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Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:14 am
by jono
It seems that Lotus did not fit any but I am wondering if it might be a worthwhile addition before I fit the headlining.

..has anyone undertaken such a 'mod' - it would seem a missed opportunity not to but I am unsure if there is any tangible benefit - perhaps a little more quietness?

I would welcome the thoughts of others.

Cheers

Jon

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:40 pm
by stugilmour
Jon, did you see this thread on how Sarto did sound proofing on his coupe?

elan-f15/sound-proofing-coupe-t21714.html

It looks like he painted the roof area in addition to the interior. On the Quiet Coat website somewhere is a report from a happy Europa owner who did his roof area.

Based on Sarto's experience, I bought 3 gallons of the stuff for my Plus 2. As I had the interior & headlining in place, I used the stuff as an undercoat; had peeling problems on the main floor area probably due to not sufficiently roughing up the smooth fibreglass and residual oil film. Would recommend using it the way Sarto did if the interior is still out; I would expect it to adhere well to the rougher fibreglass surface on the inside of the car. It is still sticking very well on the inside boot floor, the wooden baffle panel behind the fuel tank and the outside wheel wells that were properly prepped.

It is a latex type paint with water cleanup. I used cheap brushes and chucked them after one use as the stuff dries quite quickly and easily builds up to a very thick coating on the brush; think millimeters not mills thickness. :)

The stuff really works at deadening the sound. You can tell the difference between a coated & uncoated panel when you tap on them.

I still have about 3/4 gallon left and will probably be using in the headliner area when I get around to removing the headliner to improve my terrible install job. :( I have a sunroof so there is not a lot of headliner area left in my case and the paint approach is easier than felts.

I bought on-line and they shipped to Canada no problem. Not sure if they have a dealer for the product your side of the pond or something similar.

HTH

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:21 pm
by jono
Hi Stu,

I used Gravitex throughout the shell - a stone chip protector with some sound deadening properties, but mainly its purpose, for me at least, was as a stabiliser/sealer.

I have fitted out the shell with 12mm thick jute sound deadening felt from Woolies here in the UK - it's good stuff and I was keen to stay pretty much as Lotus would have intended (but going further and doing some bits which they did not, like the nooks and crannies of the inner wheel arches, underside of the scuttle etc.).

I have enough left to do the roof as well - I think I will go ahead as it can only do more good than harm.

Thanks for your comments - will get some progress pics up shortly.

Jon

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:02 pm
by pamitchell
I used the Quiet Coat that Sarto recommended. I had the headliner out for refurb so the timing was perfect. It bonded very well to the roof. I also laid a sheet of Dynamat sound insulation over the Quietcoat.
The reduction in sound and drumming noise was impressive.

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:40 pm
by Sea Ranch
Like the idea of dynamat over the Quiet Coat because my only concern with Quiet Coat is on the ceiling and the possibility of it leaching colour/stain onto the headliner if (when) things get wet. My original headliner is in beautiful condition with the exception of the C -pillar panels, which presumably were stained with leakage from the flow-thru vents.

Any thoughts?

Randy

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:47 pm
by stugilmour
The QuietCoat in my trunk got pretty wet on the drive back from Vancouver, with about half a liter of water ponded on the trunk floor. I have since fixed the leak at the license plate lights (I think). Paint didn't seem to come loose or anything. Think it should be OK overhead once it is fully set, which seems to take about two days in humid weather. Messy as heck before it sets though.

Dynamat would be good too. Make sure you get the really sticky kind; the regular stuff will not stay stuck overhead. Another lighter alternative is the felt stuff like Jon mentioned glued up with spray contact adhesive. I found some thinner stuff at Home Depot that would work on the roof; the stock felts throughout the car I got from Sue Miller already cut to size. Anyway, I sure wish I had done the QuietCoat like Sarto when I had the interior all apart; all my felts are glued in place and it would be a real mess to paint around them now.

Hey Randy, you are in luck with the headliner; mine was trashed. The proper fabric is readily available (there are two types, so you have to get the right stuff). The C pillar panels are separate and can be easily recovered on their own. Put some thin foam behind if you like for the plush look; not too thick or the hook & lights won't attach right. If the colour match looks a bit off, I had good success with vinyl spray paint in a rattle can from Canadian Tire; used it for the sun visors as I couldn't see an easy way to recover them.

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:46 pm
by Higs
stugilmour wrote:I bought on-line and they shipped to Canada no problem. Not sure if they have a dealer for the product your side of the pond or something similar.


The stuff in the UK is Noxudol 3100 from here:

http://therustshop.com/noxudol/noxudol-3100-sound-damping-compound-600ml-spray-/prod_123.html

Richard

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 4:52 am
by graham
Hi When I did mine I wondered why they never put any in the roof .I have used laminate flooring underlay fixed with bostic spray on adhesive. Seems to be okay.
Graham

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:49 pm
by stugilmour
A quick revival of this thread regarding soundproofing.

For those of you mid body off, I recently really cut back the cabin noise with a couple of strategically placed DynaMat pieces on the top of the rear towers. There are a couple of rubber plugs to allow access to the castellated nut at the top of the shock. I covered the holes with some fairly thick sheet rubber (about 1/8" sheet), and covered up with self-adhesive DynaMat Extreme. Reduced the cabin drumming considerably. Worked way better than the stock felts in this critical area. I had enough clearance to leave the felts in place over top of the DynaMat.

I actually had this same issue on my BMW. When rear suspension work was done, the tech didn't replace the stock sheet soundproofing over the holes, causing a ton of road noise. I should have discovered this issue quicker on the Lotus, but all good now.

Cheers!

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:11 am
by Gordon Sauer
Am going to use jute but in a way that bows don't touch--pretty thin stuff I'm planning, attached with contact cement. And somebody noted headliner being available--haven't been able to find Moonscape--Woolies out of it for some time now, any sources? Gordon Sauer

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:24 am
by stugilmour
Gordon Sauer wrote:Am going to use jute but in a way that bows don't touch--pretty thin stuff I'm planning, attached with contact cement. And somebody noted headliner being available--haven't been able to find Moonscape--Woolies out of it for some time now, any sources? Gordon Sauer



Gordon, not sure what Moonscape is?

I got headliner material by the yard and a pre-sewn headliner from Susan Miller a while ago. She needs to know the material type and whether your car is a three rod or four rod setup. The pre-sewn piece includes the A pillars and the main portion of the roof with the rods. The C pillars and visors (if you are recovering them) require separate pieces of by the yard material.

Stand to be corrected on the material, but as far as I know there are two headliner material types. I believe very early cars used the pattern generally called Confetti. I understand it is a sort of semi circle pattern? My Federal car used the type called Lodestar, or sometimes misspelled as Loadstar, Lode Star, etc. It has small four pointed stars in a kind of diamond pattern.

I think the late cars had a perforated pattern; is this what you mean by Moonscape?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-CORTINA- ... 3a487e6d15

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOTUS-ELAN2-2 ... 3cc78d878b

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-CORTINA- ... 3a483b0251

Some other threads...

elan-plus-f13/plus-headlining-t16221.html

elan-plus-f13/headlining-t21147.html

HTH

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:06 am
by Gordon Sauer
Yes it's perforated, called MOONSTONE and is on my 73 +2S130. Thanks Gordon

Re: Sound proofing above the headlining?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:54 pm
by stugilmour
Thx Gordon. Learn something every day. Looks like Aldridge Trimming has it in Putty colour, not sure if this is correct for you.