I used the Frost King in the back of my Z and thought it was worthwhile for the time and money. I also purchased 36 sq. ft. of a product called Fatmat which is very similar to the Dynamat Extreme. So far, I have done the panels behind my seats and have been impressed with the effectiveness of it. Plan to do the front and doors sometime this winter. No issues with Tar smell here (Georgia) this past summer (interior is black). Total cost was $54 + shipping. If anyone's interested, I believe the website is http://fatmat.com/ (imagine that)!

 

I'm really having a hard time understanding this thread.

We have a GM engineer who used scientific data to compare the different methods of sound insulating the interior of a Corvette. His recommendations were based on cost, effectiveness and intangibles (such as tar smell). As a result of that six week evaluation, he has provided us with an economical way of substantially reducing road noise in a C5.

On the other hand, we have a couple of people who have subjective opinions on the effectiveness of a product they spent hundreds of dollars on. There's no data to back up any claims of greater effectiveness. We know that Dynamat will produce a tar smell at higher temperatures and it costs six times as much. Just what am I missing here? Why the hell would anyone go the Dynamat route?

Just my .02 cents.

 

Aren't GM engineers the ones who insulated the car in the first place?

I found Evil's comments very informative. The day before this thread was posted, I had ordered some dynamat.

Based on the info in this thread, I plan to do an oven test of dynamat and smell the stuff for myself before putting it in.

 

For me I also want to damper as much vibration as I can, for aftermarket stereo purposes as well. So I was thinking of doing a combo of Crazy's 1/8" product throughout and on roll of dynamat or FK on top in the rear. With Crazy's product being only 1/8" thick I can double up easier if I really want to hush things down.

From what I read the frost king is not as effective as Crazy's in reducing the tunnel heat, so I will probably try out Mike's suggestion of Reflectix.

 

that wasn't my idea though; Evil Twin discovered the Reflectix material.

 

The OEM C5 project was never directed at insulation, or a quiet ride. Ive said many times its weight reduction and project cost.. weight reduction is equated to MPG. The car has No insultaion by design. I wanted a quieter car.. I had the test chamber, I new the car was worth making quiet. Adding 100 dollars worth of insulation, and 50 pounds of weight to the project would have been way out of the the project budget for an OEM car. The cut the thickness of the windsield just to save a few pounds.. they would have never bought 50 pounds for insulation..
I tried to get color coordinated latched to match the rugs in the trunk hatch area...installed in the C5,instead of the all black ones.,, ofcourse my car is the only car in the world with color coordinated latches, that came off the GM mold designed for this purpose. the cost would have added 1.5 cent to each latch. It was turned down for cost reasons..

Based on the info in this thread, I plan to do an oven test of dynamat and smell the stuff for myself before putting it in. was it based on this information or my response to your private message, and a specific course of action I gave you regarding your specific situation. Does 150F in your oven for 6 hours ring a bell?

 

I saw your post on this thread , PMed you b/c you said you were done commenting on this thread. I plan to follow your advice and see what dynamat does in the oven - I wasn't aware of the smell issue with Extreme, so thanks for your advice. I already gave you credit for info in my response. Not sure what you're getting at If it makes you feel better I can post my question and your response over PM.

The stuff about GM designing the insulation in the first place was a joke, hence

 

For anyone really interested in just how critical weight reduction was on the C5, I highly recommend reading, "All Corvettes are Red", about the building of the Corvette C5. It's a great story and will give you a lot more insight into the problems they faced and resolved to give us such a wonderful car.

 

I can't believe I haven't seen this post earlier...

We sell the precut insulation kits for the C5 front and rear, the material is similar to FK but thinner and more dense with foil on both sides which makes is more heat rejecting and able to be used on the console area without problems. I have riden in a C5 Coupe that had the Frost King just recently and the sound reduction IMHO is the same as far as I can tell except for maybe a little more noise due to the console area not being covered. I did not have the decibel meter with me for that ride, but I have since done a test with a Radio Shack meter on a Coupe that I did the install on showing an average of 11db sound level reduction at 55 mph. Our kits will save you the time of spening the whole day JUST CUTTING the pieces. We also include FULL instruction on disassembly and what tools are needed.

I'm going to offer the kits at $200 shipped, which is our holiday sale price (before the sale starts!) to you anyone interested from the forum. We had an intro-sale a month or so ago that sold like mad and have been selling them at the regular price of $250 shipped since with great sales #'s. Feel free to contact me with anything else you'd like to know and be sure to check out the website WWW.EXOTICVETTE.COM (you can click on my sig) for info, I try to update as much as I can on the site, still learning the whole web-design thing.

Dyna-mat is good stuff, to do a whole car, as you can see will run you over $200 and that's for a couple boxes of uncut material. Plus, I must tell you, the heat reduction from this stuff simply is AWESOME. I don't claim to be the EXPERT in noise reduction, I just know what works and that our product, while it may cost a little more than buying rolls of Frost King, will save you a lot of time and headache if you plan on doing it yourself AND give you results that the wife will be happy with on those Cruises with her

Dan

 

FK works and is light. Dynamat may have better damping but my goal is to keep the weight down.

 

 

I picked up several rolls of Frost King at Lowe’s (sku# 28929) yesterday and removed the whole interior carpet and seats today. My wife will help me to lay the Frost King on Thanksgiving day. I hope we can finish the interior and restore the carpet/seats in one day. I also plan to remove the wheels and insulate the wheel wells on Friday.

The Frost King is very thin, only 1/8” in thickness. I wonder I should put two layers instead. Would that be overkill? Also, I wonder I should buy a roll of Reflectix for the tunnel area.

 

My understanding is that it's best to lay down a double layer where possible. This second layer should run opposite the first (vertical vs. horizontal) for best effect. I also understand that you should use Reflectix on the tunnel area.

 

I have these thoughts:

If the main propose of 1/8” Frost King self adhesive duct insulator is for noise/vibration damping purpose, one layer should serve the purpose. Two layers should be better in theory but the effect would not be doubled.

I have installed a 1/8” stainless steel and ceramic coated tunnel plate several months ago. The heat from the tunnel area seems not a problem anymore. For the Reflectix, it is superior to the 1/8” Frost King in heat reduction. However, because it does not have the self adhesive layer, it may not do a good job in noise/vibration damping as Frost King. Please comment.

 

Probably a bad batch. I had several rolls and they rolled open easily, and had one roll where the foam stuck to the wrong side and would tear.

 

I did my 98 Coupe and 02 ZO6 with the Frost King. I used one layer on everything. Around the tunnel I added an additional layer of foil covered bubble wrap. It worked really well in preventing the heat soak thru. The only problem that I saw was that the extra thickness of the FK and bubble wrap caused the seat to rub hard on the carpet when the seat was moved forward and backwards.
To fix that problem, I cut out the areas on the bubble wrap where the seat touched the carpet and all is well!

I also installed the bubble wrap on top of the tunnel under the console! It made a major reduction in heat!

BC

 

My wife helped me today to lay the Frost King for the whole interior. With two layers in some area, we used 8 rolls. It's a good 8 hours for us but the result looks good. I will remove the wheels and insulate the exterior wheel wells tomorrow. I hope my hard work and $150 material will yield a good pay off.

 

EIGHT rolls?

Oh hell! I've only got five.

 

Did you get the Frost King recently here in HOuston and if so where ,I have been looking for it?????

 

Check Home Depot or Lowels. Some hardware stores may also carry it.

BC