Anybody have Experience Cutting Down Heat in a Buggy?

[BamaTJ]

Lots of turn-key builders and buggy owners on here, anybody have success with cutting down heat in the cab? I have layed down some heat tape, without much luck really. We ran for 45 minutes straight heading out of the trails and the cab was like an oven. Wife loved it I know a bunch of the TN guys use LineX or similar. Just looking for ideas and first hand experience. It seems like most of my issues is around the tranny tunnel. The exhaust is on my side and I can deal with it, but the tranny and firewall are a huge source of the heat. Just trying to make wheelin more enjoyable with the wife ;D

 

[P]

As tight as your buggy is Im not sure how much heat loss your going to experience, same thing every does, header wrap the exhaust, look at air flow through the bottom portion of your rig ( not much on yours ) seal the panels as best as possible..

You know those three strips of thick rubber that you sat in my truck, I put those on the floor of mine and it keeps that thin sheetmetal from transfering into a hot ass spot since it absorbs so much heat. I shove a towel around the bottom front edge of the seats on mine to keep heat out from the void under the seats that lets so much heat come up... makes a HUGE difference on long rides or for passengers in my rig.

This is another reason I havent been in a big hurry to put the UHMW skids on the sides of my chassis... its just going to hold if more heat under my ass laughing1

 

[kid rok]

You could always go back to a full bodied rig that has air and heat and electric windows and windshield wipers and air and

 

[BamaTJ]

You could always go back to a full bodied rig that has air and heat and electric windows and windshield wipers and air and

Nah, but the creature comforts are nice. Yeah the holes in the floor under the seat hurt but you can fill it more under your feet by the firewall. I am going to add a tcase piece so I can install a boot on the shifter. That will help a little I think. Just looking to see if any of the special coating and taps actually make any damn difference

 

[John Galbreath Jr.]

I did not look under your seat, but the passenger seat is open to the undercarriage. Sealing off all openings like that, around the shifter, etc. is your first step. Then insluate if needed. Right now, it would be like putting storm windows on the house without a front door.

 

[BamaTJ]

I did not look under your seat, but the passenger seat is open to the undercarriage. Sealing off all openings like that, around the shifter, etc. is your first step. Then insluate if needed. Right now, it would be like putting storm windows on the house without a front door.

Problem is that the gap there gives me access to the rear firewall and seat mounts. I will have to look at it and see if I could something under there and still be able to have access.

 

[John Galbreath Jr.]

Problem is that the gap there gives me access to the rear firewall and seat mounts. I will have to look at it and see if I could something under there and still be able to have access.

Make a bolt in or quick fastner cover. Easier to bolt in if you can get to the bottom, as it should not need to be removed often.

 

[BlingBling]

How much AL do you have. I did all my **** in thin steel because AL holds too much heat.

 

[BamaTJ]

How much AL do you have. I did all my **** in thin steel because AL holds too much heat.

All of it ;D

I will look into some quick release panels that we can pull from the bottom

 

[P]

Thats my deal, my friggin passenger front left seat tab even though I cut it off the seat and re positioned it is still damn near mounted to the Tcase its all so tight under the seats

 

[BamaTJ]

Thats my deal, my friggin passenger front left seat tab even though I cut it off the seat and re positioned it is still damn near mounted to the Tcase its all so tight under the seats

HA, myu pass seat only has the 3 tabs, the fourth is a rubber bumper that sits on the tcase. ;D

I would like to clarify that I could give a fawk about the heat, but I don't think my wife will ever make a non-winter ride again unless I do something

 

[Cole]

Hey if you want your panels Sprayed with bedliner, hit Daniel up. They do spray in bed liners at truck supply. They use Ultimate linings, its a littler softer than Line-X. I am sure he can work something out for you. I have seen them spray some crazy ****. Like a Motorcycle tank and fenders.

 

[Woodlee]

Matt the header wrap is awesome. Do the whole exhaust and especially the muffler.


I spray Rhino liner on most of my projects and I think it helps. Anther tip may be to mount a fan under your buggy just to push out the hot air. Maybe two small ones one on each side of the trans (if they will fit) Heat brings the suck for passengers. I have thought about trying Dynamat under the floor boards but I don't think it would work to good in our sport. To much dirt and water.

My had installed a cheap fan for my step mom that blows on her enough to keep her cool. She loved it. Another thing I did one time was lay a moving blanket in the passenger floor board and just toss it when the day was done. They were cheap when I got mine. It worked well but it was hillbilly as hell.

 

[BamaTJ]

Thanks for the ideas adam, I know you would have some answers!

 

[wontwork]

I rhinolined the inside of my Jeep when I had it just because I didn't want to put carpet back in it. It was actaully cooler than th ecarpet and alot easier to clean up. Spray with Simple Green and rinse, looked brand new when it was properly cleaned.

 

[wngrog]

Carl and I have been battling this in our buggies too.

Here are the things I have done in the past and they have helped a lot.

1) I just lined all of the panels around the motor with insulation. I bought a kind that is basically rubber sticky stuff with aluminum foil on one side. It dropped the heat (ir tested) 80 degrees per panel.

2) I have a ceramic coated muffler to install. On Kate and the Bash Buggy I ceramic coated the exhaust and it was a huge help. In fact, I was shooting temps and my ceramic headers are 50* cooler than the Y pipe they dump into.

3) Shield the muffler if possible.

4) Radiator in the rear with all of the air pushing away from you.

5) I may ad a tranny hump and insulate it. The hottest thing on my buggy is the bellhousing. It is about 250* once the tranny heats up to operating temps.

When we went to Colorado the heat in the front was bad on the road when the wind was blowing through and pushing it on us. Crawling it is not as bad. I attribute it to not having all of that aluminum interior to radiate heat.

The blanket idea the hillbilly had is one I had as well.

 

[jrhall]

I got a hole in my floor board i could throw jrich thru..... Quit being a ***** and man up..... Its just heat.

 

[POPS58]

Just go fast,ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[vanguard]

There is a lot of good advice in this thread. I recently header wrapped my muffler and it made a lot of difference, it was right under the seat. If you haven't done it before it's a good idea to soak it in water before you wrap it. The fibers turn into itchy splinters that bothered me for days.

 

[bigsilly]

Just go fast,ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And there you have it... laughing1 laughing1