2006 Civic sound dampening project

[chylld]

I don't know about you guys, but I find the road noise in my 2006 civic to be unacceptably loud for a car branding a slogan "nothing else feels as finished" :) so before i spend thousands decking out on a new sound system to replace the embarrassment of a factory setup that i have atm, i'm going to sound deaden the car as much as possible so i can 1) cut down on the road noise, and 2) get the most bang for my buck down the track.

what i've done so far
defense pak sound protection (official honda accessory)
what is it: wax/tar compound sprayed onto the underbody of the car, including wheel arches
result: noticeable drop in road noise. if you split up road noise into the deep 'rumbling' sound and the more white-noise sound of tyres running over tarmac, then you could say it cut down the latter to the point where it can no longer be heard over the former.

what has yet to be done
dynamat all 4 doors, the floor (from firewall back), the boot and the rear walls.
i'm not an expert at figuring out what's what, but i figure that the defense pak sound protection took care of the airborne noise, but didn't do much about the noise transmitted through the chassis of the car itself via the suspension. i figure the vibration of the wheels over rough roads causes the body panels to vibrate, hence causing that low rumbling sound that's become ever so annoying on my daily commute.

i'm wondering if it's worth approaching this in a rather scientific way for the benefit of others, i.e. applying dynamat to one section at a time, each time test driving the car and taking db measurements to figure out which piece of dynamat had the most effect - that way people who don't have the budget for 2 dynamat extreme bulk packs can better choose where to install it.

there are 2 problems with this: 1) i don't have db measurements from before the defense pak sound protection, and 2) sound meters aren't very cheap.

is it really worth bothering doing it scientifically? or should i just trust my ears?

regardless, i'll take pics as i go and post them up in this thread.

btw service manuals for taking apart the 2006 civic can be found at collegehillshonda.com, the xm radio installation instructions is the best imo.

[Fizz]

look forward to see your project fly off. im also interested in getting the dynamat stuff, but just not sure how much would be enough to make a noticeable difference. hopefully just limiting it to all four doors and trunk kit could improve somewhat.

[chylld]

Ok I've decided to go for about 2 layers of dynamat xtreme in the doors, floor, boot and boot lid. judging by a similar project by some dude in the US, this requires about 3 bulk packs of dynamat xtreme to get the job done - so i just ordered 3 packs :) shopping around pays off, only paying $200 for each one which sure as hell beats the $339 rrp :)

will be picking up the dynamat monday evening, so this weekend i'll be focusing on pulling the car apart while not breaking anything!

[Fr3aKi3]

that's pretty cheap... where did you get that price if you don't mind me asking?

[wassup]

You really find the Civic noisy?

Are there any instructions for pulling the door apart?

[chylld]

Fr3aKi3: i'd be happy to share the details once i actually get the product and can confirm that it's authentic etc. so yeah... just hang on until monday night :)

wassup: yeh i do find the civic noisy - especially on rough roads (about 50% of my route to work and back) the tyre roar and general rumbling is way too intrusive. my previous car was a hyundai getz and that was much quieter, and for the 2.5 weeks before i took delivery of the civic i was driving a honda accord euro which was also much quieter. should overtake both of those cars after this mod tho :)

i did find instructions on how to pull the door apart, can't find them anymore but it's very simple:

1) pop off the little plastic cap in the handle
2) undo the screw underneath
3) pry up the control panel (the thing with the window controls on it) from the back, there's a slot for you to insert your tool
4) unplug the cables
5) undo the screw revealed by popping off the control panel
6) pop the door off (just fasteners left)

[twing]

$200 dynamat !!!! Wow.. that's cheap. Tyre upgrade can also reduce the noise. ;)

[JaCe]

Yeh the Civic gets a bit noisy on some roads but for the most part (ie. in my area) it's not an issue. Although I also don't like the slogan- they could've come up with something better; but then, the car is a pretty kickass car for the price so I have no issues with it.

[Fr3aKi3]

Fr3aKi3: i'd be happy to share the details once i actually get the product and can confirm that it's authentic etc. so yeah... just hang on until monday night :)


Thanks mate

What tyres are on the civic? As twing said tyres make a big difference. What ever you do NEVER get Goodyear eagle NCT5, these were on my car when i got it and it has to be the noisiet tyres i've ever heard...

[chylld]

What tyres are on the civic? As twing said tyres make a big difference. What ever you do NEVER get Goodyear eagle NCT5, these were on my car when i got it and it has to be the noisiet tyres i've ever heard...

my car has 205/55R16 Bridgestone Turanza ER30's. I can't even find this tyre on the bridgestone Australia website lol! but i guess they would have been put on in thailand so they might have it there.

i've heard bad things about the nct's, rest assured i'll stay away from those. however the actual noise of a particular tyre tread running along the road isn't audible anymore (defense pak sound protection took care of that) - now it's the rumbling sound associated with the vibrations travelling up through the suspension to the car body.

First day report

Today i made some real progress towards getting the sound dampening project on its way - i practised disassembling the car! :) i managed to gut the car on one side from the rear license plate to the b-pillar (including a rear door). it took a long time, but i managed to not break anything. here are some photos:

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/3278/gut108ki.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut108ki.jpg)
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/338/gut94ho.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut94ho.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5206/gut83bl.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut83bl.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/328/gut79aa.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut79aa.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9286/gut63yu.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut63yu.jpg)
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/121/gut59kj.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut59kj.jpg)
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5880/gut42ir.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut42ir.jpg)
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/498/gut30ua.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut30ua.jpg)
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1668/gut20ce.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut20ce.jpg)
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/6870/gut11fu.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gut11fu.jpg)

[Fr3aKi3]

Props to you for being willing to pull apart the interior of your brand new car!!! :thumbsup:
I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people who wouldn't be willing to do that.

[twing]

yikes... very extreme considering it's a new car. And it's a civic sport!! don't u afraid of voiding ur warranty?

[chylld]

there is a risk of voiding the warranty by breaking something yes, so i'll take this post to urge people who are thinking of doing something similar, to think carefully about what you're doing and understand the consequences before you start wielding socket wrenches! of course the socket wrench work is trivial - the hard part is pulling panels off that are fitted with clips. those always make you feel like you're about to break something :O

that said, the clips are surprisingly strong, and the plastic of the panels is also quite strong. if anything was to break, it'd be the clip. i've only come across 3-4 distinct types of them so far, all of which you can probably grab spares from repco, so no biggie.

[Krim]

Subscribed. Interested to know how this goes mate :)

[JaCe]

I admit I'm a wuss and wouldn't dream of doing anything this daring on a <6mth old car! Good luck with your project though!

[MKI4EVA]

wow I guess it depends on what car you've come from but the civic is so NOT noisey for me.

Good luck with it......and I hope you get to the reduce noise level your after.

if not rev higher and turn on the sound system.

[chylld]

once i've finished everything, i think it might be a good exercise to find someone else in my area with a civic sport and then compare noise levels directly... say with a dB meter or something? the earliest i'll finish all of this though is the coming sunday evening, so still early talk yet.

[MKI4EVA]

kool.........i'll happily help.......

Beacroft.

[vinnY]

$200 dynamat !!!! Wow.. that's cheap. Tyre upgrade can also reduce the noise. ;)

on that note, care to name some quiet tyres? :)

bit ot; chylld wouldn't happen to be from ocau with a worms avatar would it? :D

[chylld]

MKI4EVA: do you have a sport as well? beecroft is plenty close for me. or maybe we'll just wait until that meet u proposed in the other thread? :) i'm up for it but would really like to have my sound deadening + system up and running first.

vinnY: yep that's me :) (OT: it isn't a worms avatar, it's an alien i made in 3d for a sketch comedy show) (but yes it pretty much looks like a worm)

[MKI4EVA]

MKI4EVA: do you have a sport as well? beecroft is plenty close for me. or maybe we'll just wait until that meet u proposed in the other thread? :) i'm up for it but would really like to have my sound deadening + system up and running first.

vinnY: yep that's me :) (OT: it isn't a worms avatar, it's an alien i made in 3d for a sketch comedy show) (but yes it pretty much looks like a worm)

yups sports. Let me know when your ready, I'm curious too.

But I got a feeling its more the tyres.........but hopefully you'll prove us all wrong.

I can't wait to get new tyres for it. Stock tyres are sheeet house.

[chylld]

agree... stock tyres are shocking, esp in the wet - i can feel the abs working overtime on downhill bumpy roads!

guess what i just picked up:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1908/dyn16mg.th.jpg (http://img528.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn16mg.jpg)
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/7899/dyn23yu.th.jpg (http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn23yu.jpg)

yep, 3 bulk packs of dynamat xtreme - and it's bloody a lot heavier than i thought! (Fr3aKi3: not sure of the rules on this forum, so pm'ing you the supplier details)

[JaCe]

U guys live near Beecroft? I'm from CB and used to go to Arden (in Beecroft) LOL. Small world. Btw I wonder if the Sport is much noisier than my VTi-L.

If you guys are bored sometime maybe we should meet up... if we have time I'd also like to compare speedos (get someone to ride in both cars and compare) because a few people have told me they reckon my speedo is very optimistic.

... btw in regards to the Dynomat, won't that make your car heaps heavier (and thus slower)- and potentially negating any of the benefits from getting the sports model over the normal 1.8 which is lighter (and maybe even quieter)?

[chylld]

the sport has wider, lower profile tyres than the vti and vti-l... i'm guessing wider = more tyre noise because of more tyre tread, and lower profile tyres = more road noise because the overall suspension is reduced so more bumps get transmitted to the cabin.

there's about 22kg of dynamat in total, that's not insignificant but it's not that heavy either. the sport has plenty of torque though, enough to haul a full car around so an extra 1/3 of a person is nothing :)

[tanalasta]

That and the fact the Bridgestone Potenza's on the sport do have a reputation for not being the quietest tyre in the world :P

[Fizz]

the dynamat stuff looks cool...cant wait to see pics of it installed on your car. i guess everyone has different perceptions about tyre noise, but i've tried the Yok's C-drive and i think its a pretty quiet and comfy tyre. in mag reviews they said it has excellent wet weather qualities too

[twing]

yep, 3 bulk packs of dynamat xtreme - and it's bloody a lot heavier than i thought! (Fr3aKi3: not sure of the rules on this forum, so pm'ing you the supplier details)

PM me the details as well thanks.



on that note, care to name some quiet tyres?
uuummmm... don't want to hijack the thread, so let's stick to chylld's topic.
Lots of tyre recommendation in suspension thread. Have a check over there.

[arverson]

29-05-2006 08:41 PM
chylld

guess what i just picked up:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1908/dyn16mg.th.jpg (http://img528.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn16mg.jpg)
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/7899/dyn23yu.th.jpg (http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn23yu.jpg)



got dynamat?!

[mj3610]

1) cut down on the road noise, and 2) get the most bang for my buck down the track.

i wouldnt be pulling apart a brand new civic mate. ur interior will become prone to rattling and noise down the track...

[twing]

chylld, do you consider other product? Like b-quiet extreme?
The comparison:
http://www.b-quiet.com/compare.html

[chylld]

mj3610: it's a risk i judged as being worthwhile taking. and my civic came out of the factory with rattles anyway, so taking the car apart gives me an opportunity to fix them.

twing: i didn't do much research, but one of the alternatives i considered was second skin damplifier. the b-quiet stuff seems alright too. however i know that dynamat extreme works well on an 06 civic sedan, and given i only get one shot at it and it only costs about 500 for a 2-layer application (since i won't use it all) i might as well go for what i know works well. (also i used a non-dynamat brand on my previous car with less-than-expected success)

[chylld]

Had some practice on the middle of the car today, taking out the centre console that runs along the floor. It was much easier than I imagined. The next thing for me to try is to take the front seats out! Which brings me to an important point for those of you thinking of doing something similar: disconnect the negative battery terminal before you begin. this is to prevent fuse blowouts (not-so-bad case) and accidental airbag deployments (very bad case).

Here are some pics:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/603/moregut64li.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=moregut64li.jpg)
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1659/moregut51zv.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=moregut51zv.jpg)
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3498/moregut48wi.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=moregut48wi.jpg)
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2128/moregut31lp.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=moregut31lp.jpg)
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3793/moregut20rn.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=moregut20rn.jpg)
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3343/moregut17nx.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=moregut17nx.jpg)

[Fizz]

hi chylld, not sure if you came across this before (cant find any info of it being available in oz) but when i was in m'sia i saw this company which does foam injection for reducing NVH in your car.

what they do is they inject foam into your A & B pillars as well as the side sills of the chassis. the foam then expands and after a few hours it hardens, filling up the void and creating a sort of noise insulation within the chassis. they demostrated by showing after filling up a mineral water bottle with the foam, it turned almost rock solid but was still very light.

anyway, food for thought if you decide take your project further :)

[Zilli]

you can buy that stuff at the local hardware...

it might reduce rattles, but i dont think it has much value in reducing the kind of noise which is being described here, it is an inherent flaw in the design of the car, kinda like my mum's Mazda 3

but then you arent buying a lexus, so this stuff is to be expected

good luck with your project mate

[chylld]

thanks Zilli.

the foam would be good at stopping airborne noise, and whilst that is obviously a significant part of the problem, i would much rather attack the problem at its source: the vibrating panel itself.

then i'll foam it! :) (just kidding)

i currently have a bit of a dilemma. i need to lift up the carpet to apply the dynamat underneath, however if you look in the 2nd picture in the post above, the carpet runs underneath the handbrake cables. now i don't want to disconnect the handbrake cables (they're pretty taut, might not be able to get them back on) so what should i do? should i cut the carpet there, or should i find a way (or volunteer) to hold the carpet up while i apply dynamat underneath?

[[ricer]]

its not much to cut... but i'd probably get someone to hold it as i dont like cutting stuff up in my car

how much does the 3 boxes weigh in total?

edit: i just read 22kgs... thats not bad considering i weigh not that much myself haha

[chylld]

phew! finished the first day of dynamatting. stripping the rest of the car was pretty easy, only a couple of clips holding the wire harnesses to the seat undersides were a bit of a pain. the actual dynamatting went well though, on track to have all the interior stuff back down where it should be by the end of the weekend.

also please forgive my ghetto method of holding the carpet up :P

the objective is to have 2 layers of dynamat everywhere i put the stuff... so in the pics below, you're looking at 2 layers. also i decided to keep the wires on top of the dynamat instead of under, this way if they need to be accessed for maintenance it won't be any harder than stock.

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/5917/dyn88zt.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn88zt.jpg)
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5872/dyn79ab.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn79ab.jpg)
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9632/dyn61nw.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn61nw.jpg)
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7813/dyn58wx.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn58wx.jpg)
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4391/dyn49ex.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn49ex.jpg)
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/8594/dyn30nw.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn30nw.jpg)
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4808/dyn25wb.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn25wb.jpg)
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5720/dyn10yc.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyn10yc.jpg)

[JaCe]

Wow... I didn't realise this thread would have nudity! :eek:

Btw good work with the sound system deadening. Maybe one day I'll get to hear it at one of the OzHonda meetups! IIRC you don't live too far from the Hills District.

[chylld]

ok finished the rear seat and the boot today. in the end, the floor and the rear seat got 2 layers, the boot only got 1 - i'll add more if i need to later but i want to make sure i have enough to do all 4 doors nice and beefy :)

http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/9094/dyndyn82ls.th.jpg (http://img465.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyndyn82ls.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3554/dyndyn73kx.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyndyn73kx.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8701/dyndyn64bx.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyndyn64bx.jpg)
http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/2086/dyndyn59hh.th.jpg (http://img465.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyndyn59hh.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1863/dyndyn46au.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyndyn46au.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3674/dyndyn34ny.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyndyn34ny.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3591/dyndyn24du.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyndyn24du.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8749/dyndyn11dl.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dyndyn11dl.jpg)

[newmski]

looks like ur gonna be able to hear a pin drop in ur car

[chylld]

ok just drove the car to work, 1 hour in heavy rain in peak hour conditions. all i can make are subjective observations but one thing that i noticed was that it was a remarkably relaxing drive... usually rain + peak hour is a little more stressful.

i don't think there was a substantial drop in noise levels overall, however the sharp bumps are definitely quieter. the tyre rumble seemed maybe a little quieter as well, but that could just be relative to the rain noise.

i expect to get much more benefit from doing the doors, specifically the outer skin (the very outer-most panel). stay tuned! :P

[wassup]

Hey Chylld:

appreciate if you can continue with your great pics of the door removal as im considering a replacement of the stock speakers and want to make sure i get the trim off properly without breaking anything ;)

[MKI4EVA]

Mobile recording studio in the making!!!

hehehhe jk.

[chylld]

wassup: i'll be sure to post pics when time comes to do the doors (need to do more research on how to best plug up the big gaping hole). however getting the trim off is very easy:
1) pry up the control panel from the rear and disconnect it
2) undo the screw behind it
3) pry off the little cap inside the door handle
4) undo the screw and push in the centre of the black clip
5) pop the panel starting from the bottom
6) pull the door handle assy out a bit, turn 90 degrees and pass through its hole in the trim while moving the panel up and out

[wassup]

wassup: i'll be sure to post pics when time comes to do the doors (need to do more research on how to best plug up the big gaping hole). however getting the trim off is very easy:
1) pry up the control panel from the rear and disconnect it
2) undo the screw behind it
3) pry off the little cap inside the door handle
4) undo the screw and push in the centre of the black clip
5) pop the panel starting from the bottom
6) pull the door handle assy out a bit, turn 90 degrees and pass through its hole in the trim while moving the panel up and out


sounds very similar to removing the door trim from my old VTi-R coupe then ;)

As for pluging up the holes a good way is to create templates with A4 paper, then transfer the shapes to MDF type boards (no need for thick ones) to plug up the gaps. These boards can be held in with the Dynamat.

[chylld]

yeah i'm very familiar with MDF, and most probably will end up going that route. one door sound deadening tutorial i saw used duct tape to close off the hole, then mdf, then another layer of duct tape - apparently that works really well provided that the mdf panel is sealed against moisture (easy).

another method that i'm reading about at raamaudio's website is to use silicone sealant to hold in a piece of aluminium roof flashing. however, given that the objective here is to dampen vibration, i'm much more inclined to use a 6mm thick piece of wood than a 1mm thin piece of metal :)

[JaCe]

I'm just curious how all this sound deadening is affecting the performance/handling of the car and if it's noticable. Not that I find my Civic underpowered, because for a 1.8L, it isn't too bad, but I wouldn't want to do anything which would make things significantly slower/less responsive?

Btw the project seems to be coming along nicely :) Another question, does this sortof project where you're ripping up the car and putting sound deadening in constitute any violation of the warranty t&c?

[chylld]

hmm well even if i decide to use all of it, it'll only add about 20kg to the car's weight so it's not much... it'll have a negligible effect on performance.

i'm not 100% sure on the warranty thing, but i was concerned about it from the start so i was extra careful with everything and kept all the wires above the dynamat instead of under it (which i see in a lot of guides) so that the car is essentially as it was before from a functional/accessibility point of view.

the only problem is if i try to claim warranty on a part that was damaged or broken as a direct result of my applying the dynamat... which is to say nothing so far.

i remain a bit concerned about the doors though - have to plug up the big service hole which could make things tricky if the door needs to be serviced.

[wassup]

actually.. you only really need to plug up the service holes if you want to significantly improve performance to speakers in the door... i think i read someplace that it doesnt improve the actual sound insulation of the door so unless your doing this to improve the low and midrange of speakers in the door then i wouldnt bother

[chylld]

hmmm yeah you have a point, however sq is one of my main objectives as well, and since i don't want to replace the very messy and yucky plastic weathershielding, i might as well cover it myself.

also, any barrier against the outer panel has got to help reduce the noise at least a little bit, especially with a service hole this big:
http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/2261/10015530yr.jpg

The above pic is an '06 civic front door taken by a guy in the us who dynamatted his civic.

[Fizz]

chylld, did you find it difficult to apply the dynamat stuff? any extra glue required to stick them? on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being most difficult), how would you rate this whole project? ;)

[chylld]

chylld, did you find it difficult to apply the dynamat stuff? any extra glue required to stick them? on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being most difficult), how would you rate this whole project? ;)

the dynamat xtreme is extremely easy to work with, even at cold temperatures (i was wearing 3 layers for part of the dynamatting) it's very pliable and i didn't have any problems with it at all. no extra glue is required.

one piece of advice often given to diy sound deadeners is to heat the mat first by leaving it in the sun or using a hairdrier/heat gun etc. for dynamat xtreme it actually proved to be better to not heat it at all, i tried heating it by holding the mat up to my 2x500w work lights but it made the backing tear off messily instead of cleanly which was a major PITA.

difficulty of the project... the only really hard part is gutting the car for the first time. after the first time (and having learnt where all the clips are and the disassembly order), gutting the car is unbelievably easy. the actual dynamatting is very easy as well, it's just a lot of work. some sections require kneeling or squatting in an awkward position but you get used to it. out of 10 i'd rate the project so far (haven't done the doors yet, but they should be easier) as 4/10 on the difficulty scale.

[chylld]

i'll have to update that difficulty scale to about 7/10 because the doors were so much harder and messier than i thought. nevertheless, the project wrapped up yesterday after nearly 3 bulk packs of dynamat xtreme!

final pics (in the order they were done):

floor: 2 layers
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/4417/floor6us.th.jpg (http://img235.imageshack.us/my.php?image=floor6us.jpg)

boot: 1 layer
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/3777/boot1ip.th.jpg (http://img235.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boot1ip.jpg)

rear right door: 1 layer inside, 1 layer outside (note the weathergoop in the first pic!)
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5913/doorrr12ou.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doorrr12ou.jpg)
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/8071/doorrr29hv.th.jpg (http://img103.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doorrr29hv.jpg)
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/8825/doorrr30gi.th.jpg (http://img103.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doorrr30gi.jpg)

front right door: 2 layers inside, 1 layer outside
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/91/doorfr11fj.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doorfr11fj.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2277/doorfr21pg.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doorfr21pg.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3368/doorfr34cw.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doorfr34cw.jpg)

rear left door: 1 layer inside, 1 layer outside
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8503/doorrl17th.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doorrl17th.jpg)

front left door: 2 layers inside, 1 layer outside
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3483/doorfl14lp.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doorfl14lp.jpg)

Result:
As when i test drove the car after doing the floor+boot, i noticed a difference as soon as i drove the car out of the garage. the sharp bumps are much quieter now. transitions from smooth to coarse roads are a lot less abrupt now. road noise is still audible, but the characteristics of the noise itself have changed for the better; i can't hear any more low-frequency rumbling anymore, just sounds like tyre noise now. also, on really coarse roads i can talk softly now and my gf can hear me from her seat :)

music-wise, i think there was a small quality gain but nowhere near as dramatic as the gain i got from sound dampening my old hyundai getz - in that car, the sound dampening put the mid-bass through the roof, to the point where it elicited a 'woah' from my gf. in the civic all i got was a 'mm.. that's a bit better.. i can hear a bit more stuff now' but i'm attributing the low sq gain to the incredibly cheap and lightweight speakers.

i've yet to drive the car on my normal route to work yet, but based on the short test drive i did yesterday i'd say yes it's worth the money for sure; but whether it's worth the labour is something that will vary greatly from person to person. nevertheless, i like hands-on stuff so if anyone needs a hand dismantling their 06 civic i'd be happy to help :)

[tegboy]

Looks great I know how much of a difference Dynamat makes, I used 6 bulk packs in my Integra. But the best investment I made was the Dynamat roller, really saves your fingers :)

The roof in my car, seemed to make a huge difference. I then lined the entire floor with Dynaliner and TacMat behind the door trims.

Did you find you hands and arms were covered in little cuts from applying the Dynamat?

Job well done

[chylld]

thanks tegboy. yeh i made a little roller out of a bun foot and a fixed castor, it's invaluable. a tennis ball also works quite well (not as good as the roller though)

nevertheless, there were some places the roller and ball couldn't get to, which means that yes my hands and forearms have literally dozens of small cuts all over. no blood though :)

i plan to put some foam in later down the track, but i'll leave it as is for now, not too keen on splurging out heaps for a while.

[JaCe]

Just wondering, how much should I be looking at for the installation of Dynomat into my car?

Lifestyle quoted me $200 for front left/right doors.

[chylld]

depends how they do them. if they are only putting dynamat in, then there is a problem with the strength of the SD over the access holes, which in our cars are HUGE! at the moment i have the holes just covered up with dynamat and this isn't enough - i've effectively turned my front doors into passive resonators.

properly doing the front doors for our car is:
- 1-2 layers of dynamat on the outer skin
- 1 layer of ensolite foam on top of this
- ensolite-backed aluminium sheet metal covering the access hole
- 1-2 layers of dynamat over inner skin incl the access hole reinforcement
- 1 layer of ensolite over this

i'll be doing the above to my front doors next weekend (22/23 july) as i am expecting my shipment of ensolite to arrive from the us late this week / early next week - ur more than welcome to come over and watch :) i think you'll get a lot more out of it if you learn to do it yourself.

re price, $200 buys 1 bulk pack of dynamat xtreme and you only need about half that for the front doors as per above.

[JaCe]

Well they're saying that it's easier to do the dynomat when they do the speaker installs- and hence are charging $200 for both the sound deadening stuff AND the installation. What do you reckon?

I'm a bit short on cash atm and am inclined to think this upgrade isn't really... worth it just yet?

[chylld]

well given what i've heard about lifestyle, i doubt they'd do a bad job, so $200 for dynamat material + dynamat installation + speaker installation sounds quite reasonable. does that include installing the amp and running the wiring etc.? what about tweeters? from what i've read, installing non-standard (i.e. in Aus, any) tweeters in the stock positions at the base corners of the windscreen is a major dremeling job.

also have they dynamatted an 06 civic's doors before? it's a hugely messy affair with the goop, check out my first RR door pic above. i'd ask about this as well as the tweeter installation.

i recall u were getting the RF punch splits - where are you intending on placing the 2nd tweeters? also do they know that civics don't have standard speaker mounts and need a special bracket / demolition of the stock speakers to mount new ones?

these are just all questions that pop to my mind, lifestyle are good and skilled people so i'd trust them, but if i were you i'd run these questions by them first :)

and sound dampening is absolutely worth it - if it's done right :)

[chylld]

an update to the thread: my ensolite foam arrived from the US in a record 4 business days! missed it while i was at work so picking it up tomorrow morning from the post office. will post pics when i get it home!

[JaCe]

well given what i've heard about lifestyle, i doubt they'd do a bad job, so $200 for dynamat material + dynamat installation + speaker installation sounds quite reasonable. does that include installing the amp and running the wiring etc.? what about tweeters? from what i've read, installing non-standard (i.e. in Aus, any) tweeters in the stock positions at the base corners of the windscreen is a major dremeling job.

Might've poorly worded my post so I'll clarify;

$340 for either the RF P162S or MBQ DSF216
$140 for installation of splits (inclusive of wiring, etc..)
$200 for the Dynomat + Installation

As for the tweeters, if I went the RF, I'd probably put one in each corner of the windscreen and run the second one as a coaxial... but I'm actually leaning towards the MBQ DSF216. After listening to them side by side with a variety of songs I like, the MBQ are far and beyond superior (considering they are same price). Only one song had the RF's sounding a bit better, but once it went past the introduction, the MBQ gave a much more balanced and less shrill sound which I thought would be more suited to my needs. Sure it won't be as loud as the RFs, but I felt they were alot better.


also have they dynamatted an 06 civic's doors before? it's a hugely messy affair with the goop, check out my first RR door pic above. i'd ask about this as well as the tweeter installation.

Apparently they did a full system for an 06 Civic recently and they will upload the photos shortly. Everything from creating a new dash to rebuilding the boot.

Btw, on another topic!... what do you guys think of this;

I have my HU with 4 speaker outputs. The rear speaker lines are connected up to a line-out converter (with the speakers also plugged in). These line outs are connected to my 4ch amp, which has 2 channels in use for the sub. If I were to use the other 2 channels for the front speakers; is this a good idea? It'll save money in terms of no need for an additional line-out, but it means my HU's front 2 speaker channels won't be used... what do you think?

[chylld]

glad u found splits that u liked... u gotta show me once they're installed :) i've just decided not to buy a 32" lcd tv and a sound system for my car (2k each) as i'm trying to not let myself get too carried away :) i might buy one of those 24" dell monitors though, they're going for 1200 (normally 1500) and should serve as a tv well enough (i have a small room)

lifestyle did a full custom on an 06? damn... gotta see that!! i'm interested even though i intend on keeping my 06 looking 100% stock inside and out. obviously they know what they're doing, given the hassle i went through with the dynamat install, the $200 is probably worth it.

however (there's always a however) i suggest you check out raamaudio's door sd howto (http://www.raamaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?p=ht) to see what should be done for a decent sd job - if lifestyle's only doing dynamat then make sure they do the outer skin too (the front door needs 2 layers on the outer skin alone!) and reinforce the sd over the access hole, because our 06's have awfully big ones...

[chylld]

Ensolite has arrived!

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/2249/ens11yn.th.jpg (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ens11yn.jpg)
http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/4848/ens20cb.th.jpg (http://img93.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ens20cb.jpg)
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/2934/ens34sn.th.jpg (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ens34sn.jpg)

i ordered 6 yards of the stuff, so about 8.4 square metres - should be enough to do the entire car with maybe an additional layer on the floor and in the doors.

it's essentially a special 3mm-thick closed-cell neoprene foam developed by nasa. it wasn't specifically designed for the purpose of acoustic absorption, but experience says that this is some of the best stuff you can put in your car.

smells a bit funny though, hope that doesn't stay :)

[JaCe]

I'm planning on asking them to give me a more detailed explanation- but yeh, Lifestyle said they fully modelled an 06 and are planning to upload the photos shortly!

As for the Dell LCD... only problem with the 24" is, by the time you go to buy it you'll think- hmm... the 30" isn't that much more expensive and will probably drop in price within a couple of months; can I hold out? That's because that's how I felt back when I was planning to buy a 17" LCD many years ago- and then 19" dropped, and then 20" dropped, and then 24" kept hitting the <$1200 mark (from Dell)- I read Icon every week >_> ... in the end I bought the 19", and said when 30" becomes a bit more affordable, I'll buy my mother one for her birthday or something.

[chylld]

i decided to hold out on the LCD... at the moment i have a perfectly good 17" lcd and a 51cm tv to watch stuff on... neither are problematic so there was really no justification to buy a 24" :)

[VTECACCORD]

Just a few questions and maybe a suggestion,

1. Did you clean off all your body parts with wax remover before applying all that dynamat ?
2. If you really want to make the car dead quiet then what you should consider is getting think lead sheeting, you can get thsi from plumbing stores, put the lead sheeting inbetween the layers of dynamat or inbetween the dynamat and the acoustic foam.

No sound penetrates lead, and lead is only harmful if consumed or touched on a daily basis, so if you apply it with some gloves, you should be good to go.

Also I'm wondering have you had a chane to check out how easily the dash would come out ?

[destrukshn]

isn't lead heavy as?
lol.

[chylld]

Just a few questions and maybe a suggestion,

1. Did you clean off all your body parts with wax remover before applying all that dynamat ?
2. If you really want to make the car dead quiet then what you should consider is getting think lead sheeting, you can get thsi from plumbing stores, put the lead sheeting inbetween the layers of dynamat or inbetween the dynamat and the acoustic foam.

No sound penetrates lead, and lead is only harmful if consumed or touched on a daily basis, so if you apply it with some gloves, you should be good to go.

Also I'm wondering have you had a chane to check out how easily the dash would come out ?

1. Didn't use wax remover, just used 99.5% isopropyl alcohol.
2. i'm thinking of doing this for the floor - at the moment the floor is just dynamat, next weekend i'll be adding ensolite and was originally going to just lay the carpet back down on top of the ensolite but am now thinking about adding a barrier layer there, some cheap lead/similar sheeting from bunnings or something would work well. so essentially my car floor from bottom up would be spray, metal, dynamat, ensolite, lead, carpet. as opposed to just metal, carpet.

the front bits of the dash come out easily enough, some good (official) manuals at collegehillshonda.com (look for accessory installation instructions) so removing enough to install a new stereo/similar should be quite simple. removing enough to get to the firewall though is another matter altogether... i couldn't even pull the carpet up around the pedals (it's stuck down somehow.)

[VTECACCORD]

Lead would be heavy yes, but the lead sheeting is very thin and pliable, so you can basically get it to work very well.

I don't think it would add more than 50kg to the car, but for those interested Lead sheeting is a far superior sound barrier than dynamat, dynamat absorbs vibrations by adding mass. With that being said Dynamat is safer and easier to use.

I'm not sure how Lexus get there cars so quiet but I would imagine a lot of sound deadening and possibly lead may be used, that combined with superior aerodynamics.

[chylld]

I'm not sure how Lexus get there cars so quiet but I would imagine a lot of sound deadening and possibly lead may be used, that combined with superior aerodynamics.

that's something i'm greatly interested in as well - how do some manufacturers make their cars so quiet out of the factory? the hard part is finding a lexus/mercedes owner if you can dismantle their car for a bit :)

i did however catch a glimpse of the inside of a mercedes s-class door panel on the UK show Top Gear - the inner skin was entirely covered with this yellowy sponge/foam looking material. looked fairly thin as it was very immaculately moulded to the contours of the inner skin.

[oms]

defense pak sound protection (official honda accessory)
what is it: wax/tar compound sprayed onto the underbody of the car, including wheel arches
result: noticeable drop in road noise. if you split up road noise into the deep 'rumbling' sound and the more white-noise sound of tyres running over tarmac, then you could say it cut down the latter to the point where it can no longer be heard over the former.

[

how expensive was that accessory? sounds excellent and im tempted to add it to my civic....

[chylld]

how expensive was that accessory? sounds excellent and im tempted to add it to my civic....

the defense pak sound+rust protection cost $495. if i had ordered it along with the car it would have only cost $200 but oh well.

in my opinion, there was a noticeable reduction in noise, but it wasn't magic by any measure. the good thing about it is that it comes with a lifetime warranty if you do it before the car is 1 year old, and it protects against rust too which can be a long-term problem if you get a bad ding from a stone flying up from the road.

[chylld]

UPDATE: The outer skin ensolite applications and access hole covers described in this post have since been removed as they have failed and/or caused problems; more details in latest post (page ~9 of this thread)

my weekend ensolite project is done! not without its dramas but still fruitful, nonetheless.

the dynamat helped control the vibrations in the panels, but to get the dynamat applied in the doors i had to remove the factory acoustic foam over the access holes, essentially removing all soft surfaces from my doors and turning them into resonance boxes. not quite, as there was a reduction in noise, but i had sacrificed one good thing for another and i wasn't happy with that.

i imported some ensolite (a special 3mm closed-cell foam developed by NASA) from the states and intended to apply a couple of layers to each door, and then a good layer all over the floor and boot. i changed my mind however, and decided to focus my material in the doors as there were no soft materials there to absorb airborne soundwaves, whereas the floor had carpet all over it.

so for each door, i put 2 layers of ensolite against the outer skin, covered up the access holes with a dynamat+sheet metal+ensolite combo, covered up remaining access hole gaps with ensolite and then another final layer of ensolite over the top. for fixing the foam, i used a combination of strong double-stick tape, waterproof cloth tape and a special spray adhesive intended for foam.

piccies!! :p

Access hole covering
From top down: Ensolite, Al 0.6mm stucco, Dynamat Xtreme - UPDATE: 0.6mm Al, even with dynamat, still produces resonance problems. I wouldn't recommend anything thinner than 1.0mm from now on.
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2569/ensbarrieryf4.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensbarrieryf4.jpg)

Right rear
This door is always the first to cop any sort of treatment! i didn't quite put enough double-stick tape on the outer skin layers so they're bulging a bit; but not enough to foul the power window. (UPDATE: they eventually detached from the outer skin and did start fouling the power windows) Also used cloth tape to secure my access holes reinforcements, decided this was a bit dodgy but only after i covered the door up. i'll fix it later if they fall off :)
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/427/ensrr1jp4.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensrr1jp4.jpg)
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6074/ensrr2xq4.th.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensrr2xq4.jpg)
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/7472/ensrr3zx4.th.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensrr3zx4.jpg)

Right front
Again, didn't put enough double-stick on the outer skin layers, and there's less clearance for the power window here. tested it and seems ok though :)
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1337/ensfr1ys0.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfr1ys0.jpg)
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/856/ensfr2hd8.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfr2hd8.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6381/ensfr3xl9.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfr3xl9.jpg)

Left rear
Note that in the last pic i forgot to cut out a hole in the foam for the hole that accepts the main door panel screw... oops
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6289/ensrl1ck1.th.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensrl1ck1.jpg)
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2306/ensrl2xk1.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensrl2xk1.jpg)
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6526/ensrl3ys0.th.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensrl3ys0.jpg)

Left front
This door caused the most trouble, took me 3 hours to disengage the clip inside the door handle, turns out the inner pin was turned 45 degrees so it wouldn't disengage, hammer+chopstick fixed the problem though.
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7599/ensfl1un3.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfl1un3.jpg)
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/5616/ensfl2ty7.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfl2ty7.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5616/ensfl3qm1.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfl3qm1.jpg)

RESULTS

an initial test drive with the gf found that the road noise is noticeably more subdued, but more impressive than that was the fact that the road noise has much 'smoother' sound to it. SQ improved as well.

SUMMARY

My car as of today has the following sound dampening mods done to it:
Defense pak sound protection ($500) - entire underbody of car
Dynamat Xtreme ($600) - 2-3 layers in doors, 2 in floor, 1 in boot
Ensolite ($200) - 4 layers in doors

Total cost: $1300
Total time: 3 full weekends

Next on the list:
- front wheel well tarring
- quiet tyres

[JaCe]

I'm starting to regret being too cheap to put in $200 for Dynamat. ><

[chylld]

I'm starting to regret being too cheap to put in $200 for Dynamat. ><

lol.. it's never too late! you can always put dynamat in after your speakers are installed. the foam is well worth it too, as long as you do it properly.

the money issue is nothing compared to the time investment - so if you're willing to do it yourself you'll save a fair bit of money too.

one thing i forgot to add is that the doors now make a nicer 'thud' sound when they close :)

now to plan my audio system! muwahahah

[JaCe]

It was $200 including the installation; but that was when they are stripping my car doors to install the new speakers anyway.

[chylld]

It was $200 including the installation; but that was when they are stripping my car doors to install the new speakers anyway.

so they're all installed now?
where did they put the crossovers? and the tweeters?

[Jo_e]

Nice work man. I'm too scared to pull my civic apart, but very interesting to see what it looks like. =]

[aaronng]

Nice work! Got a question. Do you know how much did all the dynamat and ensolite that you put on weigh?

[chylld]

Nice work! Got a question. Do you know how much did all the dynamat and ensolite that you put on weigh?

works out to be about 20.5 kg dynamat xtreme, and 1.1 kg ensolite. not much really considering some hardcore sound deadening folk put easily twice as much!

[car_nut]

so is it all really worth it just to make your car that little bit quieter?? if you ask me i like to hear my car work abit!

[chylld]

so is it all really worth it just to make your car that little bit quieter?? if you ask me i like to hear my car work abit!

that absolutely depends on the person. provided that all 06 civic sports have the same noise level out of the factory, there are numerous people on these forums alone that are quite satisfied with the stock noise levels already. then there are people who aren't satisfied with the noise levels, and then there are the obsessives like me who stop at little to reduce noise levels as much as possible :wave:

at this point the car can still be heard working, but unlike before the operating noises (mainly road noise and traffic noise) are much easier to ignore, and as a result more of the music i'm playing can be heard.

so to answer your question: for me, bloody absolutely, wrt both time and money :)

[Scratch2k]

that absolutely depends on the person. provided that all 06 civic sports have the same noise level out of the factory, there are numerous people on these forums alone that are quite satisfied with the stock noise levels already. then there are people who aren't satisfied with the noise levels, and then there are the obsessives like me who stop at little to reduce noise levels as much as possible :wave:

at this point the car can still be heard working, but unlike before the operating noises (mainly road noise and traffic noise) are much easier to ignore, and as a result more of the music i'm playing can be heard.

so to answer your question: for me, bloody absolutely, wrt both time and money :)

I find turning the stereo up a notch has the same effect as your weeks of work and $$, but hey, you gotta have a hobby! :)

[chylld]

I find turning the stereo up a notch has the same effect as your weeks of work and $$, but hey, you gotta have a hobby! :)

turning up the stereo does 'drown out' the road noise to an extent, but it doesn't actually do anything about the noise floor. for me the reduction in road noise was the first priority, better SQ second.

also, for every 3db you drop the road noise level, you double your effective amplifier power (apparently hehe) so i'm working toward the same goal but using an obviously more expensive and tedious approach :)

[chylld]

OK today was hopefully the last day of pulling my car to pieces! i applied ensolite to the centre console inner walls and most importantly the entire floor. as with last time, the hardest part of the process was unclipping the wiring harness from underneath the seat - but once that's done the rest of the process goes remarkably smoothly (much smoother than the doors!)

for the centre console i put some dynamat and ensolite on the inner walls around where the gearshift is and forward of that; honda had put some (pathetic) sound absorbing foam material here so i figured they must have recognised the transmission as the source of at least some noise, so i went into overkill mode:
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/2910/enscon1vf2.th.jpg (http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=enscon1vf2.jpg)
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/6561/enscon2ya9.th.jpg (http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=enscon2ya9.jpg)

i then proceeded to attack the floor, i did this by taping double-stick tape to the floor first and then peeling it off bit by bit as i lay the ensolite down on top of it. the purpose of the tape is to prevent the ensolite from moving around too much; unlike the dynamat, the ensolite does not require full adhesion for maximum effect (as it's purpose is to help absorb airborne soundwaves):
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6064/ensfloor1yp1.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfloor1yp1.jpg)
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/8075/ensfloor2co5.th.jpg (http://img135.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfloor2co5.jpg)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6933/ensfloor3zc5.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfloor3zc5.jpg)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/158/ensfloor4yx4.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ensfloor4yx4.jpg)

thankfully, the above only took half a day (including cleanup) as i had planned the necessary equipment and step-by-step instructions beforehand. the next steps involve tarring the front wheel wells and looking further into getting quiet tyres!

[Ru$kI]

$200 for the Dynomat + Installation

Where did you source it from for so cheap?? Everywhere I go its $300 for a single extreme pack...NOT including installation.

No one is willing to give a clear quote for installation either, but they all say its time consuming...so say if it takes them like 4 - 5 hrs (since they are professionals)...thats an extra $250 or so by my estimates.

Are you happy with the installation they did as well?

[chylld]

Where did you source it from for so cheap?? Everywhere I go its $300 for a single extreme pack...NOT including installation.

No one is willing to give a clear quote for installation either, but they all say its time consuming...so say if it takes them like 4 - 5 hrs (since they are professionals)...thats an extra $250 or so by my estimates.

JaCe would have to clarify, but i think this is for dynamat + installation in the front doors only. a typical front door install only takes about 1 sheet of dynamat (in the size that the bulk pack comes in) so my guess is that jace is paying $200 for 2 sheets, at ~$22 a sheet (the price i paid) he's paying ~$156 for labour.

a professional wouldn't take 4-5 hours (i know you're only using this figure as an example) - my guess would be about 2 hours per door max.

[tron07]

I used a material call Insuflex (looks similar to foam you are using, and there is another similar product called superlon) to dampen my previous car. However I cant seem to find any shop that sells these stuffs here.

For the Insuflex, there are 3 type of thickness, the thin 3mm, med 5mm and thick about 10mm or more. I used the thick for the floor of the car. Just bought 2 rolls, one roll for each side but didnt DE or stick them cause after you set the carpet back, it will be held to its place.

For the door, I use DE. The door panel I spary it with Cascade Quietkote, DE the speaker area and the lower part, and add a layer of the thin Insuflex.

Now I got a civic coupe and its very very very noisy....... Will slowly collect all the material needed before starting on it.

[Ru$kI]

JaCe would have to clarify, but i think this is for dynamat + installation in the front doors only. a typical front door install only takes about 1 sheet of dynamat (in the size that the bulk pack comes in) so my guess is that jace is paying $200 for 2 sheets, at ~$22 a sheet (the price i paid) he's paying ~$156 for labour.

a professional wouldn't take 4-5 hours (i know you're only using this figure as an example) - my guess would be about 2 hours per door max.

ahh...yea that seems more in the price range i've been quoted. As far as hours...I'm gonna sound deaden all 4 doors, boot, and rear shelf / panel....how many hours do u think a professional will take with that? since i'm weighing up whether its worth just purchasing the Dynamat and doing it all myself

[VTECACCORD]

Looks like you have taken this to the next level.

Did you do anymore reasearch into led sheeting ?

[chylld]

Ru$kI: I would definitely recommend you do it yourself. as soon as you find some shop manuals for your car, it'll be a cakewalk. you will save a LOT of money, and you'll know exactly what has been done... and it's pretty hard to stuff up really :)

just don't get too free with saying "I'm gonna sound deaden all 4 doors" - that could mean anything from a simple 1 layer dynamat on inner skin job, to a more thorough 3 layers dynamat, 4 layers ensolite on outer and inner skin with access hole reinforcement job (like mine).

VTECACCORD: not 100% sure who/what you're addressing, but if you mean my adventure with the ensolite then yes i would consider it the next level :) (mainly because it makes little sense to add more dynamat now)

i researched into lead sheeting and found some at bunnings, but i felt it was too heavy and thick to be worth the effort - also i'd have to buy some tools to hammer it into shape, and given that the floor actually isn't flat (carpet padding makes up for that) then it would have been a nightmare to get installed properly.

[Ru$kI]

i was thinking doing inner and outer skin for the front doors...so 2 sheets on each front door. I'll do 1 sheet on each of the rear doors, and the rest (3 sheets + any excesses material that was cut from other sheets) on the boot & rear shelf (which covers the 6x9 speakers)

Do u think that's reasonable?

[chylld]

sorry for the late reply... i borked my email trying to setup a fancy name server / domain forward :(

for the front doors, 2 sheets sounds reasonable yes. i'm trying to remember how a bulk pack sheet size relates to the door skin size... but it should be roughly 1:1. so yes 2 sheets should be fine :)

the rear doors are much smaller, 1 sheet should be enough to do the whole inner skin + some of the outer skin. the outer skin on my civic at least is ridiculously resonant when undamped, so it was very well worth doing.

the boot can take quite a few sheets of dynamat, i reckon i used about 4 sheets on the boot alone - but if you don't have that much leftover, just target the flat and resonant areas, and especially the rear wheel wells if you can get to em.

[Ru$kI]

Hmm...what if I dont use any Dynamat on the rear doors...and instead use 5 sheets on the boot / shelf? Do you reckon sound deadening rear doors makes alota difference (especially since there are no speakers in them as they're on the rear shelf)

[chylld]

Hmm...what if I dont use any Dynamat on the rear doors...and instead use 5 sheets on the boot / shelf? Do you reckon sound deadening rear doors makes alota difference (especially since there are no speakers in them as they're on the rear shelf)

if you have a sub, i'd definitely put more dynamat in the boot than the rear doors. i chose to dynamat the rear doors quite heavily because my main objective was to reduce road noise; but apart from doing that it won't help with SQ very much, if at all :)

[Ru$kI]

yep...i got a sub in the boot (Alpine 12" Type S, powered by an Alpine mono block amp), and its causing some rattle...do u think one layer of dynamat all round the boot is enough to stop the rattle?

[chylld]

rattling is produced by 2 parts hitting each other. while dynamat may help reduce the vibration of the panels enough to prevent parts hitting each other, you would have much more success actually tracking down which parts are causing the rattle and fixing the problem there. the purpose of dynamat is to reduce the resonance sound of the panels - another acoustic problem altogether :)

[Ru$kI]

cool....I've tried doing that initially when i did some DIY sound deadening by filling the empty space b/w the plastic shelf and the metal under neath with some towels to eliminate potential contact and to reduce the amount of space the sound waves have to vibrate inside.

With the doors its very much the same as the rear shelf...so Dynamat should do wonders there.

With the boot however...it seems that the whole boot lid vibrates, and no matter to which point around it I apply pressure...the vibration still continues the same. The same seems to happen for the sides of the boot also

Any suggestions on which places in the boot to tackle first?? I.e. the places that may most likely contribute to the rattle

[chylld]

without knowing specifically where the rattle is, it's very hard to say. most likely however it's coming from either the left side of the boot where the wiring loom + boot release cable is, or the cables inside the boot lid for the tail lights. i'd check both areas and wrap some foam tape around anything that's loose enough to knock around.

for dynamatting, i recommend hitting the rear 3qtr panels. once you've removed the side trim in the boot, you'll easily be able to see these huge flat areas that resonate like crazy. after that, do the rear wheel housings and the flat areas under the floor. you could also do the spare wheel well, but usually you have a great big tyre bolted down onto it so i don't think it's a problem to start with.

[chylld]

Nothing like being greeted in the morning by 2 protruding pieces of supposedly waterproof high-strength duct tape showing at the bottom of the window:

http://jw.id.au/temp/ensfix1.jpg

essentially, weeks before i had covered my door outer skins with ensolite foam, "securing" them in place using a combination of double-sided tape and waterproof duct tape. what has happened is that both tapes have failed (in all 4 doors) and in the case of the left rear door (pictured above) the tape has actually caught onto the window while it was wound down and then popped up as i wound the window back up, and promptly stuck itself to the bottom edge exterior window seal!!

i decided to fix them all today and started at the rear right door, and this is what i found after taking off the access hole covers:

http://jw.id.au/temp/ensfix2.jpg

... and i was wondering why some of the power windows were feeling a bit more sluggish than others!

i removed the foam from inside the door and used one of the layers as a weatherseal, this time adhering it in place on the inner skin using proper foam spray adhesive. this stuff was literally foam-tearingly strong after only ~10 minutes of setting.

http://jw.id.au/temp/ensfix3.jpg

the ensolite in the front right door had similarly fallen over itself:

http://jw.id.au/temp/ensfix4.jpg

but i fixed it the same way, as with the left doors:

http://jw.id.au/temp/ensfix5.jpg
http://jw.id.au/temp/ensfix6.jpg
http://jw.id.au/temp/ensfix7.jpg

the left rear door interestingly showed that i had 'abused' 2 of the clips, pictured here with a box of spares i got at repco (which are a perfect fit replacement, btw):

http://jw.id.au/temp/ensfix8.jpg

as you can judge by the pictures, i've left my access hole covers totally off as i believed that, being based on very resonant 0.6mm aluminium sheeting in the first place, they were contributing to the road noise rather than countering it - a test drive after i finished up today confirmed that in fact they weren't helping at all! (SQ seems unaffected as well.)

EDIT: after almost 3 hours on the road today, i'd like to add that while the access hole covers weren't helping reduce noise, they weren't really adding noise either. my car seems to have recently developed a resonance pitch somewhere around 270-280hz, at the moment it's not obvious where it's coming from but it was there both before and after the access hole covers were removed, so it's not them.

[VTECACCORD]

can you fix the pics ?

[chylld]

can you fix the pics ?

hmm are the pics not working?? that's odd... i can see them from here...
anyone else having problems with pics?

[dannybubu]

i've got splits which are going to be installed soon....anyone got any ideas where they're going to go? and also...anyone know what the 2 speaker grill thingos on the very corners of ur dash board are??

[chylld]

the woofers can go in the doors where the stock ones are, and the tweeters would go under those speaker grills at the corners of the dash. in the american models, that's where the stock tweeters are.

[aussiebuddha]

the woofers can go in the doors where the stock ones are, and the tweeters would go under those speaker grills at the corners of the dash. in the american models, that's where the stock tweeters are.

Yeah, I've got a pair of Jaycar REsponse Kevlar splits, and I installed the tweeters there.
Tweeters were a bit bigger than the size of the stocks, but I pushed them in a bit and glued them. they're purrrfect ;-)

[VTECACCORD]

A lot of work has gone into that,

But from what I can see I really think you should have used some 3mm mdf on the access holes taped in using the black fabric tape, and then a layer of dynamat on top of that. BTW Paint the MDF to seal it stopping it from retaining moisture, the cheap black spray paint at bunning soaks in nicely.

Just another suggestion, I think the MDF is about 6 bucks a sheet, and if you need a jig saw you can borrow mine, i live close to the hills district, or you can pic one up at bunnings for 30 bucks

[chylld]

But from what I can see I really think you should have used some 3mm mdf on the access holes taped in using the black fabric tape, and then a layer of dynamat on top of that. BTW Paint the MDF to seal it stopping it from retaining moisture, the cheap black spray paint at bunning soaks in nicely.

Just another suggestion, I think the MDF is about 6 bucks a sheet, and if you need a jig saw you can borrow mine, i live close to the hills district, or you can pic one up at bunnings for 30 bucks

i originally planned to cover the access holes with 6mm MDF, however the access holes aren't flat so i figured it would have been much more trouble than it was worth. hence i tried the aluminium + dynamat + ensolite combo which was moldable, but didn't really make much of a difference.

in the near future however, i plan on filling the plastic door trim with a sound-absorbent material that will lightly press against the ensolite i currently have over the access holes - i think this should be enough, without hampering access to the inside of the door too much should the need arise.

also, the cloth tape (which i also bought at bunnings) simply does not hold up inside the door consistently.

that said, i am still open to suggestions on how to properly seal those large and uneven access holes! :)