Chasing Classic...squeeks and rattles.

[cygnusx1]

Since both of my Z cars are in a fairly stable states now #knocks on wood#, I decided to make them sound and feel more like, or rather, less like, a tin box of bolts. I am writing today, about this months long journey, to summarize my path to success, that was achieved today.

One must first understand that I do have a mildly stiff setup in both cars, with poly bushings everywhere, low profile tires, and choppy roads. Oh, and no radio. It's a recipe for rattle and creak. Little by little I have had great success in chasing most of the creaks away.

1) Back-coating the plastic interior panels with spray undercoating.

2) Grease all the plastic rivets upon reassembly.

3) Snug down every nut, bolt, and screw you can find.

4) Push, pull, bump, tap at almost anything in and outside of the car that you can, and listen closely for creaks. Remedy as needed.

5) Use a thin coat of THICK damping grease at the hatch guides, the rubber blocks on each side of the hatch opening, and the latch hook.

6) Rub a light coat of oil on the hatch strut piston, and it's hinges.

7) Rub down all the weather seals with your favorite lube marinade.

8) Take out all the loose crap in the car, or stuff it in compartments wrapped with rags.

9) Of course make sure all the suspension joints are well lubed.

10) Look for loose wires and harnesses. Secure with zip ties. They can vibrate and cause mystery buzzing sounds.

11) Adjust latches for solid fits at the doors and hatch.

12) I found that the plastic escutcheon plates that snap into the interior door pulls rattle. Remove them, wad up a piece of masking tape on the back, and snap them back in.

13) This one was odd and annoying. I had the loudest CREEK-SNAP-CLICK coming from somewhere up at the passengers roof line, over side window....read below.

I thought it was the plastic panel that houses the dome light. Nope. Then I thought it was the quarter window. Nope. I could not duplicate it in the garage. It only happened when I drove. In a desperate attempt to recreate it, I pulled up hard on the right rear wheel arch and POP. There it was! Coming from around the drip rail area. When I pushed down on the drip rail it popped again. Repeated this until I moved to the interior. I grabbed the vinyl covered roof liner edging on the passengers side with my fingertips and pulled down. CREEEEEEK. Bingo. I got it. Somehow the roof skin and the interior roof "lip" thingy were making a sound together. I took my WD40 nozzle and poked it deep in the crack at the edge of the roof liner and sprayed along the seam, as if to chase out roaches. Nailed it! It's gone.

I took a test drive and it sounds as tight as my BMW in the 240Z now.

I suppose having a partner to ID the noises while you drive would be VERY helpful. I did not have that luxury for this. I hope this helps someone. :stupid:

Edited April 14, 2012 by cygnusx1

[LeonV]

Good stuff, I hope to get to that point someday. Nice job Dave!

[72 OJ]

thanks, this is very informative, my Z has a few cabin creaks and this info will be use ..............

[madkaw]

Dave,

it has to be satisfying to get to that point of refinement. In the process of all my mods on my car I have been watching for ways to gain that refinement. It sucks to have a sweet looking ride and then have to listen to those squeaks and rattles when you drive the car around. Thanks for pointing out some of your finds since they are probably common with a lot of these cars. It's a PITA to find some of these noises since they transmit to other areas of the car.

[ZCurves]

Dave this is a great list! Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

[GreenZZZ]

I'm in a similar mind set and going for a smooth ride cruiser Z and wanted a quiet solid sounding car. Went with Lizard Skin on the unibody, both sound and heat insulation. How does she sound? No idea... Need probably another year of weekends to find out...

Gallery Link

Gallery Link

[Mikes Z car]

Lee,

Do you have any other pictures of the underside of your car with the tank out? I have been studying the frame in that area for spraying the inside of it. They can't be sent by PM I don't think. Maybe you could put them on your blog so they don't wind up on this thread?

Thanks,

Mike

[cygnusx1]

Lee that looks amazing. I am sure you will be able to hear the car rusting, it will be so quiet....well maybe not rusting. Not when it's THAT clean. I didn't do any noise insulation or damping per se. I can stand the road noise, and the engine noise. I can't stand the squeaks and rattles which psychologically detract from the build quality impression. I am sure however, that what you did will accomplish BOTH tasks; reducing external noise, and minimizing vibration-induced interior noises. NICE!

[GreenZZZ]

Mike, PM sent with links to some gallery shots. Dave, when you knock on the panels prior to and after the insulation getting sprayed, the panels went from a ringing ping to a nice mid-tone with a steep fade off (no ringing)... So it might be worth it, don't know yet.

[pbarcher]

I was also seeking a quieter cabin, so a few years ago I put Dynamat on every surface that I could find, except for the headliner. I put it on the back of the interior plastic panels too, which stiffened them a lot. For the transmission tunnel I first installed Dynamat, and then .25" Dynaliner which is a foam material that sticks on. I used .5" Dynapad on the floors too. This was a lot of painstaking work, but the results are great. Much cooler and quieter.

After reading here from some members who regretted using poly bushings, I used OEM rubber instead. The car really rides like new.

Peter

[mjr45]

I used a product from eastwood very much like Dynomat and also used builder's expanding foam in some of the void spaces i.e. the inside rear bottom quarter panels, helped immensely, also covered the inside of the doors and the roof under thye head liner, I also put a thicker tube around the door lock rod which stpped it from rattling. Overall a much quieter ride.