Dynamat

[S.J.Szabo]

How about a chat about Dynamat?

This stuff is all the rage for sticking all over old cars these days, with very many adherents (pardon the pun).

I wonder how folks around this neck of the woods feel about the stuff.

[Meissen540]

Of course this is an opinion discussion....
To do an effective job, you got to use quite a bit of it, probably 75-100 lbs, maybe more. Its heavy stuff. I have helped install it, and driven cars with it. IMO it moves them closer to being a pig. These cars are about agility, and your moving farther away from that adding the weight. The cars are not loud. I see no reason to try and make it something it was never intended, and I dont understand trying to make these into more than what it is.

Thats my 2 cents

Tom

[roy mawbey]

Yes Tom, power to weight ratio I suppose its the same with people.

Strange though not many can see the connection. A lot of people seeing 1600 on the back of my car almost assume its small and therefore not that fast. Isn't of course today but was okay in the 50's.

oy

[Don C]

Roy,
Yes it's heavy, nothing like jute, but it does dampen the engine noise maybe 20% or a little more by my "ear fatigue" method. I used a product called "Fat Mat", like Dynamat just cheaper, based on a friend who used both. My car is a '65"C" and somewhere down the road ALL engine bay insulation was removed and most of the rear compartment insulation. About the only thing they left alone was the padding under the rear vinyl panel below the rear window. I used Fat Mat on all rear compartment panels up to the shift tunnel. I used jute and tar paper for the firewall in the engine compartment. It made enough difference that my wife will now ride with me!

[Don C]

Here's the rear compartment of my "C".

[Don C]

I noticed John Wilhoit uses Dynamat on all the interior panels up to the front footwell. I'm sure his customers expect a reasonably quiet car.

[Meissen540]

I'm sorry, I dont get it. Your driving around with you windows down anyway.

Maybe not quick today Roy, but it hangs with traffic! And the mommas in Minivans sure do like it!


WFO in the left lane,
Tom

[Ciscokid8]

Over the years I've only used Jute Padding because of the benefits without the weight.

[roy mawbey]

Hey Tom you are right, they do like the old car. I often get asked what is it, in petrol ( gas) stations. They often say its the Meissen blue colour that makes the car so attractive to look at.!! Certainly its not the driver

Very few light blue cars around now except for Fiat. ( At one time in the fifties I understand they also used Meissen blue )

Roy

[Meissen540]

So you have a Meissen car also? You dont see many of them! My Typ 540 is an original Meissen with black interior. One of these days i will take it back there. Its currently red.... I once said I would never own a red car.... just too many of them. Then one came along I couldnt pass up, and then another. Now I have to tolerate 2 of them. The second one is in the avatar, a little italian vixen.

[VirtuallyReal]

Roy,
I used a product called "Fat Mat", like Dynamat just cheaper, based on a friend who used both. I used Fat Mat on all rear compartment panels up to the shift tunnel.

Hi Don,
I'm about to start the restoration of my '64 C Coupe, and this is exactly what i have in mind for my car's insulation. I went to www.fatmat.com to check out this product, and i wonder:

how many Sq Ft do you think i might need to do my car? im planning on using this product on the entire cabin: front, back, sides, floors and (sun)roof.

They offer packs ranging from 25 to 200 Sq Ft; i might be able to make a guesstimate based on how much you used on the rear of your car.

Thanks in advance!

[Don C]

Manuel,
I ordered 25 sq. ft. of their "Mega Mat" product. I used just about all of it.
DC

[roy mawbey]

Tom,
My car is Meissen blue with red original interior. But its a coupe not a speedster!

Roy

[S.J.Szabo]

Well of course, the "tar" impregnated paper the Factory used (as did some others of the period) was the original. And it had the same downsides as the current versions, like weight.

Obviously, the Factory was willing to pay that weight penalty to achieve a level of quality of experience deemed necessary for the 356's price point. Particularly in light of the need to cast a better image than the VW that spawned it.

But there is this: when I removed the original matting from the floors of the Trusty Coupe, it seemed evident to me that the "planetarium effect" I found in the floor pans was largely due to moisture trapped under the matting.

Now, I realize that this is likely an issue for primarily horizontal panels, but I believe there are some vertical panels that exhibit similar conditions.

As Mr.Meissen540 has aptly noted, this is an opinion thread only, and while I have thrown the dice and left the remaining Factory matting intact, I cannot help but get the willies thinking about what might be going on behind all that applied matting, Factory or not. Or what it would take someone to find out for sure some time in the future. I wonder if I am the only one that thinks that way, which is what moved me to start this thread.

I ended up putting down a 1/2" jute mat on the well-coated floor (under full carpeting) that did a very credible job of keeping the noise down while creating a very pleasant, even plush, underfoot experience.

On the other hand, were the tub devoid of any matting, I suppose I would do my best to replicate the Factory version in visible places.

But of course, this is just one bloke's opinion.

What's yours?

[roy mawbey]

SJ,

I thought long and hard, over removing the factory ' sound deadening' from my cars interior but after removing one small rectangle no more than 9" x 4" in the front floor interior by the L/h wooden floorboard,and inspecting the floor itself and seeing no pin holes,I welded the small seam there that had rusted and bought then, some ashfelt type roofing material ( it was the 70's then ) and applied with heat.It matched up well and of course is covered by the rubber mat.

All the rest is still factory applied. I made a firm decision after gas welding so many hours, that every effort to keep my car dry would be made. And that has been the case, the garage is well insulated and part of the house so different to an external garage I had years ago.

After removing in the seventies, all the under car factory underseal that took me weeks to get off the floors and under wings it looked perfect for paint. Which I did. I then did still cover in underseal which seemed a shame. But is suppose any stone chips cause less damage.

I did though SJ apply some black paint to the interior sound proofing to really brighten it up in the front luggage area and engine bay.

I am pleased now, I never removed it.

Roy