Pagoda SL Group

W113 Pagoda SL Group => Body, interior, paint, chrome, and cosmetic items => Topic started by: blue230sl on June 17, 2008, 22:16:14

Title: what does the firewall pad DO?
Post by: blue230sl on June 17, 2008, 22:16:14

what is the purpose(s) for the firewall pad?
insulating the cabin from heat or noise, or both?
mine is old and very dried out and crumbling. i'm wondering if replacing it will give any noticeable improvements.

Title: Re: what does the firewall pad DO?
Post by: rwmastel on June 18, 2008, 07:45:34

I believe it is actually fire protection, no?

Title: Re: what does the firewall pad DO?
Post by: Paddy_Crow on June 18, 2008, 08:52:52

I would say its primary function is to insulate both sound and heat. I'm not sure how much fire protection it would provide, an engine compartment fire puts the whole car in jeopardy. It may slow a fire down some, but either way you don't want to dawdle.

Title: Re: what does the firewall pad DO?
Post by: Mike Hughes on June 18, 2008, 17:55:50

Paddy has it right when he says it is for sound and heat insulation.  More to the point, I think that the reason why it is on the engine compartment side of the firewall may have to do with ease of installation during the build process.   The passenger compartment insulation in the footwell area consists of carpet and floormats and the padding underneath, plus side and under dash panels. The carpet and underpadding only goes up to about where the under dash panels attach.  Anybody who has been up around the instruments, heater controls, and wiper mechanisms knows that there just isn't much space up in there.  So, rather than insulating the firewall all the way up on the inside, it just probably made more sense to insulate the upper section of the firewall from about the point where the inside insulation leaves off, but on the engine side of the firewall.