Painting the hood blanket

[Mowgli]

Can anyone who's painted their hood blanket recommend a good paint to use? Heat resistant, long lasting, etc.

I did the hood mod too late, after several weeks of rain and several good washes I already had visible water damage.

I am looking for a good black paint to use, and was thinking of painting the C-O-B-R-A red also. (Was going to do that regardless).

 

[GreyCobra_03]

If its rain damaged, go to the dealer and scream until you get a new one. Works like a charm, louder the temper tantrum, better the results

 

[08snake]

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18554&highlight=ok+car+show
Did you see this shot of a painted Hood Blanket? I think it looks sharp. No idea what type of paint he used. I asked the poster he didn't know.

 

[Mowgli]

That pic is nice. Those painted letters (on the yellow coupe) are what I was talking about. I don't want to bother trading in the blanket on a new warranty one since -

A) I've already cut mine - can see losing argument at dealership

B) The water "damage" is not structural, just some discoloration, no biggie

c) I'm going to paint it anyway. Thought I'd just do the whole blanket black in addition to the letters. Not like it'd add alot of time laying down a background coat.


OK, that being said - I have a mineral grey coupe. Any suggestions on letter color for the COBRA? I was thinking of being flashy and painting it red, but after seeing that yellow hood blanket lettering on the yellow coupe in that pic, there's something to be said for matching the body color.

Thoughts?

 

[Elapidae]

Wouldn't do it...

The hood blanket is designed to put out engine fires. If there is an engine fire, the plastic tabs melt and the blanket falls on the engine. I'd be worried that if you paint it, it might not offer the same protection. Not that anyone expects an engine compartment fire but still.... :rollseyes

 

[Mowgli]

But you can buy fire retardant paints. Correct? Maybe not.

Beside, in all the "Car-B-ques" I've seen out in California (used to see them weekly), hood blankets didn't seem to help.

I would imagine by the time the plastic inserts melt to release the blanket, its too late. And the blanket wouldn't form fit to smother anyway - but thats my guess.

I think the real reason for the blanket is heat management and hood paint preservation.

 

[CobraCraig]

The Zinc Yellow coupe is mine. I have shown cars for years and have done this to several mustang's that I have owned in the past. It is just painted with Yellow fabric paint. In the past after a few years and the hood blanket starts to look bad and discolored, I take it off and paint it flat black. It keeps it looking nice and new. Another thing you might want to try is opening your hood after you wash your car. After washing and while I am drying my car I open the hood and let it drain out of the bottom. I have no water damage or discoloration.

 

[Elapidae]

Originally posted by Mowgli
But you can buy fire retardant paints. Correct? Maybe not.

Beside, in all the "Car-B-ques" I've seen out in California (used to see them weekly), hood blankets didn't seem to help.

I would imagine by the time the plastic inserts melt to release the blanket, its too late. And the blanket wouldn't form fit to smother anyway - but thats my guess.

I think the real reason for the blanket is heat management and hood paint preservation.

Yeah, you might be right.

 

[Mowgli]

Originally posted by CobraCraig
... It is just painted with Yellow fabric paint. ... Another thing you might want to try is opening your hood after you wash your car. ...

Thanks for the hood tip!

As for the paint, it looks great. Any closer pics? Did you just used regular fabric paint?

Curious of you caught the thread on underhood temps?
That is, is the fabric paint you typically use heat resistance, since from the underhood heat post's temperature measurements it looks mighty warm under there in traffic.

 

[CobraCraig]

Mowgli,
I just used regular fabric paint. It has been on there for a couple of months now and I have had no problems.

 

[Lomancobra]

you should paint the C-O-B-R-A to match your car IMO

 

[coleman]

did you just pain-stakingly tape around each letter or is there an easier way to do this?

 

[Mac03Cobra]

500 degree engine paint.
MANY hours of cutting out a template.
The lines are Razor sharp.

Looks a lot better than the pictures.

 

[03 Red Cobra]

Re: Wouldn't do it...

Originally posted by Elapidae
The hood blanket is designed to put out engine fires. If there is an engine fire, the plastic tabs melt and the blanket falls on the engine. I'd be worried that if you paint it, it might not offer the same protection. Not that anyone expects an engine compartment fire but still.... :rollseyes

-
The hood blanket is there for noise insulation. Notice that cheap cars don't even have the blanket.

 

[ygohome]

Cool. I'm going to stop buy the store on the way home, pick up some paint, and try this tonight. Think I'll do the hood mod too while am at it.

You think they sell the engine paint at an autozone? Also, where do you guys get the trim that you use around the coutouts for the vents?

Thanks :beer:

 

[08snake]

I used this to paint the blanket:

 

[08snake]

And am gonna use this for the letters:

 

[08snake]

I painted the hood blanket about 3 weeks ago and it looks good. Light Black and very flat. I'll be doing the letters this weekend when I have the time and will post.

 

[Mac03Cobra]

03snake, Good luck on the letters..... PATIENCE is needed. I tried to mask each letter and that did not get the results I wanted.

I ended up making a template for each letter. I cut each one out with a razor. I should have saved the templates and given them out.

Good luck and post pictures.

 

[FX-Man]

Originally posted by ygohome
Cool. I'm going to stop buy the store on the way home, pick up some paint, and try this tonight. Think I'll do the hood mod too while am at it.

You think they sell the engine paint at an autozone? Also, where do you guys get the trim that you use around the coutouts for the vents?

Thanks :beer:

No trim here, just painted a thick coat of black acrylic on the edges making sure it fills in the pores in the material. Looks like it came cut that way.