Road noise reduction
Discussion
I want to insulate my spaceframe to eliminate as much road noise and panel drumming as possible (daily driver) so any double skinned areas will be stuffed with insulation of some sort. Which foam is best for insulation without creating a rust trap?
Also some inner arches would be a good idea to protect my outer body skin from stone noise/damage - what material should I make these from?
Also some inner arches would be a good idea to protect my outer body skin from stone noise/damage - what material should I make these from?
Can't help much with the foam I'm afraid, my worry would be that any foam will soak up water and hold it next to the metal long enough to corrode it.
With the arch protection I used an aerosol underbody protection (Finnegans I think) that gave it a lovely thick rubbery coating which seemed to protect the fibreglass well. This could be an alternative to trying to make some wheel arch liners. If you really want them, how about modifying some production car ones?
With the arch protection I used an aerosol underbody protection (Finnegans I think) that gave it a lovely thick rubbery coating which seemed to protect the fibreglass well. This could be an alternative to trying to make some wheel arch liners. If you really want them, how about modifying some production car ones?
I used alternative lead flashing on all the alloy panels on my Ultima...... It did an absolute superb job of reducing the road noise and drumming.
Its along the same lines as Dynamat and I used a 10metre roll of the stuff (1 ft wide)... I also know what people are thinking and its not heavy like lead, in fact the complete roll weighed much less than a car battery.
the best thing about this is that its dead cheap at around 30quid a roll. worth using more than one layer as well as two layers has three times the deadening of one layer.
Production cars are plastered with this kind of stuff to reduce road noise.
Andy
Its along the same lines as Dynamat and I used a 10metre roll of the stuff (1 ft wide)... I also know what people are thinking and its not heavy like lead, in fact the complete roll weighed much less than a car battery.
the best thing about this is that its dead cheap at around 30quid a roll. worth using more than one layer as well as two layers has three times the deadening of one layer.
Production cars are plastered with this kind of stuff to reduce road noise.
Andy
petebee, The underseal treatment would be the quickest way I guess, but I was hoping to reduce some of the grit pickup too (it gets everywhere doesn't it 
) so I will have a look at some scrappy cars to get an idea.
Thanks for the tip
Andygt, Now that's a novel idea! Come to think of it, my old Nissan was peppered with similar stuff and it seemed to do a good job of keeping the larger panels quiet. Did you just cut it to size and stick it on the panels with contact adhesive?
Another brainwave
- how about the 'gap filler' aerosol foam? Would that repel moisture or retain it? It would be a nightmare to remove if I had to replace or repair a panel later 
) so I will have a look at some scrappy cars to get an idea. Thanks for the tip
Andygt, Now that's a novel idea! Come to think of it, my old Nissan was peppered with similar stuff and it seemed to do a good job of keeping the larger panels quiet. Did you just cut it to size and stick it on the panels with contact adhesive?
Another brainwave
- how about the 'gap filler' aerosol foam? Would that repel moisture or retain it? It would be a nightmare to remove if I had to replace or repair a panel later RazMan said:
I want to insulate my spaceframe to eliminate as much road noise and panel drumming as possible (daily driver)
i use the "music at very loud volume" technique to overcome intrusive road noise - it doesn't come unglued, doesn't go mouldy (?) and is more entertaining
>> Edited by vojx on Thursday 30th September 17:14
Hi Raz,
There's a product called Rubbercoat, which as the name suggests, is a liquid rubber coating you paint on that helps to protect GRP panels from stone damage and also helps reduce noise. Dust etc doesn't stick to it either like it does with underseal.
Regarding the 'gap filler' foam, this is 'closed cell' so it doesn't absorb moisture. You just have to be careful with the pressure with this stuff as it can deform thin panels as it expands unless it has plenty of room to 'grow'.
You can actually buy solid polyurethane foam in sheets of varying thicknesses (though don't know where from). It's very light and dead easy to trim to shape.
There's a product called Rubbercoat, which as the name suggests, is a liquid rubber coating you paint on that helps to protect GRP panels from stone damage and also helps reduce noise. Dust etc doesn't stick to it either like it does with underseal.
Regarding the 'gap filler' foam, this is 'closed cell' so it doesn't absorb moisture. You just have to be careful with the pressure with this stuff as it can deform thin panels as it expands unless it has plenty of room to 'grow'.
You can actually buy solid polyurethane foam in sheets of varying thicknesses (though don't know where from). It's very light and dead easy to trim to shape.
grahambell said:
Hi Raz,
There's a product called Rubbercoat, which as the name suggests, is a liquid rubber coating you paint on that helps to protect GRP panels from stone damage and also helps reduce noise. Dust etc doesn't stick to it either like it does with underseal.
Regarding the 'gap filler' foam, this is 'closed cell' so it doesn't absorb moisture. You just have to be careful with the pressure with this stuff as it can deform thin panels as it expands unless it has plenty of room to 'grow'.
You can actually buy solid polyurethane foam in sheets of varying thicknesses (though don't know where from). It's very light and dead easy to trim to shape.
Thanks for the info Graham
I think I'll use a combination of these suggestions - maybe stuffing any voids with solid poly foam, covering internal surfaces with the Dynamat lookalike and coating all of the exposed fibre glass surfaces with Rubbercoat ..... sounds like a plan peetbee said:If you use closed cell foam you won't have that problem. We use it as bouyancy in kayaks and it doesn't soak up water.
Can't help much with the foam I'm afraid, my worry would be that any foam will soak up water and hold it next to the metal long enough to corrode it.
Mark
RazMan said:If you go here...
If you use closed cell foam you won't have that problem. We use it as bouyancy in kayaks and it doesn't soak up water.
Mark
Cheers Mark - I'll dig around my local Chandler then
www.upandunder.co.uk/eshop/catalogue/testbs.asp?Manufacturer_ID=58&Activity_ID=3&Description_ID=155
You can buy some foam mats 75mm thick which are design for bouyancy and won't absorb water.
Or you can go to Millets and pick up some camping mats which will be a lot thinner but cost very little. I've used these as padding inside the boat for my knees and it's the same stuff as above so doesn't absorb water.
It all depends on how much room you have to fill between the skins.
Good luck,
Mark
steve_D said:
I think you will find 'Rubbercoat' have gone out of business. If someone can prove me wrong it would be great as I want some.
Steve
Hmm, might be why I didn't see them at Donnington this year.
Seem to remember you used to be able to get a rubberised coating from builder's merchants for waterproofing flat roofs. Might be worth a look.
Gassing Station | Kit Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff