Covering Holes in the Bulkhead to Reduce Heat Flow (NOT Patching)

[amcordo]

Hey everyone!

There's a ton of holes in my galvied bulkhead where the POs ran conduit, etc. from the cab to the engine bay. I don't want to weld them, but rather cover them with something. Opinions/options?

I was thinking maybe some sort of high temperature rubber sheet or something thin that I could apply with an epoxy maybe?

PS - I'm not including plugs as an option because these holes are in numerous sizes, even though they're all circular. Don't want to deal with buying a ton of them and sizing them all up.

PPS: always spell check your title.

[Momo]

You could use aluminized tape applied to both sides of the bulkhead. It's pretty durable.

[crankin]

Silicone sealant...

[gudjeon]

I cut patches of old inner tube and use contact cement to cover up this stuff. I use sections of this to cover the top ends over the fuel tank to stop the gravel collection between the tank and outriggers. Swedish military spec has flaps of rubber covering the inside of the wing over the frame to block crap from collecting on top of frame rails. Thats one of my next projects.

[printjunky]

I'd second the silicone. Inexpensive, effective, easy to do/undo. I am about to silicone the myriad holes in my bulkhead, myself! Just using regular caulking gun tube of the stuff.

[printjunky]

btw, you can edit your post, including the title. Clicking the edit button bottom right of your post, gets you to a quick edit window. To edit the title, and have more editing options for the post), you have to click the second edit button on that window.

[jac04]

For smaller holes you can always use a nut & bolt or a rubber wellnut with a bolt.
For bigger holes, I would measure them to see if there are Genuine hole plugs available (not harware store plugs). Check out http://www.roversdownsouth.com/series.htm about half way down the page.

I know you didn't want to use hole plugs, but I think that they will end up looking much more professional than a bunch of stick-on patches.

[bkreutz]

Another option that I found was that Lowe's and HD both have metal hole plugs in various sized, these are the ones with the little fingers on one side that flex when you put them in the hole. Most of the time they're chrome, but that can be painted if they will be visible. Personally I'd shy away from gluing things over the hole, just one more thing to clean up if I wanted to use the holes for something in the future.

[SafeAirOne]

Drill them all out so that they're all one and a half inch holes. That way, you can use 1 1/2" plugs and you won't have to fiddle around with different sizes.

No, don't do that--I'm just messing around.

Jac04 did have a good suggestion with the well nuts--The hole will be sealed/waterproofed, the whole operation is performed from one side of the bulkhead only and the results look a whole lot cleaner than patches of tape/rubber and lumps of caulking plus, they're easily removable.

Well nuts: http://www.emhart.com/products/pop/wellnut.asp

[Andrew IIA]

Need photographs

Regards, A
'\

[Rineheitzgabot]

I second the plug idea. I know you don't want to mess around with it, but it shouldn't be that much more work than wrestling around with tape or other patches. Either way, you're going to have to get down their twice and fiddle around. Get down there and measure them while having someone else write a list of sizes for you.

I used to buy a product for my company, from a company called Caplugs; Google it. You can get any style, size or shape you want. You can get free samples. Have various sized samples sent to your house, your mother's, your wife's mother's, etc. Once you have all the sizes, stop ordering samples.

I think it will look more professional as well, IMO.

-Gary

[bobzinak]

If the holes aren't to large, you might think about dynamat sound proofing material..if you dont want to cover a large area you can by sound deadening sheet 12"x12" at most auto hifi shops or even at napa..check out "parts express.com" for a large selection of sound deadening materials. dynamat is preglued and sticks like crazy.. and you can always remove it without to much trouble..bobzinak...

[redmondrover]

Dynamat or similar

We went ahead and had all the extra holes welded shut before we sent the bulkhead to the galvanizer but we are installing a product called "Dexdamp" from Hamilton Jet. It is essentially the same stuff as Dynamat, but I think it is substantially less expensive-$5 for a sheet 12" x 24"

We are also lining the inside of the 109 with another Hamilton Jet product that is a layer of loaded mass vinyl bonded to 1/4" closed cell foam.

[scatterling]

http://www.britishwiring.com/CAT22_23.PDF

lots of different sizes and you can by just one.

[thixon]

Drill them all out so that they're all one and a half inch holes. That way, you can use 1 1/2" plugs and you won't have to fiddle around with different sizes.

No, don't do that--I'm just messing around.

Jac04 did have a good suggestion with the well nuts--The hole will be sealed/waterproofed, the whole operation is performed from one side of the bulkhead only and the results look a whole lot cleaner than patches of tape/rubber and lumps of caulking plus, they're easily removable.

Well nuts: http://www.emhart.com/products/pop/wellnut.asp

Man, I read the first part of this post and my jaw was on the desk! Yep, I bought it. It did'nt sound like something you'd post, but you never know. Nice one.