sound and heat insulation

found a great project for anyone who wants to give their 4wd a bit of TLC between trips.

A complaint of my GQ patrol has been the heat coming thru the floor on long trips (gear box, turbo and exhaust) and the lack of insulation between the heat/noise and the cabin. I guess a general issue with the older 4x4's (GQ's, 60's etc).

A closer inspection showed that the underlay from the factory was a joke and basically non existant between the firewall and the cabin. So last weekend I started from the rear of the Patrol and started pulling up the vinyl and carpet. This involves pulling out the seats and the side panels (both very easy on these older cars). Basically it all came apart with a spanner and a phillips head screw diver! It's also a good chance to get to know the in's and out's of your car (now I know where the water hose goes for the rear window for example).

I replaced the underlay with "formshield" foam from Clark Rubber. It is heat and water repellant foam with a reflective foil on one side. Placing this foil face down I covered the floor and wheel arches through out the whole car.

Wow what a difference. The lack of sound is quite noticeable and all the creaks and general noises of the body are now gone (well hidden anyway). The road noise from the wheels is also much quieter. I'm yet to do the front part of the car (remove front seats and firewall) and already the difference is amazing. Doing this next weekend.

Use a Stanley knife to cut to shape and recut the holes where the bolts go (seat bolts etc).

The foam is 10mm thick so it's a bit thicker than the underlay but the carpet still goes back in place and everything fitted back in place again. If anything it's got rid of any 'slack' around the place and panels etc fit better.

So, in summary, "formshield" is a very cheap alternative to the more very expensive dedicated products at only $27 per metre. Other products like "Dynamat" is around $400 per square metre!! It gives a very plush soft feel throughout the whole car and really starts to give the old bush basher quite a different 'feel' to it.