| LIFE OF A GT |
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 | |  | August 29, 2010 - Before I start installing the exhaust, I want to add a bit of heat resistance.
I'll have some inside the car under the carpet, but the headers run pretty close to the footwell. Enter Reflectix: a great heatshield for use under the car. It's basically bubble wrap with an aluminum coating, making it very light and completely weatherproof. It's also inexpensive (I think this roll was under $20) and super-light. I've been running it in the transmission tunnel of the Targa Miata for a few years and it's working well.
entry 376 - tags: heat insulation | | |  | August 29, 2010 - The Reflectix in place.
It's held in with foil tape - the kind that's actually waterproof enough to install underwater. Again, something I've tested on the Targa Miata. This is the driver's footwell from the viewpoint of the wheel.
I realize I should have sprayed a bit of black paint on the original panels here to make it look better. And I might have to replace this stuff after the fender flares are added. Whoops. Still, you have to admit it looks awesome.
entry 377 - tags: heat shielding | | |  | August 31, 2010 - The heater connections are two different sizes (3/4" and 5/8") and aim straight sideways at the frame rail.
This happens in Miatas as well, so I grabbed the same hoses used on the Miata builds. The big one is necked down to 5/8", then they're both dropped to 1/2" to mate up to the MG heater.
entry 383 - tags: heater | | |  | August 31, 2010 - The current state of the engine bay.
The radiator is in and fully hooked up - it took me a while to remember how I'd intended that lower hose to work! Power steering is all plumbed in other than the one missing 90 degree fitting. You can see the heater hoses looping around the left side of the picture. I'll anchor them down shortly to give a nice clean install. You can also see the refreshed hood latch and the relocated VIN tag at the bottom of the picture.
Okay, that's enough playing around with the big, fun, rewarding stuff. Time to work on the wiring.
entry 384 - tags: radiator, heater | | |  | November 15, 2010 - With the hood mounted, I found myself staring at a really ugly combination of peeling black paint and old Aqua.
So it had to go. A bit of Reflectix heat shielding and some foam tape and voila! All shiny and pretty. It does a nice job of distributing the light into the engine bay as well.
Reflectix is heatshielding and likely won't have much effect on noise, but it's what I had around the shop and it's cheap and basically weightless. I'll be putting down some heavier stuff inside the cabin and I might put some under the hood as well. We'll see.
entry 453 - tags: heat, pretty, hood | | |  | November 23, 2010 - A new look for the interior!
That's heat and sound insulation to make the cockpit more livable. There are big fat exhaust pipes running under the car, a loud and hot powerplant underhood - and I want this car to be a good cruiser. This should help quite a bit. I've used one roll of the insulation now, and that added 6.5 lbs to the car. I'll probably use two more for a total weight penalty of just under 20 lbs. I can live with that.
entry 468 - tags: heat | | |  | November 24, 2010 - The final heat shielding.
There are two 36"x60" packages of Cool-It in the car now. I'm going to pick up one more to cover everything behind the rear bulkhead - under the rear seat and in the rear cargo area. It sure looks pretty. And bright!
entry 469 - tags: heat | | | June 26, 2011 - I swapped out the fuel pump yesterday.
There were none of the hoped-for obvious problem signs - no big chunks of gas tank stuff clogging the inlet, no damaged wiring. Nuts. A drive today in hot (95F) weather unearthed no problems with the fuel system, but it drove fine almost every time before. So the jury's still out. I hate it when things are inconclusive like this.
We did find one definite problem, though. The car is very well ventilated, quite livable even in our hot climate. But when Janel drove it in open-toed shoes, she discovered that increased speed pushes some air through the heater core and directly on to her feet. Now, the heater core is still running coolant through it as I wasn't sure when I hooked things up if the LS engine could do without that particular circuit. Apparently it can, and so I am under orders to fix that particular problem quickly before her feet melt. I'll have to see if I can find the old heater valve again.
Other than the hot toes, she did bond with the car. Especially when she was trying to merge and wasn't sure if she had enough room. I told her to punch it, she'd have enough room. Yes indeed she did. She laughed and started looking for opportunities to open the throttle.
entry 603 - tags: debugging, heater, fuel | | |  | July 3, 2011 - The hot foot problem has been solved.
This heater valve should let the air passing through the heater core to remain cool. The unusual thing about it is that it works backwards to most valves, which matches the way the control cable from the MG works. Push to open, pull to close if I remember correctly. I haven't run the cable to it yet - I disconnected the cable from the knob under the dash when I wasn't using it earlier - but that's not liable to be a concern until later in the year.
With forecast temperatures above 101F today, I'm glad I have this one fixed.
entry 613 - tags: heat | | |
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