So i finally got rid of my laziness and decided to get rid of all that black padding along the top of the wheel wells and firewall. I knew it was going to be a PITA but finally got around to doing it.

Well first thing was first... GLOVES, NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS, and CHANNEL LOCKS. This made the job easier. Gloves were the most important part because that **** makes you ITCHY like a ****. Some rubbed against my forearm and had a rash for hours (especially if your sweating). I started with the passenger side just ripping it off with my hands. I made sure i didnt wash the car yet because doing this does generate a lot of dust and debris.

I next moved to the driver side and then finally over to the firewall. I thought the firewall would be the most difficult, but the damn driver side turned out to be the hardest. The piece behind the master cylinder took me 15-20 minutes by itself. The whole job took about 50 minutes. I left the padding on the underside of the hood itself as i dont like the way it looks without.

I didnt clean it yet so it still is dirty, but the next time i wash/clay/wax the car, it will get done nice. I wanted to paint a few things under the hood too but i might just wait till i replace my front brake pads before i do that so i can paint the calipers/rotor centers/hood accessories all at once. Also going to wrap the AC line with some heat reflective tape.

Here are the pics.




THIS is the finished result. More red now and looks a bit cleaned up. I don't like the engine cover either. I wanna see my powerplant!



This is the passenger side. The easiest part of the process.



This is the firewall. It was a bit more difficult because there is next to no room to work. And it is tucked behind every lil pipe and hose.



This was the PITA. Right behind the master cylinder (behind the what i think is the vacuum booster... not sure) is a screw holding it in. This was barely reachable and it was next to impossible to get the insulation out from under the screw. I finally did it after 20 minutes or so and did a lil victory dance.




If any of you are debating whether you should do this or not... you should. Just make sure you know what to expect and make sure you have the very important tools for the job lol. Gloves is mandatory.

Answers to some potential question:

Q. Does it make the interior cabin hotter then usual?
A. No. I just drove it 45 minutes on the highway and 30 minutes in traffic... in the summer heat... and it does not get any more hotter then it usually did on the inside.

Q. Does doing this increase the sound level from inside the car?
A. For one, this car is not exactly a BMW, and Mazda did not waste any money or weight by adding sound deadening material... so it was already far from luxury. Doing this simple modification did not increase the inside noise by anything noticeable unless you stick your ear close to the head unit.

Q. Does removing this padding increase my chances of dying from a car fire from under the hood?
A. I hope not.

Q. Will this affect engine start performance and warm up time in the winter?
A. Most likely. If your running stock ignition, it might make a slight difference when starting because there is no more insulation under the hood. And warm up time might take longer. This is just speculation as i just did this and have not driven it yet in cold climate lol.

Q. Will breathing the dust from the insulation cause lung damage?
A. I doubt it... but i would guess smoking cigarettes does much worse. if you have a mask, use it. It certainly wouldnt hurt to do so.

Q. Will this net me more hot chicks?
A. Possibly.

 

HA Ha. Moron.

 

I removed my oil cap for weight savings. I haven't had any luck picking up chicks without it yet. I'll report back in a month.

 

??Explain how im a moron?

I look forward to hearing your stories...lol.

 

Looks good! I just got dinged at a car show because the padding on the drivers side is worn from my playing around in the engine bay. I like the look of it gone and am planning on doing mine the next chance I get to spend some time w/ her.

 

You might as well remove the big sound dampening piece from the underside of the hood too.

 

whyd you do that O.o

 

i'm guessing it was looking worn.. or he was just really really bored.


i was bored and threw away my intake and battery.. now i just need to find a horse to tow me around

 

After 100,000 miles of driving the insulation under my hood was rather worn so I removed it as well. I prefer that look a lot better. I saw an MX5 which does not contain nearly the amount the RX8 has or any at all and liked the look.

 

I like gutting things too.

 

Well, for one, i wanted something fairly easy to do. This is something that any moron could do without really messing anything up. This plus the fog light rewire i did was to get me to work up to modding the 8 myself... kinda like a break in for me. I was skeptical about touching anything on my beloved car in fear i would break something.

I noticed long ago on Altspace's blog that he had done this, and then he padded the firewall in gold heat reflected film. Now im not going to pad with the gold, but i did like the look of the engine bay without all the padding. It was such a better look. I wasnt sure if i wanted to do this though because usually "it's there for a reason."

So i decided to use the SEARCH function for days lookin at others who had done this ont he forums and looked for any NEGATIVE reasons i should not do it. The only three i found was the winter insulation from the cold (which i also read with an upgraded ignition like BHR solves this issue) affecting the start up, the potential heat increase inside the cabin (which wasnt much if at all any), and the noise.

Well i figured since i am buying the BHR ignition within the next 6 weeks and more or less moving to florida within the next 1.5 years, the cold climate is nothing to worry about. The added heat would be a bonus in the winter though...lol. However, i noticed no extra heat anyway even in traffic in the summer heat. The noise was next to impossible to notice too (even though the sound of the rotors spinning would be a bonus regardless).


So yes, don't flame. Im not the only one. Before anyone calls me a "moron" for doing this, do a lil searching. I feel like i was the only noob rookie to these forums who never once asked a question because i searched every single thing that came to mind unless it was for opinions on a purchase. To each his own i guess.

 

I'm running at about 84-90k miles now as well and will be on engine number 3. Needless to say it's been pretty beat up. I think I might do this as well, my car is black though so it'll be...less flat and more shiny.

 

Looks good. If it doesn't add that much to the sound, I'll pull mine as well. It got partially eaten by mice and looks terrible. Over the winter I was planning on gutting the interior and adding "Second Skin" sound dampening material. It might be possible to put that on parts of the firewall from the inside where it would be both useful and invisible.

 

Nice man, grats for going out and trying this, looks good...

 

My concern with stripping all the insulation, and not replacing, is that it's all there for a reason.

The under-hood (bonnet) insulation is for sound deadening and to protect the aluminum hood from adverse engine heat effects (warping, paint bubbling, etc.).

The insulation on the firewall is for bay-cabin sound deadening, bay-cabin heat barrier and most importantly as a further fire retardant.

It's not all about looks in automotives .....

 

Yeah, it looks cool. I don't mind it on mine so much. Plus I don't feel like doing the job. Too hot, anyway.

 

As a sound and cabin heat barrier it makes sense. The rest you mention makes no sense. In the airplane world it's forbidden to have such pads inside the engine compartment. That stuff makes a fine wick (if you imagine how well a candle burns without at wick) and can hold liquid fuel from a small leak in place (as opposed to running off the bare metal to the ground) until the a/f mixture in the insulation reaches the explosive range.

There's a lot of paint much closer to the engine than the hood that doesn't bubble and the temps reach inside the engine compartment are way below the plastic flow point of aluminum.

 

Hey, this is the closest thread i could find to what im looking for so im posting here...i need that insulation piece over the pass side. Anyone know the p/n or where to get that ****? Fuckn dealers here have no idea what im talking about to have them order it for me. I take mine to shows and i think it looks cleaner with it. And i want a nice new piece not a used pos...damm mice got the one in there now anyone know the numba??

 

Unfortunately, that piece of insulation is one-piece and would be very hard to replace. At the least, the brake boost unit would have to come off, and probably the hydraulic lines running across the firewall. I had the same mouse problem and just removed mine entirely, with no pronounced negative effect.

 

The piece on the passanger side looks easy to replace...it doesnt look like its connected to the piece on the firewall or is that what you are saying? Cuz that would suck big time.

 

Cool ... looks nice but might be such a pita for whatever benefits (cosmetic or otherwise) it may or may not reap.

 

Are you talking about the piece over the passenger side of the firewall (one piece all the way across to the driver's side) or over the wheel well? The wheel well pieces are of course separate left and right.

 

I had to replace (overlay) a firewall section behind my washer fluid reservoir due to mice using a bit of it to build a nest atop the exterior side of the cabin air filter. I used the automotive firewall insulation that has a reflective side towards the engine bay and the reservoir screws held it firmly in place.

I now forget where I got it, but may have been Summit Racing. Google 'firewall insulation' and you should find it.

I glued same to the underside of my daughter's Mazda6 plastic engine cover due to similar rodent activity.

 

Originally Posted by Crazyjek,

Q. Will this net me more hot chicks?
A. Possibly.


B. Maybe not
C. None of the above

Answer: It depends if they want to see under your hood

 

I need to replace the one over the fender...i went out and looked and ya, that should be easy....i just thought the other dude ment that all the insulation was one piece in the whole engine bay...i was like i dont think so lol...i ordered the thing from mazda but willing to put money on the piece i get will be the plastic fender liner...so hard to make them understand the part over the phone lol.