2006 Civic sound dampening project

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/img98/256...rieryf4.th.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://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6...srr2xq4.th.jpg
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/7...srr3zx4.th.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/img225/1...sfr1ys0.th.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/856/ensfr2hd8.th.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6...sfr3xl9.th.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/img226/6...srl1ck1.th.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2306/ensrl2xk1.th.jpg
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6...srl3ys0.th.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/img152/7...sfl1un3.th.jpg
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/5...sfl2ty7.th.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5...sfl3qm1.th.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

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JaCe

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

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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

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JaCe

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

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

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

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aaronng

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

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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!

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!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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!

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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 :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

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 :)

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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! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scratch2k

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! :)

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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 :)