[Cloud9...68]

For those of you who have installed Dynamat Xtreme in your door panels, I have a few questions. I bought a four-sheet package, each sheet being 3' x 1'. Here are my questions:

1) Did you put the Dynamat over the side-impact bar, or just above and below it?
2) Related to 1), did you cut the sheets into pieces to try to cover as much of the door skin as possible, or did you just stuff one sheet into each panel? I see the benefit, from a noise-reduction standpoint, to doing the former, but it must be pretty difficult to figure out how to cut each piece to try to get as much coverage as possible, seeing as there's such poor visibility into the door.
3) Related to 2), how much of the door skin do you estimate you were able to cover?
4) What type of roller did you use? Is the Dynamat roller tool they describe in the instructions readily available, and if so, where? If not, does some type of paint roller work as well?

Thanks.

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[bombfactory]

I haven't dynamatted my 968 yet - need to get the whole car gone over by my paintless dent guy first - but it's on my list. I did dynamat one of my former cars in which I replaced the entire stereo system. Getting to the door skins is indeed difficult. Luckily no one is giving points for neatness in there so cutting the sheets up into smaller, easier to manage pieces shouldn't be a problem. I'm not positive, but I think I remember reading somewhere that you don't have to have 100% coverage with the dynamat to get the vibration/sound dampening effect. I ended up covering about 50% of the outer door skins, and stuck all the left-over misc. pieces on the inside of the inner door panels, and the effect was awesome. Road noise dropped, stereo sound quality improved and the doors sounded satisfyingly solid when closing them. Get as much dynamat as your budget allows (the stuff can be pricey) - the benefits are definitely worth it.

-Austin

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[DaveN]

I cut mine into smaller sheets and assembled a jigsaw puzzle inside the door as far as my big nads would go, probably still have the sheetmetal scars to prove it. Not sure how much I covered, maybe 30%. After that I did the whole door before I put the door panel back on. I think Flash disapproves of this but I can't remember his rational.
I used the wooden roller that came with my B-Quiet, I can't see a paint roller being small enough and sturdy enough to get the required pressure to seat the butyl.

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[Cloud9...68]

DaveN,

Did you put the sound deadening material over the side-impact bar? I would assume not, as it has such a small radius, that I'm not sure it would stick well. How much of a difference in road noise level did the addition of sound-deadening material inside the doors make? Did you also put it in the wheel wells? I was planning to do the job this weekend, but it's about 95 degrees, with about 180% humidity today, so I may wait until my survival at the conclusion of the job is less in jeapardy. Especially since I gave blood a few hours ago (and it sounds like this job can easily result in the shedding of more blood...).

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[flash]

i installed above and below that bar - worked great

i don't disapprove of doing the inside sheet metal, i just said that the outer skin was more effective - any additional deadening is always good - both is obviously going to be better than just one - the only reason i didn't do that, was how it made the door panel stick out more - i still did it behind the speakers though

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[DaveN]

I didn't do the bar. I did the rear wells, cargo and under the back seats (after I removed them that is). I definitly think it helped but now that the back seat is out there is some road noise back. Once the RSB catback/SC is in I expect more noise but it's the kind I like so up goes the stereo volume [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]
After all was done I enjoy gloating when I close my doors in front of people, with the quality of the doors fit and finish plus the sound deadening they thunk closed with a whisper push like a BV!

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[Cloud9...68]

"Sounds" good [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] . I look forward to my install being complete - maybe I'll tackle it in the morning before it gets too hot, if I get up early enough. I don't mind leaning over an engine compartment for six hours in blistering heat and humidity (as long as I have a fan blowing), but there's something about being elbow deep in a door panel under the same conditions that seems infinitely less appealing. Oh, well, summer should start winding down soon. My only fear is that after I mute some of the road noise, the shifter buzz will get even more noticeable and annoying.

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[flash]

doing the wheel wells, and the rear speaker area will help a lot with the road noise coming from the rear, and give you much better sounding rear speakers if you do the rear speaker enclosure mod at the same time

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[Cloud9...68]

Yes, I'll move to the hatch area when I'm finished with the doors. The heat and humidity are stifling at the moment, though; not the conditions that make this sort of work a lot of fun.

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[flash]

i'm talking about the area up over the wheel wells behind the speakers - that is the origin of a lot of the noise

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[Cloud9...68]

Thanks for the clarification - Yes,th wheel wells will be the area I do after the doors. I bought a package of four 3' x 1' sheets, which I assume won't be enough for the door and the wheel wells - any estimate as to how much more I will need to do the wheel wells when I'm done with the doors?

And as far as the roller - who carries it, or something like it that will work? Thanks.

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[flash]

nope - that will be just enough for the doors, with a bit to spare if you are careful

you will need another sheet and a half for the speaker areas and front portion of the wheel wells

you will need another 2 sheets for the horizontal area in back

you will need another sheet for the spare tire area

you will need another sheet for the wheel wells

basically, the big box is just enough

crutchfield sells the roller

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[Cloud9...68]

Thanks - that's exactly the information I was lookng for. I could see how doing all this would make the car much more enjoyable to drive. I'm pleasantly surprised that the stuff doesn't really weigh all that much, too.

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[flash]

yeah - not bad - you probably carry more junk that that in the back of the car - plus, it's pretty evenly spread across the car, so the impact is very little

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[Johannvb]

How do you get the Dynamat on the front of the rear wheel wells? Do you lift the carpet? I assumed that it is glued down.

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[flash]

the wheel wells are inside the quarterpanel area - you remove the side panel in the seating area, remove the speakers, and reach inside

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[DaveN]

I did the front doors, inside and out, rear seat area, rear speaker wells, under the back mat, spare tire well and 2 side cubbies plus what I could reach in the wheel wells with about 35 sq ft, I bought a 50" roll so I still have some spare.

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[Cloud9...68]

OK, all done. Not what I would call a fun job, but hopefully it's a once-in-a-lifetime type thing. I was very obsessive about covering every square inch of door area (the inside of the outer skin, not the sheet the door panel is attached to), so the job took me probably 6-8 hours total, not counting the time it takes to R & R the door panel.

You can definitely tell the difference when you tap the outside of the doors, compared to tapping a nearby fender, and the door makes a more satisfying "thunk" when you close it. However, I have to say, I can't tell a whole lot of difference as far as sound level inside the car. I suspect most of the droning in my coupe is coming from the hatch area, where the road noise reverberates off the hatch glass, so I would imagine that installing the Dynamat inside the rear wheel wells, the hatch floor, and the spare tire area is really required to quell the din. Have the other few brave souls who have done this had a similar experience?

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[flash]

the doors make more of a difference in what the speakers can do than in killing the road noise over all

the rear area is a big culprit in road noise - get that back deck done, and then the wheel wells, and you will kill the reflective and resonant characteristics of the back area, and really notice a difference

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[Cloud9...68]

"the doors make more of a difference in what the speakers can do than in killing the road noise over all

the rear area is a big culprit in road noise - get that back deck done, and then the wheel wells, and you will kill the reflective and resonant characteristics of the back area, and really notice a difference"

Thanks, Flash, that's what I was hoping for and expecting. In the process of removing my door panels, I found that the one of the lower speakers in each of the doors (the midrange?) was broken, so I need to replace these. Until then, my stereo's performance will be sub-par, even with the Dynamat. But once I have it all done, everything should sound really good.

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