soundproofing, should I even bother?

[tbitz]

I have the engine out and have removed all the soundproofing which was deteriating badly.

I looked through the archives and read that putting the soundproofing pad doesn't seem to reduce noise by much.

What is peoples opinoin on this. Should I put a soundpad? (I do have a Targa which has lot's of noise to begin with).

Should I use the stock material, Dynamat, B-quite material, or nothing?

Here are links to the above suppliers:
http://www.dynamat.com/
http://www.b-quiet.com/

Cheers,

[emcon5]

My vote is for nothing. I installed the factory pad when I had my engine out for a clutch job back in December. There was no pad there before, and I can't tell a difference in sound. Waste of money, and adds weight.

Tom

[tobluforu]

I sprayed undercoating after I removed mine. Looks great!

[Paul W]

Funny you should bring it up; I removed the sound pad on my car yesterday and painted the firewall with POR15 Chassis paint.

The verdict? Almost no difference in engine noise, with SSI's and SS Burschoff exhaust.

[warment]

I used Dynomat on the entire floorpan, rear deck, and doors of my 73. I haven't really driven the car much yet, but I do know that the doors shut with a high quality "thump" now. I would recommend using dynomat on the entire rear deck and doors, but I don't think that covering the rest of the floor will do much for you.

Bill

[RoninLB]

Sound deadning is another "personal opnion" answer. I did interior floor pan, firewall, doors, outside trans. tunnel, and engine comp. with the Dynamat [their top model] and love it. Reduced road, trans. gear, and most harmonics resonating thru the car. Engine and exhaust noise sounds cleaner without a hollow beer can sound overhang. Again, this is a personal opnion.

[Jim T]

I was in the process of putting a new one in my car. So while the old one was out I figured I'd drive it around and see if I noticed any difference without it.

I really couldn't tell much difference. A tiny bit, maybe. But that may be just because I knew it wasn't there.

I reinstalled the new one because I had bought it already and it was easier than removing all the old glue and refinishing the firewall.

[andyu911]

After I removed that falling-apart soundproof pad, I was happier ever after. Can't tell any different. I would never bother to put another one.
Andy
'87 Carrera

[davis911s]

I agree it really is a personal thing. BUT all that Dynamat is heavy, so if the noise isn't too bad, then the weight issue might sway you. I will not replace mine when I take it out.

Shawn

[RoninLB]

Shawn....I agree with you on weight of Dynamat. I probably added enough weight to outweight the weight of completely removing yhe AC system. I may spend all day in the 911, weeks at a time, and it makes a difference to me. Harmonics and driver fatigue are related IMHO.

[tbitz]

Thanks for the input guys.

Looks like soundproofing is a waste of time, money, and weight. I will not replace mine.

[Wrecked944]

My car has no factory sound proofing...and it is a targa...so I covered the whole engine area with Dynamat Extreme and added more to the doors. Then I put down extra floor mats - 2 or 3 both front and rear on both sides of the car. The verdict: Probably added tons of weight but the car is *much* quieter and everyone who rides in it mentions the difference.

[LeeH]

Without removing the engine, what's the best way to remove the leftover adhesive after removing the pad?

[Jim T]

I took the pad out of my 914, and there was adhesive left on the firewall.

It took me a long, long time to get it all off. The best thing that I found was a product called "Goof Off."

Because the paint under there isn't really great to start with, I ended up repainting the firewall.

It looked great afterwards, but it was a ton of work. And that was with the engine OUT of the car.

I didn't want to go through that again, which is the main reason why I replaced my crumbling pad with a new one.