Hard Top Insulation

[Mr. Keets]

Well, summer is here in Perth and in a preemptive move I ordered some insulation from EZ COOL INSULATION (http://www.lobucrod.com/). The site claims the insulation, "...stops up to 97% of radiant heat transfer". There is a well documentation installation report on a Citroen from an Aussie guy, for those who are interested.

Here's my install.

Materials...
1 can of spray can of wax and grease remover
1 can of spray can of plastic friendly adhesive
4 plastic kitchen scourers
Dish washing liquid
Bucket
3 of the Wife's good tea towels (rags may also work)
Masking tape
Newspaper
Scissors
Narrow paint scraper
Stanley knife
Marker pen
4" length of insulation
Frosty victory beverage of choice
A mate

Step 1
Get the hard top (HT) of the car and place on table
Step 2
Cut around edge of the front HT latches
Step 3
Carefully peel black vinyl lining from the HT in one piece...not difficult
Step 4
Apply the wax and grease remover and get busy with the scourer/scraper...remember the job is 90% preparation
Step 5
Clean up the mess and wash the HT with soapy water.
Step 6
Hose the suds off and pull out the three plugs above the rear window and drain the water that managed to get in...I used compressed air and that helped. Dry the HT
Step 7
Enjoy frosty beverage
Step 8
Cut insulation to fit using the original vinyl lining as a template. The insulation is almost spot on width.
Step 9
Mask the the HT, spray the insulation and HT. Wait until tacky then apply, lightly roll to remove air bubbles
Step 10
Repeat step 9 to reapply original lining
Step 11
Remove masking tape and newspaper.
Step 12
Enjoy frosty beverage with mate.

Lessons learned
1. Probably could have removed the latches as the insulation does compress.

I'll post later in regard to the effectiveness

[tescoking]

Any pictures?

[Okibi]

I have a roll of stuff like this from Clark Rubber, wonder how similar it is

[Mr. Keets]

The insulation is 5mmm thick, I've attached a couple of pix.

Material.jpg

I happy with the result s so far...a couple of spots at the front where the insulation is visible but apart from that it's a win.

Hard Top.jpg

[tescoking]

The insulation is 5mmm thick, I've attached a couple of pix.

Material.jpg

I happy with the result s so far...a couple of spots at the front where the insulation is visible but apart from that it's a win.

Hard Top.jpg

Thats the thing I use on my heatshield for my CAI

[Mr. Keets]

I might use some on my airbox strangely enough


Okibi, it looks a bit different, very light.


I left the car in a parking area today for an hour and while it was warm inside, a contact pyrometer would be handy but after around 5 minutes on the road with the windows down the roof was not hot at all, just barely warm.

[Mr Morlock]

you can buy headlining material which is foam material with a fabric type face- any trimmer can show "you". It will provide of course some insulation and looks pretty good but the only way to keep cool is with a/c. I attempted a bigger installation of a headlining and used spray adhesive in a can and they are certainly not all equal- ok for small areas done fairly quickly. I found the foam stuck well but the old headlining which had been sagging was not uniform and I removed it. The instructions look good. If one gets a thick material it will not work because it will not conform and will pucker or just fall off.