Searching for a solid door sound

[Stezo]

Hi,

I've been bugged by the sound of my door when I close it. It's like a hollow "clank". I guess I'm used to having my VW family car and I think German's know how to have that solid "thunk" when you close it.

I'm sure most 124 purists will say it adds to the character of the car but I'd like to improve on it giving it a modern classic feel.

My question is: will dynamat inside the door help with this? And/Or applying a new rubber stripping seal be the way to go?

All suggestions and comments will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Ray

[klweimer]

I'd vote Dynamat, or some other heavy damping material. Lots of it. Will probably never sound quite as good as the German versions. I had a BMW 633 CSI that had doors that weighed as much as a Fiat engine block...
Kirk

[So Cal Mark]

one square of Hushmat on the inside of the outer door panel will give a solid "thunk" when closing

[Stezo]

Thanks klweimer for your comment. Nothing sounds nicer than that German thud but, you are right that door does weigh a ton! I should ask next time how many ply of sheet metal my VW has to make it so heavy.

SoCalMark - thanks for your expert advice. You're the true 124 guru!

Ray

[chrisg]

FWIW, there are some good threads (old ones...gotta search) on Mirafiori about that & sound deadening/vibration in general with good input from some minds who did that kind of work for a living. Might be worth looking at. Mark answered what is in essence the condensed version of those pages of dialog, so that is helpful. Maybe it's my imagination, but the older 124 Spiders (which are the ones I've always gravitated to) seem to have had something closer to the sound you are seeking naturally than the late ones. yeah, probably is my imagination....

[DieselSpider]

FWIW, there are some good threads (old ones...gotta search) on Mirafiori about that & sound deadening/vibration in general with good input from some minds who did that kind of work for a living. Might be worth looking at. Mark answered what is in essence the condensed version of those pages of dialog, so that is helpful. Maybe it's my imagination, but the older 124 Spiders (which are the ones I've always gravitated to) seem to have had something closer to the sound you are seeking naturally than the late ones. yeah, probably is my imagination....

My 78 has that solid sound and not the tin can note you get from some. Some newer cars actually have a plastic laminate on the steel to make them sound more solid. I forget if it was Toyota or Lexus that made a big deal about this when they introduced their cars which used the laminated steel for sound deadening.

[nelsonj]

I recently put Hushmat on my hood "bubbles". Really made things quieter and now the hood sounds really solid when it shuts.
I also added hushmat around my gearbox/shifter. Again, really made a big different on noise and heat reduction.

So, I agree with Mark and give +1 on the Hushmat idea.

Peace.
Out.

[PhillySpider]

"Great Stuff" expanding foam...

[pininfarina79]

What does "inside of outer door panel" mean? Work it through the openings in the door panel, past the window mechanism, to the outside sheet metal? I can just see myself getting the sticky part of the mat all hung up and screwed up as I try to stuff it through the holes. How big is a "square" of hushmat that would suit this purpose?

[kmead]

You don’t need a huge piece to get the sound reduction. Experiment with a few pieces of 6x6 squares installed on different parts of the door.

Start with the door panel off and shut the door. Then add the first piece so that it is near the center of the door panel top to bottom and left to right. Shut the door, if it gets you the sound you desire stop there. If its not what you want, add another closer to the lock mechanism.

It doesn’t take as much as you think, all you are doing is damping the vibration and stiffening the door skin.