Hi,

I intend to insulate the underside of my bonnet.

Unfortunately this plastic secondary air inlet is blocking part of the area I want to insulate.
outside

outlet


IF I can safely remove the clips holding this intake in place, without breaking them. How will reducing the overall engine air intake be affected by reducing the volume from this plastic piece, be affected by a layer of Dynamat? Noting that this intake begins immediately behind the radiator, without directly entering the main engine air intake.

 

I think you're safe to go ahead with your idea. Since the duct is not a sealed pathway I'm fairly confident the engine will still get all the air it needs.
You can also, upon removal, do piecemeal under that duct so as to avoid interfering with the plastic fasteners. If you've got a bit of OCD or just plan to keep and work on this car for a while, I've got a $40 tool recommendation that makes my life loads easier. KTC Trim Pliers AP208A.

This is the best site to get them from in the US
Not sure about NZ. There are also other variations of the same pliers, like ones with a 90° bend that make it easier to reach behind the front tires and into the wheel well.
These can also pull out christmas tree style clips and for me, have proven to be an investment worth bragging about. Particularly useful for dropping the splash shield for oil and transmission fluid services.

 

Why are your doing this?

 

sound deadening

 

There's no harm in trying, but I can't see how this will help with sound levels inside the car. Maybe if you always drive with the windows down, but in that case I think wind and exhaust noise will be larger contributors than noise coming through the hood.
A better approach would be to focus on the area of the engine bay that forms part of the cabin - the firewall.

 

I did it, because I had some spare Siless offcuts available.All the while knowing that it will not make much, if any, difference.

Before

during

after


Removing the rubber inlet was EASY, with a smaller flat head screwdriver. With nothing damaged before, during or after .

 

That looks like absolute shit. And not sure that does anything productive either.

 

Have you considered that doing this might also add thermal insulation? Your sound deadening might create a hotter engine compartment — hotter than Honda intended.

Just a thought.

 

When it came time to replace the rusty exhaust line on our truck I made a terrible error and went with Bosal. The exhaust drone was so bad at 2k rpms that I scrambled to fit as much sound deadening material as I could afford under the carpet. About $50 worth
It looked and looks no better than that, just hidden under the carpet.
Switched to a walker muffler, but there's still some drone.. the trashpads stay!

 

I am going to agree with this!