Durabak project progress (PICS)

[NCCherokee]

what did you make your heat shield out of for the cat and muffler, and how did you attach it?

Where did you get your downpipe wrap? did you install the wrap with the downpipe still in the jeep?

thanks,
kenny

 

[unrealtrip]

The heat shields are made out of aluminum and are attached by bolts that drop through the floor. As you can see in the pix, I need to trim the length down a bit. Yes I know I could have used aluminized heat shielding, but those things are costly at about $80+ I got the aluminum at the local osh for under $20. Before the shields the bare metal of the floor got so hot you could not hold your hand to it, now there is absolutely no heat whatsoever.

http://www.secretreality.com/jeep/xj/tech/heat-shields.htm

I'm using header wrap on my downpipe made by ThermoTec, you can get it at quality parts stores like Monument or order online. To prevent rust, I first spray painted the pipe with high heat paint, then wrapped it up with it in place because I'm lazy. You secure it with hose clamps.

 

[missouri]

Hey I have that same knife.

mine is 16 years old and yours Nice work I have that ahead of me.

Well, I got the first 2 coats of Durabak down on the XJ today. Will finish off with another two coats tomorrow. I wanted to continue but it was just getting too dark to realistically keep going. So far I'm pretty happy with the results.

At first I was using sandpaper, after a while I was like f-that and I got out the wire wheel for my drill.

The shiny spots are where I had to completely polish out some rust spots. Thanks to the passenger floor having been totally underwater, there was a lot more to deal with than I suspected.

All ready to be washed down.

First I used the shop vac, then hit it with some air to blow away all the fine dust.

With acetone and Icee in hand I'm ready to roll.

I didn't feel like taking these out so I took the lazy approach.

 

[unrealtrip]

Re: Durabak project progress (PICS + AUDIO)

Ok so here's a quick road test audio for you. Not the greatest but it will help somewhat to those who are unsure of the road noise that you'll get. (Most of what you hear is wind noise btw)

setup:
Sony Minidisc and a powered Sony high sensitivity stereo mic.

(RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE TARGET AS)
http://www.secretreality.com/jeep/xj/tech/durabak_images/durabak_road_test.wav

It is ~50MB and is a semi-compressed WAV file @64kbps.

I used the configuration as shown in the photo. I idled for a sec, drove 25mph down the street, took a turn, got up to 35mph, took another turn, got up to 45mph. Slowed while I got onto the freeway, tons of traffic, I could just barely hit 50 on a very groove freeway. I nailed it when I took the long offramp clearing 4k rpms at about 55mph. Turned around, got back on the freeway in the other direction and got it up to 65mph for a short while.

I have the sensitivity cranked so you can hear everything and decide for yourself. The Jeep isn't really that creaky, ok well maybe a little, it's just the mic. Base the road and wind noise amplification level off of the sound of familiar things like the turn signal.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

The heat shields are made out of aluminum and are attached by bolts that drop through the floor. As you can see in the pix, I need to trim the length down a bit. Yes I know I could have used aluminized heat shielding, but those things are costly at about $80+ I got the aluminum at the local osh for under $20. Before the shields the bare metal of the floor got so hot you could not hold your hand to it, now there is absolutely no heat whatsoever.

http://www.secretreality.com/jeep/xj/tech/heat-shields.htm

Doggone it, I LIKE this shield - easy to do, and looks to be tucked up nice and out of the way for wheeling. I may just do this when I pull my carpet out in a month or so...

Rob

 

[rehab]

wow that looks really really good!

 

[unrealtrip]

I just wanted to followup now that it has been a few weeks with the Durabak in on my dd.

1- When masking, go higher than you think you need to, I'm going to go back and brush up a little higher as the console doesn't cover quite as much as a I thought it would.

2- Road noise is basically negligable, however the tcase chain rattle is definitely more prominent, especially after driving for a long time as the oil thins. At the same time, its not terribly loud, no worse than my YJ.

3- Heat, non-issue. The heat shields work great and the header wrap on the downpipe works well enough. The header wrap doesn't stop the heat like the shields do, but it cuts it down enough that it isn't an issue.

4- Daily comfort: I put in floormats to retain the stock look and so things that are on it don't get messed up since it basically has a sandpaper like quality. Seems to work well.

I am also glad I went with Durabak for both the UV protection that is already in it, and for the fact that I was able to go with a factory like color scheme rather than black.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it and I can't say I really have any complaints at all. I would definitely do it again and I'd recommend it to anyone thinking about it.

 

[joecool]

Looks really nice. I used herculiner to do the inside of mine, but sometimes I wish I would have painted mine to match my interior. Anyway, while I really like it, I find that the jeep turns into an oven during the summer. The transmission tunnel gives off a lot of heat, especially when your off-road and dont get much air flow. Hopefully, it wont be as bad for you, but if it is and you find a cheap solution please let me know.