Sound-proofing a Niva
In order to eliminate a lot of road and transmission noise, I have come up with some simple and inexpensive techniques.
Obtain a roll of soundproofing felt from your auto accessory shop. The felt material on sale here in Australia is approx. 1.5cm thick. It has an inner layer of a bituminous compound with a tightly woven felt on the outside, top and bottom- so it’s actually three tiers, or layers, of soundproofing material. Inside the car, insert appropriately cut sections of the material into the following areas: 1. underneath the rubber mats on the floor- front and back. 2. remove the plastic/vinyl side covers in the foot-wells, in the front, and line with more sheets cut and shaped to size. Replace covers. 3. Line areas behind pedals and under the dashboard. 4. Remove plastic cover over the transmission tunnel (inside the car) and fully line it with the material-again cut and shaped to size. Cut round openings in the material for the three gear levers to protrude through. Replace cover over the tunnel. 5. Line the firewall, inside the engine bay, with sheets of the same material- cut the sheets to appropriate size and line all visible metal of the firewall, e.g. behind the windscreen wiper motor etc. The material is fireproof as well as being soundproof. 6. Line the inside of the car`s engine bonnet with the material- here you will need a good quality contact adhesive glue to install the material.
I have done this soundproofing work on my 1997 Niva and the result is tremendous! The addition of this extra material is just what the car needs to make it as quiet as any expensive luxury car. If the insulation felt material I refer to is unavailable or hard to locate. it would be in the interest of an enterprising business to have it manufactured, as it is here in Australia- or alternatively have it imported in. The soundproofing material is, as I have explained, of 3 layers- and it is the inner bitumen layer that makes all the difference. In Australia, it is available in different size rolls and different grades of thickness. It is applicable to all makes of cars and trucks. Hope this has been of some assistance to other Niva owners out there. Greetings from Australia and happy motoring to all loyal Niva enthusiasts!
I purchased the soundproofing felt material here in Australia, from Tru-Fit Car Carpet. Their address is: 73 Sydney Rd.Coburg. 3058 VictoriaAustralia. Their E-mail is: carpets. com. au/ main frame. html. They manufacture the material themselves, and it is available in rolls 1.5 X1.0 metres. In Australia, the cost is approx. $40 - which is approx. $30 U.S.
Check out your local automotive carpet companies - they should have a similar soundproofing product. If not, try some sites in the U.K. Type in "car soundproofing" - or something similar, and see what comes up.
Regards, Andrei from Australia.
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Use water-proof material:
I was reading link on sound proofing the Ladas and just thought it would be good to tell all the Nivatisties out their that they should keep in mind that they should try and use a product that doesn't hold water.
There are products out there, the two I have seen that seem to fit the billare a closed cell foam (like the blue foam in the pictures) with or without adhesive backing, or a product like Dynamat a butyl/bitumen backed metal foil there is a product called gutter repair tape in Australia that is very similar to Dynamat and much cheaper you use a heat gun to heat the material so it moulds to the surface and softens the backing to adhere better just make sure the surface is clean.
ChesneyHarteveld
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And here’s some images I’ve found: