Dee8go, this is just the first phase. I still have to do the doors and the hood! I think I'm good for a while .

Panzer, I thought about shimming it when I saw it, but then thoughts of taking the console back out crept into my mind . You think I can get to all of that by only removing the window switch panel? Maybe I'll look into this soon.

__________________
84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA

If it's anything similar to the 116 consoles, there will be 4 x 10mm bolts visible with the wood trim off, remove those and place 1/4" worth or washers on each and re-attatch.

__________________
RIP: 80 300SD
RIP: 79 450SEL
2002 E430 4matic (212,000km)
2002 ML500 'sport'

____________________________
FACEBOOK: PANZER450

When I redid the seals on my sunroof, I put Dynamat on it before I closed it all back up. That made it much quieter just by itself. I think doing the doors and any part of the roof would make it extremely quiet.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I'm slacking on the pictures tonight, but I go the back seats in! I also laid some MLV on the rear wheel wells in preparation to put the cover back on soon. I pulled the carpet off of the big rear cover panel and am going to install the new stuff tomorrow.

Although I could take it for a test drive, it's kind of surreal coming out such a large project and haven't done it yet. I expect to make a final push tomorrow to get all of the carpet and panels in, and on Friday I plan to have the project complete. I'm looking forward to letting everyone know how it sounds, or better yet, how it doesn't .

Thanks for the advice on spacing the shifter. I'll try that after I get everything else complete.

__________________
84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA

Also, I'll definitely do the doors and hood, but I'm undecided on the roof. My experience is that headliners never go back in the way they were originally. Anybody have experience with this? Suggestions?

__________________
84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA

I've had a headliner replaced but didn't attempt it myself. The guys who did it did a great job, though.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Tomorrow looks to be the day that I will finish phase 1 of the soundproofing project. With the rear seats in yesterday, I took the night to recarpet the rear panels and replace the exterior rubber pieces in the rear. You can see the difference between my faded, stained Palomino carpet on the back of the rear seats, and the newly installed carpet everywhere else. Some day, I'll get around to changing that.

Tomorrow I will focus on getting the front grill reinstalled, the rubber trim on the front back on, and the remainder of the kick panels in the front and the speaker covers. Pretty much details from here out.

One substantial item that remains is carpeting the rear wheel well covers. I pulled the carpet off today, but it looks to be a pretty daunting task to get the carpet right on those. I am considering passing by the upholstery shop and seeing if they will do it for a couple dollars.

Materials Inventory:

1.5 yards of carpet (of 5)
40 sq feet Fatmat (of 100)
85 sq feet MLV (of 200)
1 yard Ensolite foam (of 8)

I figure that I've added somewhere around 150 lbs to the weight of the car. Not bad, really. I haven't taken it for a test drive yet. Saving that for tomorrow night .

Future phases will consist of:

Phase 2: Hood
Phase 3: Doors
Phase 4: Roof (still undecided)

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________
84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA

Your garage looks more crowded than mine. Your wagon is looking good, though. Nice job!

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

My first post....I am stalled on doing the same thing right now to a 71 mach 1. That project actually started as replacing the heater core! Now I have new floorpans, etc, etc.....funny how these huge projects start small.

Very nice job on your wagon. Any updates?

Hey Sporty, good to hear that I'm not the only completely crazy person out there .

So, I don't have any pictures tonight, but as an update, I just finally got the last of the panels in tonight. I ended up taking the wheel well panels into the upholstery shop which cost me an extra $200 (not happy about that), but ended up being the right decision. The wheel well panels were not easy, and the upholstery shop even complained about them.

So, I took it for a test drive today after completion . It is quiet! I am impressed with the results! Did you know that the blinkers actually emit a ticking noise? never heard that before. One other observation is that by soundproofing certain areas, I notice more noise coming from the door areas and through the hood and windshield. Good news is that I know how to remedy this. I will say that the results meets my expectations, and I hope that by completing the other phases, it will exceed them.

I'm planning to put up another post soon with pictures of the final product, but tonight I'm resting after the completion of such a large project. If you're considering doing this to your car, consider that I've spent somewhere in the area of 80-100 hours of labor on this project. It's been difficult and was unrewarding at times. Unless you're really looking for a trying project, have dollars to throw away and don't need your car for about a month, this may not be the project for you.

In summary, I am very happy with the results so far, but had I known what was really involved with this project, I would not have taken it on. It's been that much work. Since I'm done however, I'm really going to enjoy being able to hold a cell phone conversation at normal volume (via blue tooth, of course), and enjoying music at a reasonable level on the highway.

Stay posted for an update in the next few days.

__________________
84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA

Damn! In my 5 months of down time I coulda had my car totally sound proofed!? crap...oh well

__________________
RIP: 80 300SD
RIP: 79 450SEL
2002 E430 4matic (212,000km)
2002 ML500 'sport'

____________________________
FACEBOOK: PANZER450

I've ordered several different styles of these fasteners in small quantities from the dealer. They were all available for my 79 240D, so I'm guessing you will not have a problem. And they're cheap, at least compared to other cars I've done.

Fantastic work!

--frankb

__________________
--frankb

1982 300TD 617.912 <NLA> . 1975 2002 E10-EFI . 1976 914c6 . 1983 MG LMIII <NLA>. 1988 Montero / 616<NLA> . 2001 TLS . 2005 Saab 9-5 Wagon

How's the sound quality of your stereo now, Kevin?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Thanks for the heads up, Frank. I don't really miss them, but I will keep it in mind in case I have issues later.

Diego, I messed up when ordering the speakers (tweeters protrude too far and collide with stock cover), and ended up putting the stock ones back in for the time being. I will get some new ones soon, but I'm taking a break for a while.

So, after getting everything done, I notice that I can apply very little volume (probably 30-40% less) and still enjoy music. At the same time, I also can hear how bad the stock speakers are now. Before, I didn't notice how bad they are because of engine noise competing, but now I am really hearing the bass buzzing a lot. I listen to a lot of talk radio, and the voices are distorted. So, I would recommend that someone doing this should search this forum and see what speakers work with these cars and stick to only proven speaker models.

Overall on sound, I am really impressed with the results in this area. When I finally change the speakers, I have no doubt that they will sound excellent. Meanwhile, I'm still really enjoying not having the radio very loud while still being able to hear well.

__________________
84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA

Alright, it's been a while since I've had pictures, but the wait is over.

Couple thoughts:

Get an upholstery shop to do the wheel well covers and the spare tire cover. These are hard.

Don't overestimate the amount of room between the wheel wells and the wheel well covers. I put Fatmat and MLV on them, and the covers barely fit. Like barely barely.

Adding material will change how your panels fit. The console was an obvious example. It sits about 1/4" taller which makes the shifter cover not fit right, and lift on the back end. Still working on this. Also, because this is higher, the top switch panel (for rear wiper and rear dome light, etc.) were really hard to install. I had to use a knee to push the dash up a bit to get them in. Also, the panels under the dash will be really tight. Just keep this in mind, as it was something that I didn't think about before.

Order 8 yards of carpet. I ordered 5 thinking I would have more than enough, but I still have 2 panels that I need to do, and on the backs of the rear seats. I have the carpet part #s, but not on me right now. I will post these later. You will see the contrast in the carpet colors in the pictures. Don't fault me! I'm not done yet!

Be sure to get some new speakers at the same time. Even if the stock ones sound alright now, they certainly won't when you can actually hear them. I'm not picky about sound quality, but I really notice it now.

Don't start this project unless you have alternative transportation and don't need the Benz for about a month or a little more. I was really focused on this project and did it in about 3 weeks. Any person with less than superhuman skills, speed, and agility will need more .

This project is expensive. I spent nearly $600 just for foam, MLV, Fatmat and all the adhesive that you will need. the carpeting project added another 3-400. If your doing a radio, consider that cost, and the cost of anything else you're going to want to do while you have the whole car ripped apart.

Most tasks in this project are one-man operations, but occasionally it's really nice to have a second hand. Having a helper on tap would make a lot of things easier. I did nearly everything completely alone.

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________
84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA