Good idea using the pipe insulation. But be careful with the sound
deadening stuff as it can melt when it gets heated up by the hot air
from the radiator. It can loose adhesion and partially block air flow
which can overheat engine. Ask me how I know! I removed all the melty
goo, some of which dripped on the spare tire & wheel.

Cheers

Keith O

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 7:55 PM, Chris S <szpejankowski@gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's my approach to lessening the heat coming from the front floor of the
> Vanagon.  Instead of layering sound deadening material under the carpet,
> which I'm sure is quite effective, I decided to take the simples approach. I
> used quality pipe insulation of two different sizes to wrap the coolant and
> heater pipes under the floor.  Which insulation?  When you go to Home Depot
> they'll have the lighter, cheaper kind that compresses and doesn't bounce
> back, and the more expensive kind.  Get the more expensive kind.  Also, get
> the largest size for the coolant pipes and the next larges size for the
> heater pipes.  Pick a bag of long, wide zip ties while you're there.  When
> you get home, drop the spare tire,  crawl under the van with a working light
> and do this:
>
> http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/misterpolak/WBX_transplant/HotFootFix.jpg
>
> It takes about 15 minutes, and that includes the time to get a Warsteiner
> from the fridge.
>
> As you can see I also used couple of sheets of bitumenous shiny sticky
> stuff.  I'm sure it will help some to reduce the transmission of noise
> coming from the screaming neighborhood squirrels as they're dodging my
> Westy.  Squirrels are evil, you know.
>
> Ok, now.. back to the last few more things I need to do before my 2.1L
> transplant is running.
>
> Cheers!
>
> --
> Chris S.
> "Beware the Subie Vultures"
>