Burned insulation side sill GTS 1997

[kris]

Hi Everybody,

my side sill insulation was on fire and also burned the paint on the side sill.

This is what i did till this point.

- Cut out the cats and resonators and replace them with a staight pipe, but i don't
know, if it will fail the emissions control.!?!
- Painted the manifold, down pipe, staight pipe, all inclusive the rear muffler, with
zinkspray and VHT header black paint.
- Wrap the whole pipe under the side sill with heatwhrap.
- The side sill's removed from the old paint and find that corrosion did his work
and left me a bunch of little holes in the sill's.
- Fill the holes with iron filler, and over this with normal filler, and after sanding,
spray with epoxy paint to seal them.
- On the inside of the sill's i also spray a layer of VHT.
- On the outside the bleu paint and clear paint, by a paint shop.

Now it comes:
The stock insulation is not so good anymore.

Have anyone experience with products from cool-it ore some other brand?
I don't know what i use best to protect the sill's from the heat.

I am thinking to use self adhesive heat shield to put in the sill's and on the inside, against the chassis and don't use the stock insulation anymore.

Look forward to see suggestions or comment.

Thanks people, Kris.

 

[Bugman Jeff]

Though I can't recommend a heat shield product for the sills, I will say that I wouldn't use the header wrap on the pipes. Even in the driest of conditions, it will cause the pipe to rust away in no time. The cats are the biggest source of heat. With no cats or resonators, just insulating the sills should be good enough.

 

[WDW MKR]

Why the use of iron filler on an aluminum panel? I'd be concerned for long term issues.

 

[kris]

Jeff, i hope they don't rust, that's why i paint them first with zincspray and vht and let them dry verry good and with the wrap, again.
WDW, we try 8 years ago, with aluminum filler and it did not last, so now we try iron filler because it's much stronger.

 

[Camfab]

Here you go..........
http://www.atpwrap.com/html/dodgeviper.html
These guys developed the finest cooling solution for the Gen II Viper. Dan Craigin sold this stuff for years and I believe he was instrumental in it's development. It's really costly, someday I may spring for this stuff myself if It's still available.

 

[kratedisease]

This sounds like the dreaded intake manifold gasket leak causing the engine to run rich and dump gas into the exhaust.....

This was a recall on the 1997 Vipers. It causes the sills to melt. Happened to me also.

 

[WDW MKR]

Here you go..........
http://www.atpwrap.com/html/dodgeviper.html
These guys developed the finest cooling solution for the Gen II Viper. Dan Craigin sold this stuff for years and I believe he was instrumental in it's development. It's really costly, someday I may spring for this stuff myself if It's still available.

Cam... any idea on current pricing and what's applicable for a GEN2 car?

 

[Camfab]

The entire kit is applicable as far as I know, at least on a GTS. I'd guess that the RT-10 with the rear exit exhaust is no different. One of the club members car was used as the prototype. I'd call ATP direct and check for availabillity, I'd spoken to the owner who was a really knowledgable gentlemen. I bet Dan Craigin can hook you up as well. It's expensive, but really there is no comparable product.

 

[kratedisease]

Kris. I bought my 1997 Viper New. I was the original owner. Early on I noticed that the side sills were actually melting. Not only discoloring, but actually melting like the plastic or fiberglass sidesills deforming or melting from extreme heat. So I took it to the dealer back in 1997 since the car had only about 7000 miles and was still under factory warranty. Well, as it turns out the 1997 Vipers had an issue with the intake manifold gasket, and this caused the side sills to get so hot that they were melting. Let me explain.... The intake manifold gasket that Viper used in 1997 was defective. basically the gasket would leak and allow more air into the manifold then what was being monitored by the sensors at the throttle bodies. since the fuel/air ratio was being thrown off, the computer in turn compensates by dumping more fuel into the cylinders because the computer thinks the car is running lean. Some of that fuel, because now it running way too rich does not completely burn in the cylinders and gets thrown into the headers and into the cayalytic and side exhaust where it ignites from the heat in side. Because this excess unburned fuel is now burning in the exhaust , the exhaust tubes actually start to heat up to extreme temperatures. especially the catalytic converter close to the front of your door sill close to the engine. This actually caused the side sills to MELT . Back in 1997 Chrysler paid for my car to be repainted and bodywork was done under warranty, but most importantly, they replaced the intake manifold gasket which was found to be leaking air into the manifold that actually caused this entire situation to occur. later I purchased another 1997 gts and it had the exact same problem. The TSB ( technical service bulletin) on this issue is still on the internet somewhere. I think this is the TSB: 18-11-98