I've recently installed a full heat-and-sound proofing system on a customer's
BJ 8, made by B-Quiet www.b-quiet.com
The B-Quiet Ultimate uses a pure butyl rubber deadener which sticks to metal
(and EVERYTHING else !) like the proverbial you-know-what to a blanket. Its
cut with a scissors, but sticks to and clogs the scissors continually, so a
jar of solvent and paintbrush is needed nearby. This stickiness is especially
required on the vertical inside door panels. The lesser asphalt-based
deadeners don't stick as well, and end up falling off inside the door and
interfering with the window mechanism.
Every square inch of the car's inside was covered- rear bulkheads,
wheelarches, doors, front bulkheads under and behind the heater box, cutting
the 12" roll of material into probably a hundred jigsaw-puzzle pieces to leave
no gaps. The separate gearbox tunnel was covered on both sides, with the
inside pieces helped out by large diameter washers on the insides of the
carpet studs and by aluminum retainer strips just in case. The entire
interior ended up a bright silver colour.
The second part of their "system" involved spray-gluing a second layer of
V-Comp sound deadener to the aluminum surface of the Ultimate. This is a
half-inch foam "decoupler" coated with a dense vinyl polymer absorber.
Because of thickness issues, this second layer wasn't able to fit in some
areas where the trim and carpet fit would be tight- such as the sides of the
wheelarches and around the seat-sliders.
This 'system' essentially replaced the asphalt-coated jute originally used on
the cars. New carpets were installed over top as usual. A vintage car like
the Healey cannot be made completely silent like a Lexus because it simply
wasn't designed with noise reduction in mind. Modern cars use plugs for the
wires going through the bulkheads, so there are no actual holes or grommets
for the engine sound and heat to pass through to the passenger compartment.
And the infernal wind noise and whistling can't be eliminated.
And the result ? The customer was delighted to report a totally different
"feel" or attitude to driving the car. Instead of hearing every little rattle
and ping and squeak, and fretting about every one as usual, there was ONLY the
smooth sound of the exhaust and the nice intake hiss of the carburetters.
Much more relaxing and pleasant. Hugely pleased !
It also helped with the sound of the 1967 vintage radio, whose internals were
modified by Cliff at Western Wireless in British Columbia
http://www.westernwireless.ca/ to accept a modern high-wattage amp and MP3
plug. Even the push buttons still function as before.
Best regards
Peter
PS: To those that attended, thanks for all the kind words regarding our
"Survivors" Tech Session at Conclave !
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