Thermal Inlet Gaskets & Thermal Exhaust Plates.

Heat management is an area that is often ignored during engine modification.  Power and heat go together – neither is available without the other, and although the engine must reach & maintain it’s full working temperature, certain areas of heat must be carefully controlled.  In the same way that excess heat from brake discs must be evacuated by means of cooling fins & ducting, underbonnet heat must also be managed.

We manufacture a range of insulating products designed to keep cylinder head casting and inlet manifold temperatures down.  The Thermal Inlet Gasket (TIG) will help slow heat from conducting from the cylinder head casting into the inlet manifold, and the Thermal Exhaust Plate (TEP) can slow exhaust manifold heat from soaking back into the cylinder head.

In theory, if you can create a cooler & denser inlet charge, then a small power increase should be available (if you can run a little more ignition timing before pre-ignition occurs then power should rise), but these products main strength will be in helping to keep temperatures under control during & after prolonged engine use.

Thermal Inlet Gaskets (T.I.G.s) – to reduce heat-soak from the cylinder head to the inlet manifold.

Drag race or pit-lane situations where a stationary warm-up period is unavoidable will always result in increased inlet manifold temperatures, and re-starting a hot engine after a period of engine shut-down will also allow stored heat to creep back into the inlet manifold.  If the inlet manifold is insulated from the cylinder head then this heat transfer can be reduced.  We fitted a T.I.G. to a Ferriday CVH and recorded an average 24 deg C drop in manifold temperature during a pit lane simulation (i.e. engine up to full operating temperature while stationary, then shut-down for a short period before re-start).

The inlet gasket can be supplied exactly as the original gasket or with water ways blanked off.  From a performance point of view it is preferable to keep all hot water out of the inlet manifold (coolant temperature is usually around 90deg C, much higher than ideal inlet charge temperatures), but you must be sure that there are no engine management implications (i.e. any temperature sensors that read manifold coolant temperature).  It’s worth noting that none of the current “favourite” engines have any water flowing from the head into the manifold, and race engines will never have heated manifolds.

To achieve best results from the Thermal Inlet Gasket you should consider asking for the “Blanked-Off” version, and look at a way of letting the management system do its job in the normal way – this may be as simple as relocating a coolant sensor.

Engines with plastic inlet manifolds do not suffer from heat soak to the manifold so will not require a TIG, though most heavily modified engines discard these in favour of cast aluminium alloy.

Thermal Inlet Gaskets are available for most engines in a choice of thicknesses, and are paper coated on both sides to aid sealing.  Price for an average 4 cylinder engine is £43.00 in 5.0mm & £53.00 in 7.0mm, and other thicknesses are available, please enquire for more information.

The range of gaskets will increase steadily, and new gaskets can be produced within a couple of days. The following Thermal Inlet Gaskets are readily available, but anything not listed can be made quickly –

Alfa – 147
Daihatsu – Charade
FIAT/Lancia – Integrale, 5 cylinder
Ford – Cosworth YB, CVH carb & Efi, Duratec (with or without EGR), Pinto, X/Flow, Zetec (inc an unfinished ST170 plate for ported heads), ST225, Zetec SE
Honda – B16/18, K20
Lotus – 912
Mitsubishi – 6A12, Evo6
Nissan – CA18ET, CA18DET, SR20DE “high port”, SR20DE “low port”, SR20DET, R33 Skyline
Peugeot/Citroen – EW10J4, XU, TU1, XUD9TE (combined), Mi16 1.9, XU10J4RS
Rover – A Series (combined), K Series VVC, M Series, T Series, New Mini
Subaru – Impreza 91-96 (narrow injector), Impreza 96-01 (wide injector
2016 Toyota Corolla Lease – 2JS-GTE, 3S-GTE, 4-EFTE
TVR – AJP V8 inc o-rings
Vauxhall – XE, Ecotech, Z16LRT, Z18XE, Z18XE throttlebody, Z20LET/H/L/R, Z22SE
VW/Audi – AWT, PD, 1H/PG, ABF/KR/9A, AWT, BCA, Golf FSi, PT V8, VR6

Engines with a “V” configuration generally have inlet manifold/head geometry that does not allow this type of gasket, but the same theory can be applied to plenum chambers and carburettor base plates etc.  Prototypes can be created quickly in a variety of thicknesses – please call Mick Tanski on 07519 719 242 for more details.

For engines with inlet & exhaust manifolds on the same side of the cylinder head, please go to Thermal Exhaust Plates below.

Thermal Exhaust Plates (T.E.P.s) – to reduce heat-soak from the exhaust manifold back into the cylinder head casting. 

An exhaust manifold (especially turbo) is a large store of heat that should not be allowed to find it’s way back into the head – limiting this heat transfer can only be a good thing.  Our Ferratherm material limits heat transfer to such a degree that an open Propane flame (approx 1300 deg C in air??) will only make the very surface of 4mm thick material glow red – no more than a fraction of the thickness can be made red hot – the rest of the material simply stays its own natural colour.

Please note that this is described as an Exhaust Plate – “gasket” is the wrong word as this material is very rigid.  The T.E.P. should be placed next to the head casting, and an OE type gasket should be used between the plate & manifold.

Engines with non X/Flow head designs (i.e. those with both manifolds on the same side) should have both the inlet & exhaust products made from the same ultra high temperature material.  It is also possible to supply pre-cut heat shielding to go between the inlet & exhaust manifolds to help prevent heat transfer & fuel evaporation problems on carburettor engines – these can be tackled on an individual basis from a “cornflake packet” template.

Price for an average 4 cylinder engine is £46.00 in 4mm thickness. The following Thermal Exhaust Plates are readily available, but anything not listed can be made reasonably quickly.

Alfa – 1.7 16v
Daihatsu – 3 cylinder turbo, petrol
FIAT/Lancia – Integrale, 5 cylinder
Ford – CVH round & square, Cosworth YB (for standard or modded ports), Duratec, i4, X/Flow, Zetec “egg” & ST170, Zetec SE, Pinto
Honda – B16/18, K20
Lotus – 8v Elan-Cortina etc, 907
Mitsubishi – Evo, 6A12
Nissan – CA18ET, SR20DET Peugeot/Citroen – XU, TU1, XUD9TE (combined), XU9J4, XU10J4RS
Rover – A Series (combined), T Series, V8, K series, L series diesel, New Mini, T series
Subaru – Impreza
Toyota – MR2 turbo, 3S-GTE
Triumph – TR3 (combined)
Vauxhall – XE, Z18XE, Z20LEH/T etc
VW/Audi – AWT, PD, BCA, KR/ABF/9A, PD 3 cyl, R32, VR6