Soundproofing your vehicle doesn’t really have to be a daunting task. What you want to look for are the hot spots where sound is able to penetrate into your ride. One of the biggest culprits when it comes to the transmission of both engine and road noise is the hood of the Vehicle. Generally there is some sort of fiber pad underneath the hood and most people assume that this is soundproofing. Actually is si there to reduce the heat transfer from the engine to the metal hood and damaging the paint. This fibrous material does nothing for soundproofing. The hood on most vehicles are notorious for transmitting road noise from the struts or shock as well as engine noise. We will discussing how to stop both the transmission of noise and head through the hood of your vehicle.
America Mat is a very heat resistant foam that will withstand temperatures in excess of 240 Deg F. The rolls of America Mat comes 4’ wide X up to 70’ long. Basically for standard hood for a car or truck or SUV you should not need a piece larger than 5’ X 4’. The best way to cut the America mat to give your vehicle a professional look is to use an electric meat cutting knife. This will allow you to contour the cut of the foam and will give the foam a nice factory edge cut. The knife also allows you to make a radiused cut for the corners of the foam. Whenever cutting any foam mat we always recommend using an electric carving knife.
Now that you have cut the America mat to fit under the hood, it is recommended that you remove the hood from the car in order to properly clean the underside and to get the absolute best adhesion possible of the foam to the hood. The first order of business would be to remove the fibrous mat that was put under the hood by the factory. Next you will want to clean the hood thoroughly It is good to use a de-greaser and then to clean the entire underside of the hood with pure rubbing alcohol. Allow the surface of the hood to dry then apply spray contact cement to both the America mat as well as to the underside of the hood. Let the material sit apart as long as the can states and then mate the two pieces together. With contact cement you don’t have a lot of wiggle room so make sure you lay the foam in the exact position you want the first time. I would suggest that you lay something heavy over top of the foam to insure proper adhesion to the underside of the hood. Let the hood sit over night and then re-install the hood the next day. You will be surprised at just how much noise is mitigated by adding the 1” America mat to the underside of your hood.
The next step in soundproofing your vehicle is working on soundproofing the floor boards. This will require removal of the carpet or vinyl kit from the floor of the vehicle. You will clean the floor board are in the same manner that you cleaned the underside of the hood. The De-greaser is probably unnecessary, but a good alcohol wipe down is important. Now that your have the metal floor cleaned, you will want to install a mass loaded vinyl material with closed cell foam backing directly to the floor of the vehicle. Mass Loaded vinyl is a high grade vinyl that is impregnated with barium and silica to give it mass. The closed cell foam backing de-couples the MLV from the actual metal floor boards. It is recommended that you either spot glue the foam facing to the floor of the vehicle or you could full strength glue the foam backed vinyl to the floor. You also have the option of not gluing it at all. This would make the foam backed barrier a floated mass layer. I do strongly recommend that you caulk around the perimeter of the foam backed barrier for help seal it to the floor at the seams and edges. Once you have the MLV composite installed, it is time to re-install your carpet kit. This is a job the can be done by a do it yourself enthusiast or you can have a local upholstery shop install it for you.
Lastly we need to focus on the doors. I recommend using the ½” America mat foam in the door panels. You would glue the foam to the outer door panel and also to the back of the decorative interior panels. Make sure you have plenty of space so as to not interfere with the window and the door opening mechanisms. You want to cover as much of the metal outer door area as possible so make sure you jave plenty of ½” America mat closed cell foam.
Soundproofing the trunk of a car would pretty much follow the same procedures as soundproofing the door panels, I hop this narrative has been helpful to you. Believe me this is a project that you can do on your own if you are hand and have a minimum amount of skill and knowledge of you Vehicle. This is Dr. Bob, Adios!
e-mail bob@soundproofingamerica.com
PH (877) 530-0139
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