Sound Deadening! ...Whats the Best Way??

[Renshaw]

one for you audio nuts!!...

ok. i have around 26sq/ft of sound deadening material and i want to know whats the best way to go about deadening the doors!! i have a fair idea of what to do but i would like some proper advice to make sure i get it spot on!! i have already stripped the doors of the cards and (pic below) and my intension was to cover the whole of the outer skin (skin closest to the outside of the car?) with mat and then cover the hole for the exterior door handle and also the large hole in the centre of the door with the rest of the mat. leaving access to most of the important screws and bolts, etc... would the rest of the door need deadening or would it be ok to leave?

in short i plan on deadening everything BEHIND the speaker and then covering the holes on the same level/skin as the speaker with the rest of the mat! extra layers of S/D would be added directly behind the speakers!! would this be sufficient? how about if i put some foam matting or something like Second Skin Overkill between the door card and the door itself to help further and reduce rattles???

am i going a little far???

Renshaw

 

[Renshaw]

i also have some 6" household insulation wadding. could i use this between the 2 skins?? i was going to fill the cavity in by boot door with this.

is it safe to use?? i've heard of people using wadding or towels to do this so what about this insulation stuff??

Renshaw

 

[thejoose]

2 layers on the outerskin ALL OVER IT then anotehr layer on the inner skin covering all the wholes in the door frame to create a large sealed enclosure for your mids to play in.

Sound deadening is probably one of the biggest mods you can do to improve sound quality
.

make sure you use panel wipes to clean the surface of any oil or residue and use a roller and a hairdryer/heat gun and make sure its firmly attached

some people even recommend taking teh door off its hinges for this and laying it down on a mattress can make things much easier plus your able to apply lots more pressure to the door, eitehr that or have someone holding the door from the outside as you do your layering

 

[Renshaw]

i have now got around 24sq/ft of the stuff. dunno if i'll have enough for 2 layers on the outer skin but i'll double up around behind the speaker. will i need to deaden the the whole of the inner skin to or just cover the holes??

thinking about making some fibreglass blanking panels to cover the holes instead. which would be better do you think??

Renshaw

 

[thejoose]

Just seen your post on TA

there is a thread somewhere and i cant find it but a guy does just that and fgs all the big holes

try and find it - im looking as well

 

[Renshaw]

yeah i saw it aswell but i dont wanna go taking the doors off if theres another way. do u think the fibreglass resin and matting would shift if i did it whilst the doors were still on the car???

 

[Renshaw]

i found this

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=242524

but the guy here uses sludge over the top of the deadening on the outer skin. i guess because theres not much access in there and the sludge was easier to put on instead struggling with more matting!!

 

[Black-Clio-1.4]

I did this a few weeks ago.

Cover all surfaces at least once, this will stop it resonating. Sludge is a good way to improve on it aswell, doesn't look too professional though.

You can usually tell which panels need doing. Tapping them is probs best.

You don't need to take the door off! Just more effort! Always wear leather gloves when smoothing on to surfaces, or you'll get a few cuts. A roller is helpfull, a hardy wall paper seam roller will do.

PM if you have any questions.

 

[Renshaw]

iv e got a seam roller and 24sq/feet of mat but i dont have sludge!!!! do u have any pictures of what u did? how much mat did u use??

Renshaw

 

[Black-Clio-1.4]

I used 9 sheets or 18" x 32" that did a layer on the front doors, back sides and the whole boot - boot lid, boot floor and boot sides and still had some spare for my sub box. No pics. Atm. Might take some.

 

[Renshaw]

did u leave spaces between the bits u cut out or did u cover the whole of the surface?

 

[Black-Clio-1.4]

This does depend on how much you got.

It will work best in close nit sheets, shaped to the surface.

Best way to think of it is like a drum - you hit the drum it vibrates, you cover the surface with a rubber mat on top and hit it again - it dulls the vibration, nearly completely

Put a little piece of rubber in the middle, and hit it, it dulls the sound, but not dramatically.

So
If your limited, you'll need some behind the speaker, and an amount on each surface, this will stop vibrations and stop an amount of distortion.

 

[Renshaw]

thanks mate!

so its all about compromise i.e. total sound deadening or partial deadening?? i've had this stuff since thursday now and i still haven't fitted it lol

what did u use to wipe down the surfaces? i went into my local halfords last night and the only de-greasing wipes i could find were for hands, wasn't suure if these would work on metal though!!

Renshaw

 

[Black-Clio-1.4]

thanks mate!

so its all about compromise i.e. total sound deadening or partial deadening?? i've had this stuff since thursday now and i still haven't fitted it lol

what did u use to wipe down the surfaces? i went into my local halfords last night and the only de-greasing wipes i could find were for hands, wasn't suure if these would work on metal though!!

Renshaw

You can use a degreasing spray. I personally didn't use anything, all the surface felt grease free, so i didn't bother. How would grease and grit get in a door panel anyway?

 

[Renshaw]

^dunno but all the guides i've read say to de-grease ALL the surfaces that ur deadening!!

thanks for your help mate

 

[Black-Clio-1.4]

Na thats alrite.

It should be about a 3-4 hour job for the whole car. Just test the area to see if it needs degreasing. If Not, I wouldn't worry about wiping it down.