Engine Belly Pan Sound Dampening

[RichBenn]

My new to me Rialta (Eurovan chassis) came with an abundance of grit and grime in the belly pan. The belly pan is almost clean; the sound damping/insulation is toast.

Anybody put something else in there to keep it quiet? Audio sound dampers like B-Quiet?
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Rich

[postjosh]

at least yours came with a belly pan!

i've been looking into getting one for my weekender. i think you may be able to find the precut sound deadening for the belly pan in europe. i've been meaning to contact these people in estonia to get more info:

http://alvadi.ee/en/kataloog/varuosa/24273/17090
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'93 EV Wkndr – 5 cylinder – 5 speed - 280k+ miles

[RichBenn]

[danfromsyr]

[postjosh]

thanks but i don't have the time right now to drive up to albany. also, the newer replacement pans are plastic which i think makes more sense.
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'93 EV Wkndr – 5 cylinder – 5 speed - 280k+ miles

[postjosh]

so, two yeas later i finally installed a belly pan. i went with a plastic one because i want it primarily for splash protection not as a skid plate. it was crazy difficult to get one delivered. they still make them in europe but i couldn't find them in the u.s. i ordered it on ebay from this outfit in latvia: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Engine-Bay-Silencing-Mate...647684208. it was only $34 but the shipping was a $150. i thought that was high but when it got here it was in a huge box and the shipping seemed very reasonable.

one nice thing about the plastic version is that it has cutouts for the oil drain and filter. here's the model info for my '93 lhd 5 cylinder weekender: JP GROUP part #1181301500 OEM part #7D0805685L. it doesn't come with any mounting hardware. it has a number of predrilled holes, 4 of which lined up nicely. i held it in place with M8-1.25 x 20mm Stainless Steel Hex Head Bolts. i also connected the back lip to the rubber dampers with a couple of metric nuts - i think they were M6's. the rubber dampers didn't quite line up with the pre-drilled holes so i drilled two new ones with a dremel.

i was pleasantly surprised at how much it reduced noise from the engine compartment. it seems like it will be much easier to live with than the vw metal belly pan that one of the previous owners discarded.

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'93 EV Wkndr – 5 cylinder – 5 speed - 280k+ miles

[Zeitgeist 13]

I have two bellypans here I'd be glad to give away. They make roadside diagnostics or general service a royal pain.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[subdewd]

I made the mistake of leaving mine off after a recent service. Ended up getting water on my ignition wires and causing engine to stall out in traffic. I do like the idea of a lighter weight plastic one

[Abscate]

[1961tbird]

The insulation within my 95 EVC belly pan appears to be missing a portion. See pictures.

I looked up part # 701-805-696 but came up with nothing.

Any possible sources for this insulation?

[Maurusfamily]

Did anyone find a source for the belly pan insulation?

[subdewd]

I imagine something like rhinX with work ok.

[VanGeek]

Resurrecting this thread.
Dropped the belly pan from my 2001 weekender.
Was very grimy and dirty and the insulation was floppy and torn.

I prefer having the belly pan for undercarriage protection and sound reduction and metal is heavier but stronger than plastic.

So I removed the insulation and degreased/power-washed the pan. Seems to be in good shape.

For insulation, I'm considering cut and place mats like https://www.dynamat.com/products/dynamat-xtreme/or spray-on like https://www.designengineering.com/boom-mat-spray-on/

Let me know if any of you added your own belly pan insulation. I'll share an update on mine when finished...

[KillerGriller]

I just dropped mine for the first time, and it looks like I'm in the same boat. Let us know how yours turns out.

[gesoffen]

For what its worth, when I got my 2003 Weekender a couple of years ago, I removed the oil soaked insulation from the stock belly pan and tossed it in the bin.

I am currently running the belly pan insulation free with no noticeable effects. If its "noisier", I don't notice it over the wind noise associated with driving a brick. On the plus side, it does make it easier to pin point leaks (and clean up after them).

[mikemtnbike]

^^ yeah I’ve always thought of it as a diaper and heat shield not sound dampening. Now I want to remove the nasty and put in a modern not-diaper option to see if it is any quieter.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[VanGeek]

Pretty sure my solution was overkill, but it's been a cold winter and was looking for some indoor projects this winter inbetween tolerable wrenching days in the garage. The PO lived with at least two oil leaks that were small but continued over several years. My pan was filled with oil-soaked insulation, dents, and some surface rust. Unfortunately forgot to take a pic of the insulation before I tossed it. Here are some before/after pics:

Exterior of original pan after pounding out a few dents, rust wire-brushing, and some initial scrubbing of grime and undercoating removed:

Interior cleaned up well. The oil-soaked insulation actually protected the interior finish everywhere except the mounting clip holes. Many of those had surface rust.

Current interior after applying noico insulating pads and foil taping all the seams. Looks a bit too much like the lunar module -- hope it's more durable. I've fixed the oil pan leak but still chasing another from the valve cover or cam sensor. I know this isn't gonna stay pretty...

Current exterior after priming and raptor coating it. I had originally planned to put clips back in the holes but struggled to find good quality one's that fit well. Decided it was better just to "plug" them since not needed anyhow to retain the noico. Used rubber tape to seal/cover the holes -- adhesive seems strong. We'll see...

Have some other projects to complete and will be on the road by June. Will report back on durability etc....

[mikemtnbike]

That looks awesome. Please post if it reduces the road noise noticeably once re-installed, I've been trying to decide if I wanted to tackle this. Any noticeable reduction would make it worth it to me.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[RoninStorm]

[VanGeek]

Here's what I know....

Would be difficult to remove the pan w/o lifting the van. Even if it could be done (and I'm not certain) it would be very difficult. Lifting the front on jack stands is pretty easy and quick.

I used raptor 2K although you could probably use std raptor. I needed two cans.

I scuffed the original paint and wirebrushed the rust. I cleaned with wax/oil remover and wiped with alcohol. I used rust-oleum etching primer. Could also potentially use their rust-converter primer if you had a lot. I think you only need adhesion promoter when painting over plastic.

The use of Noico was a risk. Might be ok but the back-side adhesive may be compromised with oil. I won't know until after I get back on the road this Spring. I sealed the seams with foil tape. That will help.

Great idea about using quick release fasteners on the belly pan. There's a front retainer clip and two rear hooks that keepsthe pan intact after all bolts are removed There are only 4 bolts which come out pretty fast with a crodless impact socket. But let us know if you have creative ideas.