I’ve spent a solid four weeks working on the interior firewall, under dash and kick panel areas.
My firewall mat was rather decrepit, my kick panel areas uncovered and unattractive with dirt, rust and old adhesive and I had a lot of surface rust high up under the dash. I stripped everything down, cleaned everything up and finished with rattle can Eastwood Rust Encapsulator.
The firewall mat was the biggest, most time consuming problem. In the driver and passenger areas, the old firewall mat consisted of what appeared to be ˝ inch coconut fiber batting covered with a perhaps 3/8” thick hard pressboard. Each side was sewn to a piece of linoleum that wrapped around the middle console. Once I started to remove the mat, it pretty much disintegrated.
I scouted around and was unable to find replacement materials, although I do believe I could have gotten the batting. I took a chance and bought the firewall mat, part 691585S, that is for the PV544 and P210 Duett. I spent a few days trying to install this but not much matched up to my PV444 firewall and I gave up.
I picked up a piece of what I suppose is called a carpet runner from the local building supply (Home Depot). It was actually a pretty nice piece of Neoprene type material, no pattern, perhaps 3/8” thick, no static. I used the firewall mat for the PV544 to cut the basic shape. Then with many, many, many test fittings, I located and cut all of the openings, including the holes for the retainer plugs that hold it up on the firewall. The driver’s side was a particularly difficult as was cutting the holes for the “heat duct” through the center console to the passenger side. I didn’t have that heat duct, per se, but I made one up out of aluminum and slid it through the console area.
Comparison of the two mats. PV544 firewall mat on top (slightly mutilated by me). PV444 firewall mat made by me on bottom.
On the driver’s side, I applied 1/8” Hushmat on the firewall and then 1/8” Hushmat on the backside of the firewall mat. On the passenger side, I applied 1/8” Hushmat to the firewall and then ˝” Hushmat to the back side of the firewall mat. I really wanted to apply more soundproofing on the drivers side, but would have had a major fitting problem if I did so. I also applied the 1/8” Hushmat to the back of my mat at the center console.
I replace the heating ductwork (newly re-painted) (my heater control valve tested out), cut off or ground down any sharp points in the engine bay from the penetrating screws, reinstalled the coil.
I plan to install kick panels. The pieces are nothing more than pressed cardboard, plasticized on the inside surface. After test fitting, I needed to trim the forward edges a bit. I then cut and applied a vinyl fabric. They came out pretty nicely. I plan to screw them on.
