Hitman's Pontiac Trans Am Forum
Trans Am Information => Trans Am Information => Topic started by: '78 LadyBird on May 14, 2011, 07:01:46 AM
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I have seen on Ebay, people selling the hood insulation.
Did that come stock on the '78, and is it necessary? With the other 3 TA's that I have owned, I never saw insulation for the hood on them.
Would you do it?
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I don't think insulation on the hood was ever stock from the factory for shaker hoods.
I on the other hand am going to add it to mine. Helps keep some of the heat away from a nice new painted hood.
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I don't think insulation on the hood was ever stock from the factory for shaker hoods.
Correct...not an original item
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Not original for Trans am. Was standard equipment on Firebirds from what I understand.
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No insulation on the (3) shaker hoods I have.
Don't see it on the 80 firebird either but that doesn't mean it didn't come with it, just means it wasn't installed when I bought the car ;)
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Only the flat roofs came with hood insulation. The Trans Am's didn't, except for the turbo which I seem to remember did.....but I'm not positive of that.
I'm going to add it to my Trans Am's though. Just to protect the hood decal from heat, and to quiet the engine noise.
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I never saw any on ta's through the years, my 78 didn't have one either. I'm glad they didn't put them on, my compressor throws out a little oil, and it would look like crap in no time.
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Heidi I just put it on mine last week - $27 from Performance Years with the hood pad clips. You'll need to order an additional set of clips as 10 wasn't quite enough (just ordered an extra set). I know it's not a 'stock' item, but I wanted the extra insulation and it cleaned up the underside look for me......certainly something you can take off easily if you decide you don't like it later, and it's inexpensive.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/TheBatHound/DSCF6379.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/TheBatHound/DSCF6383.jpg)
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If you have the bird it's prob a good idea,If i didn't have ac I would do it.
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Ohhhhhhhhhhh ok, great! Probably will do that JUST to protect the bird and new paint.
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Ohhhhhhhhhhh ok, great! Probably will do that JUST to protect the bird and new paint.
I wouldnt worry about it honestly, i think it makes the bottom of the hood look bad, and the original hoods held up so long without it, dont see why you need to improve on an already great design?
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Ohhhhhhhhhhh ok, great! Probably will do that JUST to protect the bird and new paint.
I wouldnt worry about it honestly, i think it makes the bottom of the hood look bad, and the original hoods held up so long without it, dont see why you need to improve on an already great design?
I have to 2nd that.
Big nasty dust and oil collector (Hood filter)------ Yuck!!!!!!!!
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I guess I am a day late and a dollar short , lol
I just made the same exact post .
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Do you guys know what the hood insulation was used for? Wasn't for heat protection.....
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Sound Deadener?
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I didn't know there was going to be a test. :-\
If not for heat protection....I don't think sound.
Was it to help keep the heat in or out of the engine bay?
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With insulation i'm thinkin heat?
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well??
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I've been staring at my screen, come on!
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Waiting.... ::)
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It's both heat and sound. I know what Brett's going to say it's for.
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He doesn't know
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I say fire retardant also in addition to sound.
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I don't see (or should I say hear) how it would help with sound. Who would it block engine noise from? I don't think it would help for inside the car...maybe...not sure. I'm just thinking out loud here.
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Sometime in the late 70's autos had to pass a drive by test. They could not exceed a specified level of noise pollution if i remember the article correctly. It wasn't cabin noise. It was based on something like passing a fixed object at a certain speed and the db level had to be ????
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Ya, thats why the shakers were closed up, again California BS!
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I don't have an answer myself as to "why" but it would stand to reason that the insulation would absorb heat (to protect the hood/paint) as well as provide some barrier to engine noise to the outside...but in regards to it's use as a noise barrier it would seem more useful on an "open" hood (shaker hood) than a closed hood (base flat hood), yet they were installed on the latter :P
Again, they were used on flat hoods and turbo hoods from the factory but not shaker hoods.
As to why not shaker hoods...I for one am not going to lose any sleep trying to figure out the decisions that automotive engineers (past or present) make ;)
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Biggest thing to consider is the insulation came on flat hoods. Well ever see a flat hood Trans am? So I dont think protecting the decal is the answer.
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Is it to make the under side of a freshly painted hood look extra ugly?
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I'm with ya on that, I use a detail mist on the inside and it looks new.
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I say fire retardant also in addition to sound.
bingo..... that was the correct answer, the plastic clips would melt and drop the pad onto the motor... particulaly the carb to put out a fire kind of like dropping a heavy blanket on a flame....
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Is Hitman giving a new decal set to the winner???
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bingo..... that was the correct answer, the plastic clips would melt and drop the pad onto the motor... particulaly the carb to put out a fire kind of like dropping a heavy blanket on a flame....
You Win Evan
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Well now...I never would have got that one.
Was there ever a case of it working like they thought it would? Just seems like a long shot. I was a volunteer firefighter for 10 years. After being at a dozen or so car fires never seen one put out by some hood insulation.
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That's probably because by the time the engine fire occurred, the hood insulation was oil soaked so it just added to the blaze instead of extinguishing it ;)
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LOL!
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Car fires are impressive. I've seen a couple of them. They're extremely hot.
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It's been a while on this but I saw this today in the GM manual. Heres the F body page, it shows insulation
(http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x466/rogerbb/carlyscamera857.jpg)
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Not much hope in melting through the metal clips of the earlier years, would be some fire!