Fab'd a Heat Shield
 

I've been looking everywhere for a heat shield to use with my Injen intake, but haven't found one anywhere, so I decided to make my own. Tried to figure out how to do it with aluminum, but the complex shape needed stumped me, so I decided to make one in fiberglass. I used the stock airbox as a form, and made a paper mache mold; used 2-part marine flotation foam in the paper mold; shaped it; bondo'd it; sanded (a lot); fiberglassed; and this is the result.

Another view.

Before installation.

Broken away from the foam mold.

After a couple of layers of fiberglass.

Bondo'd foam mold form after sanding and shaping.

Foam form after paper mache mold removed & next to stock airbox.

There was a lot of shaping of the foam form required and it needed to be put in and out of the engine compartment for sizing. This took far longer than I imagined, but I'm pleased with the results. I'm still looking for the right rubber molding to cover the edges.

very nice fiber glass work there! awesome!!!

Oh that is neat. A nice design. I enjoy making custom heat shields on my RX and my cousin's Golf, a lot of fun.

Good job. :thumbup:

My skin gets really itchy everytime I am near someone who is working on fiberglass. :D
Maybe JPI can make that heat shield for members here.

Something like this Nomura one will be awesome for you guys.

http://images8.fotki.com/v111/photos...ture003-vi.jpg

Very nice. Love the custom fabrication.

Good job on the custom-fab...looks great :thumbup:

nicely done, very clean work:thumbup:

Thanks guys. Believe me - I would have preferred to just write a check for this, but the experience was interesting. Now, of course, I am seeing ways that the design could have been better......

Oh - the gray color against the engine is high temp paint that has "ceramic" material in it (maybe...), and the black paint is crinkle paint - to hide those fiberglass imperfections.

The picture of the shell as it was broken from foam mold was just the start of the fiberglassing process, as I had to use glass mat to build up the strength of the part after I had the correct initial shape.