Well, it took me 4 months to finish... .working about an hour or two after the shop closed, a few nights a week, but holy crap were the results worth it.

I have a 2000 Civic DX (with a GSR motor/tranny) with 72k miles on it. I wanted it to sound super quiet on the inside, like a newer car, and plan to have a really nice quality sound system in it. Currently for sound I have:

Alpine CDA-7892 head unit
Alpine MRV450 4 channel powering the front/rear speakers
Diamond Audio components in the doors
Alpine 3-way 6x9's on the rear deck
4AWG fused from bat to dist. block, where it splits to two 8awg cables.

Anyway, I stripped the whole car interior out (except the dash and the front doors - waiting on my regulators for my p/w conversion).

I drove it like this for about a month and wow, it's really loud inside. Sonds like a big piece of crap. Everything clinks and rattles, etc. Here are the steps I took:

1) 3 layers of Raammat (like dynomat) in the hatch area
2) Fabric taped all the rods and lnkages in the hatch panel that could rattle and make noise
3) Fabric taped any wiring harnesses that weren't secure (and might make noise)
4) Filled the opennings in front of the rear wheel wells with insulation (cotton based blowable).
5)Sealed the holes with sheets of aluminum cut to fit, and bonded with urethane.
6)Put one-two layers of Raamat over that sheeting/wall.
7)3 layers of Ramaat on the wheel wells.
8)2 layers of Ramaat on the main floor under the dr/pass seats
9)Sprayed rubberized undercoating in all the cracks and one thick coat over everything.
10)1 layer of dry-cell foam over everything
11)1 layer of eDead on the ceiling
12)Recovered the headliner in black suede (has *some* sound absorption qulaities)
13)Fabric taped EVERY EDGE of every interior panel that touched another surface (I had plastic on plastic creaking/vibrating).
14)1layer of dry-cell foam on the backside of all the interior panels
15)1 layer of 1/2" carpet padding foam on the rear walls, and 1-2 layers of it beihind the interior panels.
16)All white plastic interior push rivets/door clips were replaced with BMW clips (they have a foam gasket where they push in, so no plastic touches metal)
17)Re installed the rear side/quarter panel pieces.
18)Stuffed dry-cell foam to fill up the area behind the taillights and rear wheel well hub.
19)Cut the 1/2" carpet padding and stuffed it in through the speaker hole to fill the rest of the interior of the quarter/side panel until it was full (up to the speaker bottom).
18)Put 1 layer of 1/2" carpet pad under the front carpet/seats, then reinstalled the carpet
19)Re-installed spare tire (the extra weight helps dampen suspension noises, and provides the support for the carboard hatch floor cutout)
20)Put 1 layer of 1/2" pad over the spare tire, cut to the shape of the cardboard floor, then put the cardboard on top.
21)1 more layer of 1/2" pad over the cardboard floor, and then re-installed the carpetting over that.
22) Fabric taped the folding hatch cover's posts, that rest in the clips on the interior panel until the fit was tight with no movement.
23)Re installed rear seats.

HOLY SHEEEEIT. The rear of my car is DEAD SILENT. It was a lot of work, but it's easily as quiet inside as my father's 2005 Audi S4.

Anyone who has a hatch, knows how noise the rear end can be over bumps and such... wow... what a difference. If I had to do it over again, I would not have filled the wheel well wells with cotton insulation... I'd just have stuffed a bunch of dry-cell foam in there. The dry-cell foam does NOT absorb water, so it won't smell like mildew. I don't get any water in that area, but it was a pain and a mess to shove all that insulation in there. It would be much easier, and more efffective to shove the foam in there.. just would have cost double...

As for the sound... what was before a rather hollow tinny sounding system, is now full and rich.. and that's just the rear speakers. I haven't done anything with the front doors. I'm dying to do them now, but am waiting on the regulators and motors to do the power window swap.

I'd recommend this to anyone who has a daily driver that wants a more "quality" sounding car, in terms of ride, and in audio reproduction. In the end, it cost me about $350 in materials, and IMO was worth every penny since I have to drive the car at minimum 1.5 hours a day on CRAPPY Chicago roads.

Future plans for the rear:
Top Fuel style B/C pillar brace
ASR Subframe plate with ITR swaybar/links.
New suspension bushings everywhere

12" Elemental Designs subwoofer powered by a ED amp

 

pics?

 

Def need pics.

How much did those raamat did you use?

 

Damn... I knew that was going to be asked. I did all the work in the shop after hours, and my camera was at home.

I just wanted to share that it IS possible to make your $13,000 car sound like a $50,000 car on the inside with the right materials and commitment to time.

I will definitely take pics when I do the doors. I just ordered the regulators and motors to finish my p/w conversion, and I'll document it.

As for the Raamat, i bought 2 rolls at about $100 ea. Each roll is 62.5 sqaure feet and I probably have about 15-20sq feet left. Hopefully enough to do the doors. The mat is what's repsonsible for keeping things from rattling when the subwoofers hit. The foam is actually what makes the inside of the car quiet (when the stereo isn't rocking it).

The foam (called Ensolite MLC) is about $10/sq. yard. I don't think I have enough left to do the doors, as I only bought 9 yards, but that stuff is gold..

 

btw, ensolite is closed cell foam - not dry-cell....

raammat is great stuff - I highly recommend it.

 

No doubt the doors do make the biggest differece. They have those parts where they can drain water and there are those slits. Inside the door panels, you are really only insulated by a piece of plastic. Yes its very cost effective for what it is, but for a company LIKE Lexus, what they did is optimize it with twice the budget, and the results are more than twice as good. Though they have gone a bit nerdy with the wind noise reduction, i drove an 07 ES, and it really did pay off for em, phenominal car.

Thanks for all this info.

 

thread is worthless without pics.

 

This thread provides tips for doing a complete job. If you're so retarded you can figure out how to cut and stick things on bare surfaces, I'm surprised you figured out the internet.

Anyway, here's a pic for the crybabies. It's not directly of the job, but you can see the first step. It's a pic of me loading my built 3SGTE into the hatch... on the walls of the hatch you can see the shiny aluminum backing of the rammatt I laid down.

 

Cool project - how much weight do you think it added?

 

after seeing pictures... I can understand why it took you late nights to complete... why the hell would you cut 12 oz soda can pieces? Its not that hard to use a big piece... ill try get pictures of my old car. when i just 32 X 18 inch pieces from dynamat i belive. I know yours came in a rolll which is better... cuz i would of try not to cut anything if some a bit for the corners.

 

 

took one full day with heat guy... which works wounders! also... yes, I did do the wheel wells too but just put the back quarter panels on before I could take a picture...

 

Look good!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kangolbrand &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">after seeing pictures... I can understand why it took you late nights to complete... why the hell would you cut 12 oz soda can pieces?.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Because inside and outside the wheel wells are complex surfaces. If you just lay them on the flat surfaces, you're not solving any of the "quiet" problems. not everyone sound deadens for audio systems... I wanted a quieter ride.

Getting the mat to lie exactly flat (because if there is air between the mat and panel, it defeats the purpose) is difficult at corners and seem edges. However, the corners and seem edges are where the stress points are (not on broad flat areas), and most likely where the creaks and rattles come from.

Cutting 4x4" pieces alows you to manipulate the mat, get full coverage, and not have wrinkles or air pockets.

Also, a huge benefit of using small pieces is that you can mat AROUND holes for important things, like panel clips, wiring harnesses, bolts you need to access in teh future, etc.

Trying to find those things after the fact, and trying to cut through all your matting is a pain in the ***.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostd92 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Trying to find those things after the fact, and trying to cut through all your matting is a pain in the ***.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So true

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostd92 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Because inside and outside the wheel wells are complex surfaces. If you just lay them on the flat surfaces, you're not solving any of the "quiet" problems. not everyone sound deadens for audio systems... I wanted a quieter ride.

Getting the mat to lie exactly flat (because if there is air between the mat and panel, it defeats the purpose) is difficult at corners and seem edges. However, the corners and seem edges are where the stress points are (not on broad flat areas), and most likely where the creaks and rattles come from.

</TD></TR></TABLE>


I dont think a little in under the mat well be a big/huge differences... the mat stops sound either way.... air or not ... as long as the mat dont have a hole in it I doublt there well be a major difference.

 

The mat doesn't stop sound. It stops vibrations. Sound can still reflect off the mat, as it has a very accoustic metal backing.

It's the ensolite or whatever fabric padding you use that will make the most difference on reducing sound. I rode around for about 3 weeks with 3 layers of mat on the car and nothing else. Though the car did feel more solid (probably mostly do to the added weight), it was still "noisy".

When I put the layers of Ensolite on, it made a dramatic difference. Then when I stuffed the panels full of carpet padding it was like night and day.

 

damn this good info im planinig on doint the same for my hatch.

 

what are some product examples of "dry-cell foam" mats you suggested for the wheel wells. how does this different than the ensolite "closed-cell"?

 

dry-cell and closed-cell are the same thing.

The only product I have experience with is Ensolite XLC. If you think the area might see a little water, you do not want to put carpet padding or jute or anything else in that area or it will stink with mildew.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostd92 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The mat doesn't stop sound. It stops vibrations. Sound can still reflect off the mat, as it has a very accoustic metal backing.

It's the ensolite or whatever fabric padding you use that will make the most difference on reducing sound. I rode around for about 3 weeks with 3 layers of mat on the car and nothing else. Though the car did feel more solid (probably mostly do to the added weight), it was still "noisy".

When I put the layers of Ensolite on, it made a dramatic difference. Then when I stuffed the panels full of carpet padding it was like night and day.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i think the mat also deadens sound. it adds density to the surface of something, so say that you put it in your spare tire well. the extra density added to the space will help reflect sound from the outside, keep outside noise outside (think thick wall vs thin wall.. less vibration passing thru the wall.. sound = vibrations). but in the case you were talking about, it would keep inside noise inside. but you're right, padding will definately further reduce interior noise, no doubt. GJ.