Time to take a break from the exhaust and final chassis items. Decided to cut out the exterior heat shields.
This post covers how to make simple patterns and cut out and align holes in the heat shield for a nice clean fit. The heat shielding is adhesive backed, but at this time I’m not going to permanently attach it.
Here is a short video on the process…
Here are the supplies and tools used…
1)DEI Matte Black Floor and Tunnel Shield II 50549
2)Large heavy duty scissors
3)Sharp scribe
4)Step drill
5)Various size hole saws
6)Pointed set screws used to locate blind threaded holes
7)Black sharpie
8)Dremel cutting disc
I chose DEI heat shield since it is the maximum heat insulation product they make, it also acts as a sound barrier and comes in a nice matte black finish. All exterior panels will get this applied to them.
1st step is to find an approach to making accurate patterns. I like to use multiple pieces of construction paper and tape them together to form the pattern. This eliminates the need to cut the pattern out precisely. Just butt the paper up to an edge and then overlap it and tape it to the adjoining piece.
Pic of the front foot box pattern and install tools…
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Drew the pattern on the back side of the heat shielding…
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The material is fairly easy to cut with large, sharp scissors. Tin snipes would work well too, but I like the scissors since they cut the material nice and straight.
Now on to making holes and cut outs. I wanted to do a neat job cutting this material and came up with a few approaches that worked really well.
1)All larger openings - were marked with a sharpie from behind
2)Smaller openings - like M5 screws used the scribe to poked a small hole from behind and drill out from the front. I used a step drill with deep steps.
3)Larger screw holes - Marked each hole center and used a scribe and poked a hole from behind. Drilled out from the front with a step drill with very deep steps. Shallow step drill will not work well since each step doesn’t go all the way through the material. If the hole size needed is the largest on the step drill, then a shallow step drill works ok. The step drills are nice since they cut the aluminum and fiberglass cleanly without getting bound up.
4)Larger round holes - Marked each hole center and used a scribe and poked a hole from behind. Used the step drill to drill a guide hole for the hole saw. Then used a hole saw bit and ran it backward from the aluminum side of the material. While pressing the back side in my hand I could feel when the drill was through all three layers(aluminum, fiberglass, and adhesive backing). It worked great!
5)Blind screw holes - Insert a few sharpened set screws in the chassis and press the material firmly against it. This will poke a hole through the back plastic layer. Then lightly tap the front with a mallet and block of wood causing the set screws to poke through. Use the scribe to further widen the holes and drill them out from the front with a step drill.
Here is a pic of the trimmed up heat shielding for the extended foot box and front of the passenger compartment. You can see some of the various ways to make neat and concise holes and openings in the material…
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Pic of front-side panel patterns. Left a small section of the foot box area uncovered. This area is open to cooler air so figure no harm in leaving it uncovered…
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Now with the heat shield applied…
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Traced the chassis side and interior tub close out panel from a single large sheet of heat shield. Turned out the Chassis passenger side is 48” long and matches the length of the heat shielding sheet...
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Inserted the sharpened set screws in the interior tub close out panel to locate the blind holes...
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Driver side compartment panel cut and fitted. Used the sharpened set screw technique to locate the blind holes. The screws lined up perfectly for the brake lines and tub close out panel…
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Rear bulkhead, fuel tank close out panels, and lower frame rail all get heat shielding…
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3/4 view from the front…
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That was a lot of fun. I’ll permanently attach them to the chassis after I know, no more holes need to be drilled. I’ll seal the edges up with either matte black flashing tape or urethane chassis sealer.