Tree DR

Has anyone tried insulating the intake from the engines heat?

wrm

(great idea) the two selling points for intakes are more flow and cooler air .one company even says its big difference over the others is that its made out of a fiber that is 30 degrees cooler than the metal counter parts so it seems if you wraped yours with somthing like header wrap you would have half the battle won 5 min. an 10 dollars your done

Tree DR

What kinds of wrap are available? Kind of like insulating your house the more R value the better?

red70ragtop

I like the concept. I've been wondering if I could use the air conditioning system somehow to remove heat from the intake air. But knowing the velocity of the air going through, it would be a big challenge to get a heat exchanger to be effective, and also to get the heat exchanger working on the intake air stream without causing too much in the way of loss due to disruption of the flow. It'd be a great thing if it could be made to work, though.

Tree DR

I'm not really wanting to actually make the air colder just keep it cooler than it would be because of engin heat being right beside it. Cool air in the winter I suppose keeps the egts down some but others say it's the ehaust to intake side of the turbo that transfers a high percentage of the heat?
Since we do have a IAT sensor Intake Air Temp, I've been watching and it allways reads 10+ deg. hotter than out side air. If the IAT is on the airbox like I think it is why does the air temp increase that much just coming through the air filter?

wrm

what i was talking about is like a asbestos tape they wrap around race car headers you could make it as thick as you wanted and it would be a neat looking job .dont no about house type insulations.dont think you could make a clean looking job with that .there will be other good ideas coming from other members.

Dan Marino

I see where you dont want to make the air colder just keep it cooler. I have wondered the same thing and I actually thought about using 1/2 foam insulation backed with that flexible foil... I think its called permatex. I made a prototype box and taped the edges with the foil tape. I took a regular piece of 1/16 metal and fashioned a crude box out of it - a very crude miss shapen box that didnt seal well... And I had some old pieces of plexiglass laying around that was 1/4 inch and I made a box out of it. I put a thermometer in the boxes and then took a hair dryer and blew the hot air against it. The insulated box did better than the other two but did warm the thermometer up 5 to seven to 10 degrees - depending on which way I blew the air. The metal box warmed up slower but went 30 degrees above as did the plexi glass. I was thinking that maybe the thickness had something to do with how hot it got in there also. The foam insulation is lightweight and you can reinforce it several times by wrapping it with the foil tape. I just havent got around to figuring out how to actually put it all together on the truck and getting it sealed up perfectly...

I know this was a crude test and with a hair dryer - but hey I have seen some pretty crude tests out there in the real world too

PoorMansCat

Tree, so you're wanting to just keep the "radiant heat" out of the intercooler piping? Can't remember the brand name but summit racing sells it. They make some stitchable blankets for reflecting radiant heat, they also make a type that has high strength adhesive backing. I may be wrong, but header wrap is made for keeping heat in, but who knows, it may work just fine. The reflective blankets are keeping heat out. I've used these products before on GM starter solenoids, and on a bunch of Arctic Cat and Polaris 4-wheelers to keep the plastic cool where the exhasut passes close to it. Had great sucess with it. Post what you end up doing and how it works... It gets REALLY hot here in Texas and anything to help keep the heat out would be great.

military_stang

I have seen people use the insulation they use on exhaust pipes to insulate the intake box... i have also seen people use the sound proffing insulation used to sound proof the inside of a car or turck....

When you insulate the box, you can use a black tape or use black spray paint to make it look professional.. Just my .02

military_stang

military_stang

http://www.allnoisecontrol.com/produ...rComposite.cfm

http://www.b-quiet.com/extreme.html

http://www.projectresponder.com/acoustishield~7~108.htm

Here are some insulators that will work for the air intake box..

military_stang

Lark

After you guys figure out how to cool the air going into the filter by 10 to 15 degrees, you can start working on how to cool the 500 degree air going into the intercooler.

jkitterman

Most of the temperature rise in intake air is due to the turbo. It is dropped down by the aftercooler some. Attempting to insulate the the intake is real minor for benefits in a turbocharged application.

Lark

It's reduced by ~70% with the stock intercooler.

Dan Marino

Ive seen it done with an icebox of some sort. A guy that pulls has his routed through some sort of box that is cooled with dry ice I think.

BTW I wouldnt call us dummies for talking about something that you seem to think is useless. The original poster said he didnt want to cold the air just keep it cooler at the filter shield. Even if this is helping minimal it still is something.

Lark

Relax, I'm just as dumb as the rest of you.