It's been hot and dusty here in Rio de Janerio state these past couple of weeks and it's just been too hot for my comfort in the cabin. Through some MacGyvering last week using Aluminum sheet I already had the engine heat effect behind the seats turned right down and thought that stuffing and blocking all the holes in the firewall and behind the dash would take care of the heat from the radiator, but not really - my feet were still sweltering as the firewall was acting like a huge heat issuing thermal blanket as it was continuously blasted with hot air by the radiator and fan. My temp gauge never gets higher than 3 bars.
Today, armed with another piece of surplus 0.5mm thick aluminum sheet I decided to install the largest piece I could at the front of the vehicle to divert the heat from the radiator fan and stop the firewall getting so hot.
Photo 1: shows the shape I ended up with. Basically starting with a piece of 20" x 16" x 0.5mm thk aluminum. The circular hole is for one of the radiator hoses. All sharp edges and burrs removed and rubber protection installed near hoses and electrical wires.
Photo 2: shows the front storage removed. After re-routing some electrical wires and the breather hose from the front diff there was a clear path for the aluminum sheet to be wedged (red circles) conveniently in the frame just above the diff. The white cable ties are mine after re-routing the electrical wires.
Photos 3 and 4 show the deflector plate in place from above and below. I used the 6mm bolt hole for the front storage bin (there is only one as the rest are panel screws) to secure the top of the deflector plate.
Photo 5 shows the stock half windshield that you get in Brazil. For those that have it and want to feel the delicious breeze I suggest you just loosen the velcro straps and slide it up as far as it will go to create a gap at the bottom of around 3". The velcro straps will hold it fine suspended there on a rough trail.
I just came back from a pretty severe 20 mile ride and I am going to chalk up this latest Macgyver up as a success. The firewall remained cool, as did my feet and the temp gauge stayed at 3 bars.
Half way through todays ride I thought I had screwed up as the engine started to die and would barely take me up inclines, but after a bit of investigation it was the cfmoto rudimentary stock sock over the air tube that was almost blocked with dust. The engine air filter was still pretty clean. I am looking forward for my warranty to run out so that I can install snorkels.