Insulating the interior of my 6x4 Defender

[Wheely]

Hi All,
I am looking at buying a good insulating material for Wheely (1995 Land Rover Defender 6x4) so that in my trips around Ghana and Africa I won't suffer too much from the engine heat nor the very loud engine noise
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I intend to buy the one Urocamper offers (Kaiflex 20mm)
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I plan to cover it all top to bottom (all floors and the ceiling) - I removed the headlining and the original carpet as it was in horrible conditions.
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I have a series of questions, but let’s start with the easy ones.
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1) How do you recommend to treat the surface on which the material will go? Currently it’s bare metal ( a bit rusty). By this I mean, besides cleaning properly, do I need to paint with a special material (e.g. rust converter, waxoyl, …)
2) Since it will be applied where there were seats that are now removed and there are holes exposing it to the bottom of the vehicle/road, what should be done to cover the holes before applying the kaiflex on top
3) I've heard the moisture we produce while sleeping condenses on the steel panels, gets trapped in the insulation and causes rust. Between the steel panels and the insulating material do I need to put anything to prevent moist to get trapped and cause rust? Do I need to give a special treatment to the panels (not sure if Defender is made of alluminium alloy or steel)?
4) Can kaiflex be exposed to water if I put in the bonnet?
5) Is the Kaiflex glue strong enough or apply other one? as it is closed cell, I heard the glue won't penetrate to give a good bond

Thanks so very much,

Simone

 

[southpier]

are you locked into that particular product? would you consider a paintable type coating which might encompass (or eliminate) some of your concerns such as bonding & priming prior to the actual insulation application?

i'm thinking of the ceramic bead coatings http://www.lizardskin.com/recreational-vehicles.html

there's several brands and even do it yourself varieties.

 

[Wheely]

I could apply that beneath the Kaiflex I need to find a variant in Europe - variants would be found under the ceramic bead coating then?

But I am pretty set on using the Kaiflex given the good experience UroCamper has on it and want to understand how to best apply it

 

[Haf-E]

I would say that looks like a decent material for the ceiling and walls - but I would not use it on the floors due to concerns about it absorbing water. I would do the floors and firewall with a sound deadening material such as butyl or similar and then coat over it with something like the lizard skin to seal it up and provide abrasion protection. Then I would put in a removable liner material so that it can be pulled for inspections and drying if it got wet.

I would suggest a good paint job on any rusty areas prior to applying the material. Don't waxoyl any interior surfaces as it then would not stick!

The flame resistance of the Uro-Camper material is very nice.

Land rovers are a combination of steel and aluminum - so they rust and corrode...

 

[Wheely]

Uhm, in the pictures I have seen on Uro-camper Website they also put the Kaiflex on the floors and then cover it with a material to avoid to have direct pressure on it - I thought closed cell didn't absorb water hence was safe for this - what a pity.

I have painted the exterior side of the bulk-head and foot-wells with Gravitex (stone chip paint) - so you recommend to paint the internal side with a ceramic bead coating like Lizard skin (need to find an alternative as in Ghana I doubt I can find this specific product) - is this something similar to what can be found on the URO camper website at called 'uro-sound-elastomero-aislamiento-acustico-antivibratorio' ?

thanks a lot!

 

[southpier]

I couldn't find a website for that particular product, but man it sounds pretty impressive. why don't you contact URO and ask them ?

EDIT: alternate search (I hate Bing, btw) yielded: https://translate.google.com/transl...iento-acustico-antivibratorio.html&edit-text=

I think this is more like Dynamat sound deadener but in liquid form. probably wouldn't hurt to use it, but it won't offer the "step saving application" which I thought the ceramic type brushable product would.

I failed to mention in my original response that a single product might eliminate the need for the sheetgoods.

I might be misunderstanding your conundrum.

 

[DEnd]

Insulating Paint! LOL no. Yes it does insulate, but it is a very high cost low return method, and it doesn't actually provide much insulation. Roll on or spray on bed liner would likely provide more (especially since it would be applied thicker most likely).

To answer Wheely's Questions:

1: Rust converter or the better way is to remove all rust, clean with a solvent based wax and grease remover and then primer and paint.
2: Seats and belts must be bolted directly to the steel (or what ever metal the floor boards/pillars are made of), paint between the risers and floor is ok insulation is not. There is no way around that.
3: Sort of kind of. It depends. If there is no air space then the vapor can't get to the steel and will condense on the insulation instead (assuming the insulation's temp is low enough). Paint will also help prevent rust as the vapor will condense on the paint instead of the steel and there likely won't be enough pressure to get the moisture past the paint. Reducing the Dew point in the camper will also help, this can be done by reducing temperature and Relative Humidity. Putting in a vapor barrier will also help, as it will keep the water vapor out of the insulation and unable to get to the steel. Increasing the insulation will also help as this will reduce the amount of energy able to make it though thus reducing the amount of condensation that can occur, it's a bit more complicated than that but it does work.
4: Yes it can be exposed to water, Kaiflex is a closed cell PVC/NBR foam. Putting it in the engine compartment however is not a great idea. It is flammable, and produces a fairly toxic smoke.
5: Test it to know for sure. Kaiflex's adhesives are likely the best choice, but contact cement may work.

 

[Wheely]

Thanks for your replies DEnd! I have been looking at bedliners and then stambled upon UPOL Gravitex which actually says that it helps to deaden sound and vibrations, unlike bedliners which do no talk about sound deading at all. I would prep the panels by sand blasting them, then apply UPOL #8 Acid primer, then UPOL gravitex and then applying the Kaiflex on it (the Kaiflex would then be covered)...What are your thoughts on this?