Club 80-90 Forums

i've also looked but to no avail

vw heritage, and the usual suspects don't sell it. surely somebody must have seen a gap in the market ??

I once fitted a beetle big bore engine in a crewcab and there isn't any tinware available for a set up like that so I made every single bit from sheet aluminium. It doesn't rust for one thing and is easy to bend in all kinds of shapes. The tinware serves two purposes really - one to seperate exhaust from engine to some extent (as does engine foam surround) and to direct air from the fan across the barrels. Its a big duct really. In fact if you make your own, you can actually get a far snugger fit in my view. Some of the lower tinware also protects the pushrod tubes from damage below (ie big rocks).

Some tinware originally had foam seals where parts met to ensure the cooling air is maximised by reducing leaks. Other things that are important are rubber grommets that go around spark plug caps in tinware. Every seal counts. Over time bits get lost, engines get cooked and eventually fail.

alkers wrote:Thanks for that excellent explanation toomanytoys! My cab gets really hot when driving and my fans work constantly even when off so can't get away from it.

To me this suggests that the hot air is getting moved away from the engine - cooling it. However could this also mean there be "too much hot air", caused because the cooler air isnt' being kept in place by the tinware?!?!

un-related since the heater air is drawn into a fan on the alternator from outside the van and forced over the exhaust heat exchangers then onward in a sealed system up to the cab. the engine cooling air system is quite seperate and totally different. the tinware is essential to direct the air correctly and just as important to keep the hot air out of the engine bay where the fuel pipes etc are located.