So the Love Boat’s “Super Luxury Sound Insulation” was getting really ragged, falling out and generally making a damn mess, so I got rid of it about a month ago. About an inch of loose-woven fiberglass with a thin fabric facing. I wanted something that would keep engine heat from melting the wax on the hood, so I stopped at Lowe’s and got a roll of this stuff:
One roll was just enough to cover the hood. And for 20 bucks it’s a lot cheaper than Dynamat or any of the knockoffs. And you know what? It totally works. This thing is Rolls-Royce quiet now. Unlike the factory insulation, this stuff damps noise that the hood itself makes.
I put some in the rear quarters as well. Any large panel can act as a drumhead. Fortunately the roof is already taken care of by Ford.
You could use undercoating or bedliner, too. But this is neater and will reflect heat much better.
Also, I put the Ansens back on. You’d think the T/As with their chunky block tread would be noisy, but they’re not. Random size blocks FTW.
UPDATE:
Did a hood-insulation experiment to find the ignition point of the foil/foam duct insulation I used.
Experiment 1: Stuck some to the inside of the lid of my propane space heater. Directly exposed to flame, it started smoldering right off the bat, at 300 degrees.
Experiment 2: Sat it on the outside of the lid, foam side up. Started smoldering at 289 degrees. The lid was at 450.
That’s far enough above the engine’s operating temp to call it safe.