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I forget which magazine it is, there is a whole article about soundproofing the mini.
Basically a step-by-step write up on removing all panels and insulating them.
I've been wondering about it as well, although it does add a bit of weight to the car it fur sure makes for a more sound ride.
Will let you know which magazine when I get home, If you would like I could scan the pages and pull together a pdf file this weekend.
Did it make a big difference sound wise? I used Dynamat years ago in another car, and was not that impressed.
Thanks.
Originally Posted by 03Indigo
Unless you are racing the car in a competitive situation...weight is not an issue. I did this to my car, every panel, floor, roof, etc, complete tear down and covered in dynamat, etc. Total weight gain was less than 65lbs. So really, the weight issue should never be an issue at all, unless you are racing your car for top times.
Personally, I could stand to lose about 40lbs around my gut, if I was really worried about weight.
Not harping on you, but just want to clear up the issue for those considering it...and wanted to jump in before all the "weight haters" jump in and complain, etc.
Sorry for the delay in posting the article, I have it scanned in and will post it this evening..Just got mad busy over the weekend.
It was from an MC2 magazine....
Sorry for the delay in posting the article, I have it scanned in and will post it this evening..Just got mad busy over the weekend.
It was from an MC2 magazine....
If I remember correctly....No!
This article deals with the door panels and the rear seat panels.
Will post it up tonight 4 pages, two page write up/ 2 pages of diagrams..
If I remember correctly....No!
This article deals with the door panels and the rear seat panels.
Will post it up tonight 4 pages, two page write up/ 2 pages of diagrams..
Aww buzzkill!
Oh well, at least it'll help with the door cards...
I would say it did, nothing life changing...but it made the car more solid and improved the audio of the OEM system. I hear less gravel sounds throughout the car, which is wonderful. But since there is a lot of glass, and I also have the sunroof, a lot of road noise and wind noise are transmitted through there. Then the tire issue, I am running extreme performance summers, and they transfer a lot of road noise. But when I ran some General Exclaim UHPs...that is when I hear the most difference. Those were on before and after the sound proofing...and the car was really quiet after the dynamat went on.
So, there are a lot of factors that contribute to noise in a car, but for me, it eliminates rattles and vibrations, eliminated gravel like sounds, and made the radio sound better. The doors also sound better when they close, much more solid. Some gains, nothing world changing, but for me, well worth it.
You probably want to buy the pre-made stuff instead of covering the goo in aluminum yourself. At my school we deadened the floors, roof, trunk, and inside and outside the doors in a Taurus for our car audio club.
We didn't use Dynamat because it is not worth the cost. There are similar (better) products out there for much cheaper.
Also, we did not cut any molds, but instead used a razor knife as we worked to cut edges. You will want to wear gloves or you will get tiny cuts all over your hands from the aluminum. Also, be careful not to cover up any bolts. The sticky goo is a real pain to get off if you do that.
And don't buy the cheap plastic rollers because the wheel will start falling off and you'll spend more time cursing than deadening.
Specifications
Adhesive/Damping Layer: Butyl Total Thickness: 60 mil Temperature Rating: Guaranteed to 300°F Constraining Layer: 2 mil aluminum coated both sides with polyethelene Weight (lbs /ft²): 0.35 Packaged rolls: 15" x 50' Square Feet per Roll: 62.5
yea, the door uses torque screws to get the interior pannel off. off of the top of my head, i think there are 3 or so (+-1) on the tubes in the doors you have to un-screw, and then the reflector in the top back corner of the door you can gently pop off with a screw-driver (preferably a plastic one) and there is one last screw under there. you may also want a trim tool set that has the plastic mini pry bars for getting trimm off, or if you have a mechanic friend, they might have one they can lend you.
I'm sure the doors make a big difference, but I laid about 25 sq ft of de-amplifier pro in the rear of my car (no rear seats) including the floor pan, the sides where the access holes are above the wheels, and the boot door/hatch, and the noise reduced considerably. I'd say -10db, which is a halving of the noise level I believe.
Has anyone got more pictures of their sound damping installs?
I have a cooper s R53 and feel the noise is mostly from the back area. I was thinking it might be primarily around the battery box in the boot as it sits low near the raod between the back wheels.
The wheel arches must be importation too but they are totally covered by plastic trim in the back and I'm not sure how much of a job it is to get at the metal there.
A lot of people seem to do under the back seats but I figure the seats themselves must already be offering a lot of damping.
I already got nice quiet tyres - Michelin Primacy 3 on all 4 corners. Made a big improvement over budget tyres!!
I used some damping sheet I already had to do a bit of work on the R53.
Note that this type of 'visco-elastic damping' works by contacting over the panel and converting vibration to heat by friction inside the damping material. What I'm saying is; this is not blocking sound, it is damping panel vibration, so it is critically important that the damping sheet is in good firm contact over the entire area being treated.
I chose the locations based on the fact Mini had already seen fit to place some damping in these places.
The result was a subtle but noticeable reduction in noise. As an acoustic engineer I would say don't expect to achieve really big reductions in noise by applying some after-market damping. It just isn't that easy to stop sound already in the structure of the car from entering the the cabin. The main noise in the R53 is from the road and tyres passed though the body structure. To stop that significantly needs changes to the way the suspension is designed. I would describe the change here as making the noise more muffled and low in tone; it makes the noise less annoying and harsh.
Most of the body panels you've covered are heavily formed and therefore stiff panels that do not require and will not benefit from dampening material. You'll notice Mini only add dampener material to the flat unsupported panels e.g. front door skin inners etc to move the resonant frequency away from the driving frequencies. If you use an open cell foam and mass loaded vinyl blocker where you've used a dampener you'd get much better results - the foam is bonded to the chassis and decouples structure borne noise, then the MLV blocks the airborne path. Also changing the foam in the trunk tailgate oval rear 'vents' allows you to tune out the muffler tailpipe noise as this airborne path is engineered in to allow a sporty tailpipe noise in the cabin by Mini. Again an MLV backed open cell foam is useful here as it provides a partial block to reduce the exhaust noise, but the open cell foam facing into the trunk bonded onto the plastic vent panel allows a 'sideways' air path for the airborne tailpipe noise. This is useful for rear seat deletes where removal of the rear seat structure and hence the isolated trunk air volume (low frequency block) increases tailpipe noise.
I hated the "tinny" sound of my doors, forget the squeaking (I'll fix that soon). So I decided to add some soundproofing/deadening to the doors. I bought a box of Noico 80ML that covers 10 sq feet. I had a few sheets left after both doors. I did not go crazy but just added enough inside the door skin to give it some weight and sound deadening. It was a quick job and immediately felt and sounded different! Not sure the video picks up the sound difference, but it is very noticeable in the real world.
01-24-2008, 02:33 PM
