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Firewall Sound Deadening / Padding


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Is there any reason to keep the sound deadening / padding that is on the firewall ? I am completely stripping all other sound deadening from the car (it just adds weight and totally defeats the purpouse of a sportscar), and I dont see any reason for keeping the deadening on the firewall. Am I overlooking anything? Thanks in advance for any advice!

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Is there any reason to keep the sound deadening / padding that is on the firewall ? I am completely stripping all other sound deadening from the car (it just adds weight and totally defeats the purpouse of a sportscar), and I dont see any reason for keeping the deadening on the firewall. Am I overlooking anything? Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

I would put some heat stuff on it at least or its gonna get mightly hot in there. I pulled all the Datsun stock stuff off my 280Z/LT1 and put in 2 layers of heat relective/sound deadener I got off EBay. This stuff is foam with aluminum foil on both sies and weighs pratically nothing. I can't tell you how well it works, I'm not streetable yet.

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I scraped all the tar off the floor of my 240Z and removed the firewall padding. I can tell you that it got mighty hot inside the car while I was getting engine dialed in. It was also too loud to be comfortable; sports car or not. I have not driven it on the street yet with the Chevy 350 so that may cool things down a little. I plan on installing heat/sound deadener to keep it reasonable.

 

My deadening material will weigh about 15 lbs. With 400HP I am not worried about this weight gain.

 

Tom

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Definitely keep the insulation in the car. Yes its a sports car but ~25lb's isn't going to kill the sports car feel. I recently stripped my interior and put fatmat throughout the entire cabin along with that aluminum backed foam padding off ebay on top of it. Before and after was quite a big difference on the streets and living in So Cal it helped quite a lot with the heat. It's also GREAT in cold weather. The nights here can get pretty cold in some area's, 45-55 degrees this time of year, and when I step in my car at 1 a.m. after its sitting there its almost room temperature. Does a great job of keeping heat/cold out.

 

As far as which sound deadener to use, I like fatmat, especially since its pretty damn cheap comparing to the competition. There are several that say its not the best, but I guess you get what you pay for. Also definitely get the auto-mat padding off ebay. It's not that great for sound insulation but amazing for heat/cold.

 

One funny thing was when I was stripping the interior, the previous owner put this heavy foam padding all over the floors/tranny tunnel/firewall, and this stuff was HEAVY. I weighed whatever I took out and I actually saved 6 pounds with all the new deadening/insulation.

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Thanks for the advice. I should probably put some heat/sound deadening on the firewall and the tranny tunnel then. What brand and type of deadening would you recommend?

 

I am going to use a product called Dead Zone Sound Deadening which I bought off Ebay. It's not cheap and it's kind of heavy, but I'm getting too old to ride around in hot, noisy cars! I haven't installed it yet, but it seems like really good stuff.

 

You can search "dead zone" on Ebay and find the stuff. The seller has 34 sets left as of 10/29.

 

Tom

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All of my insulation was pretty much falling apart when I pulled it out. I don't plan on putting it back. I also pulled up all the tar from the footwells of the car. That is not going back either.

 

I am not so worried about the heat as much as the cold in winter. As for noise, I guess I will need to get it running to tell. An easy enough thing to put off and fix later if need be.

 

I do have a layer of carpet pad underneath the carpet. I got the stuff from a dumpster behind a carpet store. I use velcro at either end to hold the carpet in place. It is easy to take out at the autocross.

 

There have been quite a number of articles on sound deadening stuff. From what I read there is a huge difference in how the different brands age. Apparanetly the cheap stuff can fall apart in short order. You may want to look up some of the old posts before you invest in dynamat or the like.

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I have used Dynomat Extreme and it has been worth every penny. I used it from roof to floorand firewall to trunk lid in my IS 300. It made a huge differance. I have looked at the Elemental Design stuff and was going to use all of their stuff turn key for the S30 buildup. It is ironic that someone else recomends them, cause noone around me knows who the hell they are.

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I have used Dynomat Extreme and it has been worth every penny. I used it from roof to floorand firewall to trunk lid in my IS 300. It made a huge differance. I have looked at the Elemental Design stuff and was going to use all of their stuff turn key for the S30 buildup. It is ironic that someone else recomends them, cause noone around me knows who the hell they are.

i love the stuff, cheap and works amazing, i've got it on the doors (inner and outter skins) as well as my trunk and it was a HUGE difference. i have just the cheap stuff ($.80/sqft with forum discount) and its worth every penny. great adhesion and no issues at all through 40*C summers or -40* winters in the car.

They are a small company in Iowa and have amazing people and products. I run a full compliment of their speakers in my civic including there new 5channel amp and its all warrantied for like 5 yrs and even more important is IMO a great SQ company but conservatively priced.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

What do you think of it? They really speak highly of it and even say:

 

"**********Same Made In The USA Insulation as used by Nascar And Other Race Teams**********"

 

If it's that good then why dont they even list the brand?

 

Thanks

Cameron

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It goes on easy and is very light. I really haven't driven the car yet except for a quick couple runs up and down the street. But with no exhaust, carpet or even rear floors is tough to say if its any good. I used that tar based stuff before it it worked pretty well but it was heavy and not as easy to install.

 

They may not be allowed by the manufacturer to mention the brand by name.

 

What do you think of it? They really speak highly of it and even say:

 

"**********Same Made In The USA Insulation as used by Nascar And Other Race Teams**********"

 

If it's that good then why dont they even list the brand?

 

Thanks

Cameron

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Well...I just bought a roll.

 

I have the Dynamat stuff on already and am not totaly pleased with the sounds deadening....perhaps I was expecting too much? Any further in car noise reduction will put a smile on my face!

 

One roll should be plenty..right?

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Well...I just bought a roll.

 

I have the Dynamat stuff on already and am not totaly pleased with the sounds deadening....perhaps I was expecting too much? Any further in car noise reduction will put a smile on my face!

 

One roll should be plenty..right?

 

It should be. I doubled mine in most areas. I don't know if its necassary but the stuff is pretty cheap so why not.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for all of the great input. On a related note, I got all of the sound deadening chipped away with the exception of the sound deadening on the driver and passenger floorpans. This deadening seems to be composed of some kind of insulating material mixed with tar and cannot be chipped off like the deadening on the tranny tunnel or pulled off like the deadening on the firewall. Does anyone have any experience with how to get this type of deadening off? Thanks!

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It might be the same stuff but not 30 years old. Somebody might have put new in later for some reason. My 77 had the same stuff everywhere and it all chipped off pretty easily. You can try a heat gun and a scrapper but its going to get messy. I've heard dry ice works but I've never tried it.

 

 

Thanks for all of the great input. On a related note, I got all of the sound deadening chipped away with the exception of the sound deadening on the driver and passenger floorpans. This deadening seems to be composed of some kind of insulating material mixed with tar and cannot be chipped off like the deadening on the tranny tunnel or pulled off like the deadening on the firewall. Does anyone have any experience with how to get this type of deadening off? Thanks!
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It might be the same stuff but not 30 years old. Somebody might have put new in later for some reason. My 77 had the same stuff everywhere and it all chipped off pretty easily. You can try a heat gun and a scrapper but its going to get messy. I've heard dry ice works but I've never tried it.

 

Dry ice will work if it's tar based. Wrap a brick of dry ice in a dry towel, let it sit on the tar for 2 minutes and then hit it with a small hammer or, better yet, a chisel. It'll break off in chunks. Very clean. No need for solvents, heat, or cleanup.

 

Try the same thing with ice from your freezer. That might also work.

 

g

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your right and about cold helping out...I chipped away all the deadener from a 240sx over a couple of days. The first afternoon was warm and removal was slow. The next morning was quite cool and the deadener just flew off. It becomes very brittle when cold.

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