Hotter'n hell and half of SC in the driver seat

FunkyChickenBus · 03-10-2022, 10:54 AM

The driver's "area", that is. Heat comes boiling off the engine of our dognose, roasts you from the coolant hoses running under the electric panel, and fries you from the road underneath. Finally ready to do something about it before it gets seriously hot here in SC.

Bus has no dash or roof A/C and no plans to add it. I already stripped the floor down to metal. Ready to put down magical materials if you know of any.

Currently thinking something like the thermotec type foil backed stuff for the firewall/doghouse and the thermal sleeves they use in race cars for the coolant hoses, and likely doing the ceramic insulating Lizardskin stuff on the floor and up behind the pedals. Not sure what the best material is going to be for those long gaps running crossways between the floor sections--what came out was pretty degraded black foam with some kind of adhesive.

I'd like to know what can really help with heat reduction rather than sound, which is what it seems most products are designed to reduce. I mean, it would be nice to reduce noise as well, but the heat is the worst issue. So dang hot.

A mechanic friend said that what would really help is a heat shield on the exhaust as it runs under that area, but I'm not sure what that will entail. I'd be super grateful if anyone has tips or experience in heat mitigation for the driver area. Any experience with the Lizardskin ceramic insulation?

Thankful for any and all suggestions! We've owned this little bus for 10+ years and I'm glad to finally be working on this issue after so long.

Sarah

plfking · 03-10-2022, 01:04 PM

I put a hood scoop on mine, to direct the hot air off the firewall. Made a big difference in the heat coming up through the floor.

FunkyChickenBus · 03-10-2022, 01:28 PM

Oooh, interesting! I took a look at your build thread--LOVE the name (I have all of JDM's books as well as some interesting ephemera I'd love to share with you someday).

I will think about the hood scoop. It isn't like our fiberglass hood is in the best shape and a scoop might disguise that a bit, and if it helps with heat, it would be amazing.

Love your bus build! Thanks very much for your reply.
Sarah

LargeMargeInBaja · 03-10-2022, 01:33 PM

Moved to post 6 below...

FunkyChickenBus · 03-10-2022, 01:45 PM

That's a hella great story! And lawd, the welding leathers? Damn, that's when you know it is hottern hell. Whew. I hope you at least won your races!

And good advice that the only thing that really helped was directing the heat elsewhere. This is starting to sound like a good fan down in that footwell to push air back toward the hapless, but cooler, passengers is a good answer. Hmmmm.... definitely thinking now.

Also, we just got back from Baja. Best trip in the world. We had such a great time, but not enough of it. Hwy 1 can pack sand though. That's a skinny piece of road when your steering box needs rebuilding! The rest was fabulous and I can see why folks go back year after year.

LargeMargeInBaja · 03-10-2022, 02:00 PM

1968.
Mountains east of Sacramento.
1953 Austin Healey 100-4 roadster.
.
First week I had it, I was forced to abuse it just to keep up with traffic.
I yanked that yuge under-powered chunk of anchor, and installed a Chevrolet V-8.
.
Oh, boy!
Now we're talking!
.
I raced it in road rallies and closed courses for over a decade.
It was a smash hit with a bullet... a clone of a 1963 AC Shelby Cobra for a fraction of the price.
.
But, the heat!
Comparable to the Sun on a summer afternoon, but worse.
I am talking 'standing on the Sun surface', none of that third rock distance for wimps.
.
I fabricated shields around the exhaust.
I sprayed fire-resistant foam under the floor and both sides of the fire-wall.
I laid heat pads on the tranny tunnel.
I took to wearing welding leathers on my right leg.
.
I fabricated side-pipes to evict the exhaust toward innocent by-standers.
.
My only success was a stand-off box with an air-gap for the breeze to carry the warmth away.
To feed the box, I fabricated scoops outside on the fender.
.
I hope this helps.
.
.
PS:
I sold the Healey in 1981 or '82 in Sacramento.
Here is a photograph of an identical vehicle in Connecticut... clear across the continent.
The side-pipes are gone, the odd patch on the door would be a yuge number '3' decal, my ranking with SCCA during those years.
Some might say there was a touch of lunacy involved...

cadillackid · 03-10-2022, 03:32 PM

sorry but the only way to truly stay cool in a bus on the highway is to have Air conditioning.. shields are great, insulating the doghouse is a must, as is sealing up the engine compartment leaks (rubber grommets around wires and hoses and such are almost always rotted to hell)..

I did all that in my busses and it made a huge difference but in 95 degree heat driving into the sun the only thing that keeps me cool is that 100,000 BTU of Air-conditioning blasting cold air everywhere....

FunkyChickenBus · 03-10-2022, 03:55 PM

Thanks, and I know this for sure, but we aren’t trying for cool, just for avoiding the aforementioned welding pants.

Having done so much desert driving on this trip and when we went to Central Asia in the little bus, we know her limitations. Just hoping for a bit less heat coming our way from the engine.

Appreciate the advice for sure and definitely jealous of all those BTUs! Any products you specifically recommend for thermal barriers?

cadillackid · 03-10-2022, 04:24 PM

I first replaced as many of the rotted grommets as I could.. then I cleaned the bare metal on my floors real good.. on my DEV bus i found that the chassis floor and bus body floor had been mis-mated at the factory letting hot heat in virtually everywhere.. I discovered it when i was doing a tranny swap / upgrade.. so I tored out all the driver floor area and fixed the metal and used 550 seam sealer in the seams and nooks N crannies as I fixed that...

next I layed down Hushmat (cheaper dynamat).. which that is mainly for sound, however it has some minor heat insulation properties but in butting it up and running it around / over any remaining holes in the firewall it stopped a lot of the hot air itself that was still getting in.

on top of the hushmat I put down a reflectix type foil-backed insulation material.. then on top of that I put down new rubber school bus floor.. in doing so I could also fix imperfections in how the dog-house sat down on the floor and mated to the firewall.. new rubber strip for the doghouse seal itself..

still allows me to take open the doghouse if I need to work on the rear of the engine / manifold / turbo / fuel lines... and gives a pretty good seal.. if I had just glued and caulked in the doghouse like a lot of people do id lose the ability to open and close it as needed..

before I fixed the chassis mate and the floors my A/C didnt stand a chance.. the hot air would be so much it would over-temp my condenser and shut off the A/C compressor.. thats how much heat was blasting in.. now with the A/C im in the low-mid 70s inside during 104 degree texas heat of august or july florida heat.. lot less harsh on my air-conditioners..

the other thing to thinl about is opening just the driver window in a bus will create a negative pressure on the bus generally due to the mirror.. so it will suck in air anywhere it can get it including any air leaks in the doghouse.. opening more windows helps as does opening the FRONT part of a roof hatch which forces air down into the bus and not sucking it out..

jaysharley68 · 03-22-2022, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunkyChickenBus

The driver's "area", that is. Heat comes boiling off the engine of our dognose, roasts you from the coolant hoses running under the electric panel, and fries you from the road underneath. Finally ready to do something about it before it gets seriously hot here in SC.

Bus has no dash or roof A/C and no plans to add it. I already stripped the floor down to metal. Ready to put down magical materials if you know of any.

Currently thinking something like the thermotec type foil backed stuff for the firewall/doghouse and the thermal sleeves they use in race cars for the coolant hoses, and likely doing the ceramic insulating Lizardskin stuff on the floor and up behind the pedals. Not sure what the best material is going to be for those long gaps running crossways between the floor sections--what came out was pretty degraded black foam with some kind of adhesive.

I'd like to know what can really help with heat reduction rather than sound, which is what it seems most products are designed to reduce. I mean, it would be nice to reduce noise as well, but the heat is the worst issue. So dang hot.

A mechanic friend said that what would really help is a heat shield on the exhaust as it runs under that area, but I'm not sure what that will entail. I'd be super grateful if anyone has tips or experience in heat mitigation for the driver area. Any experience with the Lizardskin ceramic insulation?

Thankful for any and all suggestions! We've owned this little bus for 10+ years and I'm glad to finally be working on this issue after so long.

Sarah

Have you tried a turbo blanket? It dropped the temp on my feet by alot.

FunkyChickenBus · 03-22-2022, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysharley68

Have you tried a turbo blanket? It dropped the temp on my feet by alot.

Thanks for the suggestion! It looks like those are custom-made for specific cars--did you order something generic and what did you wrap? I've been looking at stuff on Summit Racing's website, thinking I might get a heat shield for the exhaust, but I'm up for anything.

Also, howdy neighbor!

fo4imtippin · 03-22-2022, 01:48 PM

I have noticed the FE Thomas Buses with the 24v ISB have a steel plate over the exhaust manifold (wheras BlueBirds with same motor dont). I grabbed a picture offline and plan to cut one out and put on top. The manifold already has tapped holes to bolt it down, but some additional heat plates might help you as well.

sportyrick · 03-22-2022, 04:05 PM

You wouldn't get heat out of heater hoses if you put shut off valves on them.

Seb1 · 03-22-2022, 08:02 PM

Funkychickenbus, maybe stupid question, but have you checked if you have coolant shut off valves that isolate the engine coolant circuit from the circuit to the heaters in the bus ?
I ask because I drove my first full summer in North Carolina cooking on my driver seat with my left leg toasting until I realized I had my coolant shut off valves open all that time :biggrin

. (Valves on my 2008 IC CE300 are easily accessible under the hood on the passenger side).
Made a huge difference after that.

jaysharley68 · 03-23-2022, 09:20 AM

I ordered mine off Amazon. You can find videos on how to wrap the turbo.

Thermal Zero TZ32047-B Universal Black Turbo Blanket - Custom fit turbo shield for external wastegate T3 and small frame T4 size turbine housing - USA Made

fo4imtippin · 03-23-2022, 10:05 AM

Would a turbo blanket cause any cooling issues of the actual turbo? lack of Airflow to the outside wont impact the temps?

jaysharley68 · 03-23-2022, 10:48 AM

I don't remember reading about anyone having issues. I have not had any problems. I added mine roughly 2 years ago.

cadillackid · 03-23-2022, 10:54 AM

the intercooler cools the air charge, the oil cools the turbo bearing.. the turbine housing is iron / steel, your EGTs are well below causing issues with that.. the exhaust expands past the turbine wheel and naturally cools as a result..

-Christopher

FunkyChickenBus · 03-23-2022, 11:52 AM

This might be one of those "doh" moments for me... are y'all saying that the hoses that run beside the driver seat on their way to the back of the bus, that run coolant from the radiator through them, are okay to turn off in the summer? I thought that they had to stay open to keep the engine from overheating.

Seriously, I can turn them off? Is that the little round gate valve by my feet in the cab or is there somewhere else? Can you tell from this that my husband is usually the mechanic? We always heard you have to leave that valve open.

If we have broiled for the past 10 years for nothing, I'm gonna be super pissed. Also, I don't think we have a turbo, exactly. It only goes 54 mph.

Seb1 · 03-23-2022, 08:33 PM

First time I read that this isolating gate valve would need to be open in summer for proper engine cooling. Since I discovered my ignorance, I have been driving in summer with mine closed and it had zero noticeable effect on my oil temp. But what a difference inside ! Shut it off and you will see.

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