Nissan 370Z Forum - DIY: Sound Deadening The Hatch

First, as a preface, I've never done any sort of sound deadening myself before. I did however get my previous car, an Acura RSX, done by an audio shop. They did the entire thing, from head to toe, and it cost an arm and a leg to have done. This time with the Z I didn't want to add too much weight, or spend that kind of money, so the package Second Skin was offering seemed like a good compromise. I also had planned on doing my doors, but I ran out of time (and possibly material).

In my RSX I had used Elemental Design's eDead v2 + v4. I'm a huge fan of Elemental Design's products, in both home and car audio, and I can definitely say the material that Second Skin is selling is much better quality.

Equipment Used:
40 Second Skin SPL Tiles
2 Sheets Second Skin Luxury Liner Pro
Second Skin Spray Adhesive (For Luxury Liner Pro)
Trim Removal Tools (Amazon.com: Actron CP5011 Panel, Trim and Molding Removal Set: Automotive)
Hand Roller (Already had one)
Foil Tape (Bought at Lowes for around $6)
Wallpaper Shears (Already had, worked PERFECT for all the cutting)
Husky Folding Knife (This thing is badass) (Husky Folding Lock-back Utility Knife (Colors May Vary) - 21113C at The Home Depot)
Rubbing Alcohol
http://www.ericz.net/images/02_1024x768.jpg http://www.ericz.net/images/04_1024x768.jpg

Before Shot:
http://www.ericz.net/images/01_1024x768.jpg

First things first, follow videos SlikNik put up for removing the hatch panels, found here: http://www.the370z.com/audio-video/1...ll-videos.html
This was pretty easy, although I did wind up breaking one clip (the first one I popped), luckily they seem to put enough clips in various spots, that it didn't matter in the end. Just be careful and take your time.

Once that is done, your trunk will look like this:
http://www.ericz.net/images/08_1024x768.jpg

A big towel comes in handy for climbing in/out of the car so you don't get cut on any sharp edges (and don't possibly scratch your car). Also came in handy to sit on while I was in the trunk. :)
http://www.ericz.net/images/15_934x768.jpg

I went ahead and removed the 4 rubber pads for the spare, since they were pretty thick and didn't seem necessary once I install the sound deadener. I also used the rubbing alcohol to clean all of the the surface areas I'd be working with.

Here is a picture of the stock sound dampening found on the wheel wells, very impressive! :rolleyes:
http://www.ericz.net/images/09_1024x768.jpg

This is after I put down a few tiles:
http://www.ericz.net/images/11_1024x768.jpg
I tried to keep them whole as often as possible, but I found myself having to cut them a lot in order to get them to fit nicely. I did have some overlap however, but I figured I had enough material so it would be okay. Any time there were spots where there was trapped air, I used the knife to slice the material and then squeezed out the air with the hand roller.

Here is another shot after I put down a few more tiles:
http://www.ericz.net/images/19_1024x768.jpg

Driver Side Wheel Well:
http://www.ericz.net/images/20_1024x768.jpg
http://www.ericz.net/images/24_1024x768.jpg

Passenger Side:
http://www.ericz.net/images/25_1024x768.jpg

Entire Trunk finished with the SPL tiles:
http://www.ericz.net/images/23_1024x768.jpg
I used quite a bit of the Foil tape over most of the edges. Especially if any wires were near them, since the edges of the tiles are extremely sharp.

Here is a shot of the area between the cabin and the hatch:
http://www.ericz.net/images/26_1024x768.jpg
Driver Side:
http://www.ericz.net/images/27_1024x768.jpg
Passenger Side:
http://www.ericz.net/images/28_1024x768.jpg

From the Cabin looking to the back of the hatch:
http://www.ericz.net/images/29_1024x768.jpg
For the back of the hatch, I only used tiles on the center part, just because I didn't really think it was necessary to get the corner areas too much, and those spots would be a bit hard to work with, although in hindsight, maybe I should of done them anyway.

So once that was done, it was on to installing the Luxury Liner Pro. Before I start, I just want to say, be very mindful of how the panels and the styrofoam parts go back into your car. The Luxury Liner Pro is thick! My basic process was to measure some workable sizes to cut the LLP into. Once I made sure it fit as I expected, I sprayed a decent amount of the adhesive onto the area in the hatch, and on my lawn I sprayed the backside of the LLP. Once it sits for a couple of minutes, take the LLP and press it down firmly to the car for about 5 minutes. I also used some heavy books I had to help, but later I found it was simply easier to press down for a while, then as firmly as possibly secure the edges of the material with the Foil tape.

EDIT: So it turns out I installed the LLP upside-down, so don't do that! :) I'm going to have to take it apart again and redo the LLP.

Here are some shots after I did the floor of the hatch, and then trimmed it some so I could try to get those little push pin clips back on the Styrofoam parts.
http://www.ericz.net/images/30_1024x768.jpg
http://www.ericz.net/images/30_1024x768.jpg
Not very pretty, but hey, it gets the job done. In the end though, I still couldn't fit the push pins back on (without having to actually trim the Styrofoam, but it actually didn't matter, since once the tire is in and the panels are on, the foam is pretty well secure, and the pins didn't even matter. So I really shouldn't of bothered to even trim those pieces.

After I put down some Foil tape:
http://www.ericz.net/images/35_1024x768.jpg
Bonus Shot:
http://www.ericz.net/images/37_1024x768.jpg

Driver side:
http://www.ericz.net/images/39_1024x768.jpg
http://www.ericz.net/images/41_1024x768.jpg
This was before I fully taped up all of the edges, but you can get the idea.
Passenger side:
http://www.ericz.net/images/40_1024x768.jpg
http://www.ericz.net/images/43_1024x768.jpg

Center area:
http://www.ericz.net/images/42_1024x768.jpg
Those two holes are for the bolts that secure my Zenclosure to the car.

Finished:
http://www.ericz.net/images/38_1024x768.jpg

And then after you put back on all the panels, you should end up pretty much where you started:
http://www.ericz.net/images/44_1024x768.jpg
Although you might notice that the carpet is about 1/2 inch higher than it was before I did the install, which is simply because the tire is sitting a tad bit higher than before.

In the end I have about 18 SPL tiles left over and 1 + 1/4 sheets of Luxury Liner Pro. I really didn't go too aggressive at all with using the LLP, mainly because I was a bit worried about everything fitting back together properly. In hindsight, I perhaps could of used a bit more on some parts of the back area of the wheel well, but other than that I don't think I would've used any more. So about 25 SPL tiles would be enough to do the entire Trunk (including those two corners I didn't bother with) with a single layer.

I spent a god-awful amount of time on this project. I think about 4-5 hours on Saturday, 6 hours on Sunday, and then another couple of hours on Wednesday night finishing it all up. I'm definitely glad I did it myself this time, as I saved a lot of money, and had a good time doing it. After doing a decent amount of highway driving the past week, I can definitely say it is much quieter in the cabin, and road noise from the tires was reduced quite a bit. I don't have any dB numbers, but its noticeable. Bass also sounds a bit tighter, and from the outside is quieter.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the guide. Thanks again to Ant @ Second Skin for supplying the material. I'll probably post up some more pics in another thread in a few weeks when I do the doors. Any questions, feel free to ask.