Project Boondoggle (or, so I went and bought a Z!)

[HuD 91gt]

I'm going to be eager to hear how quiet your Z is after properly sound deadening it!   I'd love to do the same thing, but i'm scared about how much weight i'll be adding.  Any idea what it will total?  Great work so far!

[rossiz]

i used sound mat (tar-like adhesive side w/foil top surface) throughout the floor pans, inside of the door skins and on the underside of the roof and then followed with a heavy, rubber-backed carpet with thick jute backing and it made a significant difference on my 280. later i did the inside of the spare tire well and was impressed with the further quieting that occurred. the tire well rings like a bell to the knuckle and after sound mat just a dull thud. seems like the high frequency noise was most removed, kinda like turning down the treble knob on the road noise. the doors sound a lot more "solid" with the sound mat, less like a tin can. i bought the sound mat in a roll and had plenty, so i did the whole floor pan and tunnel - not sure if it was necessary, but i was in there so just did it all. 

[charliekwin]

Onward with sound deadening.  I screwed up on my order and bought 1/4" closed-cell foam mat instead of the 1/8" I'd used before.  That's a comparison between what I had left over and what I bought.  It's fairly expensive stuff, though, so I ran with it and hopefully it won't be a problem when laying the carpet.  I did a couple test fittings and I think it'll work okay.  A few pictures of the whole process, which is basically just a lot of measuring, cutting, sticking.

Oh, I was clever and did this with the leftovers.  Should've thought of it weeks ago.

As for the weight?  It's heavy stuff: 1lb per square foot.  I didn't measure, but I'd guess there's probably about 20lbs total in the car.

Santa brought me the ACC carpet kit, which I'm diligently avoiding installing at the moment, since I don't yet have the nerve to start cutting it up  So I decided to start cleaning up the rear deck a bit instead because it -- like everything else -- was disgusting.  Shots before, after using detergent, and finally the steam cleaner.  Still not entirely happy, but I may call it good enough until I get around to stripping and painting the rear deck.

My great victory for the night was on the wheel well and tower vinyl trim.  Even after scrubbing and steaming, it was still deeply dirty and stained.  On a whim, I tried wiping a stain with acetone, which took the stain and a lot of accompanying grime right off.  I went through 6 paper towels that all look like that one before calling it an evening, but already the trim is back to life!  Too bad about the rips, but I can put off replacing for a while until the budget allows.

Edited January 2, 2016 by charliekwin

[charliekwin]

Updates on some of the smaller things I've taken care of here and there.

The scuff plates were in bad shape, so those were stripped (which took longer than I'd like to admit), hit with the wheel and knocked back into shape.  Since I was planning on going through the trouble of painting them, I figured I may as well do the same with some of the other bits and pieces that could benefit from some attention.  All were given a brushed-on coat of the MasterSeries silver paint.  Not exactly original, but better looking.

Also dealt with the seatbelts, which was a gag-worthy endeavor.  Delightful things found in the passenger seat belt included: a quarter, a nut shell, and chewed gum.  The belts were soaked in hot water with Oxy Clean, rinsed, hit on both sides with the steam cleaner, soaked again with Oxy Clean, then rinsed twice.  That nasty water was from the passenger side; the driver side was significantly worse!

It was well worth the effort, though.  They don't smell anymore, nor give me that vague "ewww....I need to shower" feeling whenever I have to handle them.  Only hiccup: I dropped it on the way out to the garage!

[rossiz]

i went through the same drama with the scuff plates - took hours to get the nasty curled-up vinyl wrap off and wire wheel them down to clean metal. i tried to re-wrap with vinyl but couldn't get anything to stick well enough so i went with black epoxy paint and they've held up pretty well.

when i cleaned out my seat belts i found corroded coins, cigarette butts and several false fingernail tips (ewwww!) inside - they work better now...

[charliekwin]

Glad I'm not the only one that struggled with it!  I plan on re-wrapping them (or at least trying).  I grabbed two different vinyls at Joann and was able to find a retailer that shipped Weldwood HHR contact cement to me here in CA. If that doesn't work, black paint or bedliner it is.

[Captain Obvious]

Charlie,

When I first got my car, my driver's side seat belt webbing was badly frayed. I have since replaced the whole assy with a donor in better condition and then took the old one apart to see what made it tick. With that in mind, I think I have a plastic side cover sitting in a box that I would be happy to donate to the cause if you're interested.

If so, shoot me a PM and we can chat.

[Zed Head]

I saw a post on another forum a little while ago from a guy who got hit in his Z.  His belts looked in good shape but snapped on impact.  He bashed his face and nose on his steering wheel and looked pretty messed up.  The polymers used in the belts are susceptible to degradation from sunlight.  They can look fine but actually be severely weakened.

If there are any vendors out there who want to develop a new product, bolt-in replacement belts would be an easy sell, I think.  We're all surrounded by SUV's and distracted drivers these days, plus many have grown accustomed to having an air bag in their other cars.

[charliekwin]

Zed, I thought about the same thing.  I saw a handful of threads on various other boards that say the webbing should be replaced, but not much definitive on subjects like when, how likely the belts are to break, or the loads that would cause it to happen.  I suppose the relative lack of I-almost-died posts that I've come across makes me think it's a relatively low risk decision to stick with the belts I have for now. Hopefully I don't Dunning-Kruger myself into the steering wheel.

Captain, PM sent!

[Captain Obvious]

4 hours ago, charliekwin said:

Hopefully I don't Dunning-Kruger myself into the steering wheel.

You made me go look that one up.

Wow... That describes me to a T. Never knew there was a name for it!!  

[siteunseen]

10 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

You made me go look that one up.

Wow... That describes me to a T. Never knew there was a name for it!!  

There should be a motorcycle named after them. 

Learned something new today, back to bed now.  Thanks CharlieKwin!

[ksechler]

16 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

You made me go look that one up.

Wow... That describes me to a T. Never knew there was a name for it!!  

Haha!  I did the same thing.