While that vintage car or truck is far more beautiful than your luxury sport sedan, the creature comforts are
far less sophisticated than the standards to which we have grown accustomed, making the ride less pleasurable.
Historical Perspective
Historically, automobile manufacturers have paid little attention to interior acoustics and environmental conditions in the passenger cabin. The "insulation" and sound dampening material originally installed in vehicles was marginally effective in its day and by now, has greatly deteriorated. Even in today's new cars, interior acoustics are low priority unless you experience the luxury car level vehicles.
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Here are typical complaints restorers and custom car builders encounter when it comes to sound and heat management:
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Engine, transmission, drive shaft, tire and exhaust noise invade the floor.
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Heat from the sun radiates into the passenger cabin.
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Air conditioning system does not effectively reduce temperatures.
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Noise from the trunk compartment and package shelf invades the passenger cabin.
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Heat and noise comes through the firewall.
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Noise invades an automobile passenger cabin through one of two paths:
“Whether your pride and joy is a Model A Ford, Tri-Five Chevrolet Coupe, a 2007 Mustang Fastback or a 1967 Firebird, most cars come from the factory with virtually no OE insulation,” said Timothy Cox, president of Quiet Ride Solutions in Stockton, California. “People love their cars and trucks, but the noise that resonates throughout the passenger cabin is something "that flat" out wears on them.” Radiant heat is a closely related issue.
The physics of sound and vibration inside a vehicle isn’t that hard to understand. The two main components of cockpit noise are airborne, noise or vehicle-structure noise.
Airborne noise is noise from wheel vibrations on the road surface, wind noise, engine noise, transmission noise or exhaust system noise that makes its way through panel joints in the passenger cabin to the driver’s ears. Sealing any gaps, and installing or adding another layer insulation, is much like adding a double pane window to your home, it’s quieter.
Structure borne noise is produce by direct vibration of an unsupported, thin metal panel due to engine, transmission, or wheel movement. Both types of noise can be lessened with aftermarket sound-dampening materials.
It isn’t until a consumer spends upwards of $80,000 to $90,000 on a Lexus or Mercedes that they get the level of sound dampening that the aftermarket products can easily provide, said Quiet Ride’s Cox.
QuietRide NVH Apex Theory
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Cars and trucks absorb noise, vibration and heat (NVH) from multiple directions, which “Apex” in the passenger cabin at ear level. Engine NVH travels from the front of the vehicle through the firewall and cowl. Differential, wheel well and trunk panel NVH travels forward through the seat divider and package tray panels. Direct heat from the sun and reflected heat off the roadway (which often exceeds 140 degrees) taxes an air conditioning system to its limits. All of these influences meet in the middle of the vehicle where the passengers sit. A normal room conversation heats up into a shouting match between the driver and passengers to overcome the “harmonic drone” of the vehicle mechanics. “When you add the noise produced by the sound system, and the air rushing through the vents of the air conditioning system, the whole driving experience is less pleasure and more driver fatigue” according to Timothy Cox, president of Quiet Ride Solutions. “Reducing the noise and heat inside the passenger cabin has as much to do with driver safety as it does with making the ride more comfortable, he said.
“A lot of cars come to us at 100 db (decibels) and we can easilly knock off 20 dbs." An easy way to understand that sort of sound is to think of 100 db as being the noise that a chop saw emits as it rips through a two by four. A reduction of 20 db is half the sound output.
“People love their tuned exhaust systems for the first 20 minutes…then that aggressive sound coming through the floorboards becomes old, especially on an hour-long, daily commute. We can delete thet cabin noise and preserv the performance and sexy street sound,” Cox said.
Today’s motor vehicle manufacturers, in an effort to reduce vehicle weights in the name of fuel efficiency and price competitiveness, have eliminated most of what little insulation was once put into cars and trucks at the factory, according to Cox, “We have literally stripped more than 500 cars and trucks in the last seven years—vehicles that are now 50 years old, as well as new vehicles. What we have found is that manufactures no longer put any form of sound dampening or insulation in trunk panels, rear wheel wells or package trays, and they have eliminated the seat divider panels,” he said. “These are essential areas that need to be treated with dampening and insulation materials to stop noise transmission,” Cox continued.
To speed the vehicle assembly process, manufacturers have combined their insulation materials with the finished interior panels. Insulation is glued to the back of carpets. Insulation is glued to the back of molded headliners. Insulation is glued to the back of plastic body panels and door panels. The rear seat cushion—if there is one—has become the barrier between the trunk cavern and the passenger cabin. Even the old-fashioned multi-layered firewall insulator panel the first line of defense against noise and heat from the engine, has been reduced to a simple piece of jute, glued to a steel panel.
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Current Automotive Acoustic Technology in automotive design incorporates sound control systems and acoustic material throughout the vehicle—from the engine bay to the trunk compartment. The purpose of these materials is to dampen, insulate and absorb the heat and cold, as well as noise, before it affects the passenger cabin. In a typical luxury sedan, there is approximately 100 pounds of sound and heat control material incorporated into the interior bodywork of the vehicle. Its primary mission is to protect the passenger cabin from external noise. The ultimate goal is to create a “sound proof box.”
Borrowing concepts from state-of-the-art automotive acoustical research and technology, there are things you can do, and materials you can install during the restoration or custom car building process, to soften the ride, deaden the noise, isolate the mechanical sources of heat, and control the external environment.
Here is a brief description of the materials used in acoustic management:
Damping is the reduction of vibration and noise generated by resonant vibration in areas like body panels, door panels, floor pans and roof panels. Damping material should be at least one-half the thickness of the material to which it is being applied and cover approximately a third to half of the surface area. The most effective material used in damping is a self-adhesive rubberized asphalt material that is acoustically “dead” because of its dense mass and weight—about two pounds per square foot. The best automotive dampers are water repellent.
Absorbers are materials that do not block sound, but rather, "soak up" sound and prevent soundwaves from reflecting. Absorbers are made up of dense fiberous materials with open pores. Open cell foams, fiberglass and fibertech are examples of sound absorbing materials. Thick materials absorb low to high frequencies: thin materials mainly absorb medium and high frequencies.
Reflective Barriers have come of age as the result of the aero space industry. Reflecting heat away from critical equipment as well as passengers is the primary objective of the reflective barrier which usually consists of highly reflective aluminum.
Damper-Absorber-Reflective Barrier Combinations have been developed in the last decade in the form of a shielding material that serves multiple purposes. Insulation products that dampen, absorb and reflect heat consist of aluminum sheeting bonded to a fiberous padding with fiberglass mesh reinforcement to achieve high strength. These materials are highly reflectivity of radiant heat and achieve maximum sound deadening. High quality combination shields are thin in design but produce high “R Factor” ratings and high acoustical NCR ratings.
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What Acoustic Controls Will Not Do
Before any acoustic treatment can have a major impact on the passenger environment, the vehicle’s body panels must be aligned and sealed and suspension mechanics must be in tip-top-shape. A noise leak is a hole (or gap between body panels) which offers little or no resistance to the flow of air-borne noise from entering the passenger cabin. Air gaps can be found in such places as:
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Excessive holes in the body structure.
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Poor or incomplete welds where body and floor panels come together.
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Inadequate sealing of metal joints such as mechanical access panels.
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Misalignment of doors, vent panels, the hood and trunk.
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Poor fitting grommets and boots for bringing cables, pedals, steering column and shift levers into the vehicle’s interior.
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Inadequate sealing of weather strips around doors, windows and the hood and truck.
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Pre-Cut Acoustishield Kits vs. Universal Acoustishield Kits
To manage these problems, we have created a series of Acoustishield Kits which deal with specific noise, heat and vibration problems commonly found throughout a motor vehicle. Each of these kits have been developed as part of a menu of options that allow you to pick and choose the solutions you need for the problems you face in your restoration or custom car project. Each of our kits are modeled on OEM (stock) vehicles and are easily modified to fit custom applications.
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Pre-Cut Acoustishield kits are available for nearly 500 popular cars and trucks, and are packaged to insulate the following areas of the vehicle:
Roof Insulation Kit
Front and Rear Floor Insulation Kit
Upper and Lower Cowl Insulation Kit
Body Panel Insulation kit (includes package tray, seat divider, rear wheel wells, rear body and fender panels)
Trunk Floor Insulation Kit
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Universal Acoustishield Insulation Kit are available for vehicles for which we do not currently have pre-cut kit patterns.
Each kit comes with step–by–step instructions and diagrams to make installation easy. A bare metal car or truck body, requires about two hours installation time for each kit, using simple hand tools. If you need to remove upholstery or interior panels, more time will be required. Kits are universally measured and pre-cut to fit most automotive and truck applications. Some trimming may be required for precise fitting.
All of the materials included in our products meet Federal DOT (Department Of Transportation) safety standards.
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What you can achieve with a properly insulated vehicle?
Quiet riding comfort in the form of reduced interior decible levels, and virtually no exterior heat issues.
Quiet Ride Solutions performs pre and post tests on a number of vehicle each year in our continuing evaluation of our products and techniques. The results we get from these tests are suprisingly consistent from vehicle–to–vehicle, as shown below.
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Test Car Results
1964-65 Chevelle
This showwinning vehicle came from the Southeast part of the country and had undergone a full body restoration on a completely updated chassis and drive train, including a "GM 350" greate motor, a 700 "R" transmission and a high performance exhaust system. The body, interior, and all the mechanics, were first quality.
Our test drive told us the vehicle had major noise issues at all speeds--from idle to 70 mph. We dissmantled the interior, except for the new headliner and installed our off–the–shelf Chevelle Acoustishield Insulation Kit. Then, we reinstalled the interior over a new carpet. Our post test drive gave an immediate 20 db reduction in interior noise levels throughout the entire range of operation. When the customer installs the roof insulation kit, the interior noise level will be reduced even more.
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Secondary Benefits to Automotive Insulation
Along with the obvious benefits of automotive insulation, our customers report that their automative air conditioning is greatly improved because the cool air produced by HVAC systems is captured and maintained inside the vehicle. Customers tell us that they operate the air conditioner controls at lower levels after installing Acoustishield.
Audio systems perform better according to other customers. When the vehicle body is completely insulated, sound way transfer is virtually eliminated and audio system performance and clarity is greatly improved. Our customers report that they can reduce the speaker volume by as much as 50 percent with the installation of Acoustishield.
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