under-bonnet insulation

[nitroman]

At last, Scott Levine who works at Team Ford is going to hook me up with the guy who makes their custom under-bonnet insulation for their special shop cars. The guy will make a template of the "large" piece from my car (the small piece at the front is readily available). Using that template he will cut a new piece of insulation and then cover it in felt (any color). He also has the ability to air-brush any logo you want on it. He showed me a couple at the shop & they look really eye-catching!

Will let you know more as things progress. Should I tell him to keep the template in case anyone else wants one? It will not come with a peel-off 3M backing as the OE piece has. Rather you would use spray adhesive then press it against the bonnet.

[Doug]

Sounds like fun and I am intrigued!

Won't a painted surface be awful close to the hot engine head? The bonnet prop rod may brush against it too and damage it?

I have seen "impressions/imprints/stampings" of logos in BMWs and they looked nice. Thus I would suggest an imprint of the Lotus logo or the Cat on Skates would be a very cool thing . . .

[F1 LOTUS]

Hmm...a black cat logo on vacuum deposited gold mylar N-I-C-E

[Doug]

yeah, what he said . . .

[Ashaman]

Any idea of the cost? I was planning on buying Thermo-tec's product, but this would probably look a bit cooler!

[nitroman]

Will let you know once I've talked to the guy. I'm picking up my Lincoln this Saturday as he could not pinpoint the air-ride suspension problem (leaking or failing to inflate) so I just converted it to normal springs while leaving the computer-controlled shocks (the computer changes the internal valving real-time, a la "active-suspension"). Anyway, once he locates the guy he'll have my number regardless of where I am.

[nitroman]

The bonnet prop rod may brush against it too and damage it?

I looked today & the bonnet prop rod never comes in contact with the insulation; in fact it is surprisingly far away from it... about 2". The only areas I know that come in contact with the insulation are near the top of the strut towers.

As for heat affecting his work I can only assume he has been doing this long enough to know what materials will survive in the hot environment. He can integrate a separate "hard" logo if you do not want airbrushing done. If you have one you want to use you'd need to supply it in advance.

[Matt RI]

Ah- back to work prettying your clean machine... You must be feeling better, Matt!

I am interested in learning how this works for you. Mine is pretty tattered, and I would not mind replacing it. I guess that is the downside of a low mileage Elan- means it was sitting in someone's garage making a nice home for a mouse family at some point...

Did you have problems removing the old one completely so as to avoid problems with getting the new one to adhere correctly?

[nitroman]

If you go to http://jaggraveyard.com/ & give them the dimensions of the underhood pad you need they can provide you a piece of the silver heat-resistant variety.

[Pascal]

Hello ,

i open this old topic again ...

as many others, my insulation under bonnet is dead burnt, and excess of heat to the fiberglass is causing some surface gelcoat defects.

i plan to replace the insulation foam - i have found some 10 mm thick, self adhesive, with a layer of aluminium on visible side.

I wonder ...
1° has someeone done such a replacement and faced some tricks ?

2° could the alu foil reflect an excess of ray to the engine and cause a heat problem, as the bonnet is very near the engine ?

have a great day,
Pascal