Any secrets for cleaning the insulation pad under the hood? It is just dusty. I have tried vacuuming and hitting the pad like a rug but have seen little improvement.

 

i remember seeing a post where some one cleaned it up as best they could, let it dry, then put several coats of black paint on it. looked pretty good from the pics. think it took 4-5 coats for full coverage

 

Clean as best you can and spray with Armor All.

It will look new again

 

Refurbishing a Corvette C5 Hood Liner

The liner is made of a very delicate material so be careful in how you handle it once it’s removed. The surface is a fabric type finish and hard brushing will cause it to become rough and fibrous. It will also crack easily if you let it flex so if you take it outside beware of strong wind.

As you take the final fasteners out, support the liner so you don’t crack the liner around the eyelets.

The actual work takes only minutes. The drying time is the only slow process.

As you can see, the liner will have attracted quite a bit of dirt and grime.



OK here we go.

Lift the hood.

Remove the fasteners gently, top, then bottom and middle ones last. This will support the liner better as you take them out. Us a tool with a forked end. I’ve heard of a barbeque fork being used. I used a nail puller work in behind the fastener.



Take the liner outside and brush the surface gently with a soft brush to remove any dirt. Take care not to damage the surface of the liner.



Spray the liner with black paint. The difference between the old and the new surface is immediately apparent.



Use as many coats as you see fit. The liner is porous so it will take at least 3 coats to get good coverage. Leave it for 30 mins between coats to allow the paint to dry.



If you plan to paint the Corvette emblem, you may wish to apply extra paint around the embossed area on the liner. This will stop the liner absorbing the coloured paint.

Once the paint is dry (and you may wish to leave it overnight), you can either paint the emblem or apply a decal. I chose the decal. Alternatively if you prefer, you can refit the liner and apply the decal when it’s back in place.

Refit the liner in the hood fitting the middle fasteners first to hold it in place, then refit the remaining fasteners. A gentle push fit is all it takes to reinsert the fastener.

The finished Hood Liner

 

Thanks for the advice.

DeeGee, your liner looks awesome. Did you use just regular black spray paint.

 

Its probably worth using BBQ paint which is designed for high temps. Its a few $$ extra at Home Depot.

 

DeeGee, where did you get the decal for the center? I will be doing this sometime soon here and was going to paint the crossed flags. After seeing yours, the decal looks so good seems kinda pointless. Great job!!!

 

Actually, on this same note... does it adhere well to the liner... ie. your not worried at all about it coming loose. Thanks again!!!

 

Yep, what DeeGee say's, from cleaning to decal, did mine the exact same thing. After the thorough cleaning, the black paint, (high temp), is what makes it cool.

 

To clean the one on my wife's '04 , I left it installed...hood raised.
sprayed it with a 1:3 solution of simple green. let it soak 5 minutes and then rinsed it well with the garden hose with a heavy mist pattern.

I let it dry with the hood up...
It was in good enough shape that I didn't need to repaint.

On my '01 with 113K miles, I used the DeeGee approach and paianted it after it dried, then used Testor's model paint pens to paint the C5 emblem.