extreme heat inside the car

[Brightyellow69rtse]

hey guys this is something ive been fighting forever with the car. heat just pours into the car from the floor area. the 4 speed shifter hole is covered. no the heat isnt on lol. ive always assumed it was just the heat soaking in from the headers. when its hot out you sweat your ass off driving the car. ive thought of putting fome kinda insulation down on the floor under the rug. do you guys have any suggestions?

at some point i wanna get some ceramic coated headers. im sure this would help the problem atleast some anyway.

[Baldwinvette77]

  A few things i know of, of course using insulation will help if you don't have any, also make sure your floors don't have holes or aren't thin, another thing thats more involved is coating the floor, some people like "lizardskin" some like "rhino lining", things of that sort, and one other thing i've seen a few times make sure your header collectors aren't leaking, that can cook the floor.

[bull]

Well, a lot of guys use Dynamat or a similar product for heat and sound insulation when reassembling their interior. Not sure if ceramic coating the headers would stop the heat since the exhaust pipes attach to them in the firewall area rather than at the floor right under your feet. Right below the gas pedal is where the driver's side exhauist pipe runs.

[Baldwinvette77]

are they short style or long tube headers?

[68X426]

at some point i wanna get some ceramic coated headers. im sure this would help the problem atleast some anyway.

Nope, ceramic won't help. I own them and it's hot no matter. Even if that particular design had lower temps, it might be the difference between 600 and 500 degrees. You are going to sweat in both cases.

My experience is that it isn't so much the headers, it's the motor, headers, and exhaust all heating up the body metal. The entire car's metal just serves as a thermal "sponge" soaking up all that heat. Install lots of insulation, that's the best defense dollar-for-dollar.

[Brightyellow69rtse]

i have long tubes. my floors are in great shape. ive thought about dynomat. im just not sure what i should end up going with. id hate to spend a bunch of money on the stuff for no real difference in temps.

good to know about the ceramic headers. maybe im just destined to fry driving the car

[bull]

Ice packs under the floor mat?

[thrillbilly]

I did notice a difference when I went to ceramic long tubes and 3 in. exhaust.  It's still hot in the summer, miserable actually.  I finally gave up and put A/C on, 

[A383Wing]

are you sure the heat ain't coming through the steering column?

Bryan

[NHCharger]

Running a big block with headers= sweaty ass  with the poor insulation these cars have it's hard to avoid. I used Eastwood sound deadener on my 71 Charger. See attached thread. It did make a difference. How close are the headers to the firewall? You could try wrapping them.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,43004.0.html

[Brightyellow69rtse]

good read nhcharger! did you ever add a second layer to the firewall? if so did it make a difference? i was thinking of wrapping the collectors but i always hear how it rots them out quickly. dunno if that applies to a car that never ever gets wet or not.

[68X426]

wrapping the collectors but i always hear how it rots them out quickly. dunno if that applies to a car that never ever gets wet or not.

TTI had an article a few years ago that went into detail about their firm recommendation to never wrap. It's not at their website anymore.

One point that stuck with me was that your headers do get wet, all the time. They are wet from condensation (external and especially internal) and everyday humidity, and the condensation is trapped by the wrap everytime the headers cool off. It's like putting a horse away wet. And that's not just tempting damage on the TTI top-of-the-line headers and exhaust, but especially on lesser quality products.

[NHCharger]

did you ever add a second layer to the firewall?

Nope, never did. The advantage of having two running Chargers is that on the warmer days(80º+) I use my 72 Charger which has a stock 318. Much cooler to ride in, and that one has no heat or sound deadener in it.

[RallyeMike]

The first time I raced my 72 with the new engine/header combo, I melted my racing shoes. Literally! I took a page from what the manufacturers do and made a simple heat shield, just flat aluminum sheet mounted half way between the floor pan and header. No more problems, and very inexpensive solution.

[fy469rtse]

i have long tubes. my floors are in great shape. ive thought about dynomat. im just not sure what i should end up going with. id hate to spend a bunch of money on the stuff for no real difference in temps.

good to know about the ceramic headers. maybe im just destined to fry driving the car

another source of heat is the transmission, do you have a trans cooler on car if not fit one and I Los put from a wrecking yard the heat deflectors late model cars have to stop the heat before it gets to the floors

[Dino]

Strange, although I added some insulation, my car never gets hot inside and that's with a 440/727 and the floor only has the original undercoating and a thin layer of epoxy inside.  I guess the epoxy works better than I thought.

[41husk]

I thought my heater was stuck on.  I need to try some isulation, it couldn't hurt.

[HeavyFuel]

Strange, although I added some insulation, my car never gets hot inside and that's with a 440/727 and the floor only has the original undercoating and a thin layer of epoxy inside.  I guess the epoxy works better than I thought.

Stock exhaust manifolds?   If so....that's my setup too, so based on your experience, maybe I'll skip going crazy with insulation, and limit mine to the butyl/foil stuff I put on the firewall.  

[odcics2]

are you sure the heat ain't coming through the steering column?

Bryan

Maybe some fender scoops to let the heat be p-u-l-l-e-d out by the air passing over them!  Gotcha. 
Obviously, on a street car the inner fenders have to go..... 

[Brightyellow69rtse]

i have long tubes. my floors are in great shape. ive thought about dynomat. im just not sure what i should end up going with. id hate to spend a bunch of money on the stuff for no real difference in temps.

good to know about the ceramic headers. maybe im just destined to fry driving the car

another source of heat is the transmission, do you have a trans cooler on car if not fit one and I Los put from a wrecking yard the heat deflectors late model cars have to stop the heat before it gets to the floors

i got a 4 speed no tranny cooler needed.

[bull]

I was just thinking maybe it would be worth it to get just one piece of Dynamat-type insulation and lay it out under your feet on top of your carpet and under the floor mat during a test drive. See if it makes any difference before buying a whole bunch and tearing the interior apart.

[Dino]

Strange, although I added some insulation, my car never gets hot inside and that's with a 440/727 and the floor only has the original undercoating and a thin layer of epoxy inside.  I guess the epoxy works better than I thought.

Stock exhaust manifolds?   If so....that's my setup too, so based on your experience, maybe I'll skip going crazy with insulation, and limit mine to the butyl/foil stuff I put on the firewall.  

Nope, bare headers.

Do the dynamat type stuff (or home depot stuff) and jute under the carpet, that should be all you need.  IF you need more then it won't be a monster of a job to remove seats and carpet and add insulation.

The epoxy should keep the temp down as well but the previous owner did this and I wouldn't repeat it really.  A coat or two of undercoating on the floor pans is always a bonus.

[HeavyFuel]

Are there areas that need special consideration when adding the various insulations to the interior floor, so that there is not too much build-up, preventing components from installing correctly?

Thinking ahead to the console, maybe the rear seat.  I seem to remember the rear seat being a bugger to get out (although that could have been a different car )

We'd all hate to makes things worse by adding a layer to the wrong area, and screwing up fitment tolerances.

[Dino]

Are there areas that need special consideration when adding the various insulations to the interior floor, so that there is not too much build-up, preventing components from installing correctly?

Thinking ahead to the console, maybe the rear seat.  I seem to remember the rear seat being a bugger to get out (although that could have been a different car )

We'd all hate to makes things worse by adding a layer to the wrong area, and screwing up fitment tolerances.

No the insulation padding is thin enough to not interfere.  The jute compresses down to nothing if you want so again no issues there.  The rear seat can be problematic due to the design.  You actually need to push down and back to remove the bottom piece, mine was a pita to get out as well so I bend the seat bracket a tad and now it comes out easily.

The dynamat or similar padding is easier to install if you can warm it up.  It'll make the glue work at its best and it'll give you the oppertunity to use tools to push the insulation into every nook and cranny.  You can use an assortment of rollers and screwdriver hadnles to push the nmaterial snug to the floor boards.  I think you'll be surprised how little space it really takes up.  It always looks bulky until you slide the carpet in.

IF you do happen to get too much material somewhere then it's nothing a utility knife can't solve.

[MSRacing89]

FatMat Rattle Trap 80mil

That's the stuff!  All over my car, no heat transfer.