76 hood insulation

[76texvette]

I have a late 76 and would like to clean-up or replace the insulation on the underside of the hood. I have looked for replacements but none seem to match as far as being fitted/molded like the original. The other option is to try and clean the current 28 yr old one but I am not sure what would be best to use to clean it. Any ideas or suggestions ?

 

[76okievette]

I purchased a replacement from Corvette Central, http://www.corvettecentral.com/flashmenu.htmIt went right on took about 10 minutes no cutting. Thats what I would recommend, they also have the replacement washers and retainers.

 

[76texvette]

I looked on Corvette Central....it says "Replacement not Moulded as original ". How different from original is it??

 

[lrh]

I also have a 76 and the insulation is old and dirty. Is the reason you are replacing your just for looks or is there other reasons? I also have seen the one on Corvette Central.

 

[Fishman]

76texvette,

I removed it, and the fasteners, lightly sanded the assembly hash marks from the fiberglass, and then had my buddy put a nice coat of paint on. That insulation is just too hard to keep clean... I swear there was a flippin' rat living in mine.
Total cost: $19 for the case of beer I bought him.

Nice to see another Texan aboard. And welcome to the !!!

 

[76texvette]

Mine is 28 years old.....very dirty/greasy/oily. I was wanting to replace it with an exact molded replica. I found one, not sure if it is exact replica, on GM Restoration Parts:
http://www.gm-restorationparts.com/ewopg/OPGSITES/SkuPartNoFrame.asp?W=New&SC=D&C=D_HO
Part number 472800 for $39.99 + shipping.
I have seen other threads talking about blistering the paint if it was removed and not replaced. Of course, that is probably for the big blocks, but I am sure GM put it on there for a reason.
I am probably being anal about all this...just trying to keep it somewhat original.
Thanks for the replys....

 

[ArkShark]

I purchased one from Ecklers. It turned out to be UGLY Yellowish-brown in color, (which they say was stock from the factory) so I painted it black. Not 'original', but i looks good, and it fits pretty darn good.

Before, I had NO hood insulation. I bought it like that, and it was probably like that for years....so I wouldn't worry about a few days w/o insulation.

 

[76texvette]

I was on the corvette forum looking at their on-line store...they show a molded hood insulation for $99.00 + shipping. Too late, I already ordered from GM Restoration Parts for $39.00 + shipping...guess we will see what we get.

 

[81 Corvette]

hmmmm, are all the sharks suppose to have this???? My 81 doesn't

 

[Wolverine]

The insulation is there for sound deadening not heat protection. You should not have a problem with paint blistering on a '76 if you remove it. I replaced mine three years ago and the new insulation is almost as dirty as what I replaced. I plan to remove it alltogether and paint the underside of the hood black.

By the way, I don't believe that the '81 came with insulation from the factory. A friend of mine has one with extremely low miles and it appears that there was never one installed on his, either.

 

[76okievette]

I replaced mine with the Corvette Central one and it was not "molded" but it fit in "nice an tight", like the wife likes, and looks good. It is black and looks just like the one I removed, it has been on the car a year now and still looks great, I did not paint the underside of the hood but when I have the whole car painted I think I will, mine was a flat black, I assume that is the orginal color? Let me know now the one from GM works and if you can post a pic of it that would be cool. I did not have to cut anything when I installed the Corvette Central one and did not notice that is was not "molded" it does not sag at all. Just my two cents. Thanks


GO SOONERS

 

[ed_in_pa]

I replaced mine with a black one from Corvette America for about $35. It isn't molded but it fit great. I took off the old retainers, wire brushed them and painted them with a chrome paint. The new insulation and retainers look great.

 

[juggler]

My wife just got one for about $40 from Ecklers.

One side is a darker grey and more like a fabric than the other side, which obviously looks like the insulation itself.

Question: which side faces the engine? I was thinking that the fabric side would help prevent the clips from ripping through the insulation, so that side would be down (towards the engine).

 

[juggler]

Never mind, it was pretty obvious once I got it under the hood. The piece is contour cut to fit one way only, which places the insulation towards the engine.

Better sound-dampening that way I guess.

 

[Bill75]

I bought the $99+ unit from Corvette Central along with the retaining washers. It fits the contours of the hood perfectly, it's uniform in color and is well made. I'm happy with it.

Bill

 

[LVMYVT76]

I know that I triwed to order from Gm about 25 years ago, they sent a 2 piece replacement. So they don't have the original replacement either back then. The parts manager tried to order a one piece replacemetn and was told it was a 2 piece replacement.

 

[Jim B]

I got mine from Mid America about 5 months ago and it's a nice molded match to the original.

 

[Jim B]

hood insul.

Bought mine at Mid America 5 mos. ago and it's a great match to the original.

 

[Chas]

I have one from Mid-America ....no problems at all.