E Type Extravangza

Ever take your Etype out for a long drive on a hot day and end up even hotter in the car? A lot of heat is given off by the 4.2 engine, it all seems to come thru the front firewall and transmission tunnel. Here is what I’m doing to hopefully cool down the inside so the air conditioner might have a chance to cool down the interior.

 

 

Since I already have the engine & tranny out of the car, I can really get some insulation put where it needs to go.

 

The original insulation was just a little piece of foam going over the top of the transmission. It was pretty well worn, broken up and not doing much good.

Before I get to the insulation part I’m going to clean up the tunnel with solvent to remove grease and oil. Then sand a little to scuff up the original paint because I’m using a spray on paint called Lizard Skin that’s supposed to stop heat from getting thru into the interior. Sounds good to me, its worth a try. Below is a photo after I sprayed the Lizard Skin all over the tunnel.

 

 

I’m also going to add insulation on top the paint. There are all kinds of different companies making this stuff. Its a self stick thin foam layer with silver reflecting material on the outside. I’m also adding a few small screws with washers to be sure this stuff never comes off. Looking good from the outside, now how about the inside.

 

 

I want to keep the heat at bay so why not paint the firewall too. I can’t paint the engine side since the Lizard Skin is too “rough” looking so I’m going to paint the inside behind the dash. Not easy to get to but I have an old rust proofing spray kit that will work just fine. Remove the dash and you can get at the area fairly well.

 

 

 

 

Not to stop there, how about the inside areas around the tunnel. I used reflectix insulation available at Lowes, Home Depot or most any hardware store. Pull up all your carpeting and start cutting pieces to fit. I used a little spray contact cement to hold it in place and taped all the pieces together creating a nicely sealed up insulation sheet.

 

 

I can’t wait to get this car back together and on the road next year and see how all this insulating does.

 

2017,  report, after all was done:  What a difference the paint/insulation made! After hours of driving, the center console carpet is just a little warm to the touch. It used to be much hotter.  I’m glad I added all this insulation. It really seems to have made a big difference. My entire dash seems much cooler, some of that could be attributed to the missing firewall plugs I found that allowed hot engine air into the area behind the dash.  Really a nice improvement, I would recommend this to everyone.

 

 

Wow!