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Insulation above the headliner?

lawsoncl

NAXJA Forum User
Location
North Idaho
Many years ago, I recovered my headliner. The original foam backing was crumbling so I just wire brushed it off. Over time I've been ignoring the occasional wet spots from the condensation between the roof and the headliner. I've pulled the headliner again and I've got a bit of rust up there now, especially on the side near the pinch seam.

Once I've got it all dried out again, I'm planning to wire brush, but the hard part is the sides under the side channels where I need a mirror to even see the rust. I'll herculiner on all the flat surfaces I can get to to match the tub. Then either pull rags soaked with herculiner through the channels, or spray undercoating.


Any suggestions on foam or insulation to put on the back of the headliner?
 
I did a lot of sound deadening to my '00 XJ. Not cause I cared but because I was doing things, putting in an overhead console that my Jeep did not come with, new door checks, glass, etc, and it was more a while I am here thing. Anyway did a little write up for what it is worth.

https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f177/sound-deadening-2000-cherokee-sport-4086497/




Thanks for the info. I'm not too worried about noise, as the truck is pretty loud after ripping out the carpet and herculining the tub.



I'm thinking about just grabbing a roll of this.
https://www.amazon.com/Guteauto-Deadening-Insulation-Automotive-Soundproofing/dp/B0742CF48V. Should be enough to cover the roof of the MJ. Might buy something with the heavy foil face and do the underside of the hood as well.
 
I already had to grind the shit out of and sand the outside roof on my Wagoneer, pulled the luggage rack strips in the middle off, that had rusted holes under them in the roof, and ended up with about 30 holes in my roof by the time I got the deep rust pits out of the roof.

I used Rustoleum Rust Restore spray cans to prime and convert the remaining flash rust to primer, 3 coats, still need to go back this spring and finish sanding and grinding some locations, and I used a 30 year outdoor siliconized acrylic latex caulk, paint-able to seal the holes, for now. Then I had to pull the windshield top side trim as the head liner was still dropping a lot of water on the floor in the rains here, and found the same serious cancer rust (deep pits and all) hiding there as well. Ended up with a 20% hole area on the span of the tray. I used steel filled epoxy to seal and reinforce the large holes, one was 2" long by 1/4" wide. Used GE 30 year Silicone II, to seal the mini holes.

Then still had some water getting in. Shinned a light from the inside up between the steel roof lip that supports the windshield and the windshield gasket and found a few paper thin gaps between the metal roof support for the windshield and the gasket, so I used a spray can of rubber like sealant/sealer on the entire tray/gasket area, after I had sprayed the cleaned up rusted tray with the Rustoleum Rust Restore rust converter primer. IIRC it has Tannic acid in it that converts the rust to primer. I have very high hopes for it. Used it on the hood about 3 months ago. But it must top coated as the primer is not UV/weather resistant. Still need to to put all the top coats on all of it.....Plan to use sandable grey primer (Rustoleum auto formula), then the OEM silver (Duplicolor), then a UV resistant outdoor clear coat (Rustoleum). The Rustoleum these days is easy to use in rattle cans, sprays sideways, up side down and the nozzle never clogs between uses. Awesome stuff if it holds up? I also bought a sealer primer for some of the areas. I plan to rattle can spray the entire rig and clean coat it the same way. Wish me luck!!!

And happy holidays!!!

Oh, on your foam question, I would look for a spray foam that uses the foam in the Red Great Stuff cans. That stuff is awesome if you can get a spray paint can version of it?
 
I use Dynamat products for everything, but their Dynaliner is perfect for the application.
http://www.dynamat.com/automotive-and-transportation/automotive-restoration/dynaliner/


I got the roof cleaned and painted with oil based rusty metal Rustoleum everywhere I could reach. Mostly surface rust but a little worse in the channels along the front and back edges of the roof where the water would collect. Once it's dry, I'm going to spray rubberized undercoating in the channels where I couldn't reach with a brush or a piece of foam on a stick.



I bought a roll of this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KAD24RI to stick on the roof. A butyl foam, pretty similar to the dynamat stuff. Order it Amazon prime Sunday evening and had it on my doorstep mon afternoon. I thought about getting the ReflectX and I have a roll of 3/16" pet foam, but this stuff it more flexible and self-stick. We'll see how it goes, probably on Friday.
 
I cleaned and sanded the inside of my roof and then used a rubberized under coat then when that dried I glued 1/2 inch cork to the roof then reinstalled the headliner . It worked out great it is real quiet and it keeps out the heat and cold .
 
Very interesting ideas, thanks for sharing. :)

I tried some Permatex spray sealer on the windshield top side gutter under the roof/WindS-trim, and was very disappointed. So I used a rubber repair liquid that scuba divers use to repair rubber/PVC dive suits. I used it to repair a cut CV-Joint boot 2 years ago (accidental cut with a sharp knife) on my Saturn, and it is still sealed tight. I could have a used a smaller brush for the tight narrow gutter than what came with the can, and it made a bit of a mess in areas I did not intend to get it, but all in all I am very pleased with the rain tight seal so far.

Only problem now is all the work the last 8 weeks damaged / cracked the wind shield glass, got 4-5 cracks. :wow:

Now to see if there is still a leak left or not?
 
Those of you who applied insulation to the roof, did it help with the noise? For all the things I love about the XJ, mine is as loud as a train on the highway. Since I need to replace the headliner anyway it'll be nice to put something up there if it'll actually help.
 
Those of you who applied insulation to the roof, did it help with the noise? For all the things I love about the XJ, mine is as loud as a train on the highway. Since I need to replace the headliner anyway it'll be nice to put something up there if it'll actually help.

I think it did. Could just be the placebo effect though.
 
Those of you who applied insulation to the roof, did it help with the noise? For all the things I love about the XJ, mine is as loud as a train on the highway. Since I need to replace the headliner anyway it'll be nice to put something up there if it'll actually help.




I still haven't recovered my headliner and reinstalled yet, but I did repaint the inside of the roof and cover with the dense 8,mm uxcell black foam insulation. It seems a touch quieter compared to bare metal and whacking the roof from outside makes less noise, but most of my noise is from the lack of carpeting since I only herculined after repairing the floor boards. The foam cured the water condensation issue though. This is a Comanche/MJ though, which has a much smaller area. The stock headliner is a 1/4" thick compressed fiberglass board.


If you've got the headliner out, why not?
 
I noticed a significant reduction in noise due to the rear crossmember having become unglued from the roof panel. The wind would oil-can it and make a bass type wa-wa-wa noise. All gone once I reglued it with the proper 3M 2-part foam adhesive. I don't believe dynamatting and thermal insulating the roof does a whole lot for noise reduction. There's not a whole lot of noise coming from above you. A few sq ft of dynamat is enough to dampen it for all but a serious sound system. I did notice a heat reduction from the thermal insulation with the headliner out. I only used acoustic insulation in the rear wheel wells to fill the cavity.

Applying dyanmat, MLV and insultion to the doors, floor and wheel wells did make a noticeable difference. The mud tires i have are loud as can be and the magnaflow straight through muffler drones a bit so it's all relative. Don't hear the water hitting the underside coming off the tires when it rains like I used to. Best part is the bank vault door dead sound when you close a door. Difference in sound quality from the stereo is noticeably improved and the reason for doing what I did. At the end of the day, the windows and doors are noisy right at ear level. You'll never get rid of it, even with new seals, it will never be a limo.
 
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