ATTN: People with exhaust noise in the cabin! - Honda Prelude Forum

JoeW · 05-29-2002, 10:35 AM

After reading a post here a while back about putting sound deadening material on the inside of the rear bumper I ordered some cheap stuff from mcmaster.com and put it on my lude. My first impression after driving around a bit was "WOAH!" this stuff really quiets down the resonation I used to get from my Thermal R&D exhaust. You can still hear the good tones of the exhaust, but the droning bass tones get absorbed by the material. I guess the shape of the bumper reflects the sound up to the cabin. Anyways, I highly suggest this to anyone who has an exhaust that resonates in the cabin. Here are some pictures:

Driver's side corner

Middle view

Passenger side corner

Around the exhaust

As you can see, there is a U shaped metal brace that goes horizontally the length of the bumper and a few flat brackets here and there. Basically I just wiped the area down with soapy water (dishwashing liquid) and then wipe it down again with rubbing alcohol. I cut the sound deadening foam in strips and covered all the areas I thought might be reflecting exhaust noise into the cabin. You could do it alot neater than this but I didn't really care since it was the inside of my bumper

Tools needed: Razor blade, measuring tape, soapy water, rubbing alcohol, 2 rags.
Overall it was very simple and well worth the money. I bought two feet of the Skinned Flat Foam Absorber with adhesive backing (item number 5692T49) from McMaster. It has a rating of .8 (the best being 1.0) and it is only $9.01 for a 1'x4.5' roll. I bought two feet but I still have about half of it left, so for the low low price of $9.01 your ears will be happy and your passengers will thank you

shik0me · 05-30-2002, 11:09 AM

Cool idea...thanks for the pics!

This might be a dumb question but is the material self-adhesive? If not, how is it secured on your car?

JoeW · 05-30-2002, 12:07 PM

Not a dumb question at all! They sell it with or without the adhesive backing. I bought the kind with adhesive backing and it sticks really well. Driving at 80+mph and getting it wet hasn't phased the adhesive any so far

Heat Rave R · 05-31-2002, 03:00 AM

Ah, I'm glad someone posted pics about this since I wasn't able to that in my original topic about how to do this.

JoeW · 05-31-2002, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Heat Rave R
Ah, I'm glad someone posted pics about this since I wasn't able to that in my original topic about how to do this.

Thanks for lettting us know about this! I was almost ready to take my thermal exhaus off lol. But now its music to my ears

I used the cheap stuff, so if you use the better sound deadening material, you will probably get even better results.

So far this foam with self adhesive backing is holding up fine through driving 80+mph and getting wet. I'll keep you updated if the adhesive begins to deteriorate, but I think it will be fine. If all else fails I can secure it with screws

SLICK96 · 06-01-2002, 03:52 AM

SWEET! Ever since I stripped the second set of subs that have blown, I've been looking for a great way to deaden the drone from my Greddy SP. Thanks, bro!

joedaddy · 06-01-2002, 12:30 PM

u didn't tell us HOW MUCH!!!

ice1cube · 06-01-2002, 01:15 PM

how does dynamat work for this? is it safe to put dynamat in those places? or would it fall off..........also, how much does dynamat cost as compared to this....?

axion68 · 06-01-2002, 01:58 PM

I would use dynamat, I think this stuff will do the job as good as dynamat does. Dynamat is spendy as hell, I imagine it would be around $75 for that much dynamat. I must say that dynamat is well worth it in the cabin, I did my rear deck w/ it and it got rid of all the rattle and had a much richer noise from the back, now I gotta dynamat my trunk

Ruchmate · 06-01-2002, 03:44 PM

How many square feet of this did u need?

schwett · 06-01-2002, 04:09 PM

GREAT post! i brown breaded my trunk a while ago with hopes of acheiving the same thing, but to be honest it didn't help much. some, but not much. the sound seemed like it moved farther "forward," so the bread may have been doing something.

was the difference REALLY noticeable? i HATE my thermal.

unloadmydodads · 06-01-2002, 04:25 PM

Since I work in the selling of these types of materials, I have to ask you what exactly is this stuff made of. It just looks like closed cell rubber neoprene sponge. If that is the case then this stuff will wear out over time especially exposed to air, water, high heat and exhaust fumes. Plus you also run the risk at catching this stuff on fire because the exhaust gets real hot. This is just a quick fix and I do not recommend this material to serve this purpose. If you want I can research this a little more to give you the safest material that will not wear out as fast. Plus I could also sell it to you.

thewedge4 · 06-01-2002, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by unloadmydodads
Since I work in the selling of these types of materials, I have to ask you what exactly is this stuff made of. It just looks like closed cell rubber neoprene sponge. If that is the case then this stuff will wear out over time especially exposed to air, water, high heat and exhaust fumes. Plus you also run the risk at catching this stuff on fire because the exhaust gets real hot. This is just a quick fix and I do not recommend this material to serve this purpose. If you want I can research this a little more to give you the safest material that will not wear out as fast. Plus I could also sell it to you.

holy sh!t, whan I first glanced at your username I thought it said unloadmynads!!

shik0me · 06-01-2002, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by joedaddy
u didn't tell us HOW MUCH!!!

Umm...

"Overall it was very simple and well worth the money. I bought two feet of the Skinned Flat Foam Absorber with adhesive backing (item number 5692T49) from McMaster. It has a rating of .8 (the best being 1.0) and it is only $9.01 for a 1'x4.5' roll. I bought two feet but I still have about half of it left, so for the low low price of $9.01 your ears will be happy and your passengers will thank you"

Reading is fundamental

ice1cube · 06-01-2002, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by unloadmydodads
Since I work in the selling of these types of materials, I have to ask you what exactly is this stuff made of. It just looks like closed cell rubber neoprene sponge. If that is the case then this stuff will wear out over time especially exposed to air, water, high heat and exhaust fumes. Plus you also run the risk at catching this stuff on fire because the exhaust gets real hot. This is just a quick fix and I do not recommend this material to serve this purpose. If you want I can research this a little more to give you the safest material that will not wear out as fast. Plus I could also sell it to you.

find out what kind and try to hook us up!

Rapture · 06-01-2002, 07:20 PM

Surprised nobody asked this yet....but how much does this stuff wiegh? It seems like a pretty dense material and would weigh a good amount.

schwett · 06-01-2002, 07:59 PM

i'd be willing to bet the whole 2 feet weighed less than 2 pounds.

Quote:

Originally posted by Loodlover
Surprised nobody asked this yet....but how much does this stuff wiegh? It seems like a pretty dense material and would weigh a good amount.

h7y · 06-01-2002, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Loodlover
Surprised nobody asked this yet....but how much does this stuff wiegh? It seems like a pretty dense material and would weigh a good amount.

good question, and also it looks like that foam on the exhaust would melt wouldnt it??

Rapture · 06-01-2002, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by schwett
i'd be willing to bet the whole 2 feet weighed less than 2 pounds.

yer prolly right. It's just that autoXing, drag racing etc etc i gotta worry about that extra weight crap. 2 pounds isn't bad at all.

jc836 · 06-01-2002, 11:38 PM

Great Idea-sort of.
I did the dynamat in the back end-covering the area on the passenger side of the spare well and up under the side panel. There is also a small strip running across where the taillights are.
You do not have to cover the whole area-just the corner and it is entirely inside the car. My Thermal works great-mellower than when purchased nearly 3000 miles ago. The mat kills a resonance between 2000-3500 rpm that really bothered me a lot.
As to the foam under the car, I must think that it can fail over time-mainly here in the Northeast; it is also a bit of a fire hazard where you have it.
Another thing-make sure that ALL of the heat shields are tight. I won't recommend removing any of them on a 5th gen. The one above the muffler is useless with a Thermal-but it has its purpose. If you insist-do use something like the Cascade paint on heat shield product (it also deadens).
Happy Luding