything in the Topaz, and it worked perfect. The 1.9 will actually bolt into your car, if you can get it... I'm not sure about the mounts tho... as in which ones to use.

Sorry for the OT.

[Frank Lee]

Jah- Tempo/Escort front ends shared just about everything. I kinda hate to do it as the a/t has low miles and functions perfectly- if it ain't broke don't fix it right?... but on the other hand, it's old-school inefficient. 28-31 just doesn't cut it in a car that size.

[Christ]

That's the thing, if you're not happy with it, it's broke. Get fixin'!

In fact, if you're anywhere close to Bradford County, Pa, my dad has that same transmission that we used before... he'd probably let it go for $50. He doesn't have the pedals, but he has a 1.9 carb'd engine that has sat in the barn for god knows how long... he hates to get rid of stuff.

I'm pretty sure if you're close enough to him, you could get some great stuff to play with at some really good prices.

Message me or something if you want more info, so we don't jack this thread.