insulation

[Staypuff]

is there anyone with any bright ideas on how to insulate the car. seems that temp change inside/outside of car effects the other very easily. i for once would like to keep heat/coolness, depending on the situation, in the car. also on that note the 2 rear windows arnt sealed well....any suggestions for those????

[geozukigti]

Buy a mercedes :-P. Heh. Well, Geo's don't seal very well. But they shouldn't leak air at all. check your seals. Also, if they seem to be leaking, try putting vaseline on the rubber seal. It may just stop your leak.

[normalicy]

Depending on the year Geo this might help. I have '95 & '96 Metros. They both had their side view mirrors loosen over time & started to let in some air. Seems that the top screws tend to break the post that they screw in and the top of the mirror lets air into the car. Also, the thing is pretty much hollow in any of the body panels which doesn't keep any heat. Since I work at a carpet store, I got some felt padding & lined all the panels that I could get to & it made the car stay warmer & quieter. As for the windows.... Silicone,

[movin2stereo]

Felt padding will hold moisture.Moisture will cause rusting.

[normalicy]

Only if there is water in the first place & in the second place, look at what the factory put in under the carpet... Yup, felt.

[movin2stereo]

When the factory puts sound deadner in, it is wraped in plastic and for reason.

[geozukigti]

Peel back your carpet one day... I bet there's rust. lots of it. The carpet and felt hold water, to the point where it'll turn the floorboards into swiss cheese after about 10 years. I can't count how many metro's I've seen where if you take the carpet out, you can see the ground underneath it.

[normalicy]

Not sure where you've been looking, but I've been installing stereos in cars for over 15 years and at least half of them have plain ol' felt padding attached to the bottom of the carpet with no plastic covering it (even Cadillacs now that I think of it). Heck, plastic is a bad thing, because then there is no way for the water to evaporate when it does get under plastic (thus why plastic's so good for green houses). As for rust, I've had the carpet out of both my Geos and there isn't any. I even live in the rust belt.

[movin2stereo]

Usaully floorboards have a sound deadner on themselves,it's like dynomat,which acts as a moisture barrrier also.Water can make it's way underneath it also and that's when rust starts.My floorboards don't have rust cause I keep it dry.So if your sticking felt in your quarters and doors your looking to do the same thing.

[geozukigti]

Your best bet to deaden the sound is to use tar. The factory sticks tar to the floorpan to absorb vibration. If you're gonna use felt, put a thick layer of tar over the area first. It'll add weight, but it'll be a much more pleasant ride.

[Staypuff]

what did you do to recarpet the metro..do it yourself/how...or take it in?????

[normalicy]

That's all good, but the OP was actually wanting to know how to insulate for heat not sound. Otherwise, I would have recommended dynamat (or a generic).

As for recarpeting, I didn't. I just pulled it out so that I could lay some dynamat & felt to both deaden the road noise & keep a bit more heat in. However, if you buy a premolded piece of carpet it wouldn't be hard at all (I don't recommend buying flat pieces from a carpet store, because they just don't stretch well enought to look right unless you're on a real tight budget). The front seats are four bolts a piece, the back seat is just clipped in if I remember & then you only have to worry about the center console & a few clips here & there . I'd say you could do it in 1-2 hours depending on skill level.