Just got done wiring my amp underneath the driver's seat and installing a CDT 6.5" component set in the sails to go with my Boston acoustics 746's. System could use a serious tune after a trip to the transmission builder and I still have to dynamat/insulate inside the sails, but otherwise It's on par with what my hopes were.

However, I noticed a serious offender here are the vents in the door jambs. The baffles in them rattle like no one's business and you can feel the amount of air being moved by the woofers breeze past your arm from the door during a hard bass hit.

I was wondering, what did you guys do with your vents? I wanted to retain a stock look so I was thinking of removing them, cutting out the baffles and sealing off the openings with some epoxy and a piece of plastic, then hitting them with a bead of RTV around the edges before putting them back in to totally seal them off. I think there is plenty of openings left inside the sails for them to still be considered "ported".

I was just looking towards what some of you have done with your jamb vents and how did it affect the sound from the speakers? I'm thinking the jamb vents allow too much free flowing air into the sails and was thinking it might tighten up the bass as well.

 

I sealed them up when I installed a set of Kenwood eXcelon 8" woofers in the sails. Temporarily, I have a piece of cardboard cut to the shape of the vent and siliconed on the back side of the vents (will do the same with ABS later), then sealed the vents to the door jamb with silicone. Oh, and the back side of the sail panel where it opens to the rear of the hatch area is sealed off too, as well as any other opening I could find (expanding foam used sparingly).

 

Where can you get the expanding foam? I've been looking for some.

 

Lowe's or Home Depot. In a can called "Great Stuff" and comes in two varieties. For spaces up to 1" and for spaces greater than 1".

 

I'm doing the vents now. I'm going to epoxy a sheet of rubber bedliner on the back of the vents to seal them off, then run a bead of RTV to seal them to the body of the car. Not being cleaned in 26 years they looked kinda grimey so they're in the washer on spin cycle right now.

 

Since the vents are an integral part of the ventilation system, I wonder what kind of problem, if any, will/would arise by sealing them?

Curious, I checked my owner's manual:

"Your vehicle has a flow through ventilation system that provides a supply of outside 'ram' air into the vehicle when it is moving. When the vehicle is not in motion you can get a steady flow of outside air into the car with the heater or air conditioning blower running.

"With the side windows closed, the flow through ventilation system provides outside air flow into the front air inlet grilles, through the vehicle and out the rear air exhaust valves."

JamesC

 

When closing the doors or hatch, the vents are needed to allow internal air to be compressed & getting out/going somewhere if the other seals are good. Without the door vents, the interior air is getting compressed & has nowhere to go when shutting the doors so the doors could get a little more difficult to close, like not quite shut easily without pressurizing the interior.

Considering the age of our cars, most likely the seals don't seal that great anymore & nobody would ever even notice. Buy some new seals afterwards though & one should realize it then.

 

Even new, my hatch weatherstrip doesn't completetly seal against the glass with the hatch closed, so there's someplace for air to escape, however with the glass overhanging the welt that the strip installs on, no water gets in.