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Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Depot

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LuckyLuke

LuckyLuke

Senior Member
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The original heat shield on an Austin Healey looks like it is made from Asbestos. My intention was to replace it with modern non dangerous materials. The new ones from Moss look very much like Hardie Backerboard from Home Depot . So I did a little investigation. First of all the Hardie Backerboard has zero flammability based on the spec sheet on their Website. https://www.jameshardie.com. So it should be good for thermal protection close to the exhaust. When I tried to brake a corner it was much more rigid than the original Asbestos version. So I made a template from the original and disposed the asbestos (check the local law about disposing asbestos!). The 1/4 ā€œ Hardie Plank from Home Depot was easy to cut with a Jigsaw and the holes were drilled with a conventional drill. When I mounted it under the car I was surprised how strong the this stuff is. The final result was satisfactory, the material looks like the original.
The Hardie board that is normally used as base for tiling comes in 3'x 5' sheet. I will use the plenty rest to protect more surface in the exhaust area from heat and maybe to finish my bathroom :smile:
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

Hi Luke,

I used the Hardi board too and it worked out pretty well.

heat shields

The one on the right is an original asbestos shield and it has a coarser weave on one side but otherwise they are close. I did go through lots of jig saw blades .. perhaps a carbon tipped blade would have lasted longer.

Be aware there is one Hardi Backerboard type that has a cutting grid debossed in the surface. Obviously, want the other type that has no grid.

Cheers,
John
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

This is a good idea and has been discussed before. Several others have installed a modern heatshield on the car and covered with the hardiboard. Racing and aircraft supply houses carry the stuff https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/heatbarriers.php

It's because of this forum that I'm aware of it, and also becasue of the forum that I used the stuff on my gearbox tunnel.

Nice work John. Looking at more of your Pictures I'd have to say compulsively, meticulously nice work!
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

dar100 said:
I'd have to say compulsively, meticulously ...
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave,

Can one be meticulous without being a bit compulsive?
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Wish I was done .. going through a bad stretch of TMW (Too Much Work) and ICKTEG (I Could Kill The Engine Guy). Oh well.

Cheers,
John
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

John Loftus said:
dar100 said:
I'd have to say compulsively, meticulously ...
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave,

Can one be meticulous without being a bit compulsive?
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Wish I was done .. going through a bad stretch of TMW (Too Much Work) and ICKTEG (I Could Kill The Engine Guy). Oh well.

Cheers,
John
Click to expand...
-----------------------/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/bow.gif-------------------------
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

dar100 said:
This is a good idea and has been discussed before. Several others have installed a modern heatshield on the car and covered with the hardiboard. Racing and aircraft supply houses carry the stuff https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/heatbarriers.php

It's because of this forum that I'm aware of it, and also becasue of the forum that I used the stuff on my gearbox tunnel.

Nice work John. Looking at more of your Pictures I'd have to say compulsively, meticulously nice work!
Click to expand...

How thick is this stuff? Does it keep the heat out well? It is cheaper than Dynamat, is it lighter? (I think dynamat is too heavy).
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

Hi Alan, The principal material being discussed here is a composite hard board ~ 1/4" thick. It is used to replace the Hazardous Asbestos heat shields used in the engine compartment and above the mufflers under the driver side floor. This material is much more dense than Asbestos but does a good job of blocking the heat. Dyna mat is an entirely different material and Yes it is heavy. However, there are other flexible materials available that are very light and very effective at insulating the car's occupants from heat. A very good cross section of these may be found in the archives of this forum.---Fwiw-Keoke
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

can anyone help me locate templates for heat shields for my 57 100-6?
my originals were just hunks of mushy asbestoes when I got this car in 1970 and I'm at a stage in the project where they should be installed.I've been lurking around this forum for a couple months and have gleaned alot of great info and sources to help me along. a great forum overall!
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

Beware when working with Hardiboard. I don't really know what's in it, but it is quite abrasive to cutting tools. I used it to replace the asbestos on the carb heat shield. The end result is great. But it cost me a band saw blade and a forstner bit. The forstner bit literally glowed cherry red when drilling out holes. And by the way, I got mine from a builder/friend, who had plenty of suitably sized scrap on hand at a new house under construction.
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

healeynut said:
dar100 said:
This is a good idea and has been discussed before. Several others have installed a modern heatshield on the car and covered with the hardiboard. Racing and aircraft supply houses carry the stuff https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/heatbarriers.php

It's because of this forum that I'm aware of it, and also becasue of the forum that I used the stuff on my gearbox tunnel.

Nice work John. Looking at more of your Pictures I'd have to say compulsively, meticulously nice work!
Click to expand...

How thick is this stuff? Does it keep the heat out well? It is cheaper than Dynamat, is it lighter? (I think dynamat is too heavy).
Click to expand...

The stuff I used was about 1/8" thick and was a silica based product primarily for heat, not sound, like Dynamat, it is very light, but I think there is a thinner material that others have used beneath their hardiboard shields. I bought mine from the aircraftspruce. It was pretty easy to work with and adhered well to the cleaned up tunnel. I supplemented the sheets with the tape.
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

Cutlass said:
Beware when working with Hardiboard. I don't really know what's in it, but it is quite abrasive to cutting tools. I used it to replace the asbestos on the carb heat shield. The end result is great. But it cost me a band saw blade and a forstner bit. The forstner bit literally glowed cherry red when drilling out holes. And by the way, I got mine from a builder/friend, who had plenty of suitably sized scrap on hand at a new house under construction.
Click to expand...

On the long edges you can score the Hardi Backerboard with a utility knife and then snap it (that's the recommended installation directions). Clean up the edges with sand paper on a block. For smaller cuts the jig saw worked pretty good but I did go through blades. It does contain Silica so wear a good dust mask. I cut the holes with a hole saw that has an abrasive edge which is normally used for tile and brick.
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

Hi Healeylvr,
I have some templates I made from my old originals. Some dimensions had to be extrapolated. If you use them, make cardboard templates first to check to fitting. Let me know any errors and Iā€™ll fix ā€˜em on my drawings for the next poor soul. Couple notes; the center firewall drawing is backwards from Mossā€™ diagrams. So the dimension should be right, youā€™re just cutting from the backside. The Moss diagram doesnā€™t list the muffler heatshield for the BN4, wonder what that means?
 

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Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

thanks so much for the patterns Greg I'm off to home depot tommorow for material and will work on it in the next week or so (time permiting)! I'll post the results when I can.
Again this site is so helpfull
 
Re: Thermal shields for hot Healeys from Home Dep

Hi HealeyLvr57, If you can not find templates there are non asbestos replacement kits available. One source I know of is British Car Specialties also might check with them they may have templates you can purchase.--Fwiw---Keoke
 
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