OK here we go.
The best way I can come up with to do this is just load a pic in the gallery and the tell the story. I have a ton of pics and and to keep it all in order I think just me going by the pic number will keep the chronology straightened out. May have to back track some. The were a lot of mods done other than the blanket getting to the point of being able to wrap it such as I did, and that is undeniably material for another thread, I will mention it in detail sufficient to explain and try to stay on the blanket topic.
I cannot recommend anyone do this mod.
Those folks are absolutely correct when they say you will screw your engine up. Ask Willie about elevated coolant temps.
Were engine encapsulation, ever to be fully controlled with chips, that would be different.
I am the temp monitor and control. I look up at the ScanGuageII constantly.
I adjust the climate control as needed. I adjust the passengers window as needed. If I have to take the Interstate because of flooded roads, I can pull over and unzip the fly on the radiator block and cruise without having to monitor the temps. With the fly unzipped, the radiator has plenty of flow to keep the coolant at 197F without me touching anything.
My commute gives me the ability to cruise at 45/47, and I live in an sparsely populated area. My commute gives me a lot of things, I have always said that. FE is one of the things it gives me. I do not listen to music. I took the speakers out. I listen to the Insight. I don't have to worry with traffic.
My attention can be given to coolant temps.
The blanket goes on around Thanksgiving, and this last year it came of around the first of June.
I hope you enjoy.
Don't do this mod.
An edit for materials used and some results.
I used a product called Aramid Kevlar Pyreflect. It has excellent properties. The company that produces it is ADL Insulflex. Search you will find them. Got the high temp hook and loop, and high temp thread from them also. I do not believe they sell to the general public. I have channels that allowed me to obtain their product. It was pricey. You could buy you a nice grid charger and some IMA command and control stuff, for what I‘ve got in the engine blanket. I used the aluminum bubble insulation inside the sandwich. The outer skin is Sunbrella outdoor fabric, the stuff used for awnings and outdoor furniture cushions.
Results: The short response that I give to folks when asked about the performance of the blanket is this: I get 140F OBD indicated coolant in the dead of winter when using the block heater for 1 hour. This compares to 100F after 2 hours without the blanket.
I work long shifts, so pretty much all the heat is gone out of the block by the time I’m leaving for home. But, nice fast warm-ups, and the Insight and I are both very toasty and happy. That part is nice. I’m as warm as I want to be.
When the weather is not so cold and windy, I see around 35-40F warmer coolant than ambient, after sitting overnight.
I have some temp data captured, both OBD coolant and intake, and also the 8 channel thermo board that can be seen in a later post. It will take some time for me to revisit that.
EDIT 02/05/2012 added links to mediafire
I uploaded some of the files that were used for engine compartment temperature monitoring to Mediafire.
Engine compartment temps
OBD data
The file naming that I used goes something like this:
Insight 3 way Cat Temps_mmddyyX.
X is the trip number.
If the dates in the files don't match up with the file name, it is because when working the night shift, the trip in before midnight is saved as the first trip of the next calender day. Sunday night is Monday morning.
Randall
Engine Blanket Exposed Insight Gen1
. Sewed this blanket up with wifees old worn out Singer. Have the pattern rolled up in a tube around here somewhere. If I find a way to project that full size onto some media for to share with others, I have no problem sharing. Kinda like open source info. Someone know a way?
