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I bought my '71 Coupe used and I suspect it had a bunch of owners. The hood has 3 split head pins where a small peace of insulation fits over the radiator and fan. Not sure why my car has them and others don't. I have seen photos of this insulation setup in restoration manuals but am not sure why GM installed insulation on some cars and not others. So the questions are is the insulation correct on my '71? Did a previous owner add the pins? Or do I have the wrong hood for my year? See photos below:
I'm still scratching my head. I'm not into debating whether hood insulation in necessary or not, I'm trying to figure out if this is the way my car came from the factory or does it have the wrong hood. I'm going to conclude the hood pins were not added by a previous owner. Here is the a photo from Vette Vues Fact Book, page 106 that shows a '69 big block with the same pin configuration. Any one want to venture a guess? From Vette Vues Fact Book, '69 big block
GM put a lot of nonsense items on the C3s. Doesn't make in correct. Kind of like a remote for outside drivers side mirror. Just three inches from the mirror. WTH?
Yes I have insulation in the house walls. To HOLD IN HEAT !!!! Not to extinguish a fire. And yes the hood blanket stores energy. So when you try to start an already hot engine, the fuel has boiled out of the carb. Stored energy, there you go.
Old wives tale again about the melting clips. Yes they will melt. And yes the blanket will drop on the engine, adding more fuel to the fire. Its not made of asbestos.
The clips melt from extreme heat of the engine fire. So does everything else in the engine bay. It was not by design.
Its not a fire retardant. Its a noise retardant.
Better Google C3 engine fires and take note of the blanket burning like hell.
HOLD IN HEAT !!!! Not to extinguish a fire.
Ahhh- in the south we use insulation to keep the cool in and the suppress fires as insulation has a 1 hour fire rating. 1/2" sheetrock is only 30 minutes...
Insulation- especially black- ABSORBS heat and slows the passage.
A shiny surface reflects heat
And yes the hood blanket stores energy.
So you are saying all the other stuff under the hood doesn't store energy? I don't think so.
Run your car- get it nice and hot- then touch the intake - next touch the hood insulation. Do tell me which has all the stored heat.
GM put a lot of nonsense items on the C3s. Doesn't make in correct. Kind of like a remote for outside drivers side mirror. Just three inches from the mirror. WTH?
The insulation in 69 was only on the forward part of the hood- seems the engineers were concerned with the radiator temp (heat) damaging the paint.
So 69's could also be orders with sidepipes- you think the small section was for noise? I don't think so.
BTW- the sport mirror was an OPTION- GM made money off that!!!
adding more fuel to the fire. Its not made of asbestos
BTW- spray gasoline on what ever you want- it's going to burn-and if you do have a small fire- the hood insulation will be sacrificed before paint/fiberglass damage.
I'm not going to tell you what to think- but hood insulation - as GM beancounters figured- was worth it. I'm gonna run one- I'll just make it prettier than GM did.
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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Originally Posted by ddischiave
Any one want to venture a guess?
I will. Was there insulation from '70 to '72?
I looked at Ecklers, CC, Zip....none of them sell a factory replacement. Only the '69 in your pic, '73-'75 cowl induction & '76-'79.
With that being said, you have pins!
Maybe a '69 hood?...
I will. Was there insulation from '70 to '72?
I looked at Ecklers, CC, Zip....none of them sell a factory replacement. Only the '69 in your pic, '73-'75 cowl induction & '76-'79.
With that being said, you have pins!
Maybe a '69 hood?...
That's what I was thinking also ... so now the question is how did that happen? Was the hood a factory left over from the parts bin or did a previous owner have to get a replacement because he damaged the original one. There is overspray of the originaal color on the hood which is leading me to believe that the hood is an original one from the factory. Oh well, I'm ok with it and have the insulation installed, so I'll just leave it that way. Looks good even though it doesn't look like other '71 270 hp engine bays.
The hoods if I am not mistaken has a date code. Hard to see and is upside down but both mine had them. See what you can find. It’s molded into the hood. Ike
The hoods if I am not mistaken has a date code. Hard to see and is upside down but both mine had them. See what you can find. It’s molded into the hood. Ike
Thank you for the tip. I found the date code which looks like my hood is from 10 68. Wow, seems odd that GM would have a hood that old sitting around while the ealy '71s were being built. I'm going to assume the car camee that way and be ok with it looking different from the rest of the '71s.
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