G'day all. My first post on this forum. I am seeking advice on sound deadening my 76 Beetle [ with soft top, which makes it a special challenge.]

Would be interested in hearing from anyone who has gone down this path. My car is used daily so I am looking at a system which allows this. This daily use probably rules out liquid type materials.

I guess most people start at the rear and work forwards? Has anyone seen any results on a particular brand/type suited to VWs?

My local installation favours either Dynamat or the Focal [French ] brand, which also happens to be the same as my speakers...

I would appreciate advice on wheel wells, doors, and the boot area in particular..
Cheers, Patriot.

Mate I can recommend dynamat, its what is going into my car and I have used it in a number of custom installations. You can get it cheaper off ebay or if your in the Perth area I can get it at a good price. Its also easy to apply, clean the metal, removing any dust and contaminants, and either stick it straight on or use a heat gun for a better application. Use a whole sheet at a time or cut it into strips to make it easier to get into the tighter places. Use it on the whole car within the cabin, floor pan, firewall, roof, and the main one being the doors. I wouldnt bother oustide of the cabin, as its main purpose is to reduse pannel distortion from your stereo. (although under your rear decklid would help reduse engine noise to the outside, but who cares.

Hope this helps.

main thing in a convertable is not to use somthing that holds water
last vert a mate owned had had the carpets and seats removed and then everything had been coated with sound deadner

-Joel

Thanks guys; doing some research I notice RAAMaudio gets big wraps on the US forums. I haven't found any Australian distributor for this product, unfortunately. I recognise Dynamat of course but in the US at least it seems to have a reputation for being over-priced.

Also, is it the case that Windex is the product to use [ de-natured alcohol?] to clean the metal [ floor pan etc]?

i used dynamat in my bug and it worked a treat mate. heres the link to it mate
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=30740 

Thanks Barls for that link. There's no doubt that Dynamat is good stuff, but it should be given the cost.
Seems to me there are few shortcuts in this area; you get what you pay for and it all gets pretty technical when you start researching sound deadening.
At this stage I am looking at a combination of product to deaden the various frequencies; good ol' tar paint on the exterior of the floor pan and inside the wheel arches; a butyl type mat throughout the interior on a bed of the cheaper aluminium foil and and Ensolite type product on top of the mat.

i went with the undercar sound deadener on my pan, its the spray on type

barls, did the spray on deadener make much of a difference?

I used cheaper Fusion sound deadener on the inside of the floor pan, then used both Stinger Roadkill and Dynamat in the doors, quarters and inside of firewall....also in footwells - worked a treat and you are right in you get what you pay for.

it made a bit of a difference but it was sprayed on both sides of the pan on mine

I brushed on two coats under my pan. Only a slight difference. I think it more aimed at stone chip protection more than anything else.

Dynamat is cheaper on Ebay, just do a product search.

Thats where ill be getting mine from

Im mainly aiming to increase panel weight (move vibration to inaudiable range) and stop my door cards rattling.

How would this stuff go?

6.35mm thick ,600mm wide,10meters long roll, 1 ply insertion.