Sound-proofing project

[AlmondTurbo]

I've been sound-proofing (actually sound-reducing) my own cars since 1971. That was a toyota Corolla, and it really needed it. My 1990 Isuzu pickup needed it even worse. The PT (Touring, turbo-lite) is pretty well sound-proofed. I decided to see how much improvement might be made. First, it is very labor intensive, time consuming, and I spent about $340 in materials. I started by researching materials available, and settled on a product called Quiet Car. It is a 'paint-on' material, cleans up with water, is not flammable. I used my CD shop manual as a guide, and gutted, (removed all upholstry, and trim) the inside of the PT, but left the dash, and headliner in place. I painted 5 or 6 coats, following directions I got on-line. I removed the door panels and used a different material, called Q-Pads, cut in strips inside the doors. It was easier to handle than the paint-on material, for doors. When everything was back together, I went for a test drive. I had previously made sound measurements with a sound meter. The gain, on the meter, was only 2db. On the road the body drumming was almost gone. Anytime you do sound-proofing, as you quiet one sound type, you then hear the next loudest sound. I have fairly noisy Yokohama AVID HS4s, and I hear tire noise as the loudest sound now. As always, I took pictures of the whole project. Final result: The PT Cruiser is well sound-proofed, so the effort did not produce a dramatic result. I'm glad I did the project, but I wouldn't do it again.

[SR-PT4]

I also have a Turbo Lite but I don't think it's all that well sound insulated. So, I have 120 square feet of eDead sound deadener sitting in the garage just waiting for me to gut the interior and have at it.

Do you have your pictures posted anywhere? I'm curious as to how long it took to pull everything out of the car, just so I can plan this project a little better. I have the shop manual on CD, just haven't really looking into the interior panels section yet.

I appreciate you sharing this info with us, thanks a lot!!

[Victoria]

Mercy, AlmondTurbo!!!

bet your good with the "honey-do" list!!!

[KingKole02]

Wow, that sucks, all that work and you didn't notice a huge difference.

Well thanks for the tips.

I actually did my own type of sound proofing. Ripped up new carpet to put down tile flooring. I must have 200 sqft. of carpet padding. I loaded that in the door panels where I could, the hatch, and when I re-fabricated my headliner. I noticed a difference in the rain big time as well as while driving.

I would suggest you do the roof too, that should make a difference I would think. I floor of the PT is pretty well sound proofed, I noticed that the ceiling is not. Under the headliner is nothing but metal, thats why my roof flexes from the sub bass.