gauging interest in 7m PHENOLIC GASKETS SET..

[Joel W.]

Has anyone used or ever heard of phenolic "THERMOLBLOK" spacer gaskets from Outlaw Engineering? they say it dramatically reduces intake and throttle body temps by using phenolic material to insulate or block the heat transfer..
sounds COOL to me..

Key benefits:

• Produces a cooler intake manifold and intake charge resulting in MORE POWER
• A cooler intake charge also reduces the tendency for detonation, meaning ignition timing can be advanced for MORE POWER
• Almost invisible modification, looks stock for the stealth factor
• Better gas mileage
• Replaces stock gaskets
• Reusable over and over
• No undesirable side effects

I emailed OE and they said they would need 20 orders at $100 or less to justify the design fabrication. +$6 to ship them.. here is the email I recieved..

Joel,

Thank you for your interest in ThermoBlok Spacer Kits. We have been developing ThermoBlok insulators for many new applications, but the Toyota 7M is not currently on the list. Our prototyping work order is organized by demand and to date, there hasn't been much interest in insulators for this engine, yet. We generally request 20 commitments prior to the design, prototyping, and production of a new performance part. Pricing for a set, including intake manifold and throttle body insulators along with necessary hardware such as lengthened studs would be in the $100 or less range.

Please assess the interest for your group and let us know.

Best Regards,
Sean Morgan
Outlaw Engineering


here is the original thread off of The Supra Forums and a second thread with the list so far.. here

here are some FAQ from thier site..

please post if your interested :biggrinbo

 

[Idealsupra]

moved to general section to get more views/interest...

sounds very interesting.....

 

[Justin727]

sounds interesting but if its anything like they use in calipers i would run away from it! Fast and Far

 

[Joel W.]

sounds interesting but if its anything like they use in calipers i would run away from it! Fast and Far

here is the material safety data sheet on it..
it doesnt sound like its dangerous?

POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
This product as shipped is inert and should pose no significant hazard to the environment.

http://www.mcgillcorp.com/products/msds/MSDS_103.pdf

i would not roast marsh mellows on your car if it ever caught on fire, but without flame its non toxic, mostly its fiberglass..

 

[supra90turbo]

$100 for a phenolic spacer?
typically they run about $60, but as this is an initial run of them, i can see how the price would be a bit high...
still, though... how much is it to have something coated in thermal barrier?

anyhow, i would like to see how this pans out. hell, i may even be in. but not as of right now.
for now, i'll just watch
:subscribe:

 

[gixxer750]

I'd be in if the price got a little smaller. We should not need lengthened studs, as there is still 1/4 inch sticking out when the manifold is torqued down.

 

[IJ.]

Wow!

Everything Old is New again!

I remember these from when I was a kid just starting out working on cars!

They made a brief reappearance back in the late 70's when emissions became a big deal and they started running motors hotter trying to reduce them!

 

[T701jz]

Lol... I have some 1/8 sheet of phenolic we use here at work for our heaters and maybe I'll just mill one copy for my manifold gasket.

 

[Joel W.]

good info Ian, thanks.. I priced just the material at mcmaster.com and it was very very expensive. it was over 500$ for a 12"x24"x1/4" chunk??, (may have been different stuff) so i thought this route may be better..

 

[IJ.]

Joel: There are a few downsides to using it from memory, You need to reengineer the studs/bolts so they're isolated from the Manifold as they'll transfer the heat you're trying to stop as well as in time it goes brittle and 1 backfire can crack it and cause a leak .

Not dumping on the idea just pointing out some pitfalls.

 

[Joel W.]

yeah, I figured there might be down side issues not listed on thier web site. LOL.
good to know man.. ..ty

 

[IJ.]

Joel: LOL you're most welcome!

Just thought of another potential downside......

Not sure with the material you're considering but the old Phens had to have a gasket on each side (often this was all that held em together when you unbolted em)

Seems like another layer of complexity/failure point if it's not installed carefully.

 

[bluemax]

Phenolic is a resin, like polyester or epoxy. Its used in a laminate, usually glass fiber.
I don't believe it can with stand engine temperatures and its not very strong.
Epoxy such as EA934 is good for 350 deg F and is more of a structural adhesives.
I'm not sure if it'll make a good gasket, unless it was very thin.

But thats my take on it.

 

[Joel W.]

Two gaskets are needed for every thermo spacer i think..

 

[DEFIANT 7M]

I did this to my MKII years back.

 

[Justin727]

bluemax is right. If anything at high temps it will expand a bit and wont come back to its old form. It will warp badly. I wasnt talking about dangerous.

 

[Joel W.]

ok that makes sense now, thanks

 

[mk3ukr]

I use 4mm phenolic gasket since last summer. It really helps to reduce manifold temperature. For 4mm gasket no elongated stud required.
Apply VERY THIN film of RTV on both sides of the gasket and glue it to the manifold. Next day remove excess of sealant and port match gasket to manifold.
http://mk3ukr.photosite.com/mk3ukrSupra/Intake_phenolic_gasket.html
http://mk3ukr.photosite.com/mk3ukrSupra/Intake_manifold_04.html

$100 seems too much, I did it myself, used old mani gasket as template
HTH

 

[Joel W.]

how did you cut it? isnt it like fiberglass or plastic?
and where did you get the material?

 

[mk3ukr]

I am marine engineer, we had one sheet on the ship. Phenolic is very fragile and PITA to work at. I drilled out port holes and smoothed edges with pneumatic die grinder