Transmission tunnel insulation?

[Fletcher]

I was stripping the interior in prep to do a carpet kit and pulled a piece of this off the trans tunnel top.  It looks like tar paper or something underneath.  Is this for heat?  Is it ok to remove & not replace?  If I put kilmat where it was is that sufficient?

 

thanks!

 

[John_in_VA]

Originally for heat/sound protection & carpet shape - use what you like.

['76mintgrün'02]

I like that pad.  There should be one at the front of each footwell as well.  I'd glue that piece back on and use it.

 

I peeled the original tar mats off of the floors, but left it on the tunnel, since rust wasn't likely to be a problem up there.

 

Rust in the front of the footwells (under the tar mats) is very common in these cars.  Especially the '76s, for some reason.

 

 

[Son of Marty]

I too would tape/glue/fiberglass that back together and use it for the heat shield effect, don't try to remove the thin pads on the tunnel it's just not worth the trouble and they are a lot of bother to remove, and you you should seriously consider removing the tar off the floors, lot of rust can hide underneath regardless of how good they look from the top.  

[esty]

keep it

 

['76mintgrün'02]

I had to weld in new tabs to hold the "masonite" pads in place.  The original little 1/8" rods were rusty and brittle.

 

 

 

Does your car still have the foam/rubber/foam mats under the carpet in the front footwells?  I like that stuff too.  It absorbs sound and isolates your feet from vibration, which makes the car feel quieter.

 

 

 

Tom

[jp5Touring]

17 hours ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

I had to weld in new tabs to hold the "masonite" pads in place.  The original little 1/8" rods were rusty and brittle.

 

 

 

Does your car still have the foam/rubber/foam mats under the carpet in the front footwells?  I like that stuff too.  It absorbs sound and isolates your feet from vibration, which makes the car feel quieter.

 

 

 

Tom

 

Is the whole floor pan a new metal piece. Very curious about  both seat floor mounts. are they available ?  If so from whom ?

['76mintgrün'02]

No.  The rust was only at the very front of the floor pans on mine, so I just hammered out some patch panels and welded them in.  I did the driver's side in two pieces and put the seam over the flange on the frame rail..

 

 

I don't think seat mounts are available new, but I'll bet someone would be happy to cut them out of a parts car, if you posted a WTB ad.  It might take a little patience though.

 

Those mounts were a little rusty on my car, so I welded another layer on top, where the seats bolt down.  They were very thin metal to begin with.

 

@Fletcher I'd suggest removing the floor plugs, once the tar mats are out of the way.  That is another area that is prone to rust.  I was able to clean mine up and reuse them.  I installed them with body caulk between the pieces to seal them up and then put a circle of sound dampener over that. 

 

That was the only dampener I put on the floor metal, but I did stick some on the firewall.  Don't put too much of that stuff in or you'll be shopping for a louder exhaust, so you can hear it.   

Tom

 

Edited February 14, 2021 by '76mintgrün'02

[tech71]

Oh nice, big thumbs up on the welding Tom. Seam and spot, both lovely.

Somebodies been practicing?

[2002iii]

Unless your going for a concourse restoration or your factory sound deadening is in good shape, I would take out all the old nasty insulation as long as you've got the carpet out and replace it with something more modern like dynamat or some of the spray sound deadening.

[Fletcher]

Glued back on. Thanks ??
 

[Fletcher]

19 hours ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

@Fletcher I'd suggest removing the floor plugs, once the tar mats are out of the way.  That is another area that is prone to rust.

After scraping off the carbonite(?), found a little surface rust forward of the plug. None on plug itself.  Ground to bare metal and hit with rust preventive & replaced rubber mat

 

[Conserv]

43 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

After scraping off the carbonite(?), found a little surface rust forward of the plug. None on plug itself.  Ground to bare metal and hit with rust preventive & replaced rubber mat

 

This car was smart to adopt you, Fletcher! ?

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[tech71]

Indeed, lucky car.

[2002iii]

4 hours ago, Fletcher said:

After scraping off the carbonite(?)

Did you find any Han Solo DNA in the carbonite?

 

It's just body putty/dum dum.