I was watching @thekevinvo's video about a rear seat delete, and I was shocked at how much undamped sheet metal is in the rear seat area. The floor, the wheel wells, and the body sides. Since he shows how to remove the rear seat and side trim panels, I decided I'd follow along and add some sound deadening.
I realize it adds weight to the car, but I rationalize that I've lost 30 lbs. / 13,6 kg (update March 2023: 55 lbs. / 25 kg) of body weight; I can 'spend' that weight budget on sound deadening.
I've used this Noico product on Amazon with great results in my 124 Spider, along with this polyurethane roller to apply it.
The most obnoxious part of the interior removal process is the little fabric flap that goes between the rear seat back and the polystyrene foam blocks that support the trunk floor. The fasteners are bizarrely complex, consisting of a 5-sided white plastic cube glued into the block, then a square white plastic plug that locks into the cube. Then there's a black trim clip / plug that slips into a pocket on the back of the fabric, and then the plug is pushed into a hole in the the white plastic plug. When I pulled on the fabric to release it from the black plug, the black plug remains stuck in the white plugs. In this condition, there would be no hope of getting the pockets on the fabric re-attached. So, I used my trim tool to pop out the black plugs. However, two of the three white plastic plugs popped out with the black plug still stuck in them. Here's the white 5-sided cube still glued in place.
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One of the 5-sided white plastic cubes came completely unglued from the polystyrene block, with the square white plug and the black plug still stuck in it. Well, crap. I ended up putting the two white/black plugs back in the pockets on the back of the rear seat fabric, ready to be popped back in place. I pulled the black plug out of the last one, then used Brownell's Acraglas with a bit of fiberglass fibers mixed in to glue the damned thing back into the polystyrene block. Here it is glued back in place:
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At this point, I could get on with removal of the side trim and application of the sound deadening. Here's what's under the rear seat:
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This body panel under the right rear side window is a giant tin can:
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Here's the right rear wheel well:
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Same thing on the left side:
![Image]()
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Here's a video of rapping knuckles on these areas. It sounds much more resonant in real life:
Here's the rear seat area with the seats and side panels removed (note the spare tire well could use some treatment as well:
![Image]()
More to follow.
I realize it adds weight to the car, but I rationalize that I've lost 30 lbs. / 13,6 kg (update March 2023: 55 lbs. / 25 kg) of body weight; I can 'spend' that weight budget on sound deadening.
I've used this Noico product on Amazon with great results in my 124 Spider, along with this polyurethane roller to apply it.
The most obnoxious part of the interior removal process is the little fabric flap that goes between the rear seat back and the polystyrene foam blocks that support the trunk floor. The fasteners are bizarrely complex, consisting of a 5-sided white plastic cube glued into the block, then a square white plastic plug that locks into the cube. Then there's a black trim clip / plug that slips into a pocket on the back of the fabric, and then the plug is pushed into a hole in the the white plastic plug. When I pulled on the fabric to release it from the black plug, the black plug remains stuck in the white plugs. In this condition, there would be no hope of getting the pockets on the fabric re-attached. So, I used my trim tool to pop out the black plugs. However, two of the three white plastic plugs popped out with the black plug still stuck in them. Here's the white 5-sided cube still glued in place.
One of the 5-sided white plastic cubes came completely unglued from the polystyrene block, with the square white plug and the black plug still stuck in it. Well, crap. I ended up putting the two white/black plugs back in the pockets on the back of the rear seat fabric, ready to be popped back in place. I pulled the black plug out of the last one, then used Brownell's Acraglas with a bit of fiberglass fibers mixed in to glue the damned thing back into the polystyrene block. Here it is glued back in place:
At this point, I could get on with removal of the side trim and application of the sound deadening. Here's what's under the rear seat:
This body panel under the right rear side window is a giant tin can:
Here's the right rear wheel well:
Same thing on the left side:
Here's a video of rapping knuckles on these areas. It sounds much more resonant in real life:
Here's the rear seat area with the seats and side panels removed (note the spare tire well could use some treatment as well:
More to follow.
