Sound Deadening w/ RAAMmat and Ensolite

[Kenny]

Just another sound deadening project...

But I used RAAM Audio's RAAMmat BTX and a layer of their Ensolite closed cell foam material.

http://www.raamaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?p=pr

ENsolite on the floor only in this pic:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/Ensolite_-_RAAMmat.jpg


2 rolls (130 sq.ft.) did pretty much the entire car except the roof with extra around the wheel wells and a skin on the inner and outer door surface

10 yrds of Ensolite covered pretty much all the RAAMmat.

Door outer skin with RAAMmat:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/Door_RAAMmat.jpg


Door outer skin with Ensolite over RAAMmat.
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/Door_Ensolite.jpg

I also skinned the front side, but we all know what that looks like..

I still have enough RAAMmat to do half the roof and about a yard of Ensolite left (not enough to do the roof).

I have absolutely no experience with sound deadening materials so I have no idea what makes it good or bad - so I'll summarize my experience:

BLACK $#IT EVERYWHERE! :eek: It's going to take me longer to clean my tools, and anywhere I was dumb enough to touch in my house... and my hands look like they are going to be black for a week! :p :p

Seriously, this stuff stuck like an S.O.B once you rolled it on. Pulling the paper off at weird angles was also a challenge (when you uncover only a portion and peel the paper off as you place it.) Now I figure this is a good thing for SD material. But I'm not sure if the black mess is typical :confused:, when you work with it and peel the paper off you always will get a few klingons from the edges that mar up the silver a bit as you touch it with your gooey fingers. ( I tried rubber gloves - ya right, thhhpt! once a finger touched the whole glove came off before it would un-stick... think super flypaper).

But in this case I didn't worry too much about the finished surface as I was covering it with Ensolite (more black goo = less spray glue :p )

It also deformed well into the smaller grooves when you rolled it, the foil stretched a bit.

This Ensolite stuff is cool, using spray glue on both surfaces it goes on easy and stretches and compressed a bit to form around some irregularities. But it does not like to be cut with a blade if unsupported, it just pulls. You need scissors if you're not cutting it on a board or something.

Using the right spray glue is the key to this stuff. I tried a few kinds I had laying around (Elmer's, Krylon, Locktite) but none even came close to the sticking power of 3M Super 77. This stuff worked great, no waiting for it to get tacky and it held any stretched parts well.

In all, I'm happy with the install. But as I said, I don't know any different from what makes a good or bad SD material. I just went by the recommendation from this showdown article:

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

Rick at RAAM Audio also very helpful, so it made the choice easier.

I haven't yet put on the rear plastic panels, but I don't figure the extra thickness with the Ensolite will pose a problem.. I'll post an update.


Cheers.

[Ldub]

WOW...thas a lotta...I mean, WOW ! :eek:

[etlsport]

nice, its a lot of work! i just finished the footwells and roof from dome light forward yesterday.. actually kind of disappointed in the difference it made, im far enough into i now that i might end up pulling off the rear panels and doing the vertical part of the back too just because i want to hear a significant difference.. i only did the floor and doors.. never ending process... as for the black crap, i didnt have too much trouble with it, i stuck the sound deadener on, then went used an embossing gun to heat it up to mold and help the adhesion, i did accidentally run a piece into my window... which pretty much destroyed my window tint :mad: at least i got a lifetiime warranty on it, i just have to go and get it re-done

what does the fabric on the outside of the sound deadener do? (ensolite?)

[Kenny]

nice, its a lot of work! i just finished the footwells and roof from dome light forward yesterday.. actually kind of disappointed in the difference it made, im far enough into i now that i might end up pulling off the rear panels and doing the vertical part of the back too just because i want to hear a significant difference.. i only did the floor and doors.. never ending process... as for the black crap, i didnt have too much trouble with it, i stuck the sound deadener on, then went used an embossing gun to heat it up to mold and help the adhesion, i did accidentally run a piece into my window... which pretty much destroyed my window tint :mad: at least i got a lifetiime warranty on it, i just have to go and get it re-done

what does the fabric on the outside of the sound deadener do? (ensolite?)

I noticed a considerable difference in the doors (doing both faces). I want to do the roof (dome light to REAR) because that's the only place now where I can feel the vibrations with the sound system cranked. I cranked my system to 3/4 and went around the vehicle and felt the outside panels, the areas where I sound deadened have minimal vibrations. The roof however will vibrate off a soda can when the system is cranked. (and I don't have a powerful system! ~300W).

The Ensolite material is supposed to add another layer of absorbance, I need all the help I can get with that muffler of mine :biggringr , road noise is only a factor at cruising speeds >50mph.

[etlsport]

cool! i didnt even think about going and feeling for vibrations on the outside ill have to try that to see where all the road noise is coming from.. i did do both pieces of the door, outside skin and inside, what i may end up doing is just getting another 50 sf or so and doing around the rear windows then doing back over and doing a second layer around theh wheel wells and doors..

[biju]

welcome. to. black. tar. HELL!

I'm still pulling that stuff out of my teeef. it's at work. it's in my coworkers offices. it's in my tub. it's under my nails. it's on my dogs paws. it's on every hand held tool. it's all over every floor. it's in the fridge. it's on the washer/dryer. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc...

:p

it does help tho. just lots of work as ken suggests ^ . nice work.

-biju.

[LittleBeast]

So I too am going to use RAAM audio's mat and Ensolite on the ENTIRE interior of the VX.

What I need to know from everyone who has ever done this is how much do I need to order? I am planning on getting 150 sq ft of the sound deadening mat and about the same of the Ensolite. Right at $500 or so of product.

Long story short a gallon of milk exploded when a bump caused my dog food to crush the milk after a grocery store run. Bad thing was I stopped by Lowe's and Burger King before getting home to realize the milk had made it's way from the back door under the carpet to sitting in the front passenger floor pan.

I immediately pulled out all carpet (including all seats, seat belts, amp under seat, and center console), and the next day took out side panels and ceiling, so the VX has nothing on the inside right now, nothing at all. I will take pictures don't worry ;-)

I plan on doing the ceiling first so I can go ahead and put that back in because it was the last to come out and looks the worst in my opinion being out ;-)

So how much deadening and then how much Ensolite to do ceiling, doors, side panels, back door, and the entire floor all the way to the firewall? 150sq feet is like 7'x21.4', or 8'x18.75', and our VX interior is roughly 7-8' long from back door to firewall right? So add up the width of the floor, height of each side panel and the width of the roof and it is not more than 18'-21' right? I would go out and measure but my VX is at the shop getting a rebuilt a/c compressor in it right now. Any help much appreciated.....

[eternal21]

The most important thing I can tell you, having used RAAMmat and Ensolite for another project:













Goo Gone removes the tar from your hands and other surfaces, so go get a *BIG* bottle, b/c you're going to need it :)

[joshi]

I used around 250sq ft of FATMAT MEGA MAT for a single layer on the sidewalls , roof , and double layer on the floor ...
My 2001 ISUZU VEHICROSS SOUND DAMPING (http://www.beszeljukmeg.com/VX/Sound_Damping/vxsd.html)

[Grif]

And I thought the PO of my VX was insane for Dynamatting the entire interior.

Sheesh...

<actually, so did my audio guy>

[LittleBeast]

No offense intended to Joshi on his fatmat install, but any sound deadening that comes in rolls is actually just rebranded sound deadening not originally intended for auto use. Of all the brands of mats, fatmat has consistently been on the bottom of the list of ALL the reviews I have read. Hence you have to use 2-3 times the amount of it and double and triple layer to notice any improvements. The sound deadening "mats" are intended to prevent metal from vibrating not act as a sound barrier as most people try to make it do by layering an covering the entire area. One of the main reasons RAAM audio stuff is so good is he (Rick) only sells the BEST auto deadening and sound barriers on the market, and the combination of the two is amazing. Every review I have read online had RAAM audio either as best bang for your buck or best material at any price. The mat (bxt 2) completely deadens the metal from vibrations, and then the top layer of Ensolite acts as a sound barrier keeping wanted sounds in and unwanted sounds out. If you try to use a deadening mat as a sound barrier you are just wasting money (mats are more expensive) and it will not do as good of a job as a sound barrier because that is not what it is designed for.

With all that said, I emailed Rick at RAAM audio and he promptly replied and included his cell phone and I called him and we discussed my specific needs and he suggested I get 3.5 packs of bxt 2 mat (@ 37.5sq ft each) and 10 rolls of Ensolite (@ 14sq ft each). His stuff works so good you do not need as much of it and hence it is lighter and really the best bang for your buck. Full install with pics will follow.