VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Tech Talk No, seriously, why noise?

I have a 66 nova with an LS3 c and 4L 65 E tranny. It has TCI front and rear clips, Wilwood brakes, etc., and I have put maybe 100 pounds of noise dampening insulation throughout the car.

But when I get in a new car, it doesn’t matter what kind, I noticed immediately that it’s so much quieter than my Nova. I’m not talking about exhaust noise since my car is reasonably quiet in that regard.

Is this generally what one can expect from a 1966 car?

Where is the noise coming from? Tires? Suspension, Wind? Body-generated?

This is really perplexing, and I am willing to do pretty much whatever it takes to get rid of most of the noise. Please help. Thank you.

The early Novas were noist cars.
Rear springs and front stub frame wre ATTCHED DIRECTLY TO RE BODY TRANSFERING MECHANICAL AND ROAD OISES TO THE INTERIOR.

As Gene noted cars in the 60's were noisier in general compared to todays vehicles. The whole world of NVH (noise, vibration & harshness) was a new science for the automotive companies.

Sound deadening generally stops a panel from transmitting noise. It will not eliminate chassis vibrations and noise. I assume that you have included sound deadening on the underside of the roof. That roof panel is pretty flexible and can be a great sound amplifier.

I also expect there is a lot of noise being transmitted through the engine and transmission mounts to the chassis. Given all the extra torque in that drivetrain those mounts are probably a fairly stiff to prevent a lot of motion.

Drivetrain mounts today are very sophisticated designs that often include an encapsulated liquid as well as different cross sections of rubber to control motions in different directions.