Shapiro Steel

M

mmarshall

Member #053
Location (City)
Florissant
First Name
Mike
Last Name
Marshall
I went down to one of my favorite places yesterday...good old Shapiro Steel. I had to find some tubing for my suspension mods. Anyway I was chatting to Sam and he mentioned again that they had been on American Pickers. So today I did some searching and found the episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSw_8O1_ROc

Also Sam said that the History Channel may do a reality show on Shapiro's!
 
Mike,
I thought I remembered from a post last summer when you were putting in your LS motor, that you fabricated some SS heat shields for the foot boxes. I've been wanting to do the same thing for my roadster. Any tips? I've never worked with SS. I plan on going thin, but assuming I cannot cut with a fine jigsaw blade. Am I better off just taking in dimensions / templates and having Shapiro cut them? (I know his cuts are pricey)

so.......... what are you building now?
 
Not sure why they would need to be stainless? I believe you should be looking for the air gap between the foot box and the heat shield to help lessen the heat. Not sure you even need them, I have a double layer of fatmat and get no heat through the footboxes. IMHO
 
Cutting Stainless

MPTech said:
but assuming I cannot cut with a fine jigsaw blade.
Click to expand...

Mark
You can cut Stainless with a jig saw, the secret is to make it a very aggressive cut. Push the saw as fast and as hard as you can in the metal, using the correct tooth blade based on thickness.

Stainless will work-harden which will make it difficult to cut. If you are aggressive, the metal cuts before the blade has a chance to work and harden the metal.

Be prepared to go thru a lot of blades, but it is doable.

Paul

Regarding the insulation, I don't have any heat issues in my cockpit. The layer sequence for me is
  • Engine bay
  • .040 Aluminum for appearance
  • Foil/Kevlar heat shield from Summit Racing
  • Fiberglass of body tub
  • 3/16" alum. faced foam. Either Koolmat style or HVAC Duct liner type.
  • Jute or foam padding, depending on area
  • Carpet
  • Cockpit area

Don't know if the expensive foam mats are worthwhile or not. ERA recommends using foam/foil HVAC duct liner which is available from the Big Box Stores for around $20 for a roll.

Paul
 
Heat coming through the aluminum panels is not the problem, its what comes in through the gaps between the panels and the body.
This the answer right here:
Don't know if the expensive foam mats are worthwhile or not. ERA recommends using foam/foil HVAC duct liner which is available from the Big Box Stores for around $20 for a roll.
 
OK guys, you got me.

I know aluminum would work.
I know I could apply some damplifier / heat material.
I know I could use some jute backed carpet.

It's the BLING! Polished SS between the headers and footbox! :D
and it's what I want, unless it's a bad idea.
Maybe I've been looking in StlMark's engine bay too often! :cool:
GUILTY
 
You go ahead Mark. None of these cars are about NEED, but all WANT. And we all want just a little more.
 
Four letter

NEED and WANT are both four letter words and interchangeable.

:D​
 
Keith the suspension change is not near what you accomplished. My Coupe has had a problem with bottoming even during normal cruising. 2 years ago I placed zip ties on the shocks to monitor the suspension at the same time I went from 500#F / 350#R to 700#F / 500#R springs. The 700# front springs seemed to help both the oversteer and the ride. The fronts never bottom! The 500# on the rear made the ride very harsh and the shocks still bottom. After looking hard at the rear shocks I discovered that they are 5" travel shocks and were only using about 2" of that travel. I am currently moving the lower shock mount point to allow for using more of the available travel while being able to adjust the ride height where I would like it. I also plan to go back to the 350# rear springs to also help with ride and oversteer. The elimination of the shocks bottoming will help with oversteer as when a shock bottoms that tire will lose traction.


Mark I made cardboard templates of the panels I wanted to make. I then took the templates to Shapiro and we used the templates to trace the shape on the polished SS. The theory behind polished SS is to reflect more of the radiant heat than what aluminum would. The shear we used is huge which made it very hard to cut precisely. The giant guard on the shear makes it very hard to see where you are cutting. In hindsite the panels are no magic answer to heat. The areas behind these panels still get very hot. I think that any cockpit that is carpeted will better benefit from some actual insulation under the carpet.
 
No problem Mark. I don't remember the size I used. I believe it was the thinnest polished SS they had. I can measure the thickness for you when I get back in town next week.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top