John S's Journal
Home Page: John S
Eugene, OR, USA
| Total Posts: 182 | Latest Post: 2026-03-25 |
| Table of Contents | RSS Feed |
Transmission tunnel that is. The DEI heat shield showed up yesterday so today was all about figuring out how best to cut and fit it to the tunnel.
My first thought was to make a template and then transfer that to the heat shield material. I grabbed my ever dwindling roll of rosin paper and set about trying to hold a piece of that paper up against the top of the tunnel whilst laying on my back so that I could duct tape it in place, make some marks, take it out, cut it and I’d be all set. Epic fail. Damn stuff kept curling, falling down, tearing and generally, pissing me off. Plan number 2 was to use overlapping strips of Frog brand painters tape to cover the area and then peel it off as one big sheet. Epic fail number 2. Next up was to use a flexible, moldable packing material that holds its shape. Finally, something that I could mold to the shape of the tunnel and tape in place so that I could mark where the cut lines should be. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! With that done I could transfer it to the expensive heatshield material and allow for a little extra around the perimeter.
I was able to mold it to the contours of the tunnel and after several trial fit and trim adjustments, I now have something that should fit reasonably well from the fixed crossmember forward to the bulkhead.
That was pretty much it for the work as the grandkids were over for the day. I did run out and buy some of DEI’s Cool Tape so that I could run it around the edges and finish it all off, plus a couple cans of Duplicolor Undercoating for the areas that have worn away. The plan is to shoot that stuff first and let that cure for awhile and in the meantime, remove and/or mask off stuff in the engine bay to prep it for paint. I’ve got some rust converter to coat some places where the paint is scraped away and the bare metal is exposed. I spotted a set of new bonnet liners on BST this afternoon and was lucky enough to be the first one to reply so that will freshen up and deaden some sound. The good stuff from Martin McGregor so I’m pleased to be getting that.
I also picked up a good respirator and a Tyvek suit so that I can keep all the nasty stuff out of my lungs and off of my skin. Hopefully I can continue the slow crawl to completion tomorrow.
My first thought was to make a template and then transfer that to the heat shield material. I grabbed my ever dwindling roll of rosin paper and set about trying to hold a piece of that paper up against the top of the tunnel whilst laying on my back so that I could duct tape it in place, make some marks, take it out, cut it and I’d be all set. Epic fail. Damn stuff kept curling, falling down, tearing and generally, pissing me off. Plan number 2 was to use overlapping strips of Frog brand painters tape to cover the area and then peel it off as one big sheet. Epic fail number 2. Next up was to use a flexible, moldable packing material that holds its shape. Finally, something that I could mold to the shape of the tunnel and tape in place so that I could mark where the cut lines should be. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! With that done I could transfer it to the expensive heatshield material and allow for a little extra around the perimeter.
I was able to mold it to the contours of the tunnel and after several trial fit and trim adjustments, I now have something that should fit reasonably well from the fixed crossmember forward to the bulkhead.
That was pretty much it for the work as the grandkids were over for the day. I did run out and buy some of DEI’s Cool Tape so that I could run it around the edges and finish it all off, plus a couple cans of Duplicolor Undercoating for the areas that have worn away. The plan is to shoot that stuff first and let that cure for awhile and in the meantime, remove and/or mask off stuff in the engine bay to prep it for paint. I’ve got some rust converter to coat some places where the paint is scraped away and the bare metal is exposed. I spotted a set of new bonnet liners on BST this afternoon and was lucky enough to be the first one to reply so that will freshen up and deaden some sound. The good stuff from Martin McGregor so I’m pleased to be getting that.
I also picked up a good respirator and a Tyvek suit so that I can keep all the nasty stuff out of my lungs and off of my skin. Hopefully I can continue the slow crawl to completion tomorrow.
No comments have been posted yet...
Want to leave a comment or ask the owner a question?
Sign in or register a new account — it's free