K&N Heat Shield Sealing Question
03-20-2011, 02:04 PM
#1
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K&N Heat Shield Sealing Question Hey guys I bought a V a few months ago.Coming from a few F-Bodies and Vettes I havent had any exposure to Air Intakes that require a heat shield.I got a good deal on a K&N Air Intake and installed it, but the heat shield "Insulator" sux and doesnt do a good job at sealing the filter off from the engine heat.
Today while at my local hardware store I came across some foam door insulation, that comes in a 4ftx2inx2in strips,so I bought some. I got home and used some bad *** adhesive a friend of mine invented, to affix the foam to the heat shield, this **** is crazy strong, Ive literally re-attached a door mirror to a friends car with this stuff,lol. The end result was a virtually air tight seal, sealing the air filter off from the engine heat and allowing it to suck fresh air, but from where, is my question?
Im not real familiar with these cars yet, is there an air duct feeding this area? I see one opening but it just allows access to the headlight bulb,does it get air from there? I assumed that K&N designed this intake to get fresh air from that area, but just failed at making an efficeint seal, so I made one myself. Can anyone shed any light on this? Should I leave this air tight seal? or should I remove it and just allow the intake to get air from the engine bay? Thanks in advance for your help guys.
Here is a few cell phone pics, Its not a super clean setup but it does what it needs to do. The foam padding goes around the entire heat shield to insure a seal on all sides. I added the second strip on top to insure the pressure of the hood wouldnt split the foam, the strip on top is a harder foam, kinda like roll bar padding.
Attachment 285794
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Attachment 285796
Today while at my local hardware store I came across some foam door insulation, that comes in a 4ftx2inx2in strips,so I bought some. I got home and used some bad *** adhesive a friend of mine invented, to affix the foam to the heat shield, this **** is crazy strong, Ive literally re-attached a door mirror to a friends car with this stuff,lol. The end result was a virtually air tight seal, sealing the air filter off from the engine heat and allowing it to suck fresh air, but from where, is my question?
Im not real familiar with these cars yet, is there an air duct feeding this area? I see one opening but it just allows access to the headlight bulb,does it get air from there? I assumed that K&N designed this intake to get fresh air from that area, but just failed at making an efficeint seal, so I made one myself. Can anyone shed any light on this? Should I leave this air tight seal? or should I remove it and just allow the intake to get air from the engine bay? Thanks in advance for your help guys.
Here is a few cell phone pics, Its not a super clean setup but it does what it needs to do. The foam padding goes around the entire heat shield to insure a seal on all sides. I added the second strip on top to insure the pressure of the hood wouldnt split the foam, the strip on top is a harder foam, kinda like roll bar padding.
Attachment 285794
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Last edited by LS1iFiEd; 03-20-2011 at 04:39 PM.
03-20-2011, 02:53 PM
#3
Seems there are two intakes on the oem setup; one being from the front of the car, thru the radiator support and the other is on the fender (not sure where it draws in air though?)
If you look at the intake that comes from the grill (next to the headlight), there is an upside down elbow there, that can be removed (so the air would have a straight shot into the airbox), but it's tricky to get to unless you are able to remove the grill...It is held on by an expanding rivet of supports next to the headlight support and there's not much room to get to it from the backside. If you want to be crude, you could cut that rubber elbow, but for me I'd like to remove it and I tried getting to it with just the shroud thing off and iirc, the top of the grill piece, but just can't get my hands back there like that. In looking at it, if the grill was removed, it would make life easier.
Glad this foam stuff worked for you. I was going to suggest a cleaner way would be to use trimlok(.com, I believe), as it comes in all sorts of varieties, and simply presses on to the end of sheetmetal/plastic, etc.; although not sure how many types are available at a hardware store.
If you look at the intake that comes from the grill (next to the headlight), there is an upside down elbow there, that can be removed (so the air would have a straight shot into the airbox), but it's tricky to get to unless you are able to remove the grill...It is held on by an expanding rivet of supports next to the headlight support and there's not much room to get to it from the backside. If you want to be crude, you could cut that rubber elbow, but for me I'd like to remove it and I tried getting to it with just the shroud thing off and iirc, the top of the grill piece, but just can't get my hands back there like that. In looking at it, if the grill was removed, it would make life easier.
Glad this foam stuff worked for you. I was going to suggest a cleaner way would be to use trimlok(.com, I believe), as it comes in all sorts of varieties, and simply presses on to the end of sheetmetal/plastic, etc.; although not sure how many types are available at a hardware store.
