Ideas for insulating underbody/floorpan from cat?
 

Hello all,
I recently had a floor pan drop kit installed in my Miata.

The catalytic converter ends up uncomfortably close to the floorpan, and I'm worried it's going to get very hot on the long drive to/from the track.

Here's a picture as it sits now:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456023432

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456023432

I was thinking maybe some adhesive backed heat wrap ,
but I'm concerned it may shred the first time it gets wet.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Could do some lizard skin and maybe another heat shield in between the cat and the pan.

That stuff is what I use. It is on the shelf at Lowe's / HD. It worked. I later also added sheet metal held with radiator hose clamps around the pipe to keep the heat out of the transmission as well.

Something like this


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456079006

Stanless sheet, bend it how you like it. I used thin- .024". Super cheap on ebay. I think it was 20 bucks shipped for 36x36".

Here's what I used: https://www.designengineering.com//c...-sound-insulat

Cool, how does this attach to a surface? Do you bolt/rivet it?
The adhesive backed stuff is pretty appealing in terms of the ease of installation.

Edit - this is adhesive backed. Kinda expensive, but looks good. I'll go ahead and order the 4ft x 21".

Edit2 - available for cheap on amazon. sweet, thanks.

I have it as well, it sticks on using a very sticky adhesive, not something that's forgiving for retry of application so make sure you cut things to fit beforehand. Use cardboard to make a template beforehand as it's MUCH easier to shape. The aluminum shielding is thick and tough to bend cleanly, you'll need tin snips or you'll have a fit cutting it to suit.

Application notes;
-Scrub the attaching surface and hose it down with brakleen (I used a rag and liberal brakleen use) until it's grease and dirt free. It would sure suck to have it fall off on the track or fail to stick, removing it would be a PITA.
-Go at least the drain bolthole on the transmission and as far forward into the engine bay as you can, I went up the firewall behind the engine and put some between the exhaust and the FW to protect the cabin. When I remove my tranny again I'll do the whole tunnel back to the shifter hole.

Here's a post of me using another shielding as well as this. Hope this helps.

Go to home depot racing and get this. Also get some spray adhesive. Clean your trans tunnel with brake cleaner and rags. Then spray up the adhesive and put on the stuff linked above.

I drove to Atlanta last August in my 94 turbo car with zero interior of heat shielding on the trans tunnel. It was pretty miserable for my right leg along the trans tunnel. I talked to Sixshooter and he recommended that stuff. I added the insulation and wrapped my down pipe with heat wrap. Later I drove to NC, about the same amount of time on the interstate. There was a big decrease in the temperature of the trans tunnel. My right felt fine.

Get a Dynamat application roller. I used one for some self-adhesive insulation (I used Thermo-Tec Suppressor because I had it on hand) on the underside of my tunnel, and it really helped get it stuck.

Thanks for the advice everyone!
I used the DEI insulation and it was much higher quality than the stuff I linked in the first post.
I made cardboard templates and then cut the insulation with some fancy shears. I tried two set of tin snips, and they totally failed because the fibers would get caught in the teeth.

I didn't do as much of the tunnel as I would have liked because I cut the first template backwards and also messed up trying to install one of the other pieces, but I still managed to cover all of the parts of the floorpan and tunnel closest to the catalyst.

I sealed the edges of the material with aluminum tape and then sprayed the front of the pan with 3M underbody sealant.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456419193

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456419193

I would have liked more coverage directly above the catalyst, but I'll just wait until the next time the midpipe is off the car.