Resins Suitable for High Heat

Post cured Vinyl Ester resins and some post cured epoxy resins will take temps that high.  I don think you would want them in direct contact with the cylinder heads. That might abraid the part and cause it to fail. Spome sort of buffer material should be used between the two.

Therer is plenty of information on post curing composites on the internet.

Tony Pileggi

http://www.Corsair82.com

Randy,

I recommend getting a copy of Zeke Smith's two excellent books:

"Understanding Aircraft Composite Construction"

"Advanced Composite Techniques"

I bought them through DAR, (www.darcorp.com) and I see they are also available on Amazon.

What I like about these books:

1. provide great overview of virtually all composite techniques used for aircraft

2. described techniques & materials used in industry, then

3. describes how to obtain nearly the same results with less costly materials and simple, often home-made tooling

Zeke has been a patient advisor when I needed additional details or explanations.

Good luck - build that bird!

Kent Misegades

The resins you seek are not easily handled and are rather expensive. Require specialized storage as well. Suggest you talk to  Henkel (Loctite Hysol) and discuss their aeros resins. Also Master Bond, info on web. Your intentions very expensive but if thats what you wan to do... Remember that some Hi-Temp composite assies require autoclave curing. Current carbon/expoxy composites for aerospace can meet 230F at most design SERVICE and can take spikes to about 425F.

Since you might need some "fudge factor" I would look into Polyimides. (Even older PMR-15, widely used, seems to meet your goal and used in engine nozzles, nacelles etc.) 

If you are an experimenter, talk to the people at Langley (Hampton, VA) also, but I think the people at Henkle (US offices) will give you correct information. Thats a start. 

Regarding PMRs: they contain MDA - methylene dianiline, which is some serious health risk and they are being modified due to it. (Just google it and see what planes and workers made with it got in bad shape over it, so be careful. They may not even be available to you.)  Visit  www.ube.com. go Aerospace materials: PETI 

Anyway, good luck and all appreciate new stuff being tried. Worked the stuff some apps, but materials really in infancy. Hope it helps since without  specs difficult. Heat transfer via some kind of thermal blanket? I worked design APU plenum and the current maker informs me that the current cost of the resin material is $900+/pint. Just to give you idea of costs.  (Did you consider ceramics ?)

In my other expensive hobby, auto racing, I've run a Formula Vee with the Sports Car Club of America. It's currently inactive while I build a Dragonfly, but for many seasons I ran fiberglass/epoxy cooling shrouds against the cylinders, as did many other racers, some using polyester resin. No problems with melting using any resin, but as an earlier poster noted abrasion is a problem. A buffer strip doesn't really solve the problem; cooling fins are excellent files!  Even steel will abrade eventually -- and an aluminum head fin will abrade faster than the harder steel; better to use a sacrificial material to preserve the fins, and the fiberglass itself does nicely . The keys are to keep the shroud and fins from fretting against each other at all and to inspect for abrasion frequently. I plan to use fiberglass against the fins on the DF and I don't anticipate doing anything more than adding a fresh strip of glass here and there during the annual inspection. And mount them securely: the forces -- both ram pressure trying to tear the shroud off and static pressure trying to inflate the shroud -- are strong enough to require reinforced mounting spots and a few ribs on the shrouds.

I'd recommend talking with Gougeon brothers about your question. Their tech dept will answer your question or find the answer for you.

 http://www.gougeon.com/

Loren