Building and driving a street rod of any sort is a labor of love, but when the finished project is so inhospitable comfort wise that long trips are out of the question, all that blood, sweat, and cash just doesn't seem worth it. Well, if this happens to sound familiar, all is not lost. A weekend's worth of work and a minimal cash outlay will go a long way in turning that hot, noisy cockpit into a quiet, comfortable confine that'll make long trips much more enjoyable.
Recently, I repaired the rotten floorpans in my pals '57 Chevy. This particular car is destined to be a driver that's gonna see a ton of road time, so with this in mind, we wanted to go a few steps beyond the rather sparse OEM insulating and sound deadening with which the car was originally equipped. The first step in the process was to choose and apply a top-quality rust-preventive coating on both the new and existing floorpans (so we could have the peace of mind knowing that the floor of the car would more than likely outlast both of us). The next step was to install an equally high-quality helping of heat and noise insulation that would not only make the interior living room-quiet, but also hold in the cool air to be provided by the yet-to-be-installed Vintage Air air-conditioning unit.
Luckily, the answer to our dilemma was just a few keystrokes away. The Web sites of both Dynamat and KBS Coatings offered just the products needed to perform the tasks at hand. Within a matter of days, I had everything I'd need to transform the Chevy's interior into a cool, quiet, and comfortable cockpit. So take a look and follow along as I rustproof and insulate this subject, keeping in mind that the process is the same no matter what kind of vehicle you're trying to make user friendly.
