Denny:
The theory of the next guy replacing it in 20 years is a thoughtful one, however I wish they would have thought about the guy replacing it after 40 years, when I took on the task of removing the remains of the factory sound deadener from the floor boards and firewall of the '66 that started this topic. I spent countless hours scraping, stripping and cleaning up the remains of the factory applied sound mat.
I am hopeful that there will not be a need to replace it in 20 years, since the truck will be taken care of better in its later years than it was in its early years. I want the sound mat to stay in place throughout the trucks lifespan, just as I want the prep, primer and paint to last forever. The sound mat can be scraped and removed with a paint scraper and paint thinner, just as the original sound mat was removed.
I posted the topic to share my experience and the results, certainly not to create a rift. Being a purist, I would have gladly replaced the original sound mat with original materials, however there is no such animal, therefore I opted for a comparable product that is readily available. Perhaps in twenty years, the truck may have crumbled around the newly restored floor boards, however I will not get my feet wet.
Have a great day and lets go trucking.
Tony
