[Flick]

hi all,

in looking at the pictures that todd has of his engine compartment with the engine removed, i could see that the insulation/thermal barrier was in tatters.

i talked to todd on the phone last nite about his adventures in getting his 8v92 rebuilt and i asked him about if he was going to replace the insulation while it was easy to get at. he said they were going to do that.

but....he also said that some of it had fallen down onto the top of the engine. it made me think that all of us need to make sure nothing is in direct contact with the turbo or other hot areas of our main engines. i was reading on the bluebird site this past week about how one of them had a fire while driving and it was because someone had improperly added insulation around the genny/aquahot exhaust going up through the roof and it fell against the exhaust pipe and caught fire. thankfully a friend was following them and noticed it and they were able to get it out before it burned the coach up.

in some coaches, the thermal barrier is a thermal canvas pad like cover that is sewn and mounted up there. in some it is like that for a sound barrier as well like was in my genny for the 1990 i have and my 02 has the same.

the engine compartments in the earlier coaches were the 1" thick sound/thermal/insulation pieces made of various layers of dense foam, foil, lead type material and such that has adhesive on the back. that deteriorates over the years and starts just falling apart.

it is available from newell parts, dupree products and a few other places and is quite expensive. 65 bucks for a 24"x54" sheet. plus shipping and it is heavy.

http://www.dupreeproducts.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=6

on my 90 i redid the entire engine compartment with a radiant barrier and glued multiple layers of it together myself and screwed it up with fender washers and wood screws. i talked to the manufacturer to make sure it would withstand the heat and it does. but it was a lot of work to do it this way but alot cheaper. tradeoff is time.

so, just a reminder to check it.

here are pictures of what i did on my 90. i know wally had redone parts of his coach as well.

tom

Wow you could eat off of that engine bay. That is very cool Tom. I am going to talk to the guys right away Monday and make sure they get similar insulation to the link you provided or just order it myself. I would rather have a high quality material like that.