inside rattle

Clem Clement

Clem Clement

Well-known member
I have been chasing a rattle inside the cockpit near the instrument panel for years. Saturday on the way to the Scottish Games, things were very quiet. On the way back, with no change in windows or anything moveable, the noise was like 13 skeletons making love on a tin roof in a hail storm. Impossible to talk above the din. The winshield did not vibrate nor the panel or the wires in the valley behind the panel. The outside air temp was 20 deg hotter on the return trip and of course there was a bit less gas in the tank. previously I have removed the flame arestor to no avail. It is currently installed .
 
Clem Clement said:
I have been chasing a rattle inside the cockpit near the instrument panel for years. Saturday on the way to the Scottish Games, things were very quiet. On the way back, with no change in windows or anything moveable, the noise was like 13 skeletons making love on a tin roof in a hail storm. Impossible to talk above the din. The winshield did not vibrate nor the panel or the wires in the valley behind the panel. The outside air temp was 20 deg hotter on the return trip and of course there was a bit less gas in the tank. previously I have removed the flame arestor to no avail. It is currently installed .
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I got sidetracked thinking about your analogy ...and evidently missed reading how you solved your rattle. It's the part about there being an 'odd number' of skeletons that got me!!
ROFL.gif


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BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
I got sidetracked thinking about your analogy ...and evidently missed reading how you solved your rattle. It's the part about there being an 'odd number' of skeletons that got me!!
ROFL.gif


.
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Brent, you're thinking too much! :D I was laughing so much the odd number didn't even cross my mind.:confused:
 
Clem, are you sure it's in the dash area? I had a rattle like that that I was absolutely convinced was either in the dash or in the gas tank. It turned out to be a loose front motor mount.
 
Motor mounts were changed to float-a-motor. Sound was before.

there are times that I'm sure the sound is in the tank. Once in a while I can feel a vibration on the tank bottom. Assuming that is the problem, what do I do about it? The trip home was with a 3/34 tank of gas. Tank was filled just before the trip. Would a magnet hold the baffle still?
 
Check the radiator stay rods where the bolt to the firewall. A looose washer or nut can be amplified greatly by the firewall. It sounds like it is behind the dash.
 
Do you have aftermarket hood prop rods to hold your hood open? That was one of my many loud rattles, the prop arms rattling on touching metal.
 
Clem, I had a similar problem in my Sport Coupe. One day I touched the spark control rod and the rattle went away. The bumpers on both rods were worn through and lying free in the column. After replacement of the bumpers there is no more rattle. The task to replace these bumpers is time consuming in a coupe since you can't take the horn rod out without removing the steering column. It was well worth the time.

Bill
 
Radiator rods...maybe?

Jason in TX said:
Do you have aftermarket hood prop rods to hold your hood open? That was one of my many loud rattles, the prop arms rattling on touching metal.
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I searched for a similar rattle for years and finally gave up. This spring, I installed a different engine and took it for a test run before installing the hood. The passenger side radiator rod started to vibrate and the noise appeared. You could see the rod moving. I stopped and wrapped some electrical tape from one rod to the other under tension and ran the car again. The tension was enough to keep the rod in check and vibration and noise were gone. I never would have tracked it down with the hood on.
 
You mention a vibration at the bottom of the tank. The speedo or cable can create a noise ,and vibration, that is hard to trace. I would check there first.
 
Issue is a long standing rattle in the cockpit. The tunnel is under the instrument panel. By reaching in there I can feel the speedo cable turning and the motion, if any, of the dissy cable or anything else that is loose. The tunnel area is a common source of noise when hitting bumps.

I still thinking baffold motion is the problem
 
I have had an annoying rattle which turned out to be windshield frame vibrating against the body; the rubber had compressed/moved over the years.
Also if you have a metal fuel tank float, these can bang around at low levels. I plan to put the original cork float back in one day for this reason. Sooner or later, you will track your noise down.
 
I haven't had coffee yet, but just a thought. I save large magnets from old speakers, break them in half, drop one in the radiator to collect rust flakes and one in the gas tank to do the same. In case you might have some metallic item lounging in your tank, it might "arrest" it and keep it QUIET.
I once found a 9/16" socket in a tank. ( SNAP-ON, TOO! )
 
My throttle control assembly that bolts on the back of the engine would rub on the bottom of the firewall when I hit a bump and make a noise like you discribe. Mine was an easy fix, had wrong assembly and it was bent.
Another noise I had was the vibration of the radiator support rods at about 30 mph. The washer at the firewall end had too small of a hole and the washer bottomed on the square part of the shaft leaving the shaft loose in the mount. The firewall acts like a soundboard on a musical instrument. Noises can be very hard to find.
 
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