Thanks Sunman, very kind words!
I've been doing a bit here and there, but the major hold up before road testing has been heat insulation. David provided some heat shields, but I guess the guy that fabricated them calculated for the bends wrong and did not factor in the extra rail on the outboard side, so they will now work. And, I discovered in comparison, because i did beat the crap out of one shield to make it work, that the DEI heat insulation actually made a bigger difference than the stainless metal heat shield. However, the floors are still getting WAY TOO HOT in the areas located above the mufflers and more insulation must be added.
Results were:
Underside of floors: 270 degrees Fahrenheit directly above mufflers on reflective DEI surface. The heat gets trapped in this area and I am sure it is better while driving due to air flow helping to move the heat out , but still.
Floors topside: 115 degrees Fahrenheit
Battery cable 105 degrees Fahrenheit
The plan is to wrap the mufflers with DEI muffler wrap and hope it will cool them enough to the point where further measures are not necessary. Next I plan to insulate the top sides of the floor with a thermal barrier and insulation, but the key is to stop it at the source. Now, if the shields fit properly and were used in combo with the DEI insulation, that would be extremely effective, but I dont have the time or resources right now to cut and re-bend the shields from Kirkham.
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