1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Bonnet insulation

I've held off removing the shield until I get meth, but I'd really like to get rid of it--I'll have to ask Jan about it, he'll know.

 

Out of the 2 OE hoods I have had for my car, only the older model hood was fully painted underneath, and it was thin at best. Yanked the insulation padding from both and never noticed any excessive heat to the sheetmetal. The factory paint can take 400 degrees with no discoloring, just don't take a torch or welder to it... That makes it blister kinda funny.

 

I've thought about it. The noise doesn't bother me, and I've been wondering if removing it would help with heat sink on the track. It's either that or a carbon fiber hood.

 

I pulled mine off, but it looked like carp. Not paint under there on my MINI just grey primer. I keep my engine bay clean, so wiping down that insulation pad is no big deal for me.

 

I did and put it back because the hood gets so hot and the paint got really warm and that was in the winter months.

 

The noise is why I took it off. I wanted more motor and SC sound but the heat on the hood was very very warm.

I thought about cutting some heat reflective padding and gluing it up but said F it and did a meth kit in the end.

 

Same here, I usually run the vacuum over it while I am drying out the engine bay.