firewall insulation

[sweatybetty]

new guy here. so i have the interior of my 72 z gutted and have been replacing the floor pans. i got to looking at the firewall insulation/sound deadener which is in pretty bad shape, wondering where to get a replacement. then it hit me. im kneeling on it. while ive been laying on the concrete floor welding floor pans, im laying on that cheap, foam rubber floor matting. i got 4 24x24" pieces today at lowes for $20. this stuff is very easy to cut with a utility knife and fairly soft.  here are the pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[psdenno]

Nice! Ready to go into mass production?

Dennis

[wheee!]

hmmmm.... but I wonder about the FIREwall portion of that design! Isn't it supposed to be a heat/flame retardant layer? That looks somewhat more flammable/toxic in case of fire.

[One Way]

Very nice looking job. I have not gotten that far on my resurrection project but I do know the insulation did not look very promising on my 78 2+2 model. I have started the tear down from the rear and all the padding was beyond hope and a quick look in the front it seemed a bit better but we will find out soon. Enjoy your project. Not sure if that material is flammable or would just melt. We have similar cushion mats at work that get pretty grimy and oily and hold up quite well. We did get some welding sparks on one once and it just melted a few small holes in the mat.

[jfa.series1]

That's really nice work!  If you can get that stuff in black, I suspect you would have a kit business ready to take off.

[sweatybetty]

thank you all. i may try some clothing die on a small piece and see what that does. all the sharpie marks came right off with xylene.

[wheee!]

Does no one else feel that this may be a hazard in case of a fire? Will it melt? Will it burn as an accelerant? Will it give off a toxic gas when it burns?

Sorry to be a downer but pretty doesn't replace safe....

[Mark Maras]

 Yes, I agree. At the very least, I'd set fire to a small piece & watch the results. There is enough combustible material in the interior as is. I found out once reaching under a burning, dripping fuse block trying to get to a hood latch. Adding more, probably not a good idea.

[wheee!]

Even just look at the packaging for the mats to see what it is made of and then look up that products fire rating online. No one wants to think of their car burning but in case of an accident I wouldn't want to be in a toxic inferno either...