Hi All, My chopped Shoebox is a great driving car. A big issue with it however is between the streamlined flow of the body and being black in color it gets very hot inside in the summer months. My question is what material might I use inside the roof to to help insulate the hot roof from inside the car? I have used Dynamat on some parts of the car but figuring that it would be likely to melt if applied to the inside of a hot roof? What think? Thanks, Steve
How about the bubble wrap with foil on one side. I thought there was a thread on the Hamb that tested all the different insulations, but maybe I read it somewhere else.
I’ve used foil backed insulation from Lowe’s on the firewall and floor on my 57 Tbird with no melting of the sticky stuff. that car makes a lot of heat
***uming you don't yet have a headliner installed. Factory pad was a fiber blanket stuck to the underside, usually long gone (especially during a chop) and not really effective after 70 years. Compressed fibergl*** matting is a good insulator between the headliner and the steel (it can't melt or go sticky) and should drop the interior temp to tolerable levels.
That's what I used in my 51'. Black, I used 2 layers before I installed the headliner. Seams to work good!
I used Merit Pro high temperature spray and plain old inexpensive cotton based mat plus aluminum foil glued to the surface with 3M #77 but that was for light reflectivity since I also used strips of LED lights above the headliner.. it's been about 8 years and no problems... but clean the surface, sand it, scrub it, etc.. Start here and scroll down: https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/The-Interior/i-7rTKj7N
I have Fat Mat on my roof, exposed to 100+ heat, it has not budged a bit. On hot days, the inside surface is a lot cooler than the outside.
I used the foil backed bubble wrap in my ‘51 and used liquid nails to stick it on with. Did the entire interior floors and all and installed Vintage Air and it was cool as a cu***ber in the summer and warm in the winter.
Vintage Air can help cool, but the best thing to do is keep the heat OUT in the first place. Imagine running your AC at your house with the windows open . The best thing that I've seen yet is a little expensive and the install can be messy, but spraying the heat formula of Lizard Skin on the inside of the car will do the best for keeping heat from radiating both through the roof skin and through the floor skin. The less heat is in the cabin, the better any AC system will feel, or even just the breeze through the windows.
I had that HF or Lowes bubble wrap on the roof and floor of my 51 Merc and not sure if it kept heat out or in as far as the roof went. That car needed more and better insulation and ac though. You still have to keep the outside temp out including the heat of the sun on the roof before the AC does it's job effectively. Rather like trying to heat or cool this 120 year old house I live in that needs an extra six inches of insultion in the attic and a lot of help in the outside walls. That insulation my grandparents had blown in 65/70 years ago is gettng a bit settled in the walls.
Two tone paint (bright color on top), tinted windows (or even just ceramic coated), insulation above the headliner, insulation below the floor, etc all help majorly. before ac was affordable you had vent windows, floor vents, and usually a bright colored car, it all helped keep the car cool inside, and it works. which is one of the major reasons modern cars rely on ac systems to keep the cabin cool, the windows buffet if they are open, vent windows havent been a thing for decades, and the last cars with floor vents were in the 80s.
I sure am glad you deleted that reference to S-10. I was getting all sweaty and actually got a headache when I saw that post. So glad y'all are taking care of us.
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