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Wind Noise


crowvet

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This subject has probably been covered, but I am wondering... I have been around and have owned and drove many classic cars. I have my Riviera to the point where I an confident I don't have wind leakage around my windows, but yet I hear a certain amount of wind noise when driving. I can hear it in every old car I have driven. Is it just the design of the body, or windows Is it the rear view mirror or wing windows? Do you think it is possible to remove all wind noise from old cars? Has anyone succeeded on their Riviera? 

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44 minutes ago, RockinRiviDad said:

Following. I’d love to hear what others have to say. 
 

I hear wind noise in what seems to be the upper right hand corner of my windshield. I don’t see any voids in the butyl tape. My guess was that it’s wind catching my stainless trim just right????? 🤷🏻‍♂️

You might try driving with masking tape over the seam of the stainless to eliminate that possibility?

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These cars (and most cars predating the Eighties) have all the aerodynamics of a Ryder truck full of furniture. Zora Arkus Duntov, the Chief Engineer for the Corvette platform for a long time, once said that the C2 Corvette, made from 63-67, had just enough lift at speed to make it a bad airplane. Wind noise in my Riv is negligible to me; my driver's window probably needs to come up just a HAIR in the back where it meets the back window, because it gets some water there if I wash it, but it's a bit of pain to pull the door skin then try to figure out what to adjust. I just turn up the radio a bit, and keep my a/c on COLD.

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1 hour ago, jframe said:

These cars (and most cars predating the Eighties) have all the aerodynamics of a Ryder truck full of furniture. Zora Arkus Duntov, the Chief Engineer for the Corvette platform for a long time, once said that the C2 Corvette, made from 63-67, had just enough lift at speed to make it a bad airplane. Wind noise in my Riv is negligible to me; my driver's window probably needs to come up just a HAIR in the back where it meets the back window, because it gets some water there if I wash it, but it's a bit of pain to pull the door skin then try to figure out what to adjust. I just turn up the radio a bit, and keep my a/c on COLD.

My car does not have A/C and the radio sucks, Now what? Mine seals up well enough that I don't have any water leaks, but yeah my passenger window probably needs to come up just a hair as well. When rolling it up you would swear it is going to go to the inside of the rear window vertical seal, but it always clears and rolls into place. 

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A few years back, I rented a new Impala when I flew into Ontario Ca airport.

I had a  40 mile drive south and there was that noise like air leaking somewhere. 

For some reason I pushed the button to clean the windshield and after it had finished we noticed

bubbles coming from the passenger side where the windshield and dash meet.... the bottom of the windshield was not sealed.  

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A friend of mine suddenly noticed a whistling sound coming from his car at highway speeds. He took it to a body shop and had it looked over and they found a bullet hole in the roof. The body shop owner said someone must have been doing some celebrating and "whatever goes up must come down." 

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5 hours ago, RivNut said:

A friend of mine suddenly noticed a whistling sound coming from his car at highway speeds. He took it to a body shop and had it looked over and they found a bullet hole in the roof. The body shop owner said someone must have been doing some celebrating and "whatever goes up must come down." 

WOW, Here in Oregon, we had someone running up and down i5 shooting cars. They finally caught him, it was a UPS semi truck driver

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  • Couldn't hold my tongue or sit on my hands any longer.

Are you sure it is not sit on your tongue and hold your hands?     The louder pipes seem like a good idea....... guess you could also drive slower.

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17 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

A few years back, I rented a new Impala when I flew into Ontario Ca airport.

I had a  40 mile drive south and there was that noise like air leaking somewhere. 

For some reason I pushed the button to clean the windshield and after it had finished we noticed

bubbles coming from the passenger side where the windshield and dash meet.... the bottom of the windshield was not sealed.  

Seems like quality control at its best!!

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usually wind noise comes from the vent window frame to windshield pillar.  putting a piece of paper on the frame and closing the door on it will tell you how tight the seal is and then adjust from there.  I had wind noise there on both sides and it bugged the hell out of me and that is the way I solved it

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Yes, as others confirm, these old girls aren't as whisper quiet as a new luxury car!

 

Now you may have a specific gap in your weatherstripping or windshield that's causing inordinate wind roar at speed.  After replacing the door weatherstrip and window seals in my '65, the noise level did improve somewhat.  But above 55mph there is noticeable wind roar which just gets louder as you drive faster.

 

You mention you radio not being so good.  I had my stock AM-FM radio rebuilt by Precision Radio in New York (about $250).  They did an excellent job!  They fixed the station selector buttons that weren't working, and rebuilt the radio with better sound quality and volume capablility.  They installed a hidden mini-jack which I mounted in the console compartment so I can connect my phone or MP3 player.  Looks completely stock and I can hear the radio well no matter how fast I drive.

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“We can think of few more satisfying ways of travel,” wrote Car and Driver in 1964, “ than to ride behind the slim-rimmed wheel of a Buick Riviera looking out over the wide and gently sloping hood, watching the the fender tips and the oval Riviera ornament eat up the road ahead in majestic silence. “ 

 

Well, it’s obvious, you should have bought a ‘64! 😀😀😀😀😀

 

Nah, just kidding! I’m sure they were very quiet in their day, but today’s vehicles are just so much better at it!

 

One of the nice readings from Automobile Quarterly Volume XIX Number 2 “ Riviera Reborn, The Story Since ‘63”

 

One of my favourite reads

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀

 

 

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New driver door seal cured more wind noise than I expected (it was impossible to isolate the precise source of the noise).  Now with things "quieter" I can tell the top of the vent frame is leaking some air, despite having a new seal above the windows.  Firewall drilled holes and torn shifter boot under the console are other culprits.

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On 8/26/2020 at 8:48 AM, steelman said:

If you can hear wind noise, your pipes aren't loud enough. There, I said it. Couldn't hold my tongue or sit on my hands any longer.

😁

Mr. SteelMan, I asked around who was the best exhaust man in central Maryland. The owner of the largest NAPA dealer on the East Coast told me Marty Midas on Liberty Rd. I hesitated, but you would think the owner of a parts store would know things. I called Marty and Marty immediately told me the bolt sizes in the 63 zRiviera exhaust system. I went over to the Midas Shop of all places and Marty gave me the tour. Marty said Ill have to bend the pipe on the machine manually. Bottom line Marty said , what kind of sound you want?” I said old school and not obnoxious. Oh, Marty said, “ You want some reverb in the cabin with just enough crackle.” I said, “ How did you know.”

Turned out great!

 

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