my feet are burning! will a downpipe wrap help?
 

I need to figure out how to reduce the heat in the foot well. I drove the car for an hour today and the heat on my feet was distracting at a minimum at approached unbearable to the point it exceed the feeling of heat and almost felt like my toes were falling asleep, like pins and needles but different and a little throbbing. need to get the heat under control and I'm looking for recommendations. wrap for the downpipe? ceramic coating? building a floor pan. what works best? for the longer drives to the track I need to get this under control. on track I dont really care but on the street it really sucks when its already 90 out side.

I hear you, I just drove from NC to TX, no AC.

I put a heat barrier inside the tunnel, like so.

It was peel and stick DEI stuff. Just make sure to clean the area really well beforehand. I used brake cleaner and a cloth.

Details?

Do you have carpet? Are the stock heat shields in place?

I wouldn't suggest a wrap. It might cut down on the heat, but it won't do wonders for your downpipe.

If your cockpit is striped, tape a piece of carpet with insulation to the entire driver's side of the transmission tunnel, it'll do wonders.

You can just see it in this pic, sorry, it's the first one I found:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1339469116

the interior is striped. its kinda weird both feet got really hot but my right leg is not that bad. Ill try your suggestion, easy and cheap.

there is some heat stuff you can buy at jc whitney or whatever that store is. I think its called mr gasket heat pad or heat tape? Looks very similar to the shiny stuff in curly's picture and I think the spec guys use it frequently.

Personally, I love it for the winter months. Its my own personal leg warmer! fo free!

Applying dynamat to the interior (cabin side) of the transmission tunnel didn't help much in my car. I'd be willing to bet you will get more effectiveness from the same amount of material by applying it to the exterior side of the tunnel because the shiny material will repel radiant heat better.

how does your DP dump? any pics? sounds like it might need extended out a little more

Dynamat is a sound insulation, not designed for thermal insulation. Something like this would work far better: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/THE-14610/

thanks I'll give that stuff a try and report back.

like I said not so bad on the trans side, worse on the fire wall, it starts melting my shoes and whats left of the sound deading material and my feet start sliding around.

I have a 3in straight pipe that is pretty nice, custom made, tig welded, stainless so rather not hack it up.

I haven't gotten my car on the track yet, however, ceramic coating the down/mid-pipe and DEI on the inner trans tunnel took my interior from insta-burn to almost tolerable during street driving.

I wouldn't wrap a down pipe as I've heard of too many fatigue cracking. I've always questioned whether it was a good idea or not, however, if you poke around the paddocks at a SCCA event or equivalent, ain't nobody uses it. Considering how cheap it is and well it insulates, I'm going to assume there's good reason you don't see it on too many track cars.

Straight from Stahls website:

Should I use a Header Wrap?

NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT. There is nothing that will damage a header faster than the use of a header wrap, other than attacking it with a hammer or shot gun. As advertised, these wraps do keep the majority of exhaust gas temperatures within the header. The result is the wraps will prohibit the header tubing from cooling properly. If you reduce the ability for headers to dissipate adequate heat properly, the result will be premature failure of the metal. Depending upon the application use and temperatures involved, the life can be reduced to only a few hours. We consider exhaust wraps to be the header manufacturer's best friend.

If engine compartment temperatures are an issue, the best solution is to use insulation materials on the sheet metal. One alternative in some applications is to build a box around the headers and actually duct outside air into the box. In some applications ceramic coatings have been known to help (see notes on coatings above). Insulating any components that may be sensitive to heat, such as wiring, fuel & oil lines, etc., are a better option.

IMPORTANT: Use of header wraps will void any warranty.


-Zach

there's a guy selling Kool-Mat in the classifieds. just sayin

I should note that I have all the stock heat shielding in place along the outside of the transmission tunnel, along with all the insulation on the cockpit side of the firewall. Those stock heat shields are incredibly light weight, and bolt right up, no reason to re-design the wheel.

Edit: we also have much cooler days/track days here. I've seen 90* only a few times, but it's still bearable. Would I like my DD with AC? Hells yes. I've tracked it in a 110* weather with the heater on full blast to keep it from overheating (more). It was the worst track experience of my life, but I never had a feeling that my feet were any hotter than the rest of me.

I should also note that, as seen in the NACA duct thread, I have a duct on both sides of the car feeding the cockpit fresh air, and although I'm not a aerodynamic engineer, I'm sure they're helping recycle the hot air out. Highly recommended. And not those silly circle things, NACA ducts.

http://www.koolmat.com/club.htm

http://www.saferacer.com/koolmat-spe...productid=2064

i've been eyeing those products. i noticed it got really toasty in the car this weekend.

I use this stuff, needs to be installed on the underside, expensive but works great. https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pr...p?Product=1828

Swain Tech white lightning exhaust coating...do a Google search in it. I have it on my manifold, turbine housing and approx 4 feet of down pipe. It is a true ceramic thermal coating.

This. I did two layers with rivets. Make sure you wrap it all the way to the front (where the subframe starts and slightly around, because _that_ corner is where your right foot is.