Rust & Fire - What can be done?

[Cliche323]

Good day all, long time lurker, first time poster so thanks for your patience.

Last weekend, I drove up to Tahoe from the Sacramento area, and about halfway up, the cab filled with smoke from the carpet catching fire. Luckily I pulled off in time, and a good Samaritan came and helped with a fire extinguisher + some steel plates to cover a massive rust hole we found to be the cause in the passenger rear seat.

I noticed the muffler/resonator was within 1" of the cab floorboard, and I assume the exhaust heat and whatever happened before just completely wrecked havoc on the metal.

Outside of the welding to fix the hole (have welder, plate, and an angle grinder), is there any recommendations for a full carpet replacement, as well as something that can be done outside of replacing the exhaust system (i.e., new hangers) to prevent this in the future?

 

[BALTANAKT]

Yikes! Glad you got it out.
You should be fine if you weld in new steel. There is no special shielding or anything. Make sure your exhaust is installed correctly.

 

[Anak]

What year XJ?

I ask because my experience with the carpet manufacturers tells me they can't properly identify the carpet for a '95 or '96. If you have a '95 or '96 then your floor is the same as a '97+. It has to do with how your seats mount, and I believe the mounting of the seats has to do with having an airbag.

Regarding the heat, a P.O. of my '96 made their own version of a heat shield by taking (it appears) an entire roll of aluminum foil and folding it over and over to make a 3/4" thick aluminum foil sandwich. They then stuck this between the muffler and the floor and tied it in place with baling wire. It is a Mickey Mouse/ethnic/redneck engineering solution, but it seemed reasonable enough to me that when I replaced my exhaust system I decided to reinstall the "shield".

 

[Cliche323]

Yikes! Glad you got it out.
You should be fine if you weld in new steel. There is no special shielding or anything. Make sure your exhaust is installed correctly.

Yeah, very glad to get out! Gonna go through the entire exhaust system to make sure there's no issues there

 

[Cliche323]

What year XJ?

I ask because my experience with the carpet manufacturers tells me they can't properly identify the carpet for a '95 or '96. If you have a '95 or '96 then your floor is the same as a '97+. It has to do with how your seats mount, and I believe the mounting of the seats has to do with having an airbag.

Regarding the heat, a P.O. of my '96 made their own version of a heat shield by taking (it appears) an entire roll of aluminum foil and folding it over and over to make a 3/4" thick aluminum foil sandwich. They then stuck this between the muffler and the floor and tied it in place with baling wire. It is a Mickey Mouse/ethnic/redneck engineering solution, but it seemed reasonable enough to me that when I replaced my exhaust system I decided to reinstall the "shield".

Howdy, it's a '96. I spent some time this morning looking into some carpeting solutions and it's looking like how you said - '97+.

I'm looking at adding some kind of heat shielding, I'd rather not start a fire again, and especially when going through trails with high underbrush.

Do you know if they make a kit for OE heat shield, or if I have to go down the route of making my own (not a problem, but curious)

Thanks for your reply!

 

[Anak]

I am not aware of a factory heat shield kit. I know there are other vehicles which did come with a heat shield. Most of my GM vehicles have at least a heat shield above the cat. I imagine one of those could be adapted to an XJ. It would be a matter of finding one with the right dimensions and for a floor with a similar profile in that location. Probably a matter of trial and error. As long as the junkyard will let you return one and try another for no extra charge then it is just a matter of how much time and effort you are willing to put into it.

Definitely order a carpet for a '97 and up.

 

[my2monkeys]

I would go to the pick a part or pull and get the heat shield off a grand cherokee and fit it as required. They also have heat shielding under the carpet above cat and muffler you might want.

 

[phydeaux33]

Air Bake cookie sheets make an excellent heat shield.

 

[Bent]

You can also go to a junkyard and pull the sandwiched aluminum heat shields from the Grand Cherokee or similar. Cut slightly large, fold the aluminum over on the edges.