Due to some changes in the Dutch ‘grijs kenteken’ law resulting into a massive road tax rise for my 130 Quadtec I decided to bring my safari Land Rover back on the road. It’s a 1972 Series 2/3 hybrid and older than 25 years which does mean it is road tax free here in Holland .
Changing from 200Tdi diesel power and a ‘modern vehicle’ to the Spartan running 109 is a bit of a shock. Although I’ve been doing more than 150.000 Africa km’s with this Series Land Rover it is not rely as comfortable as the ‘silent’ 130 with power steering, heater and coil springs. Engine, gearbox and overdrive are creating so much noise that listening to the radio, calling somebody on a cell phone or just a basic conversation with your passenger is almost impossible while driving on the motorway.
To get rid of the noise I decided to fit a noise killing kit from Noisekiller. They do make complete easy to fit DIY kits for Land Rovers and all kind of other vehicles like campers or normal sedan cars. For Land Rovers they do supply kits for al types new and old, front and rear sets. Also available under bonnet sound deafening and heavy blankets to cover up engine & transfer box.
The two kits I have been fitting into my Series Land Rover are the 109 front cab set and the 109 rear station wagon set.
Land Rover Series Station Wagon Kit (picture above)
After opening the nicely packed box I did find a complete set accompanied with a basic sheet with fitting instructions. All parts are pre cut and do have a unique number which does make fitting a very easy job if you are a little bit handy.
Comprehensive kit with instructions (picture above)
Arial view of all the pieces of the front cab kit. Note the in the center the precut part to be fitted to the bulkhead panel around the pedals (picture above)
Tools needed:
All parts are pre cut but you might have to trim the parts a little bit. On my Land Rover only a few part needed some trimming. So a good sharp knife and ruler should be kept in sight. Prior to fitting some cleaning and degreasing is advisable otherwise the self adhesive mats will not stick properly to the steel bulkhead & aluminum bodywork.
The Noisekiller Mats:
The Noisekiller parts are made out of grey rubber on the outside and on the inside they are made of some kind of neoprene rubber material. It’s about 8 mm thick and very heavy. For example, the weight of a piece measuring 108 x 21 cm is 1,5kg.
There are several types of mats, I’ve used the Noisekiller Self-Adhesive Acoustic Mats, the Noisekiller Non Adhesive Acoustic Floor Mat and the Noisekiller Foil Faced Acoustic Mat. For inside the door there is another type available, the Noisekiller Self-Adhesive Barrier Mat a heavy duty mouldable polymer damping sheet with a self-adhesive backing and foil facing. All these mats are included in the two kits.
Below a close up, 8 mm thick sandwich construction.
All the parts except the floor mats have a self adhesive side and a grey rubber side. Just pull back the protecting foil and stick the parts in place.
Above the the Noisekiller Self-Adhesive Barrier Mat, it’s a heavy but very thin and mouldable material. These small mats are fitted to the inside of the door skin. The small piece is enough to make the door sound much more solid and take out the drumming noise.
More info on the materials you can find here on the UK Noisekiller website:
http://www.noisekiller.co.uk/materials.asp (English)
Fitting the kit:
The Noisekiller kit is replacing my previous attempt to get rid of the noise. My home made kit was made out of water sucking foam and cheap carpeting. So first of all I had to remove the old home made noise killing material. The basic foam had disintegrated a lot during the 7 years it has been fitted. Dismantling and fitting back the hand throttle kit made is a little bit more complicated. Also if have fitted a round or flat series heater you will have to dismantle is or work around.
A cheap but not very successful way of killing the noise but very effective for collecting water.
I decided not to cover up any of the gearbox tunnel screws in case I have to open up the floor pans and remove the seat box sometime in future.
Below some more pictures of fitting the front cab kit.
Front cab kit including the floor mat in place, altogether a nice and neat fit. All parts are self adhesive except the floor panel mats. They can be removed easily for e.g. cleaning. The piece around the gearbox tunnel is self adhesive too but I have fitted it with screws the only. Like mentioned previously I do expect to open up the seat box and floor pans sometime in future.
After finishing the front kit I started at the back of the Land Rover. Here I needed to do some more trimming and cutting around the fuel filler panel. All pretty straight forward is you have a sharp knife ready.
The Duck Tape is covering up all holes which has been drilled in the past to fit seats or other (non genuine) LR accessories.
The hose mounted to the fuel filler panel is the LPG filling hose. I have fitted an LPG kit after bringing this Land Rover back to Holland . The price of LPG is about one third of petrol here in The Netherlands. As we all know petrol powered Land Rover do use a lot of fuel so converting it to LPG will save you a lot of money.
The only problem with LPG is the big tank needed. It does take out some of the floor space in the back. On the picture my gross 90 liter tank. It will can be filled for 80% maximum so 72 liter of LPG. Action radius about 350 km only.
So far I did not cut off the floor mat but folded it around the tank. Some time in future I will probably make some kind of box around the tank. To protect the Noisekiller mats it is advisable to fit some carpeting and/or floor mats too. Although it’s a strong material a floor mat will protect is form scratching or cutting. And off course floor mats will also help in further killing the Land Rover noises.
So does is work?
The big question is off course does it work, will the Noisekiller material kill the noises inside the Land Rover? The answer is yes, there has been a very noticeable drop in noise in my Series Land Rover vehicle. Although it will never become as silent as a more modern Land Rover it does help a lot to make life a more comfortable. It’s a good investment and the kit is very easy to fit. No tools required except a knife for some trimming.
For more info on all available Noisekiller products you can contact Noisekiller.
Noisekiller Acoustics ( UK ) Ltd
Unit 7
Parkside Ind Estate
Edge Lane Street
Royton Oldham
OL2 6DS United Kingdom
Tel: +44-(0)161 652 7080
E-mail: steve@noisekiller.co.uk