Sound deadening in 1975?

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Ol'forest

Ol'forest

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Did something happen in 1975 to the sound deadening of the a-bodies? My '75 Duster trunk lid shuts and opens very easily with a quiet click, just like a modern car, doesn't have the normal hollow clunk I'm used to with my old mopars. It's not down to adjustment. Looking at it I can't see any difference with my previous dusters or darts, was the lid filled up with sound deadener? I noticed there's a bit more splashed around inside the trunk than my older mopars.
 
I wouldn't be surprised. The sheet metal got thinner iirc.

Maybe you got lucky and it's aluminum?
 
jos51700 said:
I wouldn't be surprised. The sheet metal got thinner iirc.

Maybe you got lucky and it's aluminum?
Click to expand...

Nothing else on the car is any thinner than the '74 I had, but yeah the trunk lid almost sounds thinner, (hard to measure with the folded edges) and the sealant around the outside edge is like a modern car also. I've never owned a car this new, bar a '79 F100. I'm not complaining but the car feels very modern to me, closer to my wifes 2010 mazda minivan than my older mopars. This car is rough, I can only imagine how good it was when new.
 
Ol'forest said:
Nothing else on the car is any thinner than the '74 I had, but yeah the trunk lid almost sounds thinner, (hard to measure with the folded edges) and the sealant around the outside edge is like a modern car also. I've never owned a car this new, bar a '79 F100. I'm not complaining but the car feels very modern to me, closer to my wifes 2010 mazda minivan than my older mopars. This car is rough, I can only imagine how good it was when new.
Click to expand...

I've been told that the sheet metal got thinner with impact standards that implemented in '73.
They had to reduce the weight of the car where they could to get the fuel economy up and offset the weight of the 5mph impact absorbers.

Or so I was told.

I do know that earlier doors from a four door weigh a LOT less than the later doors due to the lack of impact beams.
 
last I knew all sheet metal was .032" thick regardless of the age. That number is set forth by the Automotive Society of America.
Now, as cars got newer.... the steel metalogy changes.
 
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