I'm considering doing away with the firewall insulation... I would like the firewall to match the rest of the car, and the insulation at this point is better suited for a trashcan... It's falling off, and looks like hell...

Suggestions/Recommendations. Stan said to leave it... But I think it's ugly, and I need a new one anyway. Anybody remove this?? How much noiser/warmer does the inside of the car get??? Does removing it cause any issues I need to be aware of?

I will be doing mostly street driving with the car, but it will never have DD duties.

TIA

Pic for reference...

 

no issues to remove it.

 

Personally I wouldn't run without it. I'm actually working towards adding heat material to both of my cars.

Some of the new stuff from DEI is thin, light, and very effective.

The McLaren F1 was spared no expense to keep that car super light, yet it's covered in more heat shielding material than any other production car I've ever seen. Gorgon Murray didn't do that for the bling factor (see all the gold stuff)

 

I would still recommend to keep the liner in place.

I think it was put on there for a reason first to keep noise out of the car,
second to reduce the amount of heat transferred into the chassis, thats why its covered in foil to reflect the heat.

 

i took mine off,it's very heavy and did look ugly,i fitted some thin heat reflective,sticky backed material in it's place.
did take a long time to stick 1 complete sheet behind the brake pipes and it cost nearly £100 a sheet

Phil

 

I had a piece of that stuff, about the size of a dinner plate, fall off two weeks ago. The rest is in bad shape. I can't really do much about it with the engine in the way since just about anything I'd use as a replacement would need a clean surface. I'd also need something that doesn't trap moisture, and the material and adhesive would have to withstand fairly high temps.

It's been my observation that the primary cause of weak A/C isn't really weak A/C. The problem is the amount of heat coming in through the firewall, front floor, and the tunnel.

 

Ok, well as an update...

I have completely removed this piece of insulation. The body sealant that runs along the base of the firewall (passenger side) was falling out... which I thought was odd, so upon further investigation discovered that the "insulation" had been insulating water against the firewall and had managed to chaffe through the paint/glue and caused rust to begin just south of the drain, and north of the flange holding the firewall to the floorpan... directly behind my fuseblock...

I have removed the entire piece... and Stan helped me pull my brake booster, so I could chase out the remaining insulation... I am looking into DEI (thanks Hacker) and a couple other options at this point... But I will be treating the rust, and then repainting the entire bay. Once complete I will have found an insulation solution.

That rubber is pretty heavy, and after this many years... it pretty much crumbles when you tug on it. The glue is more than tough... If you plan on replacing the insulation... you should plan on spending multiple hours cleaning glue off of your firewall. The paint underneath is less than perfect, so it'll take some hard work to get it nice again.

 

I kepted some of it, where it transfered heat to an area that I wouldnt want heat to be transfrered. (i.e. fuse panel, and my feet. the rest of it, i cut away. an exacto knife its all you need (and gloves)

 

That's where I intend to install new insulation, down around the footwells, and the bellhousing area, After it's painted, I'll put on some newer style insulation. I don't like the look of the tin foil (no offense), and am looking into DEI and similar products. I don't want to hide all my hard work, but do want some heat/sound barrier.