I pulled all the interior panels out of the 84 trans am I just bought to give them a good cleaning and I was wondering if anyone has ever put some of that thin self adhesive weathertripping material you can get at the home depot along the inside of the plastic panels to firm everything up and possibly decrease any rattling or interior noises that might happen inside the cabin? I'm trying to make the inside feel as tight and quiet as possible. Any tips or suggestions would be great. Thanks!

Ben

 

Welcome to the site. Read this; https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...servation.html

It should cover most of your questions.

 

If your panel screw mounts are in good shape, they shouldn't make noise the way everything is layered. However, some of the panels are made with crappier plastic than others and the screw holes and clip slots get broken . The headliner trim and hatch trim panels are the worst for this. In hard tops the long apillar covers are often loose.
Inspect all your panels and repair any mounting points with plastic weld or similar. If you can't repair that area, consider replacing it. You can use double sided tape where the part sits nice and tight to the next panel or body, but if it's a place where the shape of the part makes it want to pop up, the tape won't stay very long.

 

I have seen where small patches have been added to reduce noise around the dash area, but not in the back Make sure the matting is still attached to the inside of the back panels, as it is often removed.

I like the idea and it might work, but I wonder if regular self adhesive would hold up for automotive use or not. The delux option often included carpeting which I'm assuming would also reduce noise as well.

 

Thanks for all the input. I didn't see any matting on the rear panels when I had them out. I know I'll be using some for the front since I have a few dash squeaks already.

Ben

 

The matting is for sound deadening, but doesn't really do anything about squeaks and rattles.
Don't worry to much about the interior panels, you are correct to focus on the dash and doors for the source of most annoying rattles.

 

FWIW, if you haven't seen it before, the matting is like a thick felt material, lightweight and hot glued to the plastic. It often gets wet and is removed because it's just sitting in there loose.
Oh, and I noticed that the 4th Gens use a heavy duty velcro type of material to hold the panels in place. It's really cool the way it locks together, and I'm not sure where you could use that, but it seems like it would help reduce movement.

I do agree that you'll probably find a lot more going on in the doors and front dash area.