Its time for the first upgrade!!!
I have been following the alternative material for damping thread for quite sometime now, and i took inspiration from shrivz's diy damping project and looked around for self-adhesive sheets. However they were nowhere to be found, in my city atleast.
I was confused between using Noisekill @ 150/- per sq. ft. and trying an alternative material. But im selling the car in the next one year so any proper damping would only be wasted.
There were many materials under consideration :
Natural rubber sheets : Idea dropped immediately due to poor quality and durability
Closed cell foam : Light weight, would've only been a second choice.
Tyre patch : Smelly, irritating to skin. Completely useless.
Butyl rubber sheets : Would've been the ideal choice, except that the dealer told me it isnt available easily and is priced at Rs. 350 + per kg. IMO, at this price theres no point in doing it myself and it'd be wiser to use noisekill.
I finally went with 1.5mm nitrile rubber sheets : Price is 140/- per kg. I got 5 sq ft per kg, so thats Rs. 28 per sq. ft. Not Bad!! Plus, hey're about 0.20 kg per sq. ft. which is very close to the density of commercial materials (Details :
Sound Deadener Showdown).
My biggest worry with using non self adhesive sheets was that it would be insanely difficult to get the adhesive to hold on to the panels. Well, i used Fevicol SR 505 and the sheets stuck verrrry easily
, no need to apply pressure. Almost as if they were self-adhesive.
But it would be better if i had some kind of roller, any ideas guys??
Currently, Ive only completed a part of the outer shell, want to keep a watch for a few days as im concerned about the durability of the adhesive in heat and the smell fo the rubber.
Will post updates later.