Cool ride...
Anyone who has ever driven a convertible in 90-degree weather knows how hot it can get. The MGB is notorious for it's "hot seat" and sweltering cabin space. Making things worse can be the heat from engine compartment and road. There has been much debate about the best method of insulating and cooling the cabin down to create as comfortable an experience as possible. It is my assertion that this is impossible. Well mostly...
After some research I decided to try a few things to see what, if any, improvements can be made. I settled on leveraging some simple things like bonnet seals, bonnet insulation pads and most interestingly, Reflectix Foil Roll Insulation, from Lowes. I figured, hey it's cheap and easy, so why not give it a try!
So that's what I did...
I start by removing the seats. This is not an easy task but after struggling through the bolts holding the seats down, out they came. While they were out I decided to give them a good cleaning and lubing. This is a must for anything that moves, shifts, turns or adjusts in this MGB.
Once the seats were out I had to decide how committed I was to removing the carpet as well as how much of it. After some consideration I thought it best to stick to the firewall (most of it) and floor boards. My goal is to minimize the heat from the engine, exhaust, and road.
The process here was pretty simple. Gently pull up the carpet, clean the surface, spray with adhesive, cut and install the insulation, tape the seams, and replace the carpet. I decided not to remove the center console and the carpet on the tunnel for two reasons. One, it had heat shield and two, I'm lazy. I did however "tuck" additional Reflectix insulation along the sides of the tunnel for a little extra protection.
Passenger side done.
Repeat for the driver's side.
You might ask, "what did he use to stick that stuff down?" Well, it's my experience that if you want something that needs stuck to stick, you stick with 3M products. For this I turned to my friendly neighborhood Amazon.com. 3M Hi-Strength 90 should do the trick. (incidentally I used this to adhere the bonnet pads as well, see below)
Now that the carpet is back in place I finished up the seats and reinstalled them. This process had only taken a few hours and was pretty easy.
Now on to the engine compartment seals and pads.
Step 1: Remove Bonnet
This can be done solo but if you have an extra pair of hands, employ them. I made sure to use rags and stuff to avoid scrapes, scratches and other damage while disassembling the bonnet.
Step 2: Clean out mouse nest
Hey, these things happen. The location of this nest is not visible with the bonnet on. With the bonnet removed I could inspect things more thoroughly and found this tucked away in a corner. After dawning my rubber gloves and my handy-dandy shop vac, the nest was no more. For the record, the varmints had vacated their cozy abode well before the car arrived at my place. No animals were harmed in the making of this post.
Step 3: Clean pad surface & stick on the pads
Using the 3M Hi-Strength 90 I sprayed the surface before applying the pads from Moss Motors (see link below). Once down, I moved quickly to flatten, straighten, tuck and roll the pads into place. Man this 3M stuff is sticky!
I let this lay here overnight, installed the seals and then put the bonnet back where it belonged.
Installing the seals
For this there were two things I wanted to cover. First, the radiator mount. In the picture you will see that the seal extends beyond the channel. I eventually trimmed this. I did not use adhesive for this but simply wedged into place. It isn't going anywhere.
Second, the seal around the top portion of the bonnet. This seal runs the width of the engine compartment and down each side approximately 18". Installation is easy, just slip the seal over the ridge of the compartment and push down. For good measure you might use a rubber mallet to ensure the seal is well seated. This probably is not necessary but I like to hit stuff. Therapeutic, you know.
That's it! Cabin insulation and engine compartment seals. You may be thinking, "Hey, Steve! What about cooling that cabin down? Did it work?"
Well, maybe. My first test run seemed to show some promise. The problem was that it was a cloudy day. The cabin was cooler and I did notice that after driving for a little while the usual heat from the floor panels and firewall wasn't as bad. Previously, after driving for 20 minutes my right foot would get hot from leaning against the tunnel by the accelerator pedal and we measured cabin temps in foot wells of 104-degrees. Talk about hot foot!!
My second run was a little more telling. This time I had my beautiful co-pilot, Stephanie. The temperature outside was mid to upper 80's and sunny. Cabin temp in the foot wells topped off at 93-degrees, which was about the outside temp. Overall the cabin was not as hot as we had experienced before but there was nothing stoppin' that sun from beatin' down on us. It was still hot!!
Is it worth it? The jury is still out and I didn't spend a fortune to test it.
UPDATE: Another beautiful, warm day in North Carolina and I decided to take the B for a spin. Since completing the insulation I placed a small weather station in the car to monitor the temperature. After running the car for awhile and allowing it to come up to temperature the cabin was noticeably cooler even with outside temps of 93-degrees. The driver-side foot well remained comfortable even with the sun shining down at full strength.
Resources
Reflectix Insulation: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-50-sq-ft-Reflective-Roll-Insulation-24-in-W-x-25-ft-L/3011904
Reflectix Foil Tape: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-2-in-x-150-ft-Reflective-Insulation-Tape/50354752
3M Hi-Strength spray adhesive: http://a.co/1ZyecC5
SEAL, radiator support to hood: https://mossmotors.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=8484&q=282-900
SEAL, hood to flange: https://mossmotors.com/seal-hood-to-flange
INSULATING PAD SET: https://mossmotors.com/insulating-pad-set
After some research I decided to try a few things to see what, if any, improvements can be made. I settled on leveraging some simple things like bonnet seals, bonnet insulation pads and most interestingly, Reflectix Foil Roll Insulation, from Lowes. I figured, hey it's cheap and easy, so why not give it a try!
So that's what I did...
I start by removing the seats. This is not an easy task but after struggling through the bolts holding the seats down, out they came. While they were out I decided to give them a good cleaning and lubing. This is a must for anything that moves, shifts, turns or adjusts in this MGB.
Once the seats were out I had to decide how committed I was to removing the carpet as well as how much of it. After some consideration I thought it best to stick to the firewall (most of it) and floor boards. My goal is to minimize the heat from the engine, exhaust, and road.
The process here was pretty simple. Gently pull up the carpet, clean the surface, spray with adhesive, cut and install the insulation, tape the seams, and replace the carpet. I decided not to remove the center console and the carpet on the tunnel for two reasons. One, it had heat shield and two, I'm lazy. I did however "tuck" additional Reflectix insulation along the sides of the tunnel for a little extra protection.
Passenger side done.
Repeat for the driver's side.
You might ask, "what did he use to stick that stuff down?" Well, it's my experience that if you want something that needs stuck to stick, you stick with 3M products. For this I turned to my friendly neighborhood Amazon.com. 3M Hi-Strength 90 should do the trick. (incidentally I used this to adhere the bonnet pads as well, see below)
Now that the carpet is back in place I finished up the seats and reinstalled them. This process had only taken a few hours and was pretty easy.
Now on to the engine compartment seals and pads.
Step 1: Remove Bonnet
Step 2: Clean out mouse nest
Step 3: Clean pad surface & stick on the pads
I let this lay here overnight, installed the seals and then put the bonnet back where it belonged.
Installing the seals
For this there were two things I wanted to cover. First, the radiator mount. In the picture you will see that the seal extends beyond the channel. I eventually trimmed this. I did not use adhesive for this but simply wedged into place. It isn't going anywhere.
Second, the seal around the top portion of the bonnet. This seal runs the width of the engine compartment and down each side approximately 18". Installation is easy, just slip the seal over the ridge of the compartment and push down. For good measure you might use a rubber mallet to ensure the seal is well seated. This probably is not necessary but I like to hit stuff. Therapeutic, you know.
That's it! Cabin insulation and engine compartment seals. You may be thinking, "Hey, Steve! What about cooling that cabin down? Did it work?"
Well, maybe. My first test run seemed to show some promise. The problem was that it was a cloudy day. The cabin was cooler and I did notice that after driving for a little while the usual heat from the floor panels and firewall wasn't as bad. Previously, after driving for 20 minutes my right foot would get hot from leaning against the tunnel by the accelerator pedal and we measured cabin temps in foot wells of 104-degrees. Talk about hot foot!!
My second run was a little more telling. This time I had my beautiful co-pilot, Stephanie. The temperature outside was mid to upper 80's and sunny. Cabin temp in the foot wells topped off at 93-degrees, which was about the outside temp. Overall the cabin was not as hot as we had experienced before but there was nothing stoppin' that sun from beatin' down on us. It was still hot!!
Is it worth it? The jury is still out and I didn't spend a fortune to test it.
UPDATE: Another beautiful, warm day in North Carolina and I decided to take the B for a spin. Since completing the insulation I placed a small weather station in the car to monitor the temperature. After running the car for awhile and allowing it to come up to temperature the cabin was noticeably cooler even with outside temps of 93-degrees. The driver-side foot well remained comfortable even with the sun shining down at full strength.
Resources
Reflectix Insulation: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-50-sq-ft-Reflective-Roll-Insulation-24-in-W-x-25-ft-L/3011904
Reflectix Foil Tape: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-2-in-x-150-ft-Reflective-Insulation-Tape/50354752
3M Hi-Strength spray adhesive: http://a.co/1ZyecC5
SEAL, radiator support to hood: https://mossmotors.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=8484&q=282-900
SEAL, hood to flange: https://mossmotors.com/seal-hood-to-flange
INSULATING PAD SET: https://mossmotors.com/insulating-pad-set
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