[SupraBurnFKya]

Just wondering if their is a purpose to hood insulation other than sound suppression.

 

[hockyplyer18]

good call cuz mine looks like crap... in for the answer

 

[SupraBurnFKya]

Not to mention it weighs 4lbs

 

[cantwait]

i would guess it helps protect the paint as well?

 

[L_C_Supra]

I took my off and never had no problems with anything.

 

[sofaking]

you can always order another one

 

[Wide-Wide Body]

If you remove it your paint will start to fade and get distorted because of the heatsoak from the motor hitting the bare metal from the underside. It won't happen right away but overtime it will gradually get worse and worse. imho not worth it in the end unless you plan on getting your car repainted or goin CF. Just buy a new one if your worried about the look

 

[Raretoy]

I had mine off for years and never had paint issues. Dont remember it weighing 4 whole lbs though that seems a touch high.

 

[::MySTiK_[SuPRa]::]

I had mine off for years and never had paint issues. Dont remember it weighing 4 whole lbs though that seems a touch high.

I've had mine off as well for as long as I can remember and never noticed any paint issues.

 

[Wide-Wide Body]

Maybe it has something to do with the type of paint used because my hood on my prelude years ago got really bad. Cheap ass honda paint.

 

[Dego Red]

I personally ran with mine on at both BPU and single, but a buddy (and member here) runs without his. I must say it looks great - glossy paint vs crappy insulation - and he's got no issues while singled as well.

...from the motor hitting the bare metal from the underside.

Engine rocking too much from all that torque?

 

[KILURV8]

I say you can probably run with out it. It is a fire supression blanket so if your motor catches on fire, in theory it will melt the plastic holding it up and it will fall on your engine to help supress the fire long enough to let you get out of the car. This is also one of the purposes of the insulation on the firewall.

 

[Nick 95 6sp]

If you just putz around or do short pulls the turbo stuff won't get hot enough to worry about it. But if you do sustained full throttle driving for a long enough period, I think you need a hood liner to protect the paint.
I wouldn't run without a hood liner now that I saw my original hood liner/insulation got charred at a recent track day. At BPU it never seemed to get heat stressed, but during my first track day with the single when I opened the hood between run sessions I noticed that a couple of the plastic clips that hold the hood liner to the hood had melted and allowed the liner to droop a little (but not touch anything) and since my turbo exhaust side and exhaust pipe were probably near red hot, it charred the liner. So I put a temporary heat shield on it and now have a turbo hot side blanket and heat wrap for the exhaust and manifold piping.

I also ordered a new liner from Curt at Elmhurst which I already have ...didn't seem like it weighed 4lbs to me either but I didn't weigh it... I'm also getting some "high tech" NASA space heat shield gold foil to line underside of the new hood liner so it looks cool when I open the hood. I think cowboy bepbop was working on a BBF (blingy but functional) billet or laser cut plate hood liner, it should be a recent thread if you search for it.

 

[Shawn R]

I can’t really speak for the OEM hood but I know in my case with a carbon hood it was starting to burn the under side around the down pipe area on my single. The heat affected the top coat of the gloss and even had little spider cracks on the bottom side.

I run my car very hard so this might have played a factor as well. I fixed the problem by installing a sheet of thermal wrap and used high temp silicone to stick it to the bottom side of the hood.

So far so good, I haven’t noticed any more damage due to heat.

 

[SilverTT94OWNZU]

i took mine out, no issues. 4lbs seems high to me, don't remember it weighing that much.

 

[TooJayZee]

...It is a fire supression blanket ...

X2 what he said.

 

[sofaking]

I can’t really speak for the OEM hood but I know in my case with a carbon hood it was starting to burn the under side around the down pipe area on my single. The heat affected the top coat of the gloss and even had little spider cracks on the bottom side.

I run my car very hard so this might have played a factor as well. I fixed the problem by installing a sheet of thermal wrap and used high temp silicone to stick it to the bottom side of the hood.

So far so good, I haven’t noticed any more damage due to heat.

i would wrap the downpipe in exhaust tape. if not your hood will not only crack, but it will yellow where the turbo is. most cf hoods are only gel coated

 

[Shawn R]

i would wrap the downpipe in exhaust tape. if not your hood will not only crack, but it will yellow where the turbo is. most cf hoods are only gel coated

Yep, already done the downpipe is wrapped aswell.

 

[yellow93tt]

I took mine out four years ago because it looked like shit. I'm bpu++ and drive my car about 9 months out of the year, and don't have any paint fading issues what so ever.

 

[exvelocity]

if you have a larger size single,you should keep the pad,especially if you drive your car hard or do long pulls,
I've seen paint turning hazy arond the turbo area, also had to repair genuine TRD hood because the heat from the turbo not only caused the hood to crack,but also made the paint bubble

Stefan