since stripping my interior, my hatch got really noisy. Driving around town the body creaks and rattles. I'm not just trying to eliminate noise, I'll be installing a cage and spot welding the whole car for racing purposes. Just wondering if any one has experience with this. Any suggestions to tighten the body leading to a stronger more quiet body would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Probably not. My race car creaks like hell. It is insane. It sounds like a bucket of bolts on wheels. Luckily the open exhaust masks the noise at speed. Hehe.

 

Ok. Does it feel more solid? For example, does it feel more like one piece of metal instead of a lot of odd shaped panels bolted and welded together?

 

Well yeah. It is stiff as a rock. If you jack up the front right corner 3 wheels will come off the ground. But it would suck *** as a street car. I actually got a plate for it when I first bought it. Granted, it has 950# springs so it is too damn stiff for the street. But the cage creaks like hell. I think they all do. I just think if you are worried about excess body noise you need a more streetable car. A car with a roll cage and that is stripped is going to be loud as hell.

 

Hey Chrisb-good animation.

The question is whether a cage and seam welding will quiet the car. The cage will stiffen it considerably and may reduce a bit of the creaking. Remember you have removed the sound deadening material and that is what controls noise levels. As to seam welding or even adding spot welds-be very careful about this as there are racing classes that do NOT permit the seams to be modified with additional welds. If the car will never be on the track you really don't need this level of stiffness anyway. Both roadrace and drag cars flex to some degree.
A solution to you problem can be found in a product made by Cascade Audio (www.cascadeaudio.com). They have a lightweight version of a deadener mat and a paint-on type of compound as well. Otherwise-you will just have to accept the increased noise as normal.