Ok, you know the oil catcher mats on the underside of the bonnet, above the engine when the lid is closed.
how many people here have removed it?
I'm currently sporting a modified cut up job due to my bonnet vents, which also hides alot of the silver paint, which the bonnet once was, still half is.
i know these are to catch any oil that fly's up and to stop it from dispersing over the engine bay, but i doubt the way mine is would make that happen now.
do these things keep heat in? or is it 50/50, hot days, it keeps sun heat on the bonnet, and engine heat under the mat...
i know they weigh abit, would add nicely to my box of weight reduc items from the car :poke:

mines goneee !!!!:gtfo:
i took it off on my tp too

its not for oil :nuts: its to stop the paint cooking on ya bonnet

its not for oil :nuts: its to stop the paint cooking on ya bonnet
well then, since from factory it seems to also catch oil with the famous astron II engine.
so. :nuts:

its not for oil :nuts: its to stop the paint cooking on ya bonnet
thats tru it also deadens the sound down from the motor
but ive see people take it off with no issues and ive seen others that in 6+months down the track have faded/cracked paint i dont see the point in takin it off tho it does more good then harm i mean why take it off weight reduction :bowrofl:

As far as I can tell, its for heat dissapation, sound deadening, and i guess absorbing oily fumes.

I had to remove mine cos it ripped to bits, but then I could hear the engine more, and it sounded bad.

yeah, weight reduction :P
tho u could always remove the hood and accomplish alot more also. hehe

you'd have to have a real botch paint job to have cracking paint.
next to all my cars dont have them, seems to be only a mid 80s to late thing where cars are made shotty. :P, hmm, i drive one of those shotty cars, should shut up hehe :doubt:

its hardly stops the bonnot paint from boiling, unless your bonnot paint is in a terrible state to start with.

Normally body paint goes to **** from ppl not washing it and/or leaving it out to get baked in the sunlight.

Honestly, id figure em to be a fire hazard, but i guess theyre some flame proof material? :confused:

i took mine off cos it was holding heaps of oil and kept leaking it all over my bay and i couldnt wash it out so just left it off, i do hear the engine more but thats about it, oh also if its raining when i stop at traffic lights steam comes off the bonnet

I always thought its so the bonnet doesnt get hot. My bro's VN doesnt have one and his bonnet gets extremely bloody hot :shock:

@ 213374U, damn dude your actually is saturated in oil ? and it leaks :confused: thats pretty bad.

I thought it was sound proofing material. I took it off my old TM Elite without any issues. Elante-1 still has it's as it isnt soaked in oil, it leaks out the bottom :bowrofl:

i took mine off cause it was old and covered in oil spray. but it is there to keep noise down and to stop the heat from cooking ur paintwork. been off for almost a year i havent damaged mine so far, even when my old engine completly cooked itself and maxed out the temp guage. although my car doesnt have a stock paint job, its two pac with several clear coats. :D the bonnet does get pretty warm though as hot as a cup of coffee.

That underbonnet insulation is NOT designed for soaking up oil... :shock:


If ya got any oil leak That Bad that the bonnet is getting sprayed, car's got serious issues.

Even the AstronIIs that I've tried that lose up to 1L every 1000kms, the underbonnet felt
still stays pretty oil-free. Oil just seeps around the main seals, gaskets and out the tailpipe.

That underbonnet insulation is NOT designed for soaking up oil... :shock:


If ya got any oil leak That Bad that the bonnet is getting sprayed, car's got serious issues.

Even the AstronIIs that I've tried that lose up to 1L every 1000kms, the underbonnet felt
still stays pretty oil-free. Oil just seeps around the main seals, gaskets and out the tailpipe.
I agree. It's to insulate the paint. And, I've got three words for those who don't believe me: Dark Metallic Paint.

I agree. It's to insulate the paint. And, I've got three words for those who don't believe me: Dark Metallic Paint.
i have dark metallic paint, and i have yet to see a car with stripped hood paint that the rest of the car didnt match due to not washing the poor thing.
even my sigma has metallic blue paint, and despite the angle grinder work i did to it, the paint is factory new, the bonent has damage, but most of it is still painted and those GH have no oil mats...... so i dunno what to say, valiant is the same, hilux doesnt have one, but doesnt have metallic paint, alfa doesnt have one, has red metallic paint with a very small engine bay for heat tolerance. i can list so many.
i figured it was like roof lining insulation, ever driven ure car without roof lining on a hot day... doesnt take long to really get hot, the lining does seem to block alot of it out.
i dunno.
every magna ive ever seen theyve been to catch oil from spraying everywhere...

I dont have a dark car, actually the opposite i gots a white one, but our mat was in very poor consition when we bought the car, so we removed it and that was 5 yrs ago, i have noticed that the bonnet does get hotter than it used to, but it hasnt affected my paint at all. I have priced a replacement one for roughly 60 bucks including frieght from melb.

but im not worried about it. once im finished uni and get a job im selling this car and buying a brand spanker.

I dont have a dark car, actually the opposite i gots a white one, but our mat was in very poor consition when we bought the car, so we removed it and that was 5 yrs ago, i have noticed that the bonnet does get hotter than it used to, but it hasnt affected my paint at all. I have priced a replacement one for roughly 60 bucks including frieght from melb.

but im not worried about it. once im finished uni and get a job im selling this car and buying a brand spanker.
C'mon, man. Keep the Magna!

I am quite attatched to it, and the hubby has suggested that maybe it could be my work car - seeing as being a teacher soon and all the car will spend many a day in the sun, and if i get a local job then many a hot nrth qld sun!! it mite be worth keeping. but i am keen for a brand new one - hoping really that the 380 is spunky enuff to buy!!!

I agree. It's to insulate the paint.
nah, the paint don't really care about the heat. If your bonnet paint has started peeling from the "heat", why doesn't your engine bay paint all fall off too?

Flaking paint will always be due to either (1) incorrect application or (2) UV damage.

Your bonnet will reach max 60-80 degC anyway... which is what temp
panelshops use for their oven-baked finish in their spraybooths.



Many yrs ago when my TN was considered "late model" :badgrin: ... it came back
from the panel shop with fresh whole nosejob and I took it to the CarLovers.
A quick $2 hi-pressure squirt later... half the shiny paint had peeled off. :shock:

Guess they must have forgotten to degrease before shooting color!! :doubt:

@ 213374U, damn dude your actually is saturated in oil ? and it leaks :confused: thats pretty bad.

not saturated but when SOME ONE :rant: left the oil cap off it got showered and just kept dumping it in the bay so just took it off and now no more oil around the bay

lol its not for soaking up oil :rofleek:
its a sound proofer
and paint protection
the car wasnt designed to leak oil they just did. and they only leak oil and **** timing chains because people dont change the oil every 5000km

beh i know its been said a million times but it really does make a surprising difference i always find the bonnet to be cold/warm and both the side fenders to be ALOT hotter even during winter the bonnet wont get warm at all infact it stays cold but both fenders are nice n warm