Got a quick question for those of you that have installed new carpets...is there a need or rather a benefit of installing padding underneath the carpets to deaden some of the road noise? Or, would this not really benefit much given that the majority of the noise comes from the enging being directly behind the seats.

Has anyone installed carpets with padding or felt that it's necessary?

Evan

if your car leaks like most do it will just trap water and rust out your floors.

I'm glad you asked this question, as I've been wondering what to do myself. There's some padding readily available... but I've been thinking about "sound absorbing" materials to coat the floor pans and the rear firewall.

So... if you've done the job, please share!!!

I had my inside Rhino Turfed - it actually works well. For me at least. Just my 2 cents.

I'm using sound dampening stuff from:
http://www.mcmaster.com/

I bought it last year, haven't gotten around to installing it, or the interior for that matter yet

similar to dynamat... I believe I got the 5692T51 part no... but I could be wrong...


edit:
search for part# 9709T19, that's the stuff!

I struggled with this as well. This summer I removed the tar mats from the floor boards.

Ended up just putting the carpet down on the metal. I haven't really noticed any increase in noise. It is still loud as hell

I did DynaMat extreme on the floors and sills then I put DynaLiner over the floors including under the seats and center console. For the firewall I used DynaMat extreme topped with ExtremeLiner. I did not have any problem installing the carpets over the top.

Bought it all via NextTag or Priceline or one of the discount pricing services for about 1/2 of list price.

All in all works really well, eliminated most of the road noise and all of the tin-ey-ness. I still get some noise from the intake roar of the carbs but it is mostly a good noise. It certainly isn't quiet like a new car by any means but it does make a huge differnece. 100s of miles with a passenger and no need to shout. If I ever get the A/C reinstalled it is supposed to help with temp control... we'll see.

Some people have put it inside their doors. I haven't tried it myself so it may or may not be worth it.

IIRC on a previous thread someone suggested applying/affixing the "floor" tar to the back of the carpet rather than the to the steel that way it you benifit from the sound deadining If ever wet could be removed and dryed or if dual purpose (track/Street) and weight is a concern ...Yank it.

Armaflex 1/2" sheet insulation makes a great carpet padding material.

QUOTE (914GT @ Jan 21 2005, 03:29 PM)

Armaflex 1/2" sheet insulation makes a great carpet padding material.

and where do you get that?

Commercial air conditioning part suppliers have it. It's used to wrap ductwork and HVAC units.

I forget who, but someone suggested attaching the pads to the bottom of the carpet so you can do routine checks without tearing everything up. I plan on doing that.

QUOTE (Hammy @ Jan 21 2005, 08:15 PM)

I forget who, but someone suggested attaching the pads to the bottom of the carpet so you can do routine checks without tearing everything up. I plan on doing that.

I agree!! it's been suggested before and it's a great idea

Try http://fatmat.com works for me.
CCLINWAHT???

I think it was SirAndy who reccomended the idea of applying sound deadening material to the carpet backside. I thought about this and while it saves you from rust I suspect that the sound deadening effectiveness is severly reduced.

The reason the sound deadener works is not because it absorbs sound (though it does that a little) its because it changes the resonant frequencies of the metal. More imporantly though it reduces the 'Q' or the intensity to which the metal will resonate at some particular frequency or frequencies. If the sound dampening material is not applied to the surface, the reduction of Q will be totally dependent on how forcefully the carpet/deadener is held against the metal. Gravity probably won't do much. Now if what you are applying is a sound absorber (these are often some kind of foam/rubber/tar sandwich material and MUCH thicker than the roll on dynamat, etc.) then you might gain something. I'm not sure how long it would stand up to the abuse that carpet gets, so who knows.

I think the best bet if you want a quiet car is to first make sure that all your seals are good. This keeps rushing air out, and water too. If you maintain the seals the car _shouldn't_ leak.... Then, strip the interior down to metal, repaint with POR-15 using the right method, and then lay down the dynamat over that. The areas that create/transmit the most noise will be large, flat areas of thin metal, not strucutural elements such as the longitudinals. This is basically what the factory did, and does in most cars. The problem with rust is due to poor maintenence, not to the existence of sound deadening materials.

As for me, I recently stripped down the interior to metal, and POR-15'd it, but I haven't decided whether or not to put in anything to make the car quiet.

-Tony

That makes sense.

Im deciding against padding on the floors...

Just contemplating it on the firewall....

Gona carpet (lightweight stuff) everything...

Aint no way im gona be able to make that interior quiet.....

PERIOD....