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Setting my fuel economy issues aside, I've begun to think about my noise and heat issues in my 1968 130 sedan. Some days the car just feels like a 40-year old steel box...
I am particularly annoyed by "slam" I get when I close the bonnet or boot. It sounds a lot like a trash can, but is obviously not *quite* that bad. I know thsi can be improved by I'd like some advice on how NOT to wreck some other part of the car in my quest for a quieter ride.
I've read that article about heat, rust, and noise in VWs *MANY* times. I tried a few of the suggestions on my wagon (q-pads, kool-patch), but I never got to working on the hood or roof areas. I will probably use those approaches on the sedan's cabin after the weather improves and I can safely POR-15 the interior floor and the inside firewall. I plan to install some eDead or Q-pad type noise filter foam on the floor, firewall and probably above the headliner. I'm lucky to have a car nearly devoid of any body rust and lacking that caustic jute-felt material.
Back to the hood...
I've now replaced the 8 rubber bumpers for the fenders and hood and was sadly not greeting by a significantly less noisy bonnet closing. I know I can put some noise reducers on the hood and trunk lids, but I am a bit concerned about the heat from the engine.
1) I worry that the heat from the engine will not dissipate properly and that the engine and noise-muffling material will get burned by the accumulated heat.
2) I could also install some of that nasa foil stuff you can get at the home improvement stores to reflect the heat, but wouldn't it just reflect the heat back down on my engine bay? I worry about boiling fluids, melting hoses, and overtaxing the "usually-warm" engine condition further.
I imagine that these would not be much of an issue on the trunk lid (boot). Please correct me if I'm overlooking something back there.
So... before I order up some eDead or start to spray on the 3M adhesive to attach the reflective foil, can I get some opinions on quieting the engine bay and making my car's bonnet and boot sound like a solid brick, as opposed to a couple loose trash-can lids...
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I played with my hood a bit today and found that it would close fine with a gentle shove at the end. Nice "click" and no "clang." Weirdly it was not playing nicely last week and I did have to slam it. No matter, I won't worry too much about that end right now.
I am still a bit concerned about the trunk. Ron mentioned a cover back there? I can see that there was some...thing attached to the trunk lid that is now gone. Looked a little card-boardy judging by the remnants around the screws... What was it supposed to look like? Was there supposed to be a light back there? This is my *first-ever* car (of any kind) with a trunk and I'm not sure what it should look like...
The trunk still sounds like a trash can lid and I wonder if ordering one of those "Alternative" trunk seals I see on eBay might not solve the slamming noise
problem. Alternative Seal
Has anyone ordered one before? It is supposed to be a press-on seal that is superior to the OEM seal. Since most of my car's rubber is hard and inflexible, it couldn't be any worse that what I have.
Mind you I still want to put some sound-deadener in the trunk to reduce road noise and keep the contents cooler, but if I can put a proper cover over it, then I won't be too concerned about how it looks...
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I have one of these seals on my 122 trunk. Put it on after I painted it last summer.
Very high quality. It fits tightly on the metal lip and you don't need any sealant. Compared to crusty OEM seal that was always flopping around, it makes a big difference. I had to straighten my metal lip on my car in a couple places to make it fit right and I also trimmed it a touch but I really like it.
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A while back on one of my 140's I made an underhood blanket out of the headliner from an AMC Hornet wagon. The headliner was a 1/4 inch thick fiber matte with a sort of plasticky finish on the interior side. I simply used contact cement and in 10 years of driving had to reglue it once. You can keep yours in the family by using later 240 or 740 hood insulators. It makes a huge difference in the sound of the hood closing (and I'm of the close it gently and push down on the hood to latch persuasion) and cuts road/engine noise down noticeably. I can't imagine having underhood tempurature problems with any of the pre-pollution control Volvos. The only downside I can see is the loss of the visual image when you open the hood on the 122 -- I had a great '64 wagon -- dark gray with a back hood from a parts car. I polished the underside of the hood (paint was in great shape from years of oily slime) and it made a perfect mirror to reflect a prettied up motor. Your 122 reminds me of the '68 I had - same color - removed the bumpers, used American Racing 5 spoke mags -- definete fifties American hot rod look--only needed lake pipes to be complete.
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Well, this car will never be a hot rod or a show car, but I want it to be a nice looking reasonably efficient safe smooth ride. I actually changed those wheels out with my 67 Wagon's original wheels. Then I installed a set of those aluminum trim wheel covers that have the matching oval slots. When clean, it looks like I have shiny chrome rims.
Anyway, visually, I see your point. Reflective foil might look a little chintzy. I have no issue giving the interior floor that sort of treatment because it will be covered by rubber matting and carpet.
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You gotta remember that your side doors are heavier, hollow, and faced by
upholstery on the inside and have noise-damping material inside the outer surface.
They also have a soft foam seal moulding all the way around the outside.
A new seal around the trunk along with an adjustment that makes sure you compress
the seal moulding around it will probably help the closing noise there.
Likewise if the bonnet/hood does not compress the rubber seals and bumpers all
the way around when it closes, you will get some rattling so maybe you need to
adjust the hood a bit lower in back or get thicker rubber there if that makes it
too low. Bigger bumpers in front and across above the radiator may also help.
I believe there is some adjustment in the position of the arch panel over the
radiator also. If not, maybe some thin sheet rubber and contact cement will
allow you to build it up to get good contact.
Like the others say, you should be able to adjust the hood latch to where you do not
have to slam the hood to latch it (but you WILL have to press it pretty firmly).
If you have not baffled the air flow to under the car from the sides of the engine
you can insulate your hood and firewall to a fare-thee-well without doing any harm
except during long-standing stationary idling, which should be avoided in a 122 in
any case.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!
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I assume the rubber gaskets on top of the radiator bulkhead and above the firewall are in like-new condition; same for your trunk seal and bumpers on the bottom of the trunk lid.
You will get some ringing from the springs on the hood hinge assemblies. I've always thought my stock hood makes a delightful sound upon closing, and the latch is properly adjusted so there is no need to slam the hood, simply applying firm downward pressure with the palm of my hand is all that's required to latch it shut.
I like the sound of my engine, and the roar of the carbs under hard acceleration; it's part of what makes having an old car so enjoyable. I could do with less road noise...
Oh, and BTW, superbrightleds.com has some 12 volt 1.5" by 1.5" flat multiple hi- brightness LED panels with 1156 and 1157 socket bases; I suspect you could stuff one of those inside your side marker lamp assemblies.
Bill
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When I've tried to "gently" close the hood, the latch does not catch well. I've tried to adjust the catch to no benefit. A little force seems to be needed.
The rubber is new on the front crossmember and bumpers, and looks intact at the rear seal.
What I'd like is something like the nice "thunk" I get when I close the side doors. I know the volvo engineers put a lot of time and effort into that nice solid "thunk" and It bothers me that my hood makes such a clang when it shuts.
Seriously, though, my main concern is *not* turning my engine bay into an easy-bake oven. I know that the 1800E has a layer of noise-dampening material on it's hood, and all my later model volvos (x2 740s, x1 940) has a heat/noise blanket on the inside of their hoods.
Based on that, I would not think I'd be headed for trouble.
I'll check out the LED lights, but I already installed the 1800E lighted reflector assemblies on the fenders and quarterpannels. That photo is from july of last year so you can't see the chrome rings around the reflector housings. I would like to find some way to get those lower tail reflectors lighted..
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It might be worthwhile to check the alignment of the hood latch pin; see if there is uneven wear around the tapered part. I had to enlarge the holes slightly on the front nosepiece where the hood release mechanism plate bolts in, and shift the plate forward. If you have to slam the hood to get it to latch, there is something wrong. Most of the echo you hear after you close the hood is from the springs ringing into the sheet metal of the hood; a kind of 'spring reverb'.
For damping the sheet metal of the hood a couple of wide strips of deadening material would probably be enough; you don't have to cover every square inch of the underside of the hood to inhibit vibration.
If your worried about excessive underhood heat, have your exhaust manifold and downpipe ceramic coated; it makes a big difference.
I've been thinking of making my rear reflectors light up too.
I think I would probably cut the back of the reflector shell open, and leave enough metal around the edges to bend over into tabs that would secure it against the inside edge of the reflector housing, and seal it or gasket it.
I would then weld in a crosspiece with stud into the reflector housing for the new mounting point.
All that would be left after that would be to devise a bulb/reflector, or in my case, load a piece of electronics perfboard with leds and a current limiter circuit and mount it right against the back of the reflector plastic.
Bill
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Forum;
I agree with other posters about the source of the "ringing" lids, especially the hood...even with the seals and bumbers loading up nicely around the perimeter, it doesn't dampen that huge expanse of sheetmetal nearly enough when you bang it down...but why you would be slaming either one is beyond me...trunk should latch when deliberately closed from about 6"(but not "slammed")...and hood should be adjusted (and latch lubed) as other poster has already stated, so that they are closed by clicking into the first latch, then applying a good downward handpush to load up the spring and catch the second latch. Since this is a "it hurts when I do this...issue" (hood rings when you slam it closed), my advice is to make it so you don't have to slam it anymore!
BTW....NO ONE but me opens the hood anyway because of the internal latch release, but more importantly, NO ONE CLOSES MY HOOD, but ME...because if they wanged it down from fully open (like they're used to from when they close a hood the size of Nebraska on a Crown Vic with its massive support springs), I'd likely be arrested for what I'd do to them on the spot!!!!
...but quiet foam is actually the right solution...that expanse of sheetmetal needs to be dampened from ringing like a bell...a while back, I actually looked into making some hood quiet kits of the same sticky backed 1" foil faced, high temp foam that the popular 1800 kits are made of...but it was clear to me that it wasn't as simple as sticking that foam under the hood...the foam would need to be held with something in addition to the adhesive, because when and if that adhesive let go and allowed the foam to drop onto hot parts, the risk of lighting it up was too great IMO. I may pick up that engineering effort again if there is interest (I would have to buy a sizeable quantity of foam which I just don't feel like sitting on), but for the time being, I did simply stick several 2" X 14" (or so) dampening foam pads under my trunklid...the cardboard inner wall is long gone...and those foam pads helped quiet it down quite a bit.
As far as the under hood temps, I agree with other poster here also...they are nowhere near as high as modern cars (with cats often partially in the engine compartment)...when your moving there is a veritable windstorm under there (plenty of room for air movement in comparison too), and gobs of air coming through the rad and flowing out under the vehicle...and when parked, there isn't an air seal around the sides of the hood so it can escape there.
Lighting the reflectors: I agree more light signature to the rear is better, but lighting up the lower reflectors is not as easy as it might seem. The OE lenses are reflecting lenses (duh) and as such the inner surface is a three-corner-reflector (TCR), INTENDED to return the maximum incedent light coming THROUGH the lens, not transmit it from BEHIND as the normal (transparent) upper lenses (although it will probably allow SOME transmission...which might be acceptable as it's more than nothing at all). In order to allow MAXIMUM transmission of light from a source behind the lens, you would have to machine (Dremel?) off the TCR surface (or the TCR would reflect the light back to the source also because it works from either direction), the rough, machined surface remaining would act as a diffuser so would still be OK. If you then located an LED array behind the lens, you would get maximum transmission from the LED source...worth studying...
Cheers
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I always rejoiced in the sound of my 68 -142 bonnet/hood slamming shut -had an effective, final and musical sound that said "Done".
If that's all you're fretting about I think you're approaching perfection.
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