What's the difference between 80s doors like a Fiero and modern car doors that causes them to sound like they do when closed? Every older vehicle seems to make a metallic clacking sound when closed, but modern cars make a more solid thump. It looks like the mechanical components are by and large the same, so what's the difference?
What's the difference between 80s doors like a Fiero and modern car doors that causes them to sound like they do when closed? Every older vehicle seems to make a metallic clacking sound when closed, but modern cars make a more solid thump. It looks like the mechanical components are by and large the same, so what's the difference?
Worn hinges and worn latches. Plus a lot of gm cars had this rattle due to there was no window frame. Worn out window and door jam rubber seals can also exacerbate this problem. My car has 91000 miles and the driver side sounds like junk but the passenger side is tight. When rhe fiero was new there was no rattle.also if you have the gt/se lower body cladding that has come loose will add to this annoying sound. But if you think that's bad you should hear a 73-77 gm colonade car with their 4 and 5 ft doors
The doors on my 07 Tahoe, especially the rear ones, sound like an 80's Nissan pickup when you shut them.
Oh, and the doors on my 75 El Camino (colonnade style car) sound like a steel box full of bolts being dropped on concrete when they shut- if they shut...
[This message has been edited by tesmith66 (edited 09-21-2015).]
More focus by the OEMs to reduce rattles and other chassis noise, more plastic/less metal, more sound absorbing material, 3 layers of weather seals around the doors vs. 1, and most new doors probably haven't been taken apart 2-4 times like most of the 80's doors have.
More focus by the OEMs to reduce rattles and other chassis noise, more plastic/less metal, more sound absorbing material, 3 layers of weather seals around the doors vs. 1, and most new doors probably haven't been taken apart 2-4 times like most of the 80's doors have.
I think the multiple weatherseals are the biggest reason. The Fiero barely has one, (if you have t-tops).
97 grand prix. I was changing the window motor. In the door I found, from the factory, a bock of plastic and a weight about one foot long. Both of the items made the door feel more solid when closing
The biggest changes have been the seals as some point out.
The doors are stamped with more rigidity and have frames widows.
More solid mounts for the widow and mechanism.
Finally one thing that makes the biggest difference. Most doors today have a pad of foam or rubber glued to it that dampens the metal. You can take doors on many of todays cars and hear the solid sounding ones and then you hit one where they did not put a dampener in them. I had a Kia I slammed the rear door on and it sounded like a tin can. A simple pad would have helped cut the sound. That is why they cost less than other cars as short cuts are made. The front doors were ok just the less used backs made noise like ting.
Whole the older cars in many cases sound worse today than new they still were not all that great back in the day either. At least not by todays standards. I had a Camaro a coupe years ago from 1981 with 11,000 miles and the doors sounded like a car crash. They were better than most like it today but it was not a pretty sound. That car was show room clean and reminded me of how bad cars were then. We see so many restored cars today we forget how flawed many of the older cars were back in the day. It was a rare 4 speed car and was fun to drive. A neighbor owned it and could not drive any more so I would take him out to exercise it from time to time.
I actually close my drivers door when I get out, with my open palm on the door, right above the door handle. When it closes I continue to apply fairly heavy force till it is completely closed and settled. This, in my case at least, seriously dampens that "80's door sound".
Also, make sure to grease up the pins real good, as the only thing worse than "80's door sound" is a lonnnnng squeak right before the BANG-Clunk!
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 09-22-2015).]
Shut the doors on an older Mercedes 450 / 380 SL. They sound like bank vault doors closing. The Bentley I borrow all the time dont even need you to shut them. If they just touch the striker, a motor pulls them all the way shut and latches them by itself.
Putting a large square of self sticking sound deadener will do wonders. Stick one on the inside of the door skin, and another inside the door.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 09-30-2015).]
My 2005 F250 has a big square of sound deadener (looks just like Dynamat) on the inside of the door skin. The doors on that beast sound all solid and trucky when they shut.
