Civilizing a Cal Looker
andrewlandon67:
So after a few weeks of back and forth in my head and bouncing various ideas off of my friends, I've finally decided to spend a bit of money and civilize my '67. It's not gonna be any slower or much heavier, but I'd like it to be just a little more comfortable and less exhausting to drive on a regular basis. So, with that in mind, I've narrowed it down to a few things I can afford to do without weighing it down or taking it back to stock, such as new door cards, window scrapers, and some kind of sound insulation. I've also thought a bit about fabricating a new muffler (louder but smaller,) that doesn't hang down off my header quite as much, which shouldn't be as daunting as it seems. As far as the sound dampening goes, I'd like to avoid pulling the motor again to replace the tarboard that I pulled out a few years back. Any suggestions as far as quietening it down a bit?
Any other thoughts? Depending on the cost of all the rest, I wouldn't mind re-covering my seats and adding some kind of extra cushioning, and maybe upgrading to some real seatbelts while I'm at it. Would a new headliner be worth the money and effort? I'm also thinking about new shocks in the rear, and maybe bringing the suspension up just a hair as well on all 4 corners. What all would you guys prioritize? My goal is to have it done by the end of July for the Colorado Bug In, and then parking my Subaru and enlisting the '67 for daily/occasional race duty until the snow flies (usually early/mid October.) The motor's fairly reliable, and would be getting valve adjustments after every night at the track, so I could keep an eye on it as far as that goes.
Any advice/thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Bryan67:
Better seats (Like Pro 90`s), lots of sound deadening in the doors, rear quarters and package tray, new carpet over all of that, don`t worry about the firewall unless you put deadener then an aluminum firewall or something similar over it. And if you do a new headliner, buy some good roof sound deadener behind it.
andrewlandon67:
Quote from: Bryan67 on April 24, 2019, 21:19:56 pm
Better seats (Like Pro 90`s), lots of sound deadening in the doors, rear quarters and package tray, new carpet over all of that, don`t worry about the firewall unless you put deadener then an aluminum firewall or something similar over it. And if you do a new headliner, buy some good roof sound deadener behind it.
I'll definitely keep all that in mind! I think my car has all of the stock sound-deadening stuff, aside from the engine bay, so I might just stick a little extra back there underneath the carpet. Seats are a little bit out of my reach at the moment, but I'll definitely keep them in mind! Another thing I'm for sure going to do is put some kind of modern-ish seatbelts in, I like the stock '67 lap belts, but as quick as my car is these days, they seem just a little outmatched.
Jim Ratto:
Seats will make the biggest difference and/or correctly setup suspension geometry
The sound deadening Wolfsburg West sells as OEM replacement isn't heavy and it does commendable job at quelling the thrash from the motor. Personally, part of the thrill (for me) is all hell breaking loose any time I crank the Webers open. I don't want the rough edges smoothed off as far as noise. I made changes to my car in last 5 years so I wouldn't feel like I have to fight the car to drive it.
Fastbrit:
One of the most effective ways to quieten down a VW is to use modern sound dampening pads inside the rear quarter panels and doors. Those areas act like 'boom boxes', so anything you can do to stop the panels reverberating will be good.
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