I never really thought much about these until I seen Wes's' truck the other Saturday when we met for him to borrow a set of my injectors.He popped the hood and showed me the blankets.I was amazed at how much heat they retain underneath them and the blanket tops were cool to the touch,even after him driving in right off the road.
So now my interest has been peaked and I have a few questions....
-Are the blankets available in color or do they have to be painted to what we want?.I show my truck all Summer long and I am very detail oriented under my hood so looks are a concern.
The blankets come in natural color (tan) and I paint them with a high temp paint if a customer wants a different color. I've tried dyed material and it doesn't seem to hold up near as well as the painted. No difference in performance, just color, which holds up great. I've had black blankets on my truck for over a year with very little, if any, change in color.
-Does the blanket have to placed on the exhaust manifold before the turbo install or do you have one that can be mounted without removing the charger?.
Normally the manifold blanket has to be installed before the turbo, or you have to remove the turbo to install. At a few customer requests I have made a slit on the bottom of the blanket so you can install it without removing the turbo(s). I just prefer for the blanket to be put on with the turbo removed to eliminate any possible sagging on the bottom caused by the slit.
-The one thing I have seen on the photo's of your product installed that concerns me,and I also seen it on Wes's truck in person,is the fit of the blanket where it comes into contact at the head.Have you ever though about a making and using couple of tabs that can be placed under 2 or 3 of the top exhaust maniold bolts so a owner can secure the blanket tighter at the top thus creating a cleaner install look?.
The only problem with tabbing to hold the blanket on is variances in sewing and the different manifolds the blanket will fit. The tabs would have to be in different places on stock manifolds vs. aftermarket. In all reality though, I can make whatever someone wants, if you want tabs, I can probably do tabs. Custom blankets haven't been much of an issue so far, just a matter of figuring it out and making it work.
-I know Wes told me you looking at the wastegate area fitment,have you figured something out on that so we have no binding issues with our gates on the S300 framed chargers?.
As of right now, S300 blankets for wastegated turbos work great and fit most housings fine. The blanket just has to stay behind the wastegate bracket as there are just too many different gate set-ups with different brackets for me to account for with front flap specific blankets. If a customer can get me physical turbo specs or wants to make a special request, I can build a blanket specifically for them. I've been spending what little free time I have trying to work out a way for a general front flap to get better/cleaner coverage, which is probably what Wes was talking about.
Keep in mind, I don't charge more for custom work. It's all based off the amount of material I have into a blanket that determines price.
I am still hinged on the fence with these but after seeing how much of a difference in Wes's truck they made I am very interested.I am concerned with overall fit and look also as I do show my truck all Summer and would not want to get bagged at judging time for a sloppy fit or look.Sorry to ask so many questions that you probably already addressed but I figured it would be easier than digging all the old threads up..You help is appreciated.....Andy
