Noise attenuation before spending BIG$$$

[Alf-eh]

All of us enjoy the unique clatter of the "Alfa mechanicals". That said though, spurious wind noise, tire hum, road induced rattle and other distractions are points of common annoyance. It is relatively easy to spend major dinaro on the latest audio tech. One would be courting major disappointment unless some insulation from the aforementioned sources is given due consideration.
This new forum front is squarely where the techniques of "quiet travel" should be embellished. One big bonus here is that cosmetic originality is not affected. The plea goes out to the population of informed readership to tutor the less educated in the art of effective noise control. Types and brands of effective insulation, secrets of wind proofing, noise sources not intuitively obvious, "Alfa unique" quirks of annoyance and any products or exercises that were deemed useless or oversold are all topical. Note: Related discussions may be sprinkled about past forum discussions and reference to them will also be helpful. This though, should become the "go-to forum" dedicated to the audio (audible) enhancement of the Alfa experience. RATHER THAN THREADING THIS ENTRY, TOPICS OF FOCUS SHOULD BE TITLED AS SEPARATE POSTS AND THREADED TO AS NEW "RELATED" INPUT COMES IN. The purists will certainly object, but, hopefully also be tolerant. ---Robert

[tulsalfa]

It appears that no one has responded with ideas on noise suppression. I -for one - would be very interested in hearing more on the subject. I tried a search on the subject, but nothing turned up. Any advice on materials/placement/techniques? This is quite timely,for I am about to rebuild my door panels. Any advice would be MOST appreciated.

Thanks,
Dean

[Alfacliff]

be sure to put in the plastic sheet on the inside of the door panel. it keeps rain from ruining the partical board inside the panel.

I know a bit about suppression of electrical noise, but nothing about audible noise.
cliff

[tulsalfa]

Cliff:
Thanks for the advice, re: the plastic. I have visqueen panels cut to attach to the door frames prior to installing the new panels.

So, tell me more about the suppression of electrical noise. I have an 86 Grad and get some whine from time to time. I have read articles on adding a ground strap to the condenser and other addons to the coil and someone had a post about the fuel filter contributing to the electrical noise. Again, any advice would be most appreciated, as I would like my reception to be as clean as possible

Thanks,
Dean

[Alfacliff]

the fuel filter cant make any electrical noise. use a ground strap from the fuel pump to ground, also, make sure all ground connections are clean and tight for the fuel tank. this should shield the noise from the in tank pump. if your noise gets louder going over bridges or overpasses, use some ground strap across the rubber hangars for the tailpipe, it makes a good antenna for engine noise, being hung with rubber hangers.
cliff

[Tifosi]

Adding a stiffener to the trans mount can certainly give a bit of 'hum' to the chassis at certain rpm's, particularly at normal city speed in 3rd gear.

Loose dash or console mounting points can make for a sexy creaking noise.

One that always got me was this annoying high pitched metal on metal buzz that seemed be across the board rpm-wise. After weeks of chasing it, I finally got it to stop by making sure the lighter wasn't seated all the way in it's socket. (push it in, then draw it back just enough to get the ring on the lighter to come out of contact with the ring on the housing)

Kinda like putting little rubber washers between your keys so they don't rattle together....

[Richard2]

Has anyone tried Quiet Car? It's advertised as better than Dynamat.

QuietCar