Heat Shields
 

Let's discuss heat shields. I need one.

The purpose of the heat shield is to (a) keep the temperature down under the hood in general, and (b) protect more sensitive parts from the extreme heat of a turbo. Is that about it?

The closest thing to the heat in my car is the coolant line that runs through the firewall. There really isn't much space there for a heat shield, is there a better option to protect that than a solid heat shield?

What's the best construction method for a heat shield? License plates seem pretty common, but regular aluminum seems pretty common also. I like the multi-layer ones I've seen with aluminum and some kind of high temp cloth.

Is it better to mount the heat shield to the engine/manifold/turbo, or to the rest of the car, or does it not matter in the slightest?

I am also interested in creating a good heat shield. Anyone also using a turbine heat blanket?

I wouldn't mount it to the hot parts, it will act like a heat sink. Mine is a begi part but it is mounted to the drivers side ground strap bolt (on the chassis) and over where there used to be a bracket or something air box related.

I don't make a habit of touching the heat shield after the car's been running but if I happen to I don't get instantly burned. To be fair my hotside parts are ceramic coated fwiw.

I'm not a track rat so my input is less valuable than others on here, however, there are some easy and relatively cheap ways to prevent heat damage/failure.

- get a proper thermal barrier on your hot parts. If you're balling do Swain or one of the other PROVEN industrial coatings. I had just a plain ol' 1700 deg ceramic coat put on mine and the heat under the hood went down significantly under normal street driving (>30 deg).

- buy the lined silicone heater coolant lines. These fuckers are so close to most down pipes and the silicone will take the heat much better than a traditional rubber hose. Sleeve it with a proper thermal sleeve.

- buy some reasonable thick aluminum and shield your MC/lines

- makes sure your oil/coolant lines to the turbo are either teflon or hard lines or plan on replacing them with regularity.

- duct cool air to the MC? (not sure how this affects pressure under the hood and whether it would have negative affects on airflow through the radiator)

- buy a RHD car.

-Zach