Reflextex

I got some Reflectex from OSH Hardware and we cut it to size of the windows in the back bed space. It makes an amazing difference in temperature with direct sunlight on the van windows. It also makes the back bed feel like a tomb because with almost all the light blocked out from those windows it is so dark.

Flying bug removal

Latest Discovery: The attic fan is for bug exhaust. Our SMB has an attic fan and we don’t keep the bug guard on. Most nights we turn it on to blow air out of the van. We ate dinner with the back door open and a rear bed light on. Many bugs came in the van. To get them out we turned on the light by the attic fan and turned off the back bed light. The bugs were drawn to the new light source but before they could reach the light VOOM out the attic fan they went. The van was empty of bugs in about 5 minutes. Sweet!

Rattle stop with felt

Noise Rattles: We put extra firm 3/4" round fabric tabs from KMart on the doors of the cabinets. It seems to have quieted the rattle a significant amount. Most effective $6 fix we have done yet.

Bishop

We took a three day, two night trip to the east side of the Sierras (Independence, Bishop, and Mammoth Lakes, CA) for some hiking and climbing. Our misfire issue revisited us as we headed up a steep mountain road to Onion Valley. Again not sure what the cause could be? This time seemed more likely it was an overheating issue but the engine gage was only at two thirds. Just sputtered and died maybe a fuel injection issue with climbing so much altitude since we started the van at 4,000 ft and died in the parking lot at 9,200 ft.

Sound Deadening Project - Research

We are planning a major sound deadening project right now which has about three phases. The real ultimate goal is to quiet the front cabin while driving to decrease the volume of our voices when talking and decrease the required volume of the stereo. A secondary goal is to reduce the heat coming off the dog house engine cover.

Phases:
1. Front door noise dampening mat and add insulation at bottom of door
2. Dog house noise dampening and insulation
3. Noise dampening mat the center floor space (we have a dropped floor with linoleum)
4. Sound dampening on the wheel wells.

Research:
First as for all projects we had to do some research and pick our products. Way back in the day I had friends who were into stereo competitions so I'm familiar with dynamat and such products and there cost. So we thought we would use generic EVA dynamat from McMaster on the front doors, center space floor, and outside of the dog house. At $17 for 12 sq ft it seemed like a good deal but for 4 sheets (48 sq ft) and shipping that is $83 and only a DLF (Dampening Loss Factor or ALF Acoustic Loss Factor) of 0.1 it seems kind of ineffective. I knew Dynamat xtreme was $140 for 36 sq ft so what is the value difference. So I fully geeked out on research of products and this is what I found:

Some important items to know:
1. Some cheaper products are relabeled roofing products.
2. The cheaper products are asphalt based and so have odors when they heat up and are ineffective when heated up.
3. Noise products break into two categories;
A. Vibration Dampening (best for applying to sheet metal and can be effective even in small strategic placements)
B. Noise Barriers (must have complete continuous coverage to be affective)
4. All the better products have a foil. Sold on rolls or as sheets.
A. Some retailers claim if it is sold on rolls it must be inferior as higher quality product with be ruined if rolled

If you want to gain some quick understanding about products watch these videos which showcase secondskinaudio.com products:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR1Jucuas_k
www.youtube.com/watch?v=03PjUZbGeWM
Just the first 2 minutes give you a good idea what you are going for with the treated and untreated cymbal.

Product suppliers:
Secondskinaudio www.secondskinaudio.com
Dynamat www.dynamat.com
B-quiet.com http://www.b-quiet.com/
eDead www.edesignaudio.com
McMaster http://www.mcmaster.com/#9709t39/=38dpu1
Raamat www.raamaudio.com

Phase 1: Vibration Damping Products for use on doors and any other sheet metal we can expose:
The unit is called Acoustic Loss Factor (ALF) which is the same as Damping Loss Factor (DLF). The range extends from 0 to 1, with 1 being the best.
Product name - ALF value; Price for typical purchase and amount of product; $/sq ft delivered
This is roughly in a ranked order quality which roughly correlates to cost:
1. damplifier pro - ALF?; $175 for 36 sq ft; $4.86
2. dynamat xtreme - 0.42; $140 for 36 sq ft (9 - 18"x32") ; $3.89
3. eDead 120 - ? ; sold by sq ft; $3.50
4. damplifier - ?; $115 for 40 sq ft; $2.88
5. RAAMmat BXT II ?; $115 - 37.5 sq ft; $3.07
6. B-quiet Ultimate - 0.39; $117 for 50 sq ft (1' x 50'); $2.34
7. RAAMmat BXT ?; $134 -15" x 50'; 62.5 sq ft, $2.14
8. eDead 80 - ? ; $2.34 sq ft
9. B-quiet extreme - 0.29; $91.5 for 50 sq ft; $1.83
10. Regular dynamat - 0.14; price?
11. McMaster Mineral - 0.13; $115 for 36 sq ft (4 - 24" x 54"); $2.78
12. McMaster EVA - 0.1; $81.8 for 48 sq ft (4 - 32" x 54"); $1.70
Product descriptions:
damplifier pro - viscoelastic butyl rubber 0.68 lbs/sq ft; Foil 6 mils 80 mils (2.0 mm) (12" x 20")
damplifier - Viscoelastic butyl rubber 0.48 lbs/sq ft 4 mils foil 50 mils (1.3mm) (12" x 24")
Dynamat xtreme - elastomeric butyl and aluminum 1.7 mm thick, 0.45 lg/sq ft
RAAMmat BXT II 4 mil soft aluminum finish, ~0.49 lb/sqft, 250 degree temp rating
RAAMmat BXT $134 premium Butyl mat 60 mil; 2 mill aluminum; 0.35 lb/sqft; 15" x 50'; 62.5 sq ft, 300F degree rated; $2.14
B-Quiet Ultimate butyl based is 1.6mm (60mil) thick, weighs 0.35 lb/sq. ft. comes in 1 foot wide 50 sq. ft. rolls
B-Quiet® Extreme - Rubberized asphalt; 1.15 mm (45 mil) weighs 0.30lb/sq. ft., comes in 1 foot wide rolls and is available in two sizes: 12 and 50 sq. ft. rolls
eDead 120 - ? 115 mils 1 mil litewarp 5 mil aluminum; Butyl Mat
eDead 80 -
McMastercar
install thread with pics http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4078069
McMaster EVA ethylene vinyl acetate 2 mm (79 mil)
McMaster Mineral filled vinyl 50 mils (1.3 mm)

Thoughts: Well I think Number 4-6 seem like the best bang for your buck. I pull for the little guy so this sways me away from dynamat to RAAMat and Secondskinaudio. In the end Secondskinaudio interests me more so I'm thinking damplifier. However, my co-pilot is a tech nerd and she is thinking just go all the way for damplifier pro.

Phase 2.Hoodliner Research
1. Dynamat Hoodliner $60, 54"x32"x3/4"; 0.13 lb/sq ft; 1 mil aluminum; polyether, urethane-based, thermo-acoustic foam; $5.00/sq ft
http://www.dynamat.com/technical_specs_hoodliner.html
2. Motor Mat Pro $40; 24"x54"x3/8"; 0.31 lb/sq ft; $5.56/sq ft
http://www.secondskinaudio.com/thermal- ... o.php#tab5
2.A Second skin seems to take this all a step further with additional products like Heatwave Pro a thermal barrier.
http://www.secondskinaudio.com/thermal- ... o.php#tab5
3. Super Sound proofing $97 for 1" x 48" x 48" closed cell; closed cell expanded vinyl-nitrile foam; 225F rating; $6.06/sq ft
http://www.soundproofing.org/infopages/hoodliner.htm
4. Cascade $100; 37"x54"x3/8" thick; $7.21/sq ft
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowde ... tab=2#Tabs
5. Badger way; $13 Walmart sleeping pad; Home Depot duct insulation $20; 5/8" barrier; $2.75
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1 ... ogId=10053

Thoughts: The Secondskinproducts really give you a tear off the old rebuild with technology bionic doghouse. With our doghouse application it seems the best application would be a layer of damplifier, a layer of Motor Mat Pro, and a layer of Heatwave Pro. This gives a 0.8" thick barrier which weighs 1.0 lb/sq ft. However given the doghouse is plastic the damplifier layer maybe unneeded.

Phase 3. Rear linoleum flooring
1. Secondskinaudio Luxury Liner Pro; $50 - 24"x54"; 1.2 lb/sq ft; $5.55/sq ft
http://www.secondskinaudio.com/noise-ba ... er-Pro.php
2. Neoprene closed cell foam; $46 - 80" x 48"; $1.725
http://www.closedcellfoams.com/neoprene.html
3. Walmart sleeping pad closed cell foam; $12 - 72" x 19"; $1.37

Thoughts: Our application size is 30"x64 so I think our best bet is Neoprene as it will be a single sheet and durable.

Phase 4. Additional Project phase added:
After watching the video I realized for our van we needed to do some work on the wheel well space so we are thinking we will try some secondskinaudio Spectrum Sludge.

http://www.secondskinaudio.com/sound-de ... sludge.php

Our wheel wells are about 1' by 4'. So one gallon should get us through three 1 mm applications and have about 0.4 gallons left to use maybe inside the front doors or anywhere else we can find to slop it.

Rear Speakers

We upgraded the rear speakers. I got MB Quarts 6x9 speakers online. When we removed the interior covering we found the whole door was empty and had a lot of space. I really wanted to spend the time to covert this space to some usable storage but that would require cutting the sheet metal and making new interior so we settled on just filling the door with insulation and installing the speakers. We considered using reflectix but it seemed like fiberglass insulation would be more effective given all the space. However behind the speakers we were not going to be able to put insulation in so we found some duct insulation material at home depot. Real easy to work with, R value of 3, and only about $1.20/sq ft. The speakers sound great and the door is definitely solid with that insulation added.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&N=5yc1vZ1xhf&R=100028603



Installed