Project 5.GO!

Hey guys, I'm looking for some ideas to kill all the little rattles and squeaks that our cars get around the dash and console area. I'm going to be pulling the dash out anyway relatively soon to replace the heater core, and I want to put it back together in stealth mode.

Most of my problem is panels squeaking as they rub together, so I was thinking about reinstalling everything with some kind of material between each panel to prevent it from rubbing and vibrating against its neighbor.

Is there some type of really thin teflon material that could be used? Maybe a small patch around all screws will stop the noise.

9redfox3

Not sure about all that. Did you go around and check to make sure everything is tight?(check all screws) Also if you got unwanted junk sitting in the glovebox,console or even in the ashtray remove it...
Also might need new front sway arm bushings...could be hearing that noise?

Tony71502

I had a broken clip rattling around in my dash, I found it when I did my heater core. After that and a set of full length sub-frames, my car is as quiet as a church mouse... well except for the exhaust.

ttocs

sound damping is a great way to get rid of rattles. What you first need to do is isolate where it is comming from and then there is a number of ways to deal with it. Go for a drive and see if your passenger by putting pressure on different areas/panels can isolate where its comming from. I am about to order some more materials to do this from a company called second skin. I have been around audio for a while and thier products are top-notch!

Project 5.GO!

I've long since eliminated culprits in the ashtray/glovebox/armrest box that could make noise.

I know some of the noise is coming from some rubbing that is going on in the area on the passenger's side where the center console meets the dash, to the right of the radio, but not towards the center... Damn it, hard to describe. Ok, imagine a hot woman wearing a short skirt sitting in the passenger seat. If you were kneeling on the floor panel and put your head on her lap, and looked towards the radio, that's the area. LOL If you put pressure on the panel, it creaks, so as you drive down the road, vibration and bumps make it creak. There are other mysterious muffled creaks that occasionally come from behind the dash tha I'd like to eliminate as well.

And of course, there is the ever-popular e-brake button I'm pretty sure that can be handled by buying one of those boots, but those things are fugly. Maybe a dab of silicone squirted between the button and handle would solve that. After it dried, I could press the button and break it loose, but the silicone would remain stuck to the button or the handle, preventing it from rattling around in the bore of the handle. Maybe some sound deadening material like dynamat around where the ebrake handle mounts under the console would kill some of the road vibration too.

Also something coming from the hatch probably squeaking against the weatherstrip or some plastic panel creaking.

Old plastic panels and armor-all can make for some really irritating sounds, to be sure.

9redfox3

Very true about the plastic.............It sucks !

Tony71502

I fixed my parking brake button rattle by carefully wrapping electrical tape around it and trimmed it flush with the face of the button. No more rattle and it does not interfere with pressing the button since I only wrapped it twice. Can't notice it if you do it right.

eb2gt

laying your head in the ladies lap should resolve all your problems.......

mattdel

You'll likely find a few plastic retaining clips are broken off, and a few screws are loose. 20+ years of spirited driving can do that.

Project 5.GO!

I think you mean "face".

Anyone have a recommendation on where I can get a heater core on the cheap that I won't have to replace anytime in the next 10 years? Probably that last part rules out the junkyard, as they have already put in 20 years, and are probably bypassed anyway. LOL

I know it's going to be a royal b!tch to do, and take all day, so I want to do it right, and I know on anything outside of performance parts, the aftermarket is almost never as good as the original, despite being able to take advantage of 20 years of supposed technical advances. Any newer cars that has a core that could bolt right in?