Murbella’s engine bay insulation and sound deadening tar board was rough when I got her.
The body part wasn’t so bad but the sides, especially the driver side, is falling apart.
I had bought a replacement way back in 2017 but of course, learned the hardware way that you really can’t replace the rear without the engine completely out. That fan shroud blocks so much back there.
The original stuff must have been quite something 41 years ago. It is a wire mesh that is sandwiched between two insulating layers. The mesh gives it a lot of structure.
Now one thing when removing it was that it had velcro of some kind attached to it. I can’t tell if this velcro is original (probably not) or if it was added after the insulation started to show age and sag.
I got all of it out, which really was pretty easy since it is 3 parts that kind of just connect and the rear seams.
The replacement is so lacking in the upstanding quality of the original that I’m almost embarrassed to put it in. There’s just no substance to it.
If I recall, this came from JBugs back in 2017. I suspect that no matter the vendor, all of these will be more or less the same. I’ll have to ask around.
I’ll try to temporarily place it to see what it looks like. But damn. Just so cheap looking.