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Sound Deadening Installation
These pictures where taken on May 17 - June 4, 2003
I have been wanted to put sound deadener in my car ever since I heard the difference it made in my friends car. He just installed a generic brand in his trunk and on his doors. The difference it made with his stereo was very noticeable. I was in the process of upgrading my stereo and decided to install sound deadener in my car. The hardest part was to find what would work the best.
Everybody has heard of Dynamat and that was what I was leaning towards. The only reason I didn't jump to buy it was the price tag for it. I wanted the Dynamat Xtreme and it was going to cost around $250 for 32 sq ft. That was a lot of money. I ended up finding it on eBay for $145 for the same amount, but still that was a pretty price tag for only 32 sq ft. I started to ask friends what they used and Brown Bread by www.b-quiet.com kept coming up with Dynamat. I took a look into it and found out that it had the same features as Dynamat Xtreme without the price tag. It was only $150 for 70 sq ft. I took the deal and purchased it
It comes from Canada from a guy named Wade, whom is an excellent businessman. The shipping took about a week and I was ready to begin. I started by taking the door panels and the rear bench seat out. Those came out easily. I then proceeded to the rear deck. To pull this out you have to take the back sail panels off and the back seat panels off. Then the rear deck just slides out. My deck was extremely difficult to pull out because whoever worked on my car before I had it glued the back of the deck to the window. I basically had to rip the carpet out just to get it off. I eventually did though. I then took the speakers out. Here are some pictures of the progress.
After those were out I started to pull the carpet out of the trunk. I would start in the trunk and work my way forward. After pulling the carpet and spare tire out I was ready to begin applying Brown Bread. It was really easy to use. I used the back of our Kawasaki Mule as a cutting board. I didn't have a garage to work in so under the trees was the best that I had. I would unroll what I needed and used a utility knife to cut the size I needed. You would then peel the Brown Bread off of the paper like you would a sticker. Then press it firmly against the metal surface you wanted to deaden. Don't forget to clean the surface first though. I used alcohol. The trunk took me a couple of days to work on. The reason is my days are limited are because of the heat from outside. After I was done I decided to start her up. Wow, what a difference from just the trunk. I couldn't wait to get done.
After the trunk was done I started to gut the inside of the car. This took a couple of days just to do too. I started by pulling the seats out along with their tracks. I then took the center console off and proceeded with the carpet. The carpet weighs about 50-60 pounds and is very large. Two people is highly recommended when taking the carpet out. I was able to vacuum and shampoo the carpet really easily since it was out.
Placing Brown Bread on the floor was a lot easier then the trunk, but at the same time more strenuous. The reason was because of all the little holes and wires you had to accommodate for. Also half way through the floor I ran out of Brown Bread. My trunk and half my floor took up 70 sq ft. I needed some more fast. I used the faster shipping method and received 70 sq ft more within a couple of days. As for the floor, I wanted a clean job so I would cut out little squares where the screws would go. This job took me all the way into the night.
I was glad to finish the floor and finally start on the back panels to allow me to put my carpet back in. My car was not drivable for about a week because of this particular process. Here is what the panels looked like when they were done.
After the panels were finished I finally could put the carpet back in. Once it was in I started the car again. Even quieter then before. It was great. All I had left was the rear deck and the doors. I began to put the seats back in so that I could drive the car again. After those were back in I started the rear deck.
When that was finished I put the deck back on and just had the doors left. I started the doors by pulling the clear plastic piece off. I threw it away because I wasn't going to use it anymore. After that I pulled all of the wires and plastic holders out, leaving paper towels to signify where the holes where. I began by placing Brown Bread inside the door on the inner panel.
After that I then placed Brown Bread on the visible part of the door.
I was finished!!! After a month of hard work, I was finally done. Most people do not take an entire month, but since I worked in the sun my hours were limited to the cooler parts of the day. A couple hours in the morning and evening. You might have noticed that in a few of the pictures you spot a small green and purple igloo. That is where I had my water. That is a must. The sun would reflect off of the Brown Bread and since it also acts like a insulator it would heat up my car. So the water was a lifesaver.
What was the difference? Was it worth the time and effort? I would say yes. When I close my door now, it makes a "phoomp" noise rather then the "thud" before. The car is a ton quieter too. I can still hear my exhaust pretty well but when I am idling you can barely hear it. I ended up using 140sq ft total and only spent a total of $300 versus Dynamat which would have cost 2-4 times as much for the same amount. The difference in incredible. The music sounds better, the road noise is quieter, and you can't even hear the music outside of the car. I eventually want to purchase 35sq ft more to finish my car by deadening my ceiling, and trunk floor one more time.
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I ran into a couple of things while I was installing Brown Bread in my car. The first was I ran into my right side mirror and made it loose. I heard it break too. I was not too happy. So I took it off to take a look. I found a crack on the inside, which you can spot in the last picture.
I used plastic super glue and hot glue to patch it up. It wasn't the best job, but it worked.
The other thing I ran into was the door lights. My car had the basic interior light package and I wanted a few lights I didn't have. One of those lights where the lights that will signal traffic your door is open at night, and help you to see the ground when entering and exiting the vehicle. I bought the lights from a friend which he found of an older Grand Prix at a junk yard. I thought I was going to have to wire them into the car, but found out that the female part of the harness was already on my car.
I plugged it in and the light worked. I ran into a lot of harnesses in the car that weren't used. This just shows that all cars are wired to every option, but just that every option is not plugged in. Here is it working.
The lights on the doors really add a nicer luxury effect to the car. I don't know how or why, but they just do.