I have a '97 SS with the stock intake, the one that sits on top of the intake. Well long ago when I had stock manifolds the part of the intake rested on the air tube coming from the headers. It eventually burned a dime sized hole through the intake. Since then, every so often I have applied heat insulating tape to the under side of the intake to shield heat and seal the hole. It doesn't last long.

My question is will a material like Dynamat work? Will it adhere to the plastic? Will it stand up to the constant engine bay heat?

 

I would cover it with fiberglass. Or if it's not that large, use JB weld. Just tape the inside, apply JB weld, then remove the tape once it's cured.

I have JB weld sealing an air leak on my air compressor line. It gets extremely hot and still no issues.

 

Not a bad idea...

 

i did the same thing on my factory intake plastic housing. Mine had a crack in it and i repaired mine with some jb weld

 

JB weld on Plastic? Is there a plastic variant as I wouldn't use the normal JB weld stuff on that intake box. Also, is it on the inside behind the filter as if it breaks loose, it could get sucked into the intake.

 

No, the MAF is screened.

 

I'd cut a piece of plastic larger then the hole and glue it to the bottom of the intake (outside the intake). Maybe use a heat tolerant plastic like from a microwave safe tuppoware. Just my suggestion. Even if the screen is there I would'nt take any chances of that stuff getting small enough to get pulled thru the screen or even damage the MAF.

 

True, JB weld won't hold on to certain plastics. I don't know if the intake plastic is one of the exceptions. There are tons of different things he could do. Superglue works good on plastic. Glue heat shielding reflective tape on it.

 

a buddy of mine used Quik Steel [they have both a plastic adhesive version and metal]

It is supposed to harden rock hard, and it sure as **** does.

Also really heat resistant IIRC cause he did quite a few plastic things in his engine bay.

 

The JB Weld version for plastic is called JB Kwik. It's usually right beside JB Weld on the shelf.

 

Im asuming you were using adhesive header wrap on it??? I would think that would work, but maybe not....

 

Yes, but I guess after time it just doesn't adhere to the plastic anymore.

 

Wierd, id figured it would stay on the plastic fairly well, i know the stuff tends to come off pretty quick on headers and the exhaust pipe unless you wrap it realy tight, the glue cooks off. Sounds like the plastic JB weld might be a good thing to try. I guess ive never had this problem before, with the intake i mean.

 

So is this hot tube resting directly on the intake I take it? They sell this material that adheres to bulkheads/heat shields/etc. in a gold and silver color that you could put on a piece of metal and bend/fit to the area you need to help reflect/spread the heat some also. You need about 1/4" at least I would say between the two pieces though to work without a repeat issue I would think though...maybe an 1/8". I would make a heat shield and go that route.
I would be careful with fiberglass if it is getting hot enough to melt the factory plastic as fiberglass will burn/is affected by heat just the same. A larger piece of metal (aluminum/steel/etc. ) made to fit the area might spread the heat and help resolve the issue. I vote aluminum as it dissipates heat faster.

 

I was under the impression whatever melted the intake was on the old stock headers which he doesn't have anymore. So nothing should melt, it just needs to stay on for good. I'm still confused.. is it the AIR tube from the headers that did this?

Edit: I see that you said it was the AIR tube.. nevermind

 

Correct, it was the AIR tube from the headers that is no longer there. I just need to seal up the hole. I'll probably remove the intake and put some tape on the inside of the hole, then I'll cover the outside of the hole with JB Quick. Once it cures I'll remove the tape. Should seal the hole with no chance of anything falling into the intake.

 

OOOH...gotcha. I would say JB weld would be fine as well. You can get fancy and use composite materials like epoxy resins and filler/cabosil to fill, but JB would be fine.