MegaHurtz

iTrader: (6)

After several month of sitting on plans to sound deaden my car, it is finally done. I got the idea late last year, and I never did anything with it for a number of reasons. Recently, I was given the opportunity to try what turned out to be a really great product, and finally tackle this huge job that I've been meaning to do.

After gathering up all of the materials and knowledge required for the job, I set to work. My plans were to put a layer on the outer and inner door skin to seal up the door, to put 2 layers on the entire floor of the car and to seal the rear quarter panels. I also wanted to do the trunk as well, but I ended up using most of the material on the floor. Even though I started with about 180 square feet of material, it got used up really quick, especially since I was doing 2 layers on most sections.

I ended up using 3 packages of Second Skin Damplifier Pro (door kit, trunk kit and bulk pack), which added up to 68 square feet. I also had 100 square feet of B-Quiet Ultimate which was in 2 50 square foot rolls. I used the Second Skin on vertical surfaces, as it appeared to adhere better, and I used the B-Quiet mostly on the floor. For a top layer, I cut a sheet of Second Skin Overkill Pro (9 square feet) in half, and put half on the floor on the driver's side, and half on the floor on the passenger's side. I used Second Skin brand adhesive spray to adhere the foam to the deadener.

The application of the material went really well. I was expecting it to be really tough and a pain in the ***, but I was pleased with how easy it was to do. It was a very labor intensive process, but I don't think I could have asked for much better. I did the entire job over 3 days, working for just a few hours on the first day getting one door done, then I spent about 12 hours on Saturday doing the other door and floor, rear panels, etc, and about 3 hours today putting it all back together. Working with the Second Skin Damplifier Pro was very nice, as there is no asphalt filler, making it a much cleaner product. B-Quiet Ultimate was also not too bad, although the adhesive layer contains an asphalt filler along with the butyl, making it a bit more messy to work with. Both products stuck quite well, although ultimately I would say I would trust the Second Skin material more in the long run, to me it seemed to adhere just that much better. Because of the thin aluminum layer on the mat, I ended up with many cuts in my hands after my 12 hour days of deadening, I could have worn gloves (and attempted to), but I found it was just too difficult to work with the material while wearing gloves.

The end result is a much quieter, more enjoyable ride. It has definitely made a noticable difference in keeping outside noise out. After doing this initial install, I can see where my loud points are now, and where I will have to apply more material to quiet those areas. The firewall in particular sticks out as being loud now. I didn't go very high up in that area with material, I stopped around the top of the pedals, and I can definitely hear a lot of engine noise now, where it wasn't as dominant before. Also of interest, is the trunk area. As I mentioned, I left the trunk untouched for now, as I didn't think I would have enough material to finish the trunk how I would want to. I've driven maybe about 10 minutes so far, so I don't have a thorough conclusion, but I can't even tell that the trunk has no deadening in it. I would imagine this is largely because I have a custom install in my trunk, with a floor made out of 1/2" plywood. Whether or not I will deaden the trunk is still undecided, it will take more driving around and listening closely to where I hear road noise coming through. If I don't notice anything from the rear, I might simply leave the trunk alone. After all, why fix it if it ain't broke?

As far as my opinions of the products used, I think that both were excellent. Both worked and applied as I expected them to, and both were pleasant to work with. If I had to make a recommendation as to what you should buy, it would be Second Skin. Of the two brands used, Second Skin was the cleaner to work with, as well as the thicker material. Second Skin also offers a full selection of dampening materials... a variety of mats, closed cell foam, spray dampeners, as well as the proper (and high quality) tools to apply any material that they sell. They are indeed a more expensive product, but if you have to quantify the difference somehow, the increase in price compared to the increased ease of installation, cleanliness, effectiveness and product quality would do it for me. I will probably end up getting more dampening material for my car, and if (inevitably, when) I do, it will definitely be Second Skin!

Anyways, on to the pictures...

For the sake of simplicity, I'll just show the passenger's side door. It was better documented than the other side, and turned out a bit better, as the driver's side was done first and served as my learning curve (it's not as pretty to look at as the passenger's side (but it's still looking pretty!)).

First, the plastic behind the door panel had to go. This is how it looks with just the door panel removed. Nothing else has been touched just yet...



And with the plastic removed (and in the garbage)...



Applying the Second Skin Damplifier Pro in the doors. I tried to make sure I covered as much of the inside as possible to make sure it was as solid as I could manage. I opted for a single layer on the inside, as well as a single layer on the on the outer surface of the door...



A trick I learned from a buddy of mine was to first apply a small border of mat around the edges, and fill it in. This was a big help in my opinion, after this border was made, all I had to do was apply a bunch of big pieces to fill it in. I think it also limited the amount of waste that I threw away. When cleaning up today, I threw away maybe 1/10 of a square foot of material in total (don't want to waste expensive material!)...



Starting to fill in the rest. I covered up every little hole for now (including those for clips, etc). My plans are to eventually move the speakers (Focal 165K2P) back into the doors, and when that time comes, I will cut that hole out and install the speakers, so that for the time being, I don't leave a gaping hole in the door after spending so much time and energy trying to seal everything else up...



The door completed! I had some help on the driver's side door from a very knowledgable buddy of mmine, but the passenger's side door was done by myself in my garage. This was my first time working with sound deadener, and it wasn't as near as bad as I thought it might be. There were no real roadblocks, and anything that I thought might be a problem wasn't bad at all...



The biggest thing I had concerns about was the rod for the door handle. A trick that I picked up from somebody (sorry, can't remember who!) was to put a short piece of wire loom over the rod, and it will act as a conduit for the road to slide through when the deadener is applied around it. I tried this on both doors and it worked great. I couldn't think of another way to get the rod through the mat otherwise...



Good ol' duct tape was used to secure the wires to the door. I could have tried to use the factory holes for the clips, but that would require both making new holes in the doors, and poking with a screwdriver until I found the hole, resulting in a million little dents all over the mat...



It was now time to tackle the interior. I wasn't sure what to expect, I just knew that it was going to be a BIG job. And it was, not as bad as I was expecting, there was just a lot of pieces to cut, and a lot of area to cover. I took everything out of the interior: front and rear seats, center console, carpet and every panel. Here's the very nice stock interior that I started with...







First to go was the passenger seat. Take note of the air ratchet towards the bottom of the picture, three cheers for pneumatic tools!!!...



Then the driver's seat, along with the alphabet soup of electronics that control my Sirius Satellite Radio, iPod, video system, headrest screens, and a number of other things. I'm embarassed to post it, but there it is. One day I swear to myself I will clean it up (although I haven't committed myself to a date just yet )...



Finally, the rear seat came out. Much easier to remove than the front seats, no giant bolts or airbag wire connections to deal with...



Having the seats out made it easier to remove the center console (which was next, predictably). It was my first time removing my center console, it gave up it's virginity without much of a fight...



Finally it was time to remove the rear side panels. With the seats and center console out, it wasn't a big deal at all, one screw, and a lot of pulling and they came free...





Last, but not least, the carpet came out. Again, this was my first time removing the carpet, and needless to say, I was shocked to see all the ugly bare metal that lay before me (well, maybe bare metal with a thin layer of spray deadener on top). Oh well, time to get down to business I guess...









And I finally lay down the first bit of B-Quiet Ultimate on the floor. I figured out really quick that it was going to be easier to work with smaller pieces (1ft by 1ft squares), instead of longer strips. As I did with the doors, I tried to cover as much surface area as possible. This is a picture in the early stages, many of those bare spots got covered later on...



And the first layer on the floor is done. Didn't take near as long as I thought. You can see that the coverage in this picture is a little better than in the previous picture...





And after adding the second layer to most of the floor. Looks pretty much the same, doesn't it? In some areas, like on the floor in front of the rear seats, I opted for a third layer, as I wanted a bit more dampening in that area to help out, as it was just carpet on top of the mat, where in the front I used a layer of closed cell foam (Second Skin Roadkill Pro), and the rear seat had the seat cushion to help out. I did actually clean up some of the wires that you can see in these pictures...







And finally, I made to the rear seat area. I made sure to keep mat clear of the area around the fuel pump, in case it ever needs to be serviced. I also did 2 layers in this area, although not as thoroughly as I did on the floor.



I also added a layer of mat on the skin behind the rear side panels, as well as 2-3 layers on the wheelwells, as that is obviously a big source of road noise entering the vehicle...





And it was finally time for re-assembly!! I drove my car around for a day with the seats in but the rest of the interior out, to see how it would sound before and after the interior went back in. I was amazed at how quiet it was, even with the interior out, although there was a lot of noise coming in through the firewall from the engine. It pretty much came together the opposite of how it came apart. I thought it was going to be really difficult to get everything to bolt/clip in, with the holes all being covered up. It was a pain, in fact it was probably the most difficult part of the whole installation. The seats were the worst, but everything else went together fairly smoothly. If I ever needed to find a hole for a clip or bolt, I would put the part in place, so that I could get a good idea of where the hole would be, and then poke a screwdriver through the hole. For a clip hole, I would push the panel against the material, and I would poke through the material where the clip made an indent. I found that this was the easiest way to find all the proper holes, short of poking randomly with a screwdriver...





Looking pretty much done!...



And done!! Total assembly time was about 3 hours, including a lot of cleanup. I was expecting it to be much longer, so I was pleased. I got started, and I was really done before I knew it.



Unfortunately, I forgot to get pictures of the Second Skin Roadkill Pro, but I cut a single sheet in half, and laid down half on the floor in front of the driver and passenger seats, as I had mentioned previously. The Second Skin Spray Adhesive that I used was really good stuff, I was more than happy with how well it worked, and how well and quickly the foam stuck to it. There was no lingering smell either, I didn't want a lot of glue fumes while I was working in my car putting it together, and the smell was gone almost right away. I think that was worth a mention. If I ever have to tear any part of my car apart for any reason (and we all know I will, and probably soon), I will snap a few shots of the Roadkill Pro on my floor.

And there you have it! If you have any questions/comments, PM me or post them in the thread

Ryan

filipinop1405

iTrader: (6)

That is great!!! I will do this soon to my car too... but I dont have a date set.

boricua_civic

damn!! That's a nice work, +rep for that

D17thgen

iTrader: (1)

nice work

ajhdragon

iTrader: (5)

wow thats alot of sound deadner. im glad I don't do installs anymore. Nothign worse than sound deadning an entire Escalade. good job ryan its very clean.

TransformedBG

iTrader: (6)

Rep +100......lbs

James77

Good job.

I did mine this past weekend as well, although, I didn't get as much done as that. I did 1 layer of RAAMmat over the floor followed by a layer of Ensolite (closed cell foam). That took me 3 days working on and off. I still have all 4 doors to do and the trunk.

Thanks for some good tips on doing the doors

ajhdragon

iTrader: (5)

^^^^
the doors should be pretty easy compared to the floors because its so much easier to pull a door panel than all your seats and carpet.

05reverb

iTrader: (1)

damn, very nice job......wish i had the patience and time to do that, will you do mine? . I really should do mine cause it rattles like hell when the systems loud, so i never turn it up loud cause i hate that sound of metal rattling.

thefever

iTrader: (1)

what was the approximate cost on all that?

MegaHurtz

iTrader: (6)

Approx. $5-600 in materials, not too bad, would have been a lot more if I had just used Second Skin exclusively.

CIVIC X3

iTrader: (2)

subcribed for later...good job!

SEN_ONE

iTrader: (11)

I think it is a little overkill, but that's just me. I only did my doors and trunk bed. I could only imagine how much weight you added to your car. Do you know?

MegaHurtz

iTrader: (6)

i would imagine it's about 70 lbs or so of material. not TOO bad really, but I'm not too concerned about weight in my car, I don't go fast, and I've got a full install weighing me down already, so it's no big deal.

eye_see_you

iTrader: (13)

great job now.. how great does it sound

MegaHurtz

iTrader: (6)

Sounds really nice, very little road noise now, but I think I'm still going to need more up in the firewall to quiet the engine down a bit

Rufus

iTrader: (17)

Focal front stage sitting in Q-Forms.... how sad

Good install though.

MegaHurtz

iTrader: (6)

Rufus, I swear on my mother's grave that those kicks are going to be scrapped very soon, just need to find the time to move them to the doors, and to put the tweets in the a-pillars.

Rufus

iTrader: (17)

lol I hear ya man. I had Q-Forms when I had my 93 Accord about 5 years ago. I love having glassed kicks and the tweets in the A-Pillars. Killer soundstage.

BlackKnight008

Looks great man, nice job

MegaHurtz

iTrader: (6)

How did you put your tweets in the A's? Got any pics? I've been wondering how it's going to go, as it doesn't seem like the pillars are going to be very friendly when it comes to installing them.

Rufus

iTrader: (17)

SUPER easy. Use a hole saw on the pillar. You will see an open area on the pillars about ear level (I'm 5'10" keep in mind) I used alum dome and kept them 10db down firing at each other. sand the edges of the holes and wrap the pillar with grill cloth (like any new car with curtain airbags) Hot glue the tweet from behind. Here's the kicks too

mah

This is a little off topic but did you make your kick panels? They look sweet! I want them!

MegaHurtz

iTrader: (6)

They are pre-fab plastic kick panels. You can buy them when I'm done with them if you want.