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Plexy Intake Heat Sheild.


evilscorp

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Just thought I would post a pic of my heat sheild project im workin on. bought the car with the induction kit attached and most of u guys have heat sheilds on them so thought I would make my own outa plexy, not sure how effective it will be tho?

Need to bend another bit for the bottom of the filter and not sure yet what glue to use to join the two bits. Going to cut holes so they can screwd onto the intake black sensor houseing. :clap:

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at work we use hot wire strip heaters to get perfect straight line bends. for gradual curves and complex shapes we use an oven and a mould.

 

its a thermo forming plastic so is affected by hear, hence the ability to mould it.

 

becuae of the cold air coming in there i don't think the engine heat will get it hot enough to re activate the plastic and deform it.

 

what thickness are you useing? i'm guessing the generic term plexy your actually rtefering to perspex. i would say it does shatter/fracture quite easily. if your bolting it togehter don't put your pilot/bolt holes to close to the edge, and don't tighten it very hard as the edges just chip off.

 

if gluing something like tensol cement will work well.

 

as a secondary layer i'd actually line the inside of it with an insulator or heat relector to help keep the heat out as well.

 

the more gaps it has the more heat will get in.

 

i'd also silicone the edges to help seal it.

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any drilling is best done with a stepped drill bit.

Thanks for that tip

 

yeah it works like a milling piece so it cuts a little bit away on each sweep. unlike a drill bit that has a sharp cutting angle that pulls itself into the hole. what happens is that the hole ends up being drill bit shaped and not round and as the drill bit turns against this shape as the material is clamped it shatters the plastic.

 

you can use normal drill bits but you have to use and extremely light touch if your cutting anywhere near the edge of the plastic.

 

towards the middle its not so bad as the integrity of the plastic can withstand the process. the thicker the plastic the easier it is to drill.

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Think its either 3 or 4mm perspex im using and takes a while with the heat gun to bend it into shape. Going to give it a small heat expansion with regards to bolt holes, but only connecting it to the intake mounting bracket which should be strong enough to take its weight. I looked and have seen some values of 130 C for melting point, not quite sure the temp is under the bonnet in that area. Have been told im a daft prat by my dad and to stop and use aluminium instead so no chance of melting=fire. Will complete my project then mabe make one outta thin alu so its bendable with my hands or a bender robot. Going to use one of those circle cutting tools 70mm to make the hole for the air to flow through.

but my dad has put me off a bit. :bangin:

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Think its either 3 or 4mm perspex im using and takes a while with the heat gun to bend it into shape. Going to give it a small heat expansion with regards to bolt holes, but only connecting it to the intake mounting bracket which should be strong enough to take its weight. I looked and have seen some values of 130 C for melting point, not quite sure the temp is under the bonnet in that area. Have been told im a daft prat by my dad and to stop and use aluminium instead so no chance of melting=fire. Will complete my project then mabe make one outta thin alu so its bendable with my hands or a bender robot. Going to use one of those circle cutting tools 70mm to make the hole for the air to flow through.

but my dad has put me off a bit. :bangin:

you do need one of these

bender.jpg

 

i dont think it gets THAT hot over there or peoples engines would be sucking in 130deg air :lol:

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Think its either 3 or 4mm perspex im using and takes a while with the heat gun to bend it into shape. Going to give it a small heat expansion with regards to bolt holes, but only connecting it to the intake mounting bracket which should be strong enough to take its weight. I looked and have seen some values of 130 C for melting point, not quite sure the temp is under the bonnet in that area. Have been told im a daft prat by my dad and to stop and use aluminium instead so no chance of melting=fire. Will complete my project then mabe make one outta thin alu so its bendable with my hands or a bender robot. Going to use one of those circle cutting tools 70mm to make the hole for the air to flow through.

but my dad has put me off a bit. :bangin:

 

using a 70mm hole saw will msot likely end in fail :lol: not an impossible task, but i'm unsure of how the persex will hold up to it.

 

personally at work, i'd just laser cut it, but thats not really a tool most people have. i'd be more inclined to drill a few holes in it and then use a jig saw to cut a big hole, then file and wet and dry it to tidy it up.

 

as for your dad, he is right. persoanlly i would have done it all in aluminium. but kudos to you for trying something new. it will look very smart at the shows, especially if you have a bling filter in it,

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Yeh going to try with a saw and wee drill holes 2moz and if it works i would probs keep it for shows until i did more research on melting points. Where is the best place to buy a couple feet of alu? lol As for joining alu I may have a problem (its a bitch to weld with and dont have the equipment at home) As for epoxy weld im unsure? Any other ideas? mabe just some rubber seals?

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Yeh going to try with a saw and wee drill holes 2moz and if it works i would probs keep it for shows until i did more research on melting points. Where is the best place to buy a couple feet of alu? lol As for joining alu I may have a problem (its a bitch to weld with and dont have the equipment at home) As for epoxy weld im unsure? Any other ideas? mabe just some rubber seals?

you could rivet it, that wouldnt look to bad :)

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Yeh going to try with a saw and wee drill holes 2moz and if it works i would probs keep it for shows until i did more research on melting points. Where is the best place to buy a couple feet of alu? lol As for joining alu I may have a problem (its a bitch to weld with and dont have the equipment at home) As for epoxy weld im unsure? Any other ideas? mabe just some rubber seals?

 

ally is dead easy to fit togehter, jsut allow overlaps and then drill and pop rivet it. gives an very tidy finish. could also silicone on the inside to seal the joins completely if you wish.

 

 

as for melting in the engine bay. it won't get hot enough to melt, but it may well distort the perspex

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Good shout again, rivit rivit just need my princess to kiss me so I can become prince charming! Do B&Q or homebase etc do sheets of alu?

 

yeah should do.

 

or might be able to order online.

 

be surprised what is ebay these days

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