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Congrats, this is the right choice! The floor is the most challenging area because it involves complete disassembly of the interior trim. It gives the most of results though providing half of the entire vehicle sound deadening. For instance, depending on the vehicle make, if you take a look under the dash you might hear and see the engine emitting pretty high level of noise around stee<span>ring</span> <span>colu</span>mn area. This is the reason why 80% of guys who sound deaden the <span>Fo</span>rd <span>Tru</span>ck start with a floor and a c<span>ab</span> r<span>ea</span>r w<span>al</span>l. You are on the right way!
Least said, soonest mended!
The installation method:
Recommended method of interior treatment:
First layer: Butyl sound dampening material
Second layer: Soft Sound Insulator (closed cell PE foam)
In the hottest spots (e.g. transmission tunnel) – one can use the double layer of soft material (butyl – PE foam – PE foam - butyl) – but watch the distance, do not get carried away with the thickness. You need to keep in mind that then all the details need to be put in place.
Floor area should be treated 100% (butyl dampening material will also protect from rusting).
There are two ways to deaden this area:
1) Without dashboard removal
2) With dashboard removal (it is quite tedious to take off the entire dash)
Some practical tips
1. Do the following prior to installation of h<span>ea</span>t in<span>sula</span>tion:
Verify the engine fastening as well as the ones of a cabin. If they are damaged or mounted incorrectly, then cabin is actually placed on a frame and vibration occurs instantly.
Ensure that exhaust pipe does not touch the cabin in any spot. That might be the reason of interior excessive heat.
2. Be careful when disassemble the parts. That will greatly help to save your back and prevent upholstery damage. Next you’d have to remove door sill plates, floor consoles/ shift escutcheons. Again, it does depend on a t<span>ruc</span>k m<span>ak</span>e. Be careful when handling the wires.
3. Take off the seat. Remove the se<span>a</span>t b<span>olt</span>s. It is usually 4 bolts. There might be some difference depending on your track make. Ask your buddy to help you out with lifting a seat.
4. After removing the bolts, you can remove the seat from the passenger compartment. Do not forget about safety belts if they are in your car.
5. Below is the picture after all parts are taken off.
6. Now it is time to check if the surface has any signs of rust or other damages. Thoroughly check the rocker panels. Any discrepancy should be immediately fixed! If the floor is ok then rinse and degrease it.
7. Vacuum the interior if the car is older than 2 years. The trick is that metal also collects dust and that could not be removed by simply wiping.
8. You would see a lot of void cavities after removing the trim. This is what creates a rattle and makes a continuous low humming sound when car is moving. It is just like an empty metal jar that creates a noise when touching something.
Many people think that the problem with noise can be solved cheap and easy way, which is foam or mineral wool. I don’t really recommend doing it though. The thing is that mineral wool greatly absorbs moisture without really vaporizing it. By fitting glass wool into the void spaces you are likely to get rust.
In order to get rid of that, you can simply place the mastic material to the void cavities. It works just the same way as with the above mentioned jar. If jar is sticking to the surface of a piece of material Sound deadening, its sound and resonance when confronted with something very much reduced. If you do the same with a car you will lower the resonating properties of the metal and also avoid the rust issues.
Mineral wool remains to be a cheap and effective way to do the same but it might result in having certain difficulties with the rust.
Vibro damper mixed with soft waterproof material gains you the same outcome and also protects the body from corrosion.
9. Now you can see the remaining of the factory insulation. If it is still in a good shape and doesn’t peel off/fall apart then you don’t have to remove that. Install the new <span>sou</span><span>nd</span> <span>dead</span><span>ener</span> material above the existing one.
10. Please note!
Sound deadening is a one-time event. You stick it and that is it! Secondary application is not possible! That is why it is important:
a)Wires, technical holes or whatever you might need in future should be left accessible or paved above existing insulation.
b)When you place the insulation layer above wiring you are likely to:
get an air bubble which is impossible to get rid of. In its turn, the air bubble creates a condensate that results in corrosion.
There will be no thriving if the <span>sou</span>nd <span>dead</span>ener is not installed right.
Again, all technical holes should be left open to avoid unnecessary hustle with wires, pipes and hoses that should be placed above the layer of the so<span>un</span>d de<span>ade</span>ner! Absolutely nothing should be placed under the sound deadening layer! Insulation should be thoroughly rolled down to the metal otherwise it will not work!
11. Let’s put the first layer of butyl mastic material with foil coating. It is strongly recommended to cover the spot entirely. Rumors say that covering only 50 % should work well or that you will thrive by so<span>un</span>d de<span>adeni</span>ng the spot with the stripes of insulation. It is a myth initiated by the industry leaders that sell expensive so<span>un</span>d dea<span>den</span>er. In fact, nobody partially applies the priming to the underbody. I’ve figured that sound deadening process goes the same way. By the way, correctly installed insulation preserves the metal of your car from corrosion.
12. How to actually place in the sheets of the insulation? They are big, but they are not enough to cover the entire area. There are 2 options: either <span>pla</span><span>ce</span> <span>1</span> big chunk in the middle and add missing pieces by the sides or begin with 1 side and then add whatever is left uncovered. As a matter of fact, there is not much difference in mentioned options – choose whatever is comfortable for you. I usually start with a central part and then overlap the sheets. Basing on my experience it is easier to treat the flat spots and then proceed with more tricky areas in terms of shape.
13. There should be no problems with wavy parts of the body – just use the small pieces overlapping them to each other. The heat gun would come in handy in this situation.
14. Try to stick the insulation under the <span>da</span>sh <span>pa</span>nel as far as possible if you not planning to take the dashboard off.
15. Make sure that you have not covered the bolt holes and other fastening points with the insulation. Trim the holes in the sheet before you finally roll that down.
16. Cover the edges with aluminum tape right after the installation.
17. Second layer is installed just the same way as the first one. The only difference is that in this case you would have to place the insulation joint to joint. Area should be covered 100%
18. Heavy mastic with a foil coating material (MLV) could be placed above the existing layer. This will significantly enhance the effect. 2 layers are still enough though.
19. This is how dashboard would look like if you decide to take that off: I apologize for the photo quality. This is not mine.. Took just to illustrate the text
It is up to you whether to treat the dash or not. Only 15% go for that. It is fairly tedious and doesn’t really gain you much result. Metal frame of the <span>da</span><span>sh</span> <span>pa</span><span>nel</span> is hard to remove. That will take about a week! Other tricky thing is a passenger airbag that is attached to the dash in a very tricky way. Be careful when removing that. Read manual of your vehicle carefully. Shutdown all power in a vehicle prior to the process. Be careful with wires too. Very often they are easy to break.
20. General Tips:
Mineral wool is not something that I strongly recommend for this particular part of the vehicle. It absorbs moisture which poses a threat rusting.
The Spray for exterior treatment. You can use that on wheel arch or the underbody. Unlike sheet insulation, it won’t gain you same effect in the interior plus you are likely to have a hard time trying to place something on top of it.
Sometimes it is recommended to wrap the header as well. I don’t think it is worth it. That might work on a race car but not on a day to <span>da</span><span>y</span> <span>veh</span><span>icle</span>. You might want to consider adding extra shielding to firewall/floor.
Quality <span>rub</span>ber <span>ma</span>ts will decrease the noise and vibration inside working as additional heavy layer.
C<span>AB</span> R<span>EA</span>R W<span>AL</span>L (Trunk front wall)
2nd most important area. If you have completed the floor then reaк wall is mandatory. Quite easy to deal with. Takes about an hour. Will make a big difference.
How to treat the area and install the insulation:
We put 2 layers, same as with the roof. First layer is butyl dampening material, second layer is <span>he</span><span>at</span> <span>insul</span><span>ation</span>. If you have got a Van type vehicle – install from both sides using the same sequence.
Nothing tricky about this particular area
1. Carefully remove the rear wall by unscrewing few bolts and clips.
2. Search for rust, degrease.
3. Place the so<span>un</span>d de<span>ade</span>ner mat<span>eri</span>al to a d<span>r</span>y su<span>rfa</span>ce.
4. It is mandatory to cover 100% of surface! Heat gun should be used on a ribs and curves.
5. Attention! Leave the ventilation holes open. Don’t cover them. (do not forget to trim the hole for the ventilation) See the picture below
6. The installation with second layer is as important just as the installation of the floor. We use soft material that provides decent <span>he</span><span>at</span> <span>insu</span><span>lation</span>. A lot of heat is going through this area that is why the second layer is vital.
7. DO NOT STUFF THE VOID CAVITIES WITH FOAM RUBBER! This is where the condensate could occur. No worries, the materials chosen are just enough. Use a double layer of soft material if you think that it is not stuffed enough. Usually, one layer of butyl damper and one layer of PE Foam insulator is enough. Keep in mind that this is the <span>verti</span>cal <span>surf</span>ace that should not be overloaded.
8. HOWEVER! When it comes to the individual project where the wall is made of wood then you have to use relevant materials designated specifically for the wood! Heavy mastic materials are the ones to be used with a wood. This is the only case when you can go and buy that in a store. In all other cases it is best to use specially designated automotive materials.
It goes great so far. But we need to have some material to deaden the car.
10-13-2015, 03:26 AM
