[Thuan]

Its wasn't a fun weekend, And Im still not done yet, but here is some pictures.
I started off replacing all wires, With Stinger brand, Now that Im running
multi AMPS, distribution block 4 gauge wire basics.
Alpine PDX 4-100 Fits very nice, and is the same Size as the OEM AMP.
Everything is fasten with industrial strength Velcro.
Focal K-2 power needed some spacer to fit. Spacer can be found at Best buy,
Tripple Shield Stinger RCA
wire,Its not following any power cable,so this might be a over kill but better safe then sorry.

Dynamat is a pain in the Ass in this car, 48 Sqf ' worth of pain. I'm done with the trunk and doors, Finishing Off the interior Sunday.

 

[logonzojls]

Looks good so far. I just did my install last weekend with (2) subs and (2) amps and all new componet speakers w/crossovers as well. Worst car I think I have ever had to install on. PITA. Its worth it though, sound quality greatly improved. Are you throwing in subs? If so I would def recommend putting some dynamat on the heatshield above the muffler as this was the main source of noticeable vibrations in my car.

 

[dkevox]

So where exactly do you put the dynamat? like i've heard that it's a great way to improve the sound quality... so if I were to wanna "dynamat" the car, what exactly does that entail.

 

[Thuan]

Looks good so far. I just did my install last weekend with (2) subs and (2) amps and all new componet speakers w/crossovers as well. Worst car I think I have ever had to install on. PITA. Its worth it though, sound quality greatly improved. Are you throwing in subs? If so I would def recommend putting some dynamat on the heatshield above the muffler as this was the main source of noticeable vibrations in my car.

Sound like a good idea, my only worry is, wouldnt the heat burn
the black sticky stuff on the Dynamat sheets?

 

[Thuan]

So where exactly do you put the dynamat? like i've heard that it's a great way to improve the sound quality... so if I were to wanna "dynamat" the car, what exactly does that entail.

All all depending on how much Noise you don't want from outside the car.
Dynamat is just a basic sound sound barrier,that has a tin layer of tar like
material on it, Trunk will help eliminate exhaust noise, Door and Floor
will eliminate road noise.

 

[logonzojls]

Sound like a good idea, my only worry is, wouldnt the heat burn
the black sticky stuff on the Dynamat sheets?

Dynamat does make a high temp version, Ill have to look for it. Not sure if its seperate from all the other lineups or if it is just a characteristic of one of the existing models. from what I remember it is good to 500°F.

Have you figured out how to take off the black plastic panel behind the rear headrest? It would be good to throw some dynamat in there.

 

[Thuan]

Dynamat does make a high temp version, Ill have to look for it. Not sure if its seperate from all the other lineups or if it is just a characteristic of one of the existing models. from what I remember it is good to 500°F.

Have you figured out how to take off the black plastic panel behind the rear headrest? It would be good to throw some dynamat in there.

No i haven't yet, but I ran out of time this weekend, Its looks like the only thing to remove is the 2 clips in the center behind the back seat. And maybe
some clip hiding behind the Rear A-pillar.

From what I have done, Trunk,Floor and Door, I think Dynamat is the Best
Upgrade and cheapest way to improve sound quality 2-fold.
Hardly can even hear my exhaust anymore even at 80 mph.
to compare, its fairly simple EVO-X + Dynamat = Lexus interior sound

 

[logonzojls]

nice, let me know if you do figure it out. I played with the a pillar a little and it has a strap connected to it that you cannot take off. Instead just move that out of the way. Also I would def. disconnect your battery first. just incase because behind that cover is your airbag. wouldn't want it to deploy in your face...lol. GL

 

[Kooldino]

Great work as usual, Thuan...can't wait until it's finished.

 

[Thuan]

^ Ill take better picture with a real Digi Cam this coming weekend with all the Panel and carpet removed again. It was only 40 degree last weekend and I might of missed a few spots with the roller.Its going to be in the 60s this weekend, I 'm going to roll all the window up, Crank up the heat at MAX for about an hour,so the Dynamat will be soft and sticky and much easier to work with.

If the Drone noise bother you at highway speed,I know it drives me crazy on long trips. It's so worth it just to Dynamat the trunk alone if you don't have alot of time.
If you do buy Dynamat and don't want to order it it online, I found a smart way to buy it. 36 sqf box online is around $120+$30 shipping.Retail store sell it for $250
But Circuit City has the 2 door kit -12 sqf for only $50. other store still sell the same door kit for $100 bucks,I don't know why, and the guy who work at Circuit city don't know why, It's not even on sale or anything. But anyways..

So for $100 you can buy 2-box or 24 sqf worth +$10 rubber roller should cover your trunk. At
0.45lb per sqf, that's only 10.8 lb. added weight, Your Sub will sound louder and clean.
Your trunk will not rattle as much, And you no longer will annoy the guy parked next to you at the stop light because all the sound is trap inside the car now,
well... unless you have the window rolled down. now all the sound is being sent outside the windows its 2x more loud..

 

[gazebostealer]

Im thinking about doing this when i get mine. Im probably going to get a dynamat alternative to save some money and ive read good things about fatmat and edead(and most of the others). I think im probably just going to do the doors and the trunk. I dont really want to rip up the carpet or headliner so i dont think i am gonna do the rest. I assume this will make a big difference in road noise, or do i really need to do the floor to get a major improvement? how big of a pain is it to remove and reinstall the carpet?

Im really hoping with just a decent deck, and some nice 6.5s I can have a reasonable system without the need for a sub.

 

[Thuan]

The carpet don't really stick to the floor at all. Just remove the 2 front seat+8 bolts holding them. The rear seat just pops up if you pull on it, only 2 clip is holding it in.
center console, and the 4 side molding clamping the side of the carpet down,you know the side molding that hides all the wiring going from the engine to the back of the car. The side molding pops right off, only plastic clicks holding them, After that the carpet comes right off as a full unit, Took me about 15min tops.

To be honest the door on the Evo-X is very solid compare to the pass Evos. You are
not going to get big improvement in road noise as when doing the doors, .The doors basicly helps the component speakers sound inside your car. Its creates a wall from left to right to bounce the sound back inside from door to door. Remember that sound
from the road travel upward into your car cabin,That is where most of the road noise is coming from. The floor will give you the best bang for the buck in lowering road noise.The floor use up less Dynamat then the trunk. Our floor don't cover that much area. and I think it was the easiest to apply Dyanamat then the trunk was. The door is a PITA to do.
Trunk is to eliminate exhaust noise, Its a very annoying drone sound when going 60-80 mph. You'll know what I mean once you pick up your car. You have to re ajust to the car again, Some time i forget how fast im going when not looking at the speedo,before
the exhaust reminded me how fast I'm going.

 

[MooseX]

Looks like fun. I just did my doors and floor with 2nd Skin products. There is virtually no insulation in the X doors lol. They feel hollow and flimsy. Regular Dynamat only removes some sound. It's mostly a vibration inhibitive.

You need a sound barrier on top of it to really make a dif'. The last car I did with Dynamat I used 'Dynaliner on top of the 'mat. It's a 1/2" thick lightweight 3 layer super efficient sound barrier. Huge improvement over just using Dynamat. Dynaliner is quite pricey though. Too much Dynamat can be fricken' heavy as well.

After sound proofing several cars I've learned to just use 'strips' or patches of the Mat' (to save weight) and more of the 'barrier. With the X I used 2nd Skin's 'Dampliner' (hi tech mat) and their version of 'Dynaliner> MotorMat (super litweight barrier). My doors are now SOLID with no road noise and the stock POS stereo doesn't sound half bad.

For the floor I used their 3/8" Lux Liner', strips of Dampliner and left the stock floor insulation in. It's now 3 dense layers of silence and barely any added weight. Bring on the new exaust!

Logic> more layers:less sound

 

[Thuan]

Iv used Dynaliner In the trunk, but haven't tryed it on the doors before
I was more in to the SPL back in the days, I think ill be adding some Dynaliner to the door to, to see how much more I can improve my SQ.

 

[MooseX]

You gotta' do the doors..there absolutely hollow. One layer of Dynamat and a full layer of the 1/2" Dynaliner will deaden a big part of the road noise. Dynaliner is the shit'. It's super light and when combined with the Dynamat it's amazing. Night and Day compared to using just Dynamat

Another weak spot is the firewall. You can totally hear the engine coming right through the carpet. Especially under power. I put extra layers as high up the floor/under the dash as I could. I've eliminated alot of the engine and drivetrain wail...not all of it but enough to make a dif' with the tunes.

 

[gazebostealer]

although i hate to rip apart a new car sounds like it is fairly easy and worth it. Luckly it wont be my primary car so i can take my time.

So i guess you can get some of the firewall once you take the carpet off? or do you need to rip out the dash to really do any good on that? If so I dont think I am gonna go that far.

Thanks for the advice

 

[MooseX]

although i hate to rip apart a new car sounds like it is fairly easy and worth it. Luckly it wont be my primary car so i can take my time.

So i guess you can get some of the firewall once you take the carpet off? or do you need to rip out the dash to really do any good on that? If so I dont think I am gonna go that far.

Thanks for the advice

to get the entire firewall you will need to take the dash out. By taking the carpet out I got to about 3/4 of the firewall and it made a big diff'. If your creative you can stuff mat waay up there though without removing the dash. Lots of engine noise is now mute. I can still hear the motor but it doesn't dominate like stock.

I can't emphasize enough how hollow the doors are. Big gians in sound quality will be had by a 2 layer door treatment

 

[dcasandman]

Thuan you are a hell of do it yourselfer. You have truely taken your evo apart and put it back together again. Im impressed. Be sure to post tons of pics when you are all done I looking forward to seeing the finished product. The how to pics are awsome even though Id still get lost trying it.

 

[Talon_66]

This sounds like quite a project.
I guess I could slap some dynamat in my car

 

[Thuan]

^ Ill take better picture with a real Digi Cam this coming weekend with all the Panel and carpet removed again. It was only 40 degree last weekend and I might of missed a few spots with the roller.Its going to be in the 60s this weekend, I 'm going to roll all the window up, Crank up the heat at MAX for about an hour,so the Dynamat will be soft and sticky and much easier to work with.

sorry was busy this weekend, because something came up, But
I have a few shot of an EVO-X you guys might like to look at, Its allways
nice to see Picture of the New EVO-X. I post AMS on Vanity section.