Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Asbestos

Having to remove the drive shaft cover to replace the hand brake cable I came across this material and, my ever curious father-in-law decided to tug it and it's kind of all over the place.

I was wondering if anyone can confirm it's asbestos, what's the purpose (I'm assuming noise dampening) and I was curious if there's any alternative. I know it'll all be covered up again soon, but it's pretty flakey and I have to work around it for a few more days.

Thank you !

Looks to me a material that was described as horse hair often used in early coach trimming. I guess as time passed it may have not been made up of the hair of a horse and some sort of more modern equivalent used in it`s place... One way to reassure yourself that it is not asbestos might be to tear a few fibres off and set light to them... Asbestos will not burn ..

That doesn't look like asbestos to me. Asbestos is usually grey and has much thinner and shorter fibres.

I'm messing with the trim as part of my rebuild and had the transmission tunnel cover off yesterday .... my cover is lined with the same stuff, it's common as a soundproofing padding in older cars and is the replacement for the old horsehair wadding as others have said ... not asbestos.

K

Play safe see if it burns or not . I also think it is not asbestos.

It looks like a form of wadding that is more modern than the old horsehair type. If doing the burn test do it outdoors and stay upwind. It doesn’t look like any asbestos I have seen. If you do decide to replace it then wear PPE and wet it for removal to suppress dust.

Another vote for upholstery padding, which is not asbestos. When asbestos lagging was used in industry it was always capped. The problems occurred when this protective layer was breeched and the fibres below exposed.

There are better synthetic alternatives available these days (and I sure that Dave W will be along soon to recommend one )

Fred Astaire would also have agreed: "For heaven rest us, I'm not asbestos. That's why, I won't dance."

At my old job we had some extra soundproofing screens that were stuffed with kapok, which does look a little bit like what's in your photo.

I worked in the textile industry for over 25 years, "kapok" is the seed fibre obtained from the tropical tree of the same name, and was previously used for e.g. stuffing soft toys. What MMC used is more likely to be compressed "coir" fibres, they are derived from the outer coat of the coconut, and are used in e.g. door mats. Antique furniture/upholstery restorers sometimes use a layer of "horsehair". The MMC stuff is definitely not asbestos though.