Yup, that's what a Vanagon needs for sure - 300-400 extra pounds of
road-hugging weight!  =)

On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 9:19 AM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:

> At 10:46 AM 4/8/2010, Alistair Bell wrote:
>
>> Supposedly the best thing, after applying the panel dampener is a,
>> (oh shoot, I forget the term), a "de-coupling sheet"  - heavy vinyl
>> sheet that absorbs the vibrations, then some foam type insulation
>> (closed cell foam best in the van, for obvious corrosion reasons).
>>
>
> You can get multilayer lead or lead-substitute silencing material
> from marine suppliers, intended for lining engine boxes/rooms.  It's
> pretty spendy IIRC.
>
> When I was a lad the Navy was using a composite substance for
> submarine quieting -- they called it RAL, or rubber-air-lead.  I
> found a piece of it once and asked my dad about it.  It was maybe 3/4
> or an inch thick, bendable but not stretchy, black rubber-stoffe
> impregnated with little flattened voids and similar-sized flakes of
> lead.  A bit dirty to handle; I probably took five years off my life
> playing with it.  I'm guessing it was cast in some way and then
> rolled to thickness.  No idea whether they still use it.
>
> Ah ha.  Here's a milspec for the version that superceded what I'm
> talking about.
> <http://www.tpub.com/content/MIL-SPEC/MIL-R/MIL-R-23074C/index.htm>.
> This type is made with molded grooves filled with #8 lead shot,
> weighs about 5 psf.  It was "inactivated" in 1998 -- obsoleted?  I
> don't want to pay USD24 to read one page of bumf.
>
> Yours,
> David
>

--
Jake

1984 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX 'The Grey Van'
1986 Westy Weekender/2.5 SOHC Suby 'Dixie'

Crescent Beach, BC

www.thebassspa.com
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27