Is side sill insulation necessary with no cats

[ViperC]

I was taking my side sills off today and of course had to take off the insulation. In the name of weight reduction I have considered removing the insulation. Is it insulation necessary if I don’t have cats?

[dave6666]

I would use it. The pipes themselves still get hot.

[GTS Dean]

Agreed

[usmcfieldmp]

Like they said above, the pipes still get hot, so insulation is still a good idea. An alternative might be to take the pipes off and heat wrap them or have them coated.

[dave6666]

Heat wrap is a bad idea because the wrapped pipes can collect and trap combustible organic matter. Which can combust. Yes it has happened. If the pipes were exposed then this would not be as much of a concern.

But back to factory insulation (which weighs a few pounds), versus the idea of wrapping the pipes (which will weigh something as well), all that sure seems like a lot of work for saving 2 to 3 pounds. But I'm sure it's an upgrade...

[usmcfieldmp]

An interesting note. I knew some people didn't like wrapped pipes because they can hold water and rust pipes prematurely - I hadn't considered the hazard of the pipes being closed off from everything else.

And yeah, the reality of the weight savings makes it not really worth it, imo.

[Blue96GTS]

You might look into Swain coating.

Not sure if it will add more weight than the insulation, but I've witnessed it perform miracles where heat is involved. Used a pyrometer on a 9 liter in a Gen 5 shortly after it came off a 20 minute track session on a hot day at HPR. Headers were Swain coated and temps were below 150F.

[ViperC]

Heat wrap is a bad idea because the wrapped pipes can collect and trap combustible organic matter. Which can combust. Yes it has happened. If the pipes were exposed then this would not be as much of a concern.

But back to factory insulation (which weighs a few pounds), versus the idea of wrapping the pipes (which will weigh something as well), all that sure seems like a lot of work for saving 2 to 3 pounds. But I'm sure it's an upgrade...

They weigh just over 10 lbs each.

[TTSnake]

for 10lbs you're better off skipping that double cheeseburger to reduce weight.

[ViperC]

for 10lbs you're better off skipping that double cheeseburger to reduce weight.

I can’t lose anymore weight than I already have! Kidney transplant did a number on me! Haha

[usmcfieldmp]

10 lbs that are low to the ground and centered between front and rear though. I personally wouldn't worry about it unless you were building a true racecar.

[GTS Dean]

You might look into Swain coating.

Not sure if it will add more weight than the insulation, but I've witnessed it perform miracles where heat is involved. Used a pyrometer on a 9 liter in a Gen 5 shortly after it came off a 20 minute track session on a hot day at HPR. Headers were Swain coated and temps were below 150F.

Do you have the correct Emissivity for that material plugged into the IR camera? Is it a polished, shiny finish, or a dull, flat finish? I'm not doubting that they are much cooler, but IR has its peculiar shortcomings.