I have completed all of the sound deadening I'm going to do. It made HUGE improvements and I wanted to share real quick because when I was researching for this here and other places on the internet not many people have pics to share. This is not a real exciting topic and they don't show everything but if they help someone out I'm happy to help. I can't really determine how many people here have done anything to this extent so I also wanted to add how much this helps with road noise if it is bothering you or you just don't like it competing with your tunes all of the time. I wish I would have done this the same time as my stereo install but I did not know how annoying it would become over time to drive 30 miles to work on the highway blasting the stereo. In a nutshell I treated the car from the firewall back to the rear of the trunk and even under the hood and it lowered the noise in the car by at least 5dB (which is a lot). The noise of the tires hitting the concrete roads is almost gone instead of echoing throughout the cabin, music sounds better, etc. If you have the time and money use this method and do it complete. It is true that if you just do some that you will maybe make some improvement but you are kind of wasting your time. I can verify that because I did my trunk, then weeks later I did the passenger side of the car (floor pan), then recently did the driver floor pan and cubby area behind the seats and the external wheel wells and under the hood. When I did the trunk I couldn't believe how quiet the trunk became, but then the front of the car sounds noisier. When I did the passenger floor pan as the next step nothing changed! Then when I finally took 3 days and finished the rest the whole car became pretty quiet. I was impressed.
I think one reason there aren't very many pics out there is becuase your hands are full of glue and it's not as exciting as putting in a stereo. In fact, the pics are only from a 1.3M camera becuause I did not want to get glue on the good one. I had not taken any trunk pics but decided to get some shots at the end for the left side and cubby. I'm posting the highlights and have maybe 30 pics total.
Here is a link to some pics
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/730602/1

I am prepared to discuss this at any length with whoever is interested but I'll wait to see what anybody wants tips on. The idea is to cover most sheetmetal with a damper like Dynomat or the liquid stuff - I used all liquid except for under the hood. On top of that you put down an open cell foam (I used automotive carpet padding which is also known as jute) and on top of that you put down a closed cell foam such as neoprene. You want 100% coverage everywhere you can get on the interior. Behind some plastic panels you will have plenty of room and can even do double layers becuase more will be better in this case - others you may only get liquid damper and 1/8" neoprene to fit before you put the panels back on. My memory is still pretty good on where the tight spots are and trouble I ran into.
I have a list of everything I bought and can provide as many details as possible so let me know

 

Superb job Brian

From someone that has gone through pretty much the same steps at sound proofing, I understand the hard work and hours that went into a project of this magnitude. I am so glad to hear that it all paid off. Isn't it pleasing to be able to turn things down and still enjoy the audio?


Dan

 

Yes! I can acutally still enjoy the full range of the music if it's turned down around 10-12 instead of only being able to enjoy it fully by cranking it up past 17 on the volume.

 

Super job! I was actually thinking about doing this to some extent, but we'll see..

 

Honestly guys ... you could have saved yourself a lot of work and just got a new set of tires and some proper camber gear to keep them wearing correctly.

This is a good fix ... but it only covers up the true source of the problem.

I respect the good work put in here, you did an excellent job man. I never did this and don't regret not doing it .. I just know how much of a difference a proper set of tires can do towards lowering the noise floor.

 

I hear ya Jim. I replaced the tires on my Z some time ago and there was a significant decrease in noise. But, you have to admit the soundproofing in general in the Z is lacking. And I felt this way from day one, before my old tires started feathering. Improving the insulation to match what other car manufacturers are providing can only further add to the comfort.

My previous vehicle was a Jag I was leasing, perhaps the quiteness in that car led me on the quest with the Z

 

Do you happen to know how the GoodYear Eagle F1 GS-D3 rate on noise from anybody? I got them because they had reviews on the performance I wanted and went ahead and got them becuase they were supposed to be relatively quiet. Not the quietest but supposed to be better than stock. I noticed nothing different. Just tires won't do much on certain types of roads. I think this may be a big difference between all of our opinions is what roads you drive on and which part of the road noise really grinds on your nerves. You certainly bring up an excellent point though. Tires can dramatically effect the noise - that is where almost all of it comes from in the first place. I concentrated heavily inside and outside the car on the wheel wells for sure.

 

Please post the list of everything you bought if possible and the costs.
Very good work!
I really need a garage to work on my cars!!
I have Toyo Proxes 19/275/35 Rear and 19/245/35 Fronts. They have been VERY loud since minute one I put them on. I hope I don't have camber problems, my car is only 9k miles.

 

I will certainly do that for you. Dial up here at home is slow and the web links are at work anyway. Can I get back to you late on Monday??

 

sure, no problem.

 

which liquid did you use when i had my tahoe i used five gallons of liquid and sprayed it on quiet as hell also used expandable foam to seal off inbetween both panels used elemental designs liquid

 

Wow - 5 gallons I used two gallons of Elemental Designs edeadV3 on interior and 1 gallon of secondskin audio Sludge on the wheel wells exterior.

What kind of expandable foam did you use and how did you prevent from damaging any panels if it expands?? Could you tell if it was helpful?

 

Where in the Z does most of the outside noise come from? What part of the car is the weakest link? When I first got my car, it was raining, and the first thing that I noticed was that the water being kicked up by the tired created a ton of noise. could the wheel wells & fenders be the cause of a majority of the outside noise?
I bought some Cascade Audio VB-2 Shop Pack (41 sq. ft) and 30 sq ft of the Elemental Designs Teklite. I plan to put one layer of the VB-2 on the sheet metal inside the doors, and another layer sealing the door panels. Other than that, I am debating where I should use the rest of the material I bought. I hope the floor is not the weakest link...That will be a ***** to deaden.

 

I bought all of this stuff in stages as I learned and decided to do more. Everything came from Elemental Designs, Second Skin Audio, knox foam, foamby mail, exciters, or your auto trim.
Two different times I ordered edead V3 (liquid deadener from www.edesignaudio.com). First gallon was $50 plus I ordered a few brushes. Shipping on a gallon is always about $12. I found that the 47 cent paint brushes from WalMart work just fine. Grab a bunch of them 1" and smaller. I got a second gallon when they moved for half price ($25) and saved $10 on my order by registering on their forums and providing a review on what I thought of the stuff.

I also ordered a 1/4" thick sheet of neoprene from www.knoxfoam.com but they have not carried anything that thin since last year. This is where I always buy my glue. It is a big spray can called Misty glue and is $9.95 free shipping. I always go back there becuase if I just need one can it's free shipping. I went through 5 1/2 cans total. Should have used more so everything stuck better but it's not like most of it is going anywhere. Last time I used it I sprayed it on heavy and think it will be permanent. The glue is hard to find on their site
http://knoxfoam.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart...002+1158364083

Most of my neoprene came from

http://www.foambymail.com/neoprene.html
I bought full sheets of their dense stuff. Note if you spend $50 shipping is free.

The Vibramat I used on the hood and the wheel wells in the cubby area on the inside I got from

http://www.exciters.com/0009/vibramat_AFT2.htm
They only have left what is in stock and a 3'x4' sheet is $45. I bought one and it was enough. I know dannichols has other advice where to use it. He had some left over and was using it somewhere behind the door panels I think. The stuff works really well but is THICK! Bonus is that it is water proof and the adhesive backing sticks so well I can't get it back off of anything I tested it on. After their stock is gone someone else in California is lined up to distribute it. Exciters should be able to tell you where to get it if they don't have any. It retails for $90 a sheet!

The jute I used, I got here

http://yourautotrim-store.stores.yah...carpetpad.html
I bought 10 yards and have very little left over.

Bought I gallon of Sludge from www.secondskinaudio.com
$69. While I was at it, I was just finishing up the right hand floor and decided that on the left half I would put an extra layer of neoprene on the left floor and in the cubby (deadener, neoprene, jute, neoprene) so I ordered 3 sheets of their Overkill product which looks exactly like the 1/8" neoprene I got from foambymail.com at about the same price. Tried a can of their glue too since I knew I would need it. I discovered that it seems to be exactly like the Misty glue from knoxfoam.com
You can save 20% off anything there if you register as a forums member and get the discount code from the forums.

Bascially
2 gallons of edead v3 $50+$25+ship
1 gallon Sludge $65
About 6 or 7 sheets of neoprene at about $21 a sheet
brushes $10
jute 10 yards at 5.95 a yard
had the one sheet of 1/4" neoprene early on - that was a closeout deal for about $12 I think. Don't let that one distract you - it was thick and stiff and hard to work with on curves. Wherever you can use thicker neoprene just stack up the 1/8" stuff. Overkill and the neoprene from foambymail is very flexible.

I found lots of other places that charge 2 to 3 times more for the same stuff but also some places have overstock and ebay has been good for some people. I had no luck with ebay - it could be I didn't know what I was looking for at first.

 

I'm going to need some help with that myself. I know that the trunk, floor, and cubby area let in a lot of noise. I've heard that if you do the trunk and cubby you will be pretty happy but you can gain more by doing the floor too. Floor was pretty easy. Just take out the seats and put everything under the carpet then put the carpet back. However since you have to let liquid deadener dry it IS the biggest pain to do on a daily driver. Other areas in the car you can drive it around in process if you need to. Maybe someone else can help us with advice for you? I did the trunk first. Made a very noticeable difference ( for the trunk!) but then the front of the car seems noisier. I did the right half of the floor and nothing changed. Then I did the left half and the cubby before I ever drove it again so I can't tell you how noisy it will be not doing the floor. Sorry Definatley should concentrate on wheel wells and cubby for sure. When you are in the trunk to do the rear half of the wheel wells try the trunk floor for sure. The tires are where most of the noise begins. And anything down low is only probably 7" from the ground like the trunk floor and the floor board under your feet there in front of the seats. At least if you can I would pull the front of the carpet back from the seat up to the firewall and put some material in there. Anybody done this in smaller steps or done only one or two areas or re-done stuff and found out what to hit if you limit what you cover??

 

I found that the biggest improvement came after completing the cubby and floor. But, like Brian, I would suggest doing as complete a job as possible. If you leave an area untreated, noise seems to just make its way through.

 

Ok, I'm dumb and can't tell what a cubby is?
Also, I can't really tell why all the different materials are needed? Isn't there something that you just spray on? if so, why use all the other materials?
Sorry for asking novice questions! I just have no ideas but I definitely agree my car needs this kind of upgrade. Z is a noisy car by nature.
And by the way, thank u very much for posting everything!

 

Thanks for the input. I guess what the excess material from the doors, I will cover the cubby area and the front half of the trunk (wheel wells). Too bad that cubby area is such a ***** to get to. I will leave the back of the trunk untouched so hopefully that beautiful exhaust sound will still make it to my ears.

 

Most of the spray-on or mat materials do a great job stopping vibrations and rattles, but do little for quieting noise (especially high freq). They just add weight to the metal they are applied on.

That is where foams come in, and they can act as absorbers (open cell foam) or barriers (closed cell neoprene). Benefits come from adding materials in layers to stop and absorb, block and re-asbsorb as much of the noise spectrum as possible.

yes, the Z is noisy, and the stock tires can be a major culprit. But adding some noise control just makes it all the more pleasant to be in.

 

So would adding closed cell foam on top of dynomat be a good idea?
or is dynomat not even recommended?