Minor interior tinkering... [modem burner]
09-26-2006, 12:51 AM
#161
Race Director
And now for the $100,000 question....
I actually took part of my interior apart, wheel wells, and sound undercoated my car five years ago. I added a lot of extra sound insulation around the back wheels, rear coupe, doors, and undercarriage. I was surprised at how much road noise you can knock out of a vette.
On the backside of the rear wheel wells, I even used fiberglass batting just like homeowners use. When I was done, my car was SO much quieter that exhaust and road noise were reduced to less than half. More importantly, my car felt slower!
I thought to myself... Gee, did I add that much weight? NO! I removed the batting from the rear wheel wells and raised the exhaust volume by replacing rear mufflers with stainless tips.
When the sound level was restored, it felt fast again. My conclusion... Sound affects your perception of speed. Didn't really surprise me much. I remember the first time I drove a luxury car on the highway. That lack of environmental noise made it easy to creep faster and faster.
Have you noticed that with your sound-proofing job?
When I COMPLETELY redo my interior this winter, I'm torn about how much extra insulation to add. Quite, noise-isolated cars are nice, but we're talking vette here.... I don't want to make it SEEM slower!
gp
I actually took part of my interior apart, wheel wells, and sound undercoated my car five years ago. I added a lot of extra sound insulation around the back wheels, rear coupe, doors, and undercarriage. I was surprised at how much road noise you can knock out of a vette.
On the backside of the rear wheel wells, I even used fiberglass batting just like homeowners use. When I was done, my car was SO much quieter that exhaust and road noise were reduced to less than half. More importantly, my car felt slower!
I thought to myself... Gee, did I add that much weight? NO! I removed the batting from the rear wheel wells and raised the exhaust volume by replacing rear mufflers with stainless tips.
When the sound level was restored, it felt fast again. My conclusion... Sound affects your perception of speed. Didn't really surprise me much. I remember the first time I drove a luxury car on the highway. That lack of environmental noise made it easy to creep faster and faster.
Have you noticed that with your sound-proofing job?
When I COMPLETELY redo my interior this winter, I'm torn about how much extra insulation to add. Quite, noise-isolated cars are nice, but we're talking vette here.... I don't want to make it SEEM slower!
gp
09-26-2006, 05:25 AM
#162
No, mine was pretty loud from the start so no amount of sound insulation can make it quiet. The insulations took out all rattles and most squeaks and tire noise but engine sound is still clearly there.
My dd is Audi A6 V6 which is so well insulated I cannot hear engine at all in highway speeds. Compared to that my Vette is 10x louder.
If you still are afraid of losing engine sound I recommend you go and buy long tubes, delete precats and install free flow mufflers and you should be ok
My dd is Audi A6 V6 which is so well insulated I cannot hear engine at all in highway speeds. Compared to that my Vette is 10x louder.
If you still are afraid of losing engine sound I recommend you go and buy long tubes, delete precats and install free flow mufflers and you should be ok
09-26-2006, 11:43 AM
#163
Race Director
Originally Posted by ToniH
If you still are afraid of losing engine sound I recommend you go and buy long tubes, delete precats and install free flow mufflers and you should be ok
Actually, I have side pipes, a larger front Y, and I did delete the front pre-cats (for awhile). Then it got kinda loud -- inside the car. It was never too loud from the outside. (When I'm done with the insulation, I might yank the front precats again)!
Vettes have some vicious internal harmonics.
I would love to do mine one day like this
11-27-2010, 08:54 PM
#169
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2004
Location: Everett WA
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C4 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Tony, have you got your 91 all back together since the front end accident?
Your interior job is so beautiful that we all want this car to be on the road to serve as an inspiration to all C4 owners that a classy interior is indeed possible on a C4
Regards,
Mark
Your interior job is so beautiful that we all want this car to be on the road to serve as an inspiration to all C4 owners that a classy interior is indeed possible on a C4
Regards,
Mark
11-28-2010, 04:28 AM
#171
Luckily the damage was mostly to front bumper cover and the hood so the damage itself was a easy fix technically (frame and suspension were ok, even the crash bumper was ok).
Meanwhile, I bought a '70 454, have no big plans but eventually I have hope to do an interior restoration/update to it too.
Last edited by ToniH; 02-27-2020 at 07:09 AM. Reason: updates
11-30-2010, 02:38 PM
#173
Le Mans Master
01-02-2012, 10:59 AM
#176
Cruising
Member Since: Nov 2009
Location: Soyen Bavaria
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Today I worked to finish the car so a big day for me 
It took several hours to make the center console panel fit properly with the hu in place. For some reason it didn't want to fit at all - when I got one corner straight another popped out. So I grinded it again and again test fitting between. In the end it fit pretty good but I needed to repaint it. Paintwork ended up better than it was before
I also once again removed the airbag to get the horn buttons out. I then sanded them again and applied the final color and clear coats. They turned up nicely too.
Finally I installed the last panels: driver and passenger knee panels and the small triangle panel becide gas pedal. They were total b.tch to install when everything else is already in place - no room!! In the end I got them in and now my interior is 99.8% finished.
Thank you everybody for your encouragement!
It took several hours to make the center console panel fit properly with the hu in place. For some reason it didn't want to fit at all - when I got one corner straight another popped out. So I grinded it again and again test fitting between. In the end it fit pretty good but I needed to repaint it. Paintwork ended up better than it was before
I also once again removed the airbag to get the horn buttons out. I then sanded them again and applied the final color and clear coats. They turned up nicely too.
Finally I installed the last panels: driver and passenger knee panels and the small triangle panel becide gas pedal. They were total b.tch to install when everything else is already in place - no room!! In the end I got them in and now my interior is 99.8% finished.
Thank you everybody for your encouragement!
I only miss a double-DIN Radio/CD-Player, the small one looks not originally and a little displaced and tiny in dashboard.
02-27-2020, 02:41 PM
#177
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2004
Location: Everett WA
Posts: 7,690
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C4 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Finally!!!!!! One of THE best threads in the C4 section has been unlocked and resurrected.
Tony has been in touch with the Mods and it was agreed to unlock this old post in the interest of the C4 members.
This is the most detailed highest quality interior project I've ever seen posted here. This really should be put up in the sticky section!!
Thanks to TonyH for doing this project and for the wonderful photos. Thanks to the moderators of the Forum for unlocking this thread!
Tony has been in touch with the Mods and it was agreed to unlock this old post in the interest of the C4 members.
This is the most detailed highest quality interior project I've ever seen posted here. This really should be put up in the sticky section!!
Thanks to TonyH for doing this project and for the wonderful photos. Thanks to the moderators of the Forum for unlocking this thread!
03-01-2020, 03:10 AM
#178
Thanks, don't know about the best. I am sure there has been many similar and even better executed projects after mine but I might have started this thing - among C4s atleast. Cannot remember seeing any before mine, factory style restoration was the standard way to do it back then.
But, I just wanted to get the pic links updated after 8 years as I keep getting PMs about the project and pics, so I reached out to the Admin and he agreed to open it. Years ago it was locked because of an rule about old threads, which is no longer in effect because it killed so many build threads like this.
It was challenging to update the pics after all this time but I think I got them in roughly right order based on the discussion and my descriptions.
This is now 3rd pic hosting site they are located, 2 previous ones have shut down, hope this one endures.
But, I just wanted to get the pic links updated after 8 years as I keep getting PMs about the project and pics, so I reached out to the Admin and he agreed to open it. Years ago it was locked because of an rule about old threads, which is no longer in effect because it killed so many build threads like this.
It was challenging to update the pics after all this time but I think I got them in roughly right order based on the discussion and my descriptions.
This is now 3rd pic hosting site they are located, 2 previous ones have shut down, hope this one endures.
Last edited by ToniH; 03-01-2020 at 12:02 PM. Reason: typos
