I'm finalizing my plans to insulate the interior of my car. There's a lot of ambient road noise since my car doesn't have any undercoating or insulation.

Currently I have a new carpet kit to install. I also have a large amount of 1/2" thick air pocket insulation, with aluminum on each side. I plan to install this along the entire floor, firewall, seat-back, and speaker lid...some in the trunk too. I plan to wash the wheel wells and put undercoating in them.

My question is, what are some other cost-effective things I can do to keep it quiet? I was wondering about some type of coating I can put on the floor/firewall/trunk to help deaden the sound, that isn't very expensive.

Aside from insulation I was looking into weather stripping for around the driver and passenger window/doors. I read some posts and I have a list of sites to call and ask...does anyone have a favorite for this?

Thanks...

I posted previously about this stuff, but I can't find the post right now...

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Yeah I saw that, I just didn't like the price tag. I was hoping that someone may have other options of stuff that's less expensive...like using undercoating inside the car on the floorboards or something
(I have no idea if that's a good idea or not)

In my son's Dart Sport, we used the stuff that looks like bubble wrap lined with foil on both sides. 3M spray adhesive holds it to the roof very well, and you can use aluminum tape on the seams (like that for A/C ductwork).
His Dart is a total black interior and we live in central Texas, where it gets plenty of sunshine and summer heat. He has been driving this car for over two years and has not re-installed the A/C, yet.

The stuff is found at your local Home Depot, LOWE'S, etc. and comes in a few sizes. We covered the underside of the roof, floor pans, and firewall (inside, of course). It cuts easily with scissors and molds to every shape imaginable. We never drove the car before completing the restoration, so there is nothing to compare it to, but his obviously noticeable exhaust sound (with windows down) is quieted down considerably (with windows up). And its hard to beat the price, considering what some of the other products cost.

We are convinced it was worth the effort,
Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

I have used the cut sheet product from J.C. Whitney with good results. One way to "measure" the effective nature of sound damping material is by weight--it should be "heavy" to do a good job mitigating the sound transmission through sheet metal, etc. I think I spent around $15 a box for the stuff from Whitney, it has around 10 sheets about the size of an 8"x11" sheet of paper. It is self adhesive stuff, just peel and stick. I ususally warm the stuff up before I stick it to sheet metal--I clean the daylights out of the surface it goes on (degrease and wipe down with alcohol). Depending on what you are trying to sound proof you can use carpet foam, etc as well. I typically try to use stuff that is NOT affected by moisture and will NOT hold water as well.

If it is under the car then you really need to think about what you want to do--anything that traps water is bad juju. Asphalt based undercoatings are ok, until they get damaged and let water in--I have seen many cars with rusted holes underneath an apparently intact undercoat. A better choice might be something like WaxOyl--self sealing rust proofing--basically a waxy/greasy/oil goo that you spray on in place of undercoat. If applied thick enough it will damp noise... Even modern cars are sparing in their use of damping material--usually they have thick interior panels in place of material on the actual sheet metal (for example doors).

A quiet rig makes driving the thing so much more pleasurable. If you want to get crazy (i.e. not cheap) you can tune your sound proofing material to only allow rumbly engine sounds in (for example). The dynamat products are quality items--but they are relatively expensive. Then again, how much do you really need, perhaps a few hundred dollars for a lifetime of performance.

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Slanted D150

I've heard that this stuff works as thermal and sound:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... lpage=none

Thin enough to fit in the doors, and it's cheap........

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

That bubble insulation is called Reflectix. I don't know how fire resistant it is.

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/6 '67 Barracuda convertible, electronic ignition, 4-OD, street cam, SBP KH discs, 3.55 SG 7.25" 1" t-bars. Bilstein.
340 '67 fastback, Doug Nash 5-speed.
1988 Toyota pickup work truck