1987 560sl hood pad

[560slsteve]

i am restoring my '87 Sl, with paint, new glass, rims, interior, light lenses, etc, since i think (and hope) that mechanically she is sound for the near future.

I see where there is a hood insulation pad for sale. the car does not presently have one and i dont know if they came standard with this car.

Does anyone know if the 560 SL 1987 had a hood insulation pad, and should i get one anyway to protect the hood paint from heat? the car is black.....

thanks.

steve

[David Langsam]

The car definitely has a hood pad. Protects the paint like you said and cuts down on noise.

David

[560slsteve]

thanks--i thought there was one but i wasnt sure. i will surely order one!!

thanks.

[POS]

Required equipment - just put a new on my SE this morning.

[Strife]

There are actually two pieces, the big one in front of the brace, and the other one behind it - which is technically a seal. But they are made of the same material and they both go bad. I think the (rear) seal is primarily to keep heat and noise down. The seal in the back is a little harder to find aftermarket.

You will read posts where the only glue you should use is the 3m heavy-duty glue (not the cheaper one, unfortunately) and reading the directions about waiting a bit between spraying and applying the pad is important, as well as MASKING. The stuff is messy and will definitely eat through paint.

[donbryce]

But I doubt you will be happy with the aftermarket pads. The one I got for my 380SE fell apart after only 3 years. Cheap foam with a kind of glaze over it, not much better than carpet underlay IMO. For what the on-line sellers are charging, especially the little rear 'seal' pad, either get the genuine thing or make your own.

[meltedpanda]

OK I am stressing over this myself, I do not have a hood pad and have not been happy with aftermarket, however even the real deal is only good for 5 years or so. Are there any products out there that are better, seems like all the hot rodders use a foil type application, gotta be something better than the balck foam crap

[Jjchones]

Dynamat makes all kind of sound deadening pads. They list a hood pad
http://www.dynamat.com/products_automotive_hoodliner.html
Don't know if I like the silver reflective look.

[meltedpanda]

thanks for that, have you used it?? Anyone use the product, "self stick" seems suspect

[tecqboy]

I have used their sound deadening material. It's like a 1/8 inch thick piece of tar paper with self stick adhesive. It's very heavy in weight. The adhesive works OK on very clean metal. It is intended to reduce vibration on large pieces of sheet metal. It is a sound deadener, not a sound absorber. Best use would seem to be to stop rattles and buzzes from really loud audio speakers ( sub woofers ). I lined my floor pan with it hoping to reduce road noise, but it didn't make a noticable improvement. I have no experience with the hood material.

[donbryce]

I did a DIY some time ago on making/installing your own hood pad. DIY How to cut and install a QUALITY hood pad - better than OEM IMO
So far the one on the street rod hasn't moved, disintegrated, melted, or anything else since I put it on way back about 1999. The SL pad looks as good this year as last, and I have every expectation that it'll last years too.
BTW, I still have the paper patterns for the SL...

[Strife]

FWIW, a member of the local MBCA has a 129 and he bought a hood pad from the dealer to install on the car in the spring. It FELL APART _before_ he installed it! And it was not cheap.

[rocky raccoon]

Got mine from "**************.com" two years ago and still in good shape. Philistine that I am, I used Liquid Nails right out of the caulking gun to install. Nary a sag since.


missing above = **************

missing above = ercedessource. The m is silent.