Peter_964C2

Hi,

In the book "Porsche 911 enthusiast's companion" (964) I read on page 64 the following :

"Check under carpets and under front and rear seats. Remove as much carpets as possible. Porsche installed some heavy-duty sound proofing in these areas. It soaks up water like a sponge and holds it."

I own a cabriolet for 1991. I removed a few days ago the sound proofings because they where wet. I had to remove the plastic cover to dry them. The black material is broken into pieces.

My question is, is this normal for a cabriolet ? Is a 1991 cabriolet completely dry inside ?
I can replace the sound proofings with new ones. Is there an alternative ? Restore the original ones ?

Regards
Peter

Adrian

Well I wrote it and yes it is very normal for a Cabriolet which lives in a wet environment. The Targa and Coupe are not much better. Once the seals are gone they suck up water like the ground does after a drought.
Porsche has never yet built a Cabriolet that does not leak.
No you cannot refurbish what you have. It will be wet and stink forever.
Yes you can replace it but it is quite expensive.
I replaced all of mine with tool box foam. Lightweight, cheap and very effective and it doesn't stink.
Ciao,
Adrian.

Wachuko

It sucks... I have to fix that too but because is so brittle that it brakes when cleaning with the vacuum cleaner





I know, I know, I have to take time to detail my car...

Eric Kessel

Jaime,
Thank you for posting the pictures. This has been bothering me. I figured one of the previous owners of my C2 had replaced the original sound deadening with the white material you show....... I guess that is original.......... (I was assuming the worst.....flood maybe?)

Peter_964C2

Hi Adrian,

Now I have to find out what "tool box foam" is ;-)

And... thanks for writing the book. ;-)

DavidI

I replaced mine with car audio sound mat, and re-fitted the carpet with velcro rather than glue. I cut the sound mat in smaller pieces than the original Porsche stuff, and I can whip out the mat from under each rear seat for example. Since doing this the car's stopped leaking for the first time in 2 years!

Adrian

Dear Peter,
It is the stuff they line tool boxes with here in Switzerland. I have no idea what is available elsewhere. This stuff you can carve out the shape of the tool into with a sharp knife but it is so light and more importantly, it does not absorb water.
I found what Jaimie has years ago. When I removed it all, front and rear, I weighed it.
With water it was 31 kg or over 60lb.
Ciao,
Adrian.

Smokin

I would imagine that you could use high quality carpet padding too. Stop by any carpet store and pick up a large remnant to do your entire car for $10.

Peter_964C2

I'm thinking about making it in Polyurethane Foam.
First I will create a model in wood, and then inject that model with Polyurethane Foam.
Polyurethane Foam doesn't soaks up water and it is strong.

photolaz

Hi,

Mine was the same due to a sudden storm while top was down. For as fast as I could get the top back up I still had a inch of water pooled up in the back. Tried to dry the stuff out but it never happened and I was afraid that besides the smell that it might start rusting the floors so I opted to remove them. I tried the suggestions of other materials to replace them with but it just wasn't the same feel and fit so I ordered new ones through the local dealer, ouch. Anyway if you do what I did let me give you an FYI. My first order took about 3 weeks to get and when it arrived all the big parts were folded and sealed in plastic but I noticed some cracks and pieces through the plastic. When I opened them I discovered the the foam was brittle and falling apart on all the pieces. Actually the parts guy at the dealership noticed first. Anyway everything went back to Porsche and 2 weeks later another set arrive and these were better. The packaging on both lead me to believe that these were old stock... like really old stock. So if you plan on ordering new besure that you check the stuff out before you walk out the door. Bend the pieces at the edges and corners and if they crack or split send them back. The second order that I received was fine. The back ones were around 15.00 each and the front ones were 100.00+ each. I have a 91 Cab also so if you need the part numbers let me know and I'll dig up my invoice. Good Luck!

Peter_964C2

Now I know what "tool box foam" is :-). It's black foam made from a kind of plastic.
I think this is a good alternativ for the original stuf.

Peter_964C2

Hi Photolaz.

First I will try to make them myself. And if I'm not satisfied, I will buy the originals like you did :-)

Underneath the foam, the electrical wiring is wrapped in a kind of cotton adhesive tape. This tape was also in bad condition due to the water in the foam.
I removed all ot the tape, and wrapped new cotton adhesive tape arround the wiring.

And.. the pedal cluster is rusted. The problem is that I'm not able to remove 3 of the 4 bolts to remove the cluster because of the rust. :-(

raymond-turner

Mine was the same, prior to replacing the roof, and a complete interior carpet re-trim, i tried using polystyrene sheet, it's used by builders for insulation, it leveled the floor, but broke up into pieces, with so much static that everything was covered in little white *****.
During the re-trim I bought the original mats from Rob at Forest fine, well worth it.

Kismet

If you don't want to remove the foam to dry it out, try pouring cat litter into the footwells. It absorbs the water and then you can shovel/vacuum it out - good old Henry.

i've had my hood, all hood seals and the door membranes replaced and the water still finds its way in to the rear footwells.

Smokin

My last Targa leaked like a sieve no matter what I did. (It was a daily driver) I just threw carpeted mats in the back to cover the floor. Not real pretty... But if you can't stop the leaks...

That's why I bought a coupe the next time around...