Split Bus Luggage Platform Felt Strips

[pvlocal]

On the luggage platform of every bus I've owned there are a series of 3-inch-wide felt or horsehair strips glued into the wide channels pressed into the metal above the engine bay. These strips are usually covered by the woven luggage area mat.

(My last bus was a bay window, and it definitely had these felt strips. But my memory of earlier buses is a little hazy.)

My project is a 1966 Deluxe Bus, shown below. Did VW install these strips in split buses? Anyone know what those strips were made from? Is there a close-to-stock replacement for it? Apologies if this was addressed elsewhere, I could not find any reference to it. Thanks.

[Clara]

they are sometimes called tar boards, or tar strips:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=320690&highlight=tar
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=148902&highlight=tar
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The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[pvlocal]

Thank you, very helpful.

[Eric&Barb]

[hitest]

I believe it is the same material (and possibly thickness) used under the gas tanks in buses. I wonder if they're the same width?
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[pvlocal]

Thanks for the feedback.

I found several sources of industrial and designer felt, black, pliable, one eighth of an inch thick, in lengths up to 70". Seems like an improved substitute for tar board. I'm going to order some and see how it looks on my project.

Link: https://thefeltstore.com/collections/thick-2mm-3mm...7223892045

[andybla]

So does it really help for sound deadening?

[pvlocal]

I guess that remains to be seen. Given that this was a feature of Deluxe buses, I’m tempted to say it was intended to create a more comfortable passenger environment by reducing engine noise in the cabin. Since it was hidden under the luggage-area carpet, its purpose doesn’t seem to be structural or cosmetic. Primitive sound-proofing seems the likely intent, and for that I think dense felt would serve nicely, and look good too.

[EverettB]