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Home > Articles > Desper•Auto > Shake, Rattle and Rock & Roll
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| Shake, Rattle and Rock & Roll |
By: Charlie Smith |
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I was talking recently by phone with my old friend Ron Martinez. Ron’s the current mind behind "Hot Rod Memories", a purveyor of classic films. He’s also a long time TV Producer at such places as Viacom and Universal Studios and a life long rod and custom enthusiast. Now Ron’s owned about every kind of car imaginable through the years and his current stable features amongst others, a C-5 Corvette and a sweet little Model ‘A’ highboy, as well as “The Avenger”, the winner of the AMBR at the Grand National Roadster Show in both 1967 and ‘68. Ron’s an historical authority on most things concerning older movies, music and motoring and always my “go-to” guy on such matters.
 Anyway, the topic of this latest telephone conversation centered around a subject matter we both shared with equal interest - concerning one of Henry Ford’s finest; the 1939 Mercury. You see Ron has just such a car sitting in one of his garages awaiting some custom adjustments. As it had happened, late one night while studying the car for possible modifications, he happened to remember a Merc design I’d featured at S.E.M.A.’s Concept Center back in the early 1990’s. Subsequently, Ron had asked me if I might make a few modifications to that earlier illustration and send them along by email. Well, with the two of us putting our heads together, it didn’t take many electronic exchanges to bring that little ‘39 Merc proposal up-to-date and we arrived rather quickly at a design we were both pleased with.
After we'd reached agreement on the exterior styling, I’d then spent a couple of months off and on working on designs for the engine compartment, trunk (including the sound system) and interior, as well as roughing out some of the important mechanical details. It was all this supplementary design work that we happened to be discussing during this latest phone call. It was then that Ron said, “Isn’t it “something”, that we used to put so much emphasis on the coach work and everything else was more or less an after thought. Oh sure, we’d stick some chrome under the hood and order up some “tuck & roll”, but it was all about outward appearances. Now, we’ve agreed on the external styling relatively soon and that turns out to be only a small portion of the total creative effort towards building a modern and successful custom these days.” I had no sooner agreed that today’s street going machine was as much about a total package, including modern amenities and creature comforts as it was about styling, when Ron continued...
 “Hey, that brings me to something we’ve got to address before this custom project goes one step further. You know I love the lines of older cars with their fenders and bulges in all the right places, and with the proper massaging, a chopped ‘39 Merc hardtop is hard to beat for looks. However, late at night when I crawl in that Mercury and begin to imagine the possibilities, I’m always awakened from my dream as I eventually slam that old car door. I’m too used to the sounds of quality that a modern car provides and I just can’t stand to think of all that work ending up on a car that might sound “tinny”. Gosh, I can’t even imagine how all that metal is going to affect the sound system. We’ve got to address these problems and this baby has got to sound and feel like a luxury car.”
Well I could tell that ol’ Ron was pretty serious about the quality issue, and well he should be... so I offered what I hoped would be a bit of solace for the situation. “Ron, I told him, you’ve been riding around in too many of those old shake, rattle and roll 1950’s customs... the times have changed when it comes to modern acoustics”. I pointed out that our new doors would feature smooth and quiet power windows and locks as well as sophisticated latches from Mercedes-Benz and above all, vibration damping. That should give him that luxury car feel, no matter how hard “the wife” slams the door. Not only that, but the technology was available to assure that the entire car would be acoustically sound and thermally insulated. I think I convinced him that there was nothing to worry about, because the conversation soon returned to the future “sounds of music” that he was going to enjoy from the confines of his solid little custom Merc and we ended our conversation for the time being on that positive note.
Now whether you know it or not, modern acoustic technology has come a long way in recent years. In fact; another good friend and Sponsor of the site is Tim McCarthy at HushMat, the leader in automotive acoustics, and it was Tim that I called after talking with Ron. I thought I’d order Ron a sample package of Tim’s product along with a brochure just to assure him that the future would be “solid” in his Custom Merc and the “old time rock & roll” would be forever righteous and clear.
 Anyway, the folks at HushMat sent Ron his package and in the process offered up a bit of interesting information about their product as well as a fine “step-by-step” pictorial guide for installing the material. I’ll include the information and an “Installation Gallery” for our viewers who might be in need of such technical expertise with a link below.
Tim further enlightened me by saying: That the history of acoustics in the automobile actually dates back to the 1930's when Henry Ford (there’s our old friend again) decided to place carpet on the floor of his vehicles for aesthetics and protection. Little did he know that he was the forerunner of an entire industrial revolution. In 1988, the foil-constrained layer damping technology was introduced and approved to the industry by General Motors and it began in vehicle production the very next year. Today, HushMat Ultra is the only OEM Spec approved damping material available to the automotive do-it-yourself market.
In fact, HushMat Ultra is the highest performance and easiest to install vibration damping and thermal insulation material available. The product's unique properties allow for installation using only two basic tools - hands and scissors (how easy is that). It can be applied to any vehicle on the road today (yes sir-ree, rods and customs too) and will treat the firewall, floor, tunnel, doors, trunk, trunk lid, quarter panels, roof and hood equally well. Simply peel & stick and adhesion is guaranteed!
For more information please visit their website and remember - Like Motorburg, HushMat products are proudly made in the USA. |
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