ericsartoris

Hi Experts,

I'm getting ready to purchase some Fat Mat Extreme sound-deadener. I can buy 36 sf, 50 sf or 100 sf.

I'm installing new door speakers and a sub box behind the driver's seat. As long as the interior has been taken apart, I figured I'd try to add Fat Mat Extreme wherever appropriate. About how much will I want to buy, and where will I get the best effect aside from the doors and sub box area?

Thanks!

Paul350Z

iTrader: (1)

I did the coupe and used about 75 sq. ft. of which most was in the trunk. I did double layers on the inside of each wheel well which got rid of the annoying "tink" sound of the gravel bouncing off the wheel wells. I put a third layer under the plastic wheel well shields around the front tires.

I was warned about removing the inner steel door panels so I didn't do them. Some guy here did them and had a real time getting the windows recalibrated to close and open correctly. I did do two layers in a 10" square behind the speaker hole and put some on the plastic door skins and a bit on the inside of the inside steel door panel.

usmanasif

iTrader: (4)

Couldn't one just keep the windows rolled up and stick as much FAT MAT on the exposed panel as possible? 90% of the total reachable area can be covered that way without having to remove the window regulator.

Paul350Z

iTrader: (1)

Under the plastic door covers there's a second metal skin that's bolted in place - that's the part I didn't remove. You can get to some of the door through the 5" or so speaker circle but the fat mat loves to stick to itself even better than the car making it hard to get really large pieces in there. Folding a 10" square in half and then carefully opening it works.

If anyone wants to take their inner skin off and survives please let me know because I'm dying to get in there.

I did put a couple of pounds worth of pollywool into each door too to deaden things up a bit.

usmanasif

iTrader: (4)

I see...Never seen a metallic plate under the door panel before! Nearly all cars just use a plastic moisture-protection shield instead. Pretty interesting!

dannichols

I was the one who attempted the removal of the plate. The plate in question is part of the inner door frame. Two window guide rails and a small electric motor attach to it with an assortment of screws and washers. Some of these screws are adjustable and actually set the pitch and angle of the window as it lowers and raises. I removed it because a PDR guy was fixing some door dings for me and had to get in this area because the stock matting (yes there is some in there) was covering the ding and had to be temp removed. Inside the door (with the plate removed) you will see Nissan's matting (a 10" x 36" long strip of thick material) running down the length of the door for dampening I imagine. It is below a 2" steel tube that sits in the middle of the outer door pannel and also runs horizontally down the door.

Another reason I removed the plate was for dampening/noise control. I had already applied about 6' of Extreme dynamat to the outer door panel and behind the speaker hole. I also had lined the plastic door panel with Foam neoprene. I wanted to better dampen the steel plate using a brush on dampener (Secondskin) wihtout creating a gooey mess and without covering all of the important screws and adjustment areas on the plate. So my idea was to remove the plate while the guy was fixing the car. Coat the back of the plate with sludge, let it dry and reinstall. From the front, the plate would still look pretty stock.

Things worked pretty well..except that when I put things back together, the window did not meet correctly at the top of the frame and there was a noticable gap. I played with things for awhile and did get it to seat correctly, but the next day I noticed a lot more wind noise than usual. So I spent another day adjusting things back to normal. So the end result is, the plate can defintiely be removed and it is possible to get things back to the way they were...but be prepared for a weekend of trying to get the wind noise back to a minimum.

Another thing I noticed with the lower front window adjustment is that it controls how close the window comes to the back of the speaker hole. I believe I was able to get another q/4" or so space my moving the window back slightly using the adjustment bolts..and without causing more wind noise or gaps for rain to seep in the top. Speaking of rain...have any of you noticed how much water seeps down into the window on a rainy day? The moisture guard on the bottom outside of the wind doesn't stop it at all, so be careful of that moisture as it drips on the back of your mids. Good reason to keep some slack in your speaker cable there so the rain doesn't channel and sit on your spkr term posts.

Dan