Bonzo do you ever check your personal messages?

Sometimes. Message Sent......

Just a heads up, I had the wheels off the car yesterday and I checked the rear wheel wells to see how "noisy" they were when tapped with a knuckle. I found that the outer half of the driver side wheel well had a distinct ring to it when tapped. The passenger side rear wheel well was not nearly as bad, probably because the gas filler pipe changes the shape of the wheel well liner. This was after I had done a fairly extensive Dynamat job on the car (see my prior posts early in this thread). I had some rubberized undercoating in the garage so I applied a heavy coating on the outer half of both wheel wells which seemed to make a modest improvement, this should help with "pebble noise" too. My advice would be to include a heavy application of undercoating in the rear wheel wells to complement the application of Dynamat in the interior of the car.

A couple of things to consider..

• Dynamat on the inside of the front wheel liners on the front (black plastic) made a substantial difference in volume.
• Dynamat (three strips spread evenly) on the metal heat shield above the muffler area stopped all the clangy vibration there.
• Dynamat on the doors is a very substantial difference too, more than the floor of the hatch I believe.

Do It Electronically?
 

MB has a technology that samples the sounds in the cockpit, processes them, and puts out noise cancellation through the audio system that removes road noise, wind, etc. Apparently this technology is smart enough to NOT cancel out normal speech :)

And you may know that the new BMW M5 produces artificial performance-engine sounds through the audio system to make up for the lame I6 sound it really makes.

THANK YOU!!!! This is what I have been saying about the pebble noise issue from the beginning. If what I've done so far doesn't help me ignore the pebbles a month from now, I'm going to paint them with rubber stuff too. Glad to hear it makes a difference.

Thanks again --- Bonzo

Damn man did you read that story about the cars of the future I wrote where everything is fake? This thing with the BMW fake engine sounds like that nightmare come true!

http://www.the370z.com/lounge-off-to...new-story.html

Lowes Frost King product
 

Just a point. I went to a business that details cars. Installs stereos, everything. They showed a sample of Dynamat to me. It was aluminized on one side, thin with an adhesive gray on the other side. So I went to Lowes and found a product that looked totoally identical but twice as thick. It is made for dampining vibrations and insulating metal ductwork. It was less costly and i cannot imagine what superior material Dynamat uses inside the product that would be substantially different from Frost King. [I]t worked for me and was cheaper.

Frost King worked for me too and so far no so called smell.

Noise
 

Smell. Theres no smell.

You really need to read this entire thread. Frost King has been discussed numerous times prior to your post yesterday.

Some people have posted up bad stories about this stuff not taking the summer heat well, and basically melting inside cars, creating a stanky goo that's basically impossible to get rid of. I guess only time will tell for you if it's true.

For me, why waste hours of time, hours of being uncomfortable, and the chance of mucking up your car, just to save a few bucks? We are not talking about the difference of $1000 to $100, we are talking the difference of like $150 to what, $50? That's just being cheap. See my post just above for more thoughts on this, and how I myself was cheap about this.

In my case, I bought the FatMat as well. I figured for ~ $40 I could cover the rear hatch area and well wells and down to the rear of the seats. I barely had enough to complete my job.

Additionally, I bought a $8 can of undercoating took off the rear wheels and sprayed the inside of the wheel wells.

It just so happened that I live on a street that is coming apart and the tiny pebbles were driving me crazy coming to and from my house.

My problems with road noise was only the tiney sound that the pebbles made hitting the undercarridge and wheel wells. If I'm on a road that allows me to go faster than 30mph the rocks seem to fly out under the fenders before they can even make a revolution and therefore no contact with inner fender wells. That's a good thing.

I'm glad to say that three hours later and $50 I'm pleased with the results. The sound hasn't completely gone away but, it sounds much more pleasant now. A dull thud vs. a high pitched and vibrated ping. I know it sounds like we're making too much of this but, it's not something I'd expect in a expensive street car. Something I expect out of a cheap econobox or in a race car or track car you expect it. I know why Nissan did it but I don't need the 20lbs it saves me on this item. You can still hear tire roar and tell the difference between road surfaces but, that has improved somewhat as well.

I took couple good long trips on the freeway and back mountain roads this week. Those roads had a lot of pot holes and gravel to test the work with. What I noticed is that I enjoyed the sound of the motor and stereo a lot more and it did seem to be more quiet. I could spend another $50-75 and 3-6 hrs installing more material in the doors and firewall etc... But, at this point I do not really see the need. I think I made a marked improvement over what the factory has done and at this point I do not think I need to do any more. Time will tell.

It only takes about 5-10 minutes to get all the rear panels and spare tire out of there so don't be afraid to tackle this one if you have modest skills. I can't seem to find the finished product pictures. But, here are the ones I took with all the panels out:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...Z/IMG_3509.jpg

I'd second that.... Plus, one of the members said it might help to put some FatMat /DynaMat material on the backsides of the fender well liner. Not sure exactly what that means. However, there is a plastic liner that is inside there that I'm going to have a look at. I think putting a bit of material behind that inner fender liner might help.

That plastic liner is where I put Dynamat on mine for the front. It helped a decent bit with noise. Just be careful not to cover up the mounting holes as I accidentally did. I just poked through and all was fine though.

Frost King
 

I thought I was the first to use Frost King. Ive never seen anyone else mention it previously. Well time will tell.

Maybe it they cleaned the streets where you guys live this would not happen!:icon18::happydance:

Agree..They should just take a piece and put in in a 120 degree oven for a while and see what happens before doing something that might ruin the car just for the sake of $100 dollars..

Actually, they do they do, all the time. Roads are very clean here on Southwest Ohio. It's not like Michigan, where the Mafia controls the road crews and they still have tons of dirt roads.

I just think it's everyone's different perspective on the noises they find irritating. A lot of folks here hate the tire noise. To that I'll use the over used phrase, "it's a sports car, and tire noise is good." I like that it's got a lot of tire noise. Makes me feel like I'm in a beast! :tup: This tire noise is "in" everyone's Z, but it only bothers some.

The pebble noise is there too, in each and every Z. Everyone has it. Some have said that while they hear the plinking rocks, it doesn't bother them a bit. Others have said they've never noticed it, which just means it REALLY doesn't bother them (or every car they've ever owned has also been a tin can so they expect it to sound this way). And others like me don't like it. We want a sports car with engine and exhaust and tire noise, but we don't want incessant plinking just over my shoulder.

So it's just all about what bothers the individual in particular. :cool:

Frost King
 

Now. Bonzo, I re-read the thread and found one post who mentioned he had a buddy use a homeowners product on his RX8. Had a problem with smell and melting. He didnt say it was Frost King. Frost King is meant to insulate and dampen vibrations on metalized ductwork that transfers heat to your home's rooms. Wasnt trying to be cheap. After seeing Dynamat , Frost King is thicker, so I chose it instead. Money wasnt a factor. Shyt, Id spend anything to satisfy myself with my car . I will monitor the product and let Evil and others know who may use it. By the way, My wheels and tires are on the way and should have them on late next week. Thats why I did this. The base 18s are said to be quieter than the larger 19s. My tires will be 255/295s Hankooks V12s. Ill report back on the issue of noise after the install.

I find it hard to believe Frost king would fail like that since its primarily associated with High temp heat ducts. Not worried at this point.

Evil
 

Me either

So far after my install the pebbles aren't bothering me. I went on a nice long easy ride yesterday with the wife and it was very comfortable in auto mode. I do still hear tire roar over the different surfaces but, it doesn't seem to be as bad as it was before and more like what I'd expect out of a sports car. I do have Pilot Super Sports installed and a mild exhaust that covers up some of sounds that were bothering me before. I did notice that the exhaust sounds better inside the car and that there is less droning. Which is a big plus. It's just very mellow rumble tone from the exhaust now. Just the way I like it. ;-) It's a lot like my Firebird now with just a little performance tire roar and rumble from the exhaust. You can still talk over it normally but, when you get on it they're like banshees screaming to get out. Nice balance....

I still can't believe how quiet my Vette is in comparison. I imagine there is a bunch of sound deading material in that Vette.

Mecinoid, do you feel the rubberized undercoating in the wheel wells helped out with the pebble sounds? I have dynamatted the whole hatch and lined the rear plastic fender liners with dynamatt. I still get the pebble sound though, i would say i reduced it by 20%. Road noise overall is down about 50% though. I tapped on the metal part of the wheel wells and even where i dynamtted they still still ring/vibrate like crazy. Almost like there is a cavity between the exterior wheel well and the wheel well in the hatch.

Results
 

I drove for an hour Sunday and I was simply satisfied with what I did. I used a product bought at Lowes called Frost King and lined my hatch area with 2 layers. Removed the spare and added 1/2 inch of carpet insulation over the insulating product. Everywhere I could add I did. I believe its necessary for more than Dynomat or other products. Think about it. If you could see what insulates a sedan that has no issue. I bet its not Dynomat. too costly for auto makers. Probably just some foam or cloth like products along with rear seating materials. So i left out the spare and folded a small bed comforter and now use the hatch area under the coroplast(the plastic just under the carpeting piece) as an unseen storage compartment. Im done. Im happy. Its a sports car.

I'm in with you. Feel the same. And yes, I think there is a cavity as you describe.

This thread is so friggin' long it's hard to remember who is saying what. As it turns out, it was YOU who mentioned Frost King, way back in February. So it was me who's mistaken. However, I think where it got me is that you've posted the same info many times over, and each time it sort of sounds like your mentioning it for the first time. Almost like you are trying to sell it or something. It also made it sort of appear like multiple people were posting it up, when in reality it was just you posting again. So my bad. But anyway, it appears you and Evil Sports are the 2 who have tried it and I guess we'll see about how it holds up. I really REALLY hope you are right and it's a different product than what scottIN mentioned, because that would suck.

High temp heat ducts? Just wondering what you are referring to? Certainly in-home ducting can not be considered high temp? I mean the inside of cars can get really hot, much hotter than the air a furnace blows through the ducts.

I sincerely hope you guys are right, and it would certainly go to show that the specialized material companies are just making more profit for a name.

I for one was just not willing to take that chance.

Frost King
 

Yea, it was me mentioning it. Simply to inform of progress. I'll be monitoring during the hot weather and post back. Ever try touching your ductwork at the furnace area during the on cycle. Its hot. :nutswinger:

That will be great for folks getting cars this fall. Could same them some coin for sure. :tup:

Can't say I make a habit of it no, but I have a heat pump system with the unit outside and an air handler inside. It does not get what I would call hot. Not nearly like a sun baked car

Companies doing this sort of thing doesn't surprise me at all; making a product, and selling it under different brands for different prices. I wouldn't be surprised if Dynamat (and the like) is made by the same people as Frost King, and is very similar if not exactly the same material. For example, back in the 90's I did a bunch of work with Schering Plough, who make Coppertone. The plain white 45 SPF bottle would cost $4.00, while the same sized bottle of 45 SPF Waterbabies would cost $7.00 (just using rough figures of course). Guess what was different about the lotion.....NOTHING, they were the same sun tan lotion, exactly the same. Only the bottle itself was different. They literally went down the same filling station line. According to my nephew there are actually only 3 or 4 makers of clear bra material, but if you shop around there are lots and lots of brands. For example, 3M actually makes a lot of them, but just changes the printing on the back liner to accommodate different names. They are actually all the same. My old boss used to do a lot of work with a pasta making company. According to him, every box of U.S. made dried pasta (like spaghetti etc) comes from the same company. There were SLIGHT differences in the pasta, but for all the 100 brands out there across the country, there were only like 5 pasta ingredient versions. I don't have exact figures on all this, so please no one jump on this with great detail. I'm just making a point that manufacturers do this all the time.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for you that Frost King is not the same stuff scottIN's friend used.

Cheers ---- Bonzo :tup:

Bonzo
 

Ill keep a close watch:tiphat:

Make sure you pull all those back trim panels out daily!!! ;):icon17:

Since it seems I started the whole vehicle / home thing using my buddy Steve an the example I'll chime in...

I have 100% no idea how Frost King performs. I don't know what brand he used in his car, just know that it was from a home improvement store & he did it because it was cheaper. I do know that whatever it was completely F'd his car.

I hope it works well for those who have used it. I wouldn't wish the mess he had on anyone.

Can we now return to our regularly scheduled program of what works and what doesn't?

I'd like to hear more about undercoating the wheel wells and any particular brands / methods that work well. The pebble noise - especially at low speed- is my only real complaint.

:iagree: 100%.

The place I got my mat from is called FatMat. They have a paint product that goes on blue and drys black, so you can see where you put it. You can brush and even roller it on (which I think would work great like painting walls in a house). Taint cheap though, at least not for paint. I think it was like $80 for a gallon. But I'm thinking with that gallon you might be able to get at least 2 if not 3 coats in each rear wheel well. I'm thinking that's the ultimate fix for our pebble rock noise issue. Although I must say the FatMat did at least turn the plinking into thunking, so it is better.

Here's a link to FatMat's stuff called Liquid Body Armor. I'm going to do more searching, but this is a start.
http://www.fatmat.com/liquid/gallon.html

+1.

This thread was started so that those of us that want to quiet their car's cabin down can share our ideas on how to accomplish this. I've done a few things and the car is now livable. It's not as quiet as my Corvette and is about as loud as my Pontiac. All vehicles have mellow performance exhaust in them however, until my FatMat installation the Z was not a great car to go on long trips with my wife. We ended up yelling at each other over the road noise. Now, we are not screaming at each other and can talk at a slighly elevated level but, the car could still use some improvements. Right now, the Z is acceptable and our trips out of town are nice .... we plan on taking this to the next level and making the car one that we don't have to reaise our voices in. That is our ultimate goal. I do not think that is too much to ask for out of a $35-40K sports touring car. Yes, we could have bought a G for a few thousand more however, it just doesn't make our hearts race like the Z car does.

I just recently put on my Hankook V12 tires and I must say that they lowered the road noise by a good amount. Compared to the stock tires, these are much quieter and much more comfortable.

I tried those tires and I will agree. I had the oportunity to step up into Michelin Pilot Super Sports after the Hankooks and they were just as quiet and gave me a little better transistion feel in the mountains. Not that they stuck any better than the V12 just a tad better response. For the price, it might not we worth it for everyone. For me cost was not a problem at the time. The MPSS are about $500-600 more per set than the Hankooks. That a lot of dough for what you get.... But, IMHO the Michelin are a tad better. However, you might have a ever so slight better ride in a straight line the the Hankooks. I barely could percieve a difference there but, I think the Hankooks are better there as well.

Good choice !!!!

It dulled it somewhat... Almost to a point you can't hear it. But, you still can. I plan on putting some FatMat behind the plastic liner as another member stated... just waiting for FatMat to show up. It's worth the $20 of Fat Mat to try. Plus there was a couple pieced together areas in the hatch I want to rework so the extra material will allow me to do that. $60 total is a cheap way to minimize / deaden the noise in my opinion. Plus, the stereo does sound better after this treatment.

Hankook V12s
 

Glad to hear your opinion. My dealer just got my order in yesterday, Wednesday. Mine are 255/295 .Attachment 43648

Attachment 43649

Frost King

The question of whether or not to put Frost King reminds me of a mafia movie..Someone help me with the name I think it was Cassino..anyway the FBI has rounded up a bunch of mafia dons and they are now trying to cover their trails..they have a meeting and are deciding who might talk and so who to whack and who not to whack..

They come up with a bunch of names and agree to whack them..then one name comes up..one don says, "He is a stand up guy no problems with him" The next agrees and says, "Ya he's always been a good soldier" but the third says, "Ya well he I agree he's always been a good man..but the way I figure it..why take a chance?!!"

Next thing you know he's whacked..(What was that movie?)

Same with frost king.....why take a chance?

Frosty
 

ill keep a close watch. first sign of trouble its out. But im guessing that aint the case.

Frost King Test
 

I was baking in the oven some rolls at 370 Degrees. So I decided to test a piece of Frost King. I turned the oven off after placing a strip on a metal cooking pan. Left it in there for 30 minutes. No smell. Easily removed as if it was 60 degrees. No gue. nothing. The shiny aluminized side had stayed about normal to the touch. The underside was normal . Took it outside for a smell test. It was fine. In appearance and everything. I dont believe this was the product used in the post where a friend had a poor expirience in a heated condition. For this puts end to this. Still will check but i dont anticipate a problem. :happydance: