Sound deadening material

[crankedup5]

I have just treated myself to a Austin ‘cotswold’ camper van you will all know that it has the engine in the driving cab. It is very noisy driving along, nothing wrong with the engine at all, just noisy cab. I was thinking about trying to muffle the din down by fitting some sound deadening to the inside of the engine cover. Any suggestions on materials and adhesives please.

[ChocolateFrog]

Dynamat seems to be the best.

When I did my van I did the whole van and Dynamat was prohibitively expensive so I used flashing from B&Q (the lead substitute stuff). Worked really well if a little more fiddly to fit.

[crankedup5]

^^^^^
Thank you I will do some homework on suggestions.

[Yertis]

ChocolateFrog said:

Dynamat seems to be the best.

When I did my van I did the whole van and Dynamat was prohibitively expensive so I used flashing from B&Q (the lead substitute stuff). Worked really well if a little more fiddly to fit.

I've used Dynamat on certain flat surfaces that resonate (ie aluminium fuel tank) but I worry that it does weigh a ton. A friend of mine more or less lined his car with it, and TBH I'm not sure it made an appreciable difference to to racket but certainly added a good bit to the weight.

[Kawasicki]

I‘ve observed that Mercedes have used a kind of multi layer strategy in the S class. They have a dense dynamat next to a body panel, outside that they have a less dense foam, then an even less dense foam, or a felt…then they use a low density non woven material, like the filling from a cheap sleeping bag.

I‘d imagine it is used to reduce the noise over a wide band of frequencies. It might also help to avoid droning type noises, where you end up with a sort of horrible low frequency standing wave in the vehicle.

Edited to add that it is very important that you close off all the apertures between the engine and the cabin. If air can easily move between the engine area and the cabin area then no amount of sound deadening will help.

I‘m not in any way an acoustics/nvh expert.

Edited by Kawasicki on Thursday 30th September 14:23

[crankedup5]

Thanks for inputs.
These forward cab’s have always been a noisy drive, 50 or 60 years back I suppose it didn’t matter to much. It will cost about £80 for me to fit the dynamat to the engine bay cover, let’s see/ hear the difference.

[jon-yprpe]

Dynamat (silencoat is cheaper) are ‘anti-resonance’ rather them sound dampening…so they stop a tinny rattle or resonance (and you only need a bit, not to coat the whole panel which just adds to the weight) but really you need to combine with some sort of dampener - eg foam, mat, carpet.

But made a big difference to my 90 hardtop.

[crankedup5]

^^^^
Thanks for tip

[V8covin]

Closed cell foam for sound proofing,dynamat and the like for resonance

[mike9009]

We have a 1982 T25 camper. It was so noisy on the autoroute in France we both had sore throats from shouting at each other for three hours of driving! And that is with the engine in the rear.

I have used silent coat throughout the cab and also around some of the panels in the engine bay.

For the time and effort the results are 'average'. I have just put component speakers in instead, so at least we can hear the radio when sat not talking.....

I just think if you wanted something quiet, a newer vehicle would be the best way to go.....

[crankedup5]

^^^^^^
I’m used to a bit of mechanical din from my past vintage iron I have enjoyed. This is the first forward cab experience, maybe a couple of ear plugs is my answer
Noisy, slow, heavy steering and lousy brakes, perfect

[tapkaJohnD]

Anyone following Project Binky, installing the engine, transmission and suspension from a Toyota Celica GT4, 2L, turboed, FWD, into a 1980 MIni, will have seen that the obsessive impulses of the builders led to their installing Dynamat EVERYWHERE. With the result that the car, already burdened with bracketry, weighs almost as much as the Toyota. But it's a fun watch.
New readers start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hCPODjJO7s&ab...

John