[besposito]

Has anyone ever used a hood liner? Do they work? Would you recommend one?

Something like the ones here on eBay.

 

[Tifosi]

They work to help keep noise from resonating off the hood thus quieting down the rattles you'd normally hear without one.

They also help to increase heatsoak which can rob some performance in a lot of stop-n-go traffic.

My personal druthers lean toward just dealing with the tappet noise and cooler engine bay temperatures.

 

[Davy13]

I've been eye-ballin' those on e-bay for a while now... I like the fitment/cut of them, but I always seem to find better things to blow $70 on... I thought that these type of hood liners cut the engine bay heat down, not add to it? Any thoughts, anyone? Anyone? Beuller?

 

[Tifosi]

Think about it:

Anything that insulates or lines the hood is going to keep heat in the engine bay.

The only way to actually get rid of heat under there is to punch louvers in it, or get creative with scoops so that air is recirculated under there, not insulate it with something.

The whole psychological ploy with hood liners making things 'cooler' is that the hood feels colder to the touch from the outside when they're in use. (guess where the extra heat you aren't feeling goes, knowing that hot air rises above cold air?)

 

[besposito]

Think about it:

Anything that insulates or lines the hood is going to keep heat in the engine bay.

The only way to actually get rid of heat under there is to punch louvers in it, or get creative with scoops so that air is recirculated under there, not insulate it with something.

The whole psychological ploy with hood liners making things 'cooler' is that the hood feels colder to the touch from the outside when they're in use. (guess where the extra heat you aren't feeling goes, knowing that hot air rises above cold air?)

I hear you and what you say makes sense, BUT every car manufactured now has the hood liners...check any bmw, porsche or even new alfa. So why do all the new ones have it if they are so bad?

On the other side, has anyone experienced/noticed paint fading more on the hood than the rest of the car?

I agree with the idea that I DONT want to muffle my engine noise..i like it the way it is....just concerned for heat/paint.

 

[WindChill]

Has anyone ever used a hood liner? Do they work? Would you recommend one?

Something like the ones here on eBay.

I bought one a while back but have decided not to install it as I just want to keep my 87 Quad as simple and original as possible. I have the original spec labels on the inside of the hood. I also want to be able to hear every sound my car makes, the good the bad and the truly wondrful sound of a well tuned Alfa powering through a twisting New England road. This product may fall into the category of "a solution looking for a need".
But...each to his/her own...

 

[Tifosi]

I hear you and what you say makes sense, BUT every car manufactured now has the hood liners...check any bmw, porsche or even new alfa. So why do all the new ones have it if they are so bad?

Because todays 'civilized' society wouldn't tolerate a new car that made a lot of engine mechanical noise. ('quiet' = 'quality' in a lot of peoples minds. Would you pay $100k for a car that had a noisy engine? The greater majority won't)

SS exhaust or even just loud exhaust is acceptable, but if there's the slightest perceptible underhood rattle, then 'it's got something wrong'. (that's my theory anyway. Personally I blame Rolls Royce for way back ago when they ran so smooth and quiet you could stand a coin on edge on the intake and it wouldn't tip over)

Yes, paint can go bad faster on the hood than other places, but I'm of a mind it's more due to the aerodynamics rather than heat. (look at the roof of some hardtops for example, or the leading edges of doors that don't quite sit just so in the chassis)

 

[dwc]

I wouldn't mind having one of those liners for the inside of my trunk lid, as I like the logo, but not under my hood.

 

[ddouglas77]

just concerned for heat/paint.

It will protect the paint on your hood from cooking and since heat does rise, it does not noticeably rise the underhood temperatures, just forces the heat to find an open way out.

 

[dwc]

It will protect the paint on your hood from cooking and since heat does rise, it does not noticeably rise the underhood temperatures, just forces the heat to find an open way out.

Which is . . .

 

[ecohen2]

I bought the kit a while back and have not installed it yet. The reason modern cars have liners is to keep the paint on the hood from crazing from the heat and to reduce noise.

The reason I have not installed mine is because the clearance between the hood and the engine is so tight, that it is going to press against hoses, cables etc.

Ed

 

[new2alpha]

I had thought about using a hood liner because there is no material between my hood and the reinforcement braces that keep it stiff. I assume there were some sort of spacers there originally but they are gone in both the trunk and under the hood. Now I am second guessing if should. I don't want to hijack this thread but what material would you all reccomend for use between the hood and the braces if not a hood liner? (I call them braces because I have I idea what they should be called)

 

[Tifosi]

Braces is fine

There's a couple forms of glue/epoxy out there that can be put between the braces and the outer skin which will bond the two together very nicely, (body shop might have that as recently they've begun using it to bond on replacement panels instead of welding), though sometimes pressing the skin onto the braces makes for deformities if sad braces are bent for whatever reason. (people humping on the rear decklid for example)

Other options include the expandable foam glue that they sometimes use to fill crevises like that in bodywork.

Fills the gap, and sticks to everything it touches.

Don't have names or brands for either though, I just know they exist.