I am in the middle of my 3800 swap in my Fiero, and as I gather the money to do the swap, I am always looking for more projects I can do to my 86 SE.

After reading through the Contruction Zone today, I noticed many engine bays with bare sheet metal.
This instantly caught my eye and sparked my interest.

I am very interested in getting rid of the old insulation/sound deadening material that seems to line the engine bay of my 86 Fiero.

My question is, what are the repercussions of removing this material?
Does it quiet the engine and road noise much, if it all?
Does it protect anything against heat?
How is it secured? Just glue or are there fasteners somewhere?

Any and all tips, advice, comments are welcomed and appreciated, everyone here seems to have great ideas.

Thanks,
Kyle

Additionally, would you recommend against removing it and NOT replacing it?
I was thinking about removing it all, or at least on the 3 sides, not firewall, then using a wire wheel to remove any old adhesive and other stuffs that might be there, and then go over the metal with a matte black paint so that the engine is the eye-catcher in the engine bay, with no ugly old insulation in the way.

[This message has been edited by DKcustoms (edited 02-20-2014).]

I think its on the side for sound suppression and on the firewall for both heat protection and sound suppression.

I used Lizard Skin when I removed my insulation, its a spray on system that seems to be doing its job in my hi heat turbo'd engine bay.

There is no adhesive at all. If you drive this car rain or shine then I would remove from the sides as a minimum. It does tend to get wet and trap moisture and besides its ugly. Its all just friction fit and tears away easily, however you should wear a mask of some kind, that stuff is old and very friable and gets airborne very easily.

DF

It is a fiber based insulation and attached via plastic push lock tabs. You can just grab it and yank it off. I remove the sides on every fiero I buy (the sides are more about sound vs. heat insulation). You can also remove the front, but the passenger compartment will be slightly louder and the firewall will become hotter. On long drives this can put more heat into the passenger area.

You can replace the firewall insulation with other types. Some of the best I have found is West Marine Acoustical Foam #216858. It is a multi-layer engine bay insulation for marine applications with inboard engines. It comes in a 54x32 bulk roll with a retail price is $117.99 last time I purchased it... If you only insulate to the double firewall tube, then 1 roll will cover 2 firewalls.
http://www.westmarine.com/w...rorView#.UlcvBhBWmJs




You can also put more sound deadening material on the inside of the firewall like this (cheap alternative is "Peal & Seal" roofing patch material):


On most of my engine swaps, I have started to add a smooth 2nd firewall with insulation in between the two. as it helps keep the heat and noise down, but is a smooth metal panel to look at.

------------------
fieroguruperformance.com