If you want to actually drive your classic car or truck any long distance you will want to drop the interior noise and heat as much as possible. Eastwood X-Mat sound and heat barrier was specially designed with one purpose; to keep your ride cool and quiet. Recently we applied a few different X-Mat products inside a late-model pickup truck to demonstrate where these barriers excel the most.
When that Ford pickup came into the shop it sounded like an old tin can inside when driving down the road. We applied a few different X-Mat products to the floor, firewall, and doors. We started by rust proofing the floors and any areas that may have surface rust and cleaned all areas with PRE before starting.
Our next step was to install Low Profile Dense Sound Deadening inside of the doors. This style of X-Mat is good for areas where you don’t want a very thick product and attaches directly to the back of the door skin to reduce road noise that resonates inside the boxed area of the doors. Don’t worry about getting every square inch of the door skin covered and focus on the center of the door where the largest open area is. You can then use the Sound and Audio sheets to cover areas on the inner door panel area where door speakers may sit to stop rattles from speakers. This also helps well with decreasing overall road noise as well.
Our choice for the floors themselves is the All Purpose Low Profile X-Mat Heat and Sound Barrier. This is our best all-around sound and heat barrier and will conform in contours of the floor with the help of a roller. Use aviation snips or sharp scissors to cut excess.
For large areas where we could decrease the heat and sound the most we chose to use the high profile X-Mat. In this Ford Pickup it worked well to cover the entire back of the cab to reduce the “tin can” sound that is common in earlier pickups that were made strictly as utilitarian vehicles. Now Ryan’s ride is quiet and cool on the inside making for a much more enjoyable vehicle to drive year round. Find our full line of Sound Deadening and X-Mat products HERE.
