Hey,

Just received my Hood Insulation from Classic Industries for my 83 Z28. For you "restorers" out there, it looks pretty original. It is not the new hard/firm insulation that they have in the newer cars.
It is soft fiberous material like my original and looks pretty good. It was only $25. They have it for Cross-fire hoods as well. Just thought I would share.

phil

Was yours the solid mat or did it have the CFI cutout? My dad bought 2 from Classic Industries last year and they both came with the CFI cutout. He informed them that he has the LG4 and needed the solid mat. They checked their inventory and said that the part number crossreferenced to the same CFI hood mat. They were going to have the correct mats made to fix the problem. The second mat shipped to him was still the wrong one so he went elsewhere.

Mine was solid. No CFI cutout. Part #CA209 from Classic Ind.

Is the insulation for the steel hood and fibreglass hood the same? I have a glass hood, and I'm kinda thinking it might be a good idea to get a new mat, since I have none at the moment.

I guess I can assume that the new mat did not have the foil backing on the hood side? It's good to see these parts coming available, but it would be nice if they made them correct.

From the factory there was a difference between the steel and glass hood pad. The glass hood has a pad with an aluminum foil backing that is grounded to the frame. I have a glass hood. I could not find anyone that is making a pad that has the aluminum foil backing so i got the regular pad from Classic Ind. and carefully peeled the aluminum foil off my original pad and put it under the new one.


hope that is clear,
phil

That's exactly what my dad did. He had 3M send him some heat resistant adhesive. Peeled the foil and made a new liner. Nobody had the standard Z28 hood liner when he ordered his, so Paddock Parts sent him the material the liner is made from and he carefully cut his own based on the shape of the foil. You can't tell it's not factory.

I don't know how important it is that the hood is grounded. I debated on whether to put the foil backing on. I'll post some pics.

phil

my factory original liner

new one from Classic Ind.

factory pad ground...

hood ground, how interesting, i have never seen such a thing ever and i have had a ton of different vehicle makes models years, and been under the hoods of even more

i plan on just getting sticky foil to put on underside of my 82 trans am power bulge hood, it appears to have never came with insulation or anything,

83 Z28 ? what engine orignally ? should be glass one that year with Z28, would be no point in grounding it


good luck

Original 1983 Z28 built at Norwood Ohio Plant in June 1983.
Original LG4, came with fiberglass hood with insulation(with foil backing) from factory.


I am original owner.

phil

I wonder what the significance of the Foil ground is... I could see the extra insulation from the heat of the engine, but why gound it?

Ahh, I bet it might be that Fiberglas, like plastic is prone to static I wonder if it was an attempt to discharge it...

John

That is my thought.
phil

would make sense, my steel hood has no ground..

Actually the Metal hoods are grounded by Default... The hinges act like the ground...

John

The factory fiberglass hood has a STEEL frame that runs the perimeter of hood sandwiched between the top/inner glass.All the factory provisions,hinges,underhood lamp,bumpstops,latch striker/release lever,spring mount to it.Wouldnt the frame ground the hood via the hinges??

My 83 Factory Fiberglass hood does not have a steel frame.

The steel frame is ONLY about 4-5in wide & runs only from the edges.You can see it if you look around the striker/releae lever/spring area.That where its the most visible.You can see it a little bit around the hinges too.

I have one of those early Z28 fiberglass hoods. It has the foil backing on the hood side of the insulation, but when the inside framework separated from the hood skin there was no metal (thin, thick, wide, etc.) between the hood outer skin and the support framework on the inside. Maybe GM made different fiberglass hoods??

By the way, whats the best material/method to reattach the inside to the outside on these hoods?

Well i know for sure mine has one because i can see it.Plus all the bolts thread onto it.You can also see the rivets around the mounting points.I would try fiberglass to reattach the two halves.Then clamp it together so it bonds better.

My glass hood has the ground strap. I assumed it was to ground the hood scoop air intake solenoids on the Crossfire cars.

Actually thinking about it, I bet the ground is because Plastics have a tendancy to pick up alot of static, when you blow air across them. I Imagine it may be possible to build up enough static, that when it discharged it could ignight the Gasoline and Blow up your car

just a theory tho

JOhn

Did all '83 Z28s have glass hoods? I had an '83 Z28 and thought the hood was steel.

No they did not all have glass hoods. And I don't know what the logic was in getting a glass hood. My car was built very late in the Model year (June 1st, 1983) and had a glass hood from the factory.

phil

I believe ALL crossfire inj Zs got the glass hoods.At first they had functional flaps,but they leaked water into engine thru the top of the crossfire air cleaner whenever it rained,etc.So later on GM made them NON functional.As far as i know & read of these were the only Zs that got the glass hoods.....

My '83 L69, built June 6, 1983, has a glass hood. I ordered it from the factory, still original.

Larry

Yeah they all got them. However, there was a problem with them coming apart so they may have changed yours to a steel replacement