Sound pad material...

[Special K]

Both of 914's were lacking the engine comp. sound pads when I got them, and I can't seem to locate one locally that isn't half shredded or dry rotted. I drove my '75 without one (until its demise) and it was a bit loud for my tastes. "AA" has new ones, but they want WAY too much ($150.00, come on, it's just a sound pad!). Has anyone had any luck with any of the aftermarket sound/heat insulating materials?

[scotty914]

WELL YOU COULD TRY DYNAMAT BUT IT GETS COSTLY TO DO THAT MUCH AREA

I DONT THINK 150 FOR A NEW ONE IS THAT BAD, BUT YOU COULD TRY UNDER COATING IT MIGHT QUIET IT DOWN SOME MORE, I DID MINE AS AN EXTRA MEASURE BUT I NEVER DROVE IT BEFORE SO I DONT KNOW IF IT MADE A DIFFERNCE



------------------
scott thacher
75 1.8 running at last
75 under rust
(fine german rust)

[DF]

My sound pad was really bad and when we went through the entire engine & compartment I opted to replace the pad with self adhesive type of engine pad found on 944 turbo. I had replaced it on my previous car (944 T) so I knew it was available. I ordered mine from Jason at Paragon. 2-pieces were pretty much enough to cover after cutting small pieces. Please note the entire engine compartment and interior were sprayed with dynashield sound deadener. After my carpet is installed and the back pad reinforced with extra padding it should be as quiet as you can get a 914 with ss heat exchangers and ss borla (quite loud).

[paulhagedorn]

One of the things that I have done to my car is change out the sound deadening for the engine. In the engine compartment I used the stuff you can order in catalogs that have one side shiny silver to reflect heat and gives some sound deadening. Also, behind the backpad in the interior, I put some stuff on it that is like dynamat, but cheaper. You can generally find stuff like dynamat at a place that sells automotive paint. That is where I got it. The stuff is pretty heavy, though.

Paul

[Doug914]

I bought an enormous roll of sound-deadening mat, with foil lining on one side, from Pep Boys for $20. Enough for three firewalls. It's worked great. Instructions say to keep it 4" away from any intense source of heat, so with engine tin isolating exhaust heat (mostly), it works just fine. There's a nice bonus: The foil acts as a reflector and bounces significant light into the once-murky 914 engine compartment. Makes it much easier to see stuff in there.

Next step: put another layer behind the interior backpad. Two layers should be as effective as the orignal pad, and will probably weigh half as much (orig. must weigh 20 lb!).

[Special K]

Hey Doug914,

Is that stuff kinda like the material they sell at J.C. Whitney? (No Pep Boys out here). They sell a foil backed insulation about 3/8" thick with fiberglass strand reinforcement. It looks like that chunked-up foam rubber stuff that they use under household carpet, I guess if the exposed edges were sealed I wouldn't have to worry about it sucking up water everytime I washed down the engine bay.

[Doug914]

Hey Special K,
It's not quite like that...this stuff has a more fibrous, felt-like consistency. Really stuck well to the firewall with 3M spray adhesive. I like your idea of sealing the top edge so water doesn't soak in. Maybe a big bead of RTV along the top. Might be messy, but then again, the engine cover pretty much hides this seam.
To find this stuff, you might try an RV supply store. I'm sure they use acres of it in a typical Winnebago. Good luck!

[Va914]

You can also use "duct sealer" on the raw edges. It's about $15 a gal and is used for sealing duct liner in HVAC ductwork. It's a water tight sealer. It's great for all kinds of uses.