Greetings, all. Does anyone out there have close-up pictures &/or dimensions (to include mounting tab placement) of the heat shields for a Euro 246 GT? I’ve attached a couple of pics from an early spare parts catalog for reference. I'm missing the following: TAV.12 1. Half Shaft, N. Fig. 6 2. Collector, N. Fig. 26 (I've made one, but would like to see how close I got!) 3. Forward, N. Fig. 2 TAV.37 4. Alternator, N. Fig. 17 5. Starter Motor, N. Fig. 30 I've done a 'search' of the site, to no avail. I seem to recall pics of someone's Euro engine out of the car with a couple of shields in sight. However, I don't believe any measurements were posted. I know that Superformance sells ‘em, but I'd like to make my own & include hi-tech insulation to augment the basic metal pieces. Of course, if someone has been down this road, I'm open to suggestions. When I eventually pull the engine, I'll likely go for one of the thermal coating processes that have been discussed in other posts. Now, for a war story. A near-catastrophe taught me the importance of these shields. Besides deflecting heat away from temperature sensitive components, they provide a margin of safety. Many moons ago, my 330GTC nearly caught fire following a smog check! It seems that the shields on the headers were missing when I bought the car (‘great for gazing at all of those primary pipes). More importantly, I didn’t realize that the shields over the mufflers were also AWOL. At the completion of the test, the technician was filling out the paperwork & was oblivious to the crisis developing behind him. I was loitering near the car and, much to my horror, noticed wisps of smoke coming out of the driver’s door! Suspecting an electrical problem, I turned off the ignition. I quickly (frantically) determined that the source of the smoke was actually the carpet on the driver's floor. I grabbed a wad of warm Wilton, and unceremoniously yanked it out of the car. The underlayment proved to be the smoldering, smelly culprit! I supressed the 'fire' and separated the charred insulation from the carpet and floorboard. No harm, no foul. Had the smoldering continued, I’d have had one stinky car. Had the carpets actually ignited, I’d be telling you about a major resto project involving my first Ferrari! The moral of the story is: Heat shields are installed…to do just that. Thanks, in advance. Coop Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Coop, I just nipped out to the garage to take these photos for you. As you can see the alternator sheid on mine has to be remade as its coming apart! These shields are sheet alloy with some kind of Asbestos insulation sandwiched in between. Although i suspect it is not actually asbestos and in fact some kind of substitute. I think that my Starter motor shield is missing as i dont remember removing one during the dismantling of my car, so maybe i could do with dimensions of yours to enable manufacture of one. Hope this helps. Regards G P Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Graham, Thanks for your quick response...& I apologize for my slow reply. The long, narrow shield that I fabbed looks just like yours, sans insulation. Now that you mention the starter motor shield, I realized that items 25 in the first diagram (TAV.12) and 30 in the second (TAV.37) must be the same. They are just shown from a different perspective. Duhh. I've looked at those many times & never noticed. Anyway, I do have that shield. I'll dig in tomorrow (Left Coast, USA time) and see if I can pull it & take some measurements and pictures for ya. Have you seen the Superformance products? Are they clones of the originals, complete with insulation (I'd bet that your 'asbestos theory' is correct, at least on the original application)? Their alternator shield sells for 48 pounds and the starter shield runs 22.60, I believe. Cheers, Coop
Hi Stephan - I have a 1972 246 Euro coupe (#04092) which finished a full restoration last year. I bought all the heat shields through Superformance. They look to be very good reproductions, and fit very well. I have used Superformance for a number of parts for my Dino, and have been very happy with them - highly recommended. Regards, Bob.
Coop, I do not believe that items 25 and 30 are the same. 25 i THINK is a galvanised single sheet of steel. will have to check this tommorow. G P
For Dinoguy2: Thanks, Bob, for the observation and recommendation. I've a substantial list of goods to order. For nerodino: The plot thickens! I'm really curious to see what piece(s) I have.... Graham, I just looked. The shield that is in place appears to be item 25. That's the only shield near the starter motor. It's of the same construction as your shields. Also, in both of my parts catalogues, the Matricola is 236B and the Disegno is 13237 for both items 25 and 30. Just to keep us on our toes, "30" in the buff-covered book (from car N. 01232) changes to "28" in the book w/red cover (from car N. 02768). I rest my case. For both: Thanks for your comments. Coop
The heat shields on my car appear to be missing as well, do previous owners just remove these and discard? Strange. Ferrari of Seattle hasn't gotten back to me on exactly which shields are missing yet.
Dinoparts.de in Germany has them also, and FYI, they claim they will fit an L-series car if that applies to anyone on this post. Have not ordered from them as yet though- currently R & R'ing my originals, which look like simple sheet aluminum plate. When I did engine rebuild in '01-'02, the shop laminated some woven reflecting anti-heat stuff to them, which has gradually delaminated over the years. Now am in the process of trying to find high temp-tolerant glue to put these back together.
Just for your info the material in y heatshields are white asbestos!!!!! EXTREME CAUTION IS REQUIRED. Best to buy new
Best to just forget insulating material. Heat shields can only protect from radiated heat from the first few inches of the headers. Nothing else is hot enough to radiate much. Rest of exhaust heats air which heats parts. Shields deflect hot air coming from exhaust tubing when the car is stopped. When the car is moving, air flow is high everywhere in the engine compartment. Radiation is high at starter solenoid and at the wires rising from the alternator. Alternator shield is a baffle for when stopped. Guides hot air from exhaust around alternator. Outside shield on exhaust deflects hot air around alternator belt when stopped. Plain aluminum works just fine all places. John
Ferrari of Seattle is very capable, but I think they see more modern Ferraris so I'd give them some latitude on this expectation. When I found out that my Euro Dino was missing its Alt. heat shield, Carlo Durante of Alfa of Tacoma was kind enough to let me examine the Dino engine they were rebuilding when it was out of the car. Having a look at an existing heat shield sure made bending sheet metal easier: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191513 Thank you Carlo!
