Brief Description: Firewall fire resistant material
This week I worked on finishing the fire resistant material for the firewall. The material is Fiberfrax that has a relatively high heat resistance (2000 degrees?) This installation is a sandwich of the firewall, fiberfrax and stainless steel foil. The foil is 0.003 thick and the fiberfrax is 0.125 thick.
The fiberfrax was intially tacked to the firewall with fireseal 2000, then the foil is laid over the top. I used the various firewall penetrations (bolts for the battery box, the engine control cable "eyeballs", etc to ensure the foil stays in place. The left, right and bottom edges have a Fireseal 2000 filet to seal the edge; the top edge and various components have aluminum foil tape for sealers.
In the unlikely event of a sustained engine fire the aluminum tape will melt. This will allow the Fiberfrax to gas, as it heats, into the engine compartment and vent overboard. This should keep the occupants (me and my wife) safe from fire up to temperatures of 2000 degrees for several minutes. Of course to have a sustained fire it needs fuel and the fuel shutoff is next to my leg in the cabin.
Maybe more importantly this will reduce cabin heat from the firewall significantly. My feet will be about 4" from the firewall and on hot days it could get really warm, but not now. This will also act as a sound suppressor reducing engine noise in the cabin. There you have it. Tomorrow one more filet application and I will re-hang the engine mount.
The last image is one of twenty nicks from the stainless steel foil. By the way it is incredibly hard to cut 0.003" stainless foil.
