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Help! Heat tunnel plate

05 GRAND DADDY

Seasoned Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2011
Messages
2,728
Location
South Central PA (Littlestown)
My XLR/V(s)
2005 Light Platinium Silver XLR
Well I just bought a new Ceramic with insulation heat shield tunnel plate from Elite. Does anyone know if when removing the Corsa Exhaust if there is any gaskets that need to be replaced? I also bought the shifter washer kit to replace while I'm right there. If anyone has any pointers or suggestions that have done this switch and/or replaced the shifter washer it would be well appreciated!
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Nope...no gaskets. But you will absolutely want to ensure that the torque specifications are observed on those bolts. I took my V in about a month after I had my ceramic tunnel plate installed and had them retorque the bolts and three of them had already fallen off. But it's a very good mod worth the money. A LOT LESS heat is transferred through the tunnel now.


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Good to know, are speaking of the tunnel bolt or the exhaust bolts or both. I also bought this black felt looking material call Heatblok... the video sales pitch pitch was awesome, the guy folds it in half and then lays it over his arm, lays a penny on it then heats up the penny until it's glowing red.... while still on his arm. I plan on lining the underneath of the console above the tunnel plate if that is a possiblity!


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Last edited:
Good to know, are speaking of the tunnel bolt or the exhaust bolts or both. I also bought this black felt looking material call Heatblok... the video sales pitch pitch was awesome, the guy folds it in half and then lays it over his arm, lays a penny on it then heats up the penny until it's glowing red.... while still on his arm. I plan on lining the underneath of the console above the tunnel plate if that is a possiblity!


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Tunnel bolts. I had my Corsa kit welded on by a muffler shop so no bolts there.


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Well got this heat shield plate installed today! We have a 4 hour trip planned next Wednesday to Ocean City Md for Endless Summer Fall Car Show event. Should be a good time to see how it does. Also had the shifter bushing changed out. The old one we removed didn't look to bad, but change it anyway!


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Have a great trip. And let us know if you notice a decrease in heat transfer.


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Just driving it a little bit this evening didn't even get warm so far, but I'll post here how it does after I give her a good testing!


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Have a great trip. And let us know if you notice a decrease in heat transfer.


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I got one! Still get hot! Warms up your drinks!
 
Hey Chad, Which plate did you install? This one I purchased from Elite is thicker, it has Ceramic coating on both sides plus a insulation heat shield and I add some heat shield carbon fiber material above the plate before installing! I have some more of that carbon fiber material left over which I'm going to place under the center console top plate also! Like I mentioned in earlier post, next Wednesday leaving for a 3-4 hour trip I should know if it helps. But even if it only helps some that would be nice!


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I got the thicker Elite with the shield.
 
Good Job. Gald you got it sorted. : )

Hey Chad, Which plate did you install? This one I purchased from Elite is thicker, it has Ceramic coating on both sides plus a insulation heat shield and I add some heat shield carbon fiber material above the plate before installing! I have some more of that carbon fiber material left over which I'm going to place under the center console top plate also! Like I mentioned in earlier post, next Wednesday leaving for a 3-4 hour trip I should know if it helps. But even if it only helps some that would be nice!


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Nice plate. I hope the glue won't let go on the Carbon Fiber Insulation. --- As we discussed, I made my own plate and stuck self adhesive shiny metal backed insulation on the bottom, plus ran 1/2" aluminum 'angle iron', bolt to bolt across the shield as extra insurance against the glue letting loose or sagging. I ran the insulation material up the side of the tunnel a bit also before I installed the shield. On the aluminum cross struts I used large aluminum 1/2 washers under the bolts for added support of the insulating material. The inside of the aluminum "L" I faced forward to create some wind turbulence to aid in cooling. --- Results from 3 years ago when done? (1) The self adhesive glue never let go (lucky). (2) It totally solved the interior heat problem at the tunnel. :) In a week or two I will have Goldie up in the air for other work I need to do, and will take and post pictures on our site.

Glad to hear you got this sorted! Thanks for the shifter cable bushing kit recommendation (ordered one the other day).
:wave:
 
Loctite?

Good to know, are speaking of the tunnel bolt or the exhaust bolts or both. I also bought this black felt looking material call Heatblok... the video sales pitch pitch was awesome, the guy folds it in half and then lays it over his arm, lays a penny on it then heats up the penny until it's glowing red.... while still on his arm. I plan on lining the underneath of the console above the tunnel plate if that is a possiblity!


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Interesting. When I have mine up in the air I will check the bolts to see that they are still tight? Hope so. If not, I will put a little LockTite 271 Red on the threads. May do so anyhow. :)
 
When my mechanic was installing my new shocks, I had him check the bolts and he noted about 70% needed to be tightened and 3 we’re missing which he replaced. He applied a heat resistant Permatex Silicone Sealant to all of them. Very happy with the lower heat transfer than the stock piece of sheet metal.


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Smart : )

When my mechanic was installing my new shocks, I had him check the bolts and he noted about 70% needed to be tightened and 3 we’re missing which he replaced. He applied a heat resistant Permatex Silicone Sealant to all of them. Very happy with the lower heat transfer than the stock piece of sheet metal.


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I think the high temp RTV Sealer (Permatex Silicone) may be a better idea than LockTite 271 Red. The LockTite Red can actually almost prevent a bolt from being removed in the future. This I think is a better insurance than The 271 Red.
 


Nice plate. I hope the glue won't let go on the Carbon Fiber Insulation. --- As we discussed, I made my own plate and stuck self adhesive shiny metal backed insulation on the bottom, plus ran 1/2" aluminum 'angle iron', bolt to bolt across the shield as extra insurance against the glue letting loose or sagging. I ran the insulation material up the side of the tunnel a bit also before I installed the shield. On the aluminum cross struts I used large aluminum 1/2 washers under the bolts for added support of the insulating material. The inside of the aluminum "L" I faced forward to create some wind turbulence to aid in cooling. --- Results from 3 years ago when done? (1) The self adhesive glue never let go (lucky). (2) It totally solved the interior heat problem at the tunnel. :) In a week or two I will have Goldie up in the air for other work I need to do, and will take and post pictures on our site.

Glad to hear you got this sorted! Thanks for the shifter cable bushing kit recommendation (ordered one the other day).
:wave:

The plate came with a aluminum foil like heat shield already stuck on it.
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The carbon fiber material is not glued on, it was place above the tunnel plate inside the tunnel, and pushed up on sides and wire n zipped tied into place. Also today I pulled off the center console plate and with the left over carbon fiber material I lined the underneath inside all around the shifter and under the cup holders. Chad had mentioned on his the cup holders still got hot so figured it wouldn't hurt none to try this too! The Trans shifter cable bushing actually was still in fair condition, but replaced it and kept the old, to keep for back up. See pictures
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Last edited:
Got it! Smart!

The plate came with a aluminum foil like heat shield already stuck on it.
6d99e241f075ca61c399ddcfa9b3e60d.png

The carbon fiber material is not glued on, it was place above the tunnel plate inside the tunnel, and pushed up on sides and wire n zipped tied into place. Also today I pulled off the center console plate and with the left over carbon fiber material I lined the underneath inside all around the shifter and under the cup holders. Chad had mentioned on his the cup holders still got hot so figured it wouldn't hurt none to try this too! The Trans shifter cable bushing actually was still in fair condition, but replaced it and kept the old, to keep for back up. See pictures
41dd3eaac91d1873952372a106d9f8c7.jpg

ed25f9a86c3e3b6a9ae20fd8d7fec000.jpg



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Got it. The Carbon Fiber material you put on top of the plate. I had 'assumed' you glued it over the one already installed on the bottom. Not. :) I don't blame you for removing the console and lining the area under it also considering our past conversations on this issue. Probably a bit of 'over kill' in solving the problem. Yet I totally understand. When I drove mine back from San Diego when I got her, the heat was very annoying. Again, glad you got it sorted. ;)
 
Heat plate up date!
Well it does make difference, but we got in traffic back up coming home yesterday with a stop n go for awhile and the console did quite warm but still not hot like it was. Normal driving it stayed just warm, not hot like it was before install! Was it worth the $300? In my opinion it was to me! Thanks I hope this helps anyone else thinking of installing the Elite Ceramic Heat Plate! I don’t know if the Corsa Exhaust over factory has anything difference in heat issues or not!


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I felt exactly the same about my plate upgrade. Money well spent. Glad your experience was the same.


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You can buy just the heat pad and not have to mess with removing the stock plate.

Just search for C5 & C6 Corvette Z-Cool Tunnel Exhaust Heat Shield New Only $99.95!!!
 
You can buy just the heat pad and not have to mess with removing the stock plate.

Just search for C5 & C6 Corvette Z-Cool Tunnel Exhaust Heat Shield New Only $99.95!!!

I wonder if that can be installed over my aftermarket tunnel cover?


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