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Behind the scenes: How we Heat Shield a turbo charger?


Our Turbo Charger heat shields are ever-increasing in popularity so we thought we'd give you a behind the scenes look into how we produce the turbo heat shields from start to finish.


Image of a TIAL turbo


The first step is getting the turbo charger off the vehicle. We can then disconnect all attachments and pipes, meaning we are left with just the piece we are providing a heat shield for. Before we do anything with any turbo we ensure we cover any holes that could allow foreign objects to enter the turbine and damage the turbo when operational. This allows us to safely measure all dimensions of the piece.





A copper turbo heat shield buck



Once we have the dimensions from the previous step we can then scale up a template for us to work on when creating the heat shield. This not only allows us to be incredibly accurate to the specifications of the turbo charger, but also means that we will cause no damage to the turbo charger when fabricating.







Image of pressed Inconel heat shield foil


Once our template is made, it is ready for our skilled heat shielding team to meticulously create an effective heat shield. The big decision for our clients is to choose the thickness of the microthermal insulation material in relation to the level of heat the turbo would be experiencing. We then liaise with the client to recommend the adequate thickness and material used for the dimpled foil. We can offer Inconel or Stainless Steel in a range of thicknesses.





A close up of Inconel heat shielding foil


We're often asked why we use dimpled foil for our heat shielding. Well, the reasons are simple:

  • To increase the strength and durability of the very thin and lightweight inconel foil

  • To double the surface area of the foil where the natural convection of the heat shield takes place.





Once the heat shield fabricators have completed bending and tacking the heat shield together, we use spring clips to hold the shield securely to the turbo charger while literally thousands of spot welds are applied to the part until we are left with the masterpiece below.



We have a number of turbo heat shields available but are keen to add to this list so if your turbo isn't listed in our shop, feel free to contact us to produce one for you at a discounted rate. #heatshield #turbo



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