Second Skin Damplifier Pro and Spectrum Install

[tejcurrent]

After winning the contest a few weeks ago I received a door kit of Damplifier Pro, as well as a Fury knife and wooden roller (Thanks)!

I also ordered a spray gun and 2 gallons of Spectrum because I wanted to put at least 2 coats of deadener on all 4 doors.

The kit includes 8 sheets that total 13sqft, I need at least 6 ft of mat to cover each door. I used the mat on the large flat outer skin, and spectrum as an additional layer and the coating for the inside panel. I will most likely be ordering a few more gallons of spectrum for the floorboard- I am really pleased with the outcome.

Before starting use the button on the dash to disable the dome/door lights otherwise you might have a hot bulb in your hand.

Anyway, on to pics:

Door kit

Product:

Doors before working. There are two bolts holding it in place, one in the inside bottom corner and one under the solid handle- 7mm.

There are two wires holding it in place - one for a bulb that just pulls out and the other for the power windows. You may need a small screw driver to pop the clip loose but I was able to get it without one.

I recommend saving the moisture barrier that comes from the factory. Rain does get into the door panels.

Moisture can soak into the carpet pad-like sound deadener on the plastic panel.

[tejcurrent]

A scraper works great- just apply enough pressure to get as much of the stretchy glue off as possible without scratching the paint:

Use a rag or two and some acetone to remove the excess glue off the metal. Also clean the entire area to be treated to ensure proper adhesion.

I prefer to cut the largest piece possible, start a corner, and roll it so I can install as large a piece of deadener as possible without seams. You can also cut it into easily manageable pieces.

Two sheets of deadener just covers the large flat skin layer on each door, I recommend a door kit for every two doors to treat. I used painters tape to cover the areas I don't want spectrum to get on. Normally you would not need to do this, and would want more coverage by the mat, but the spectrum will get those curved areas much easier for me.

[tejcurrent]

Time to spray- one full container of the gun is 1/4 gallon. Make sure to cover ANY exposed area you don't want treated- windows, seats, ect. I intentionally let some over-spray get on my interior just to see how easy it is to remove. Once dried it scrapes off of painted surfaces and leather- so if you get a bit of mist on things don't panic. I would NOT let any get on a custom or cloth interior though. It does not wipe right off, it does need scraped but it is not permanent if you don't want it to be.

Grocery bags work great to cover motors and door handles that don't detach easily.

80 psi on the gun.

After 24 hours I reapplied the plastic moisture barrier, using the wooden roller to put pressure on the old adhesive. It still works great, no need to replace it with something hard to remove if you need to replace a something in there.

I haven't had time to do the front yet, it took so long to clean everything good I ran out of time before it rained. I will update the front door pics and tire well pics next weekend if it isn't raining.

My initial review- easiest mat I've ever had the pleasure of working with (used about 1/2 dozen brands). The spectrum was a bit messier than I anticipated, but it was SO much easier than banging up my knuckles trying to reach corners I couldn't see. I ended up with 1-2mm of Spectrum on all treated surfaces, and I think it does a good job. 3 coats (3mm) would probably be great, but it's so much quieter I don't think there would be much difference from a little more.

I am excited to treat the rest of the vehicle, I'm sure it will be so much quieter a ride as it made an ENORMOUS difference on my rear doors.

Anyone interested in seeing more pictures can visit the full log: http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/4/580630.html

Thanks for the great product! Only company I'll use from now on.

Edited July 20, 2009 by tejcurrent

[zfrerichs]

sound deader lol? ive been wondering about the sludge myself some people say it doesnt stick ver well any truth to that?

[BASS14]

^^^^iv heard that also, but one thing that i have noticed, is all the ppl that told me that said they had a leak somewhere and it got wet. so im just gona go out on a limb and say it works great up untill it gets wet. lol

[tejcurrent]

sound deader lol? ive been wondering about the sludge myself some people say it doesnt stick ver well any truth to that?

I can't comment on the sludge, though it is just a variation of the spectrum. It seems to hold very well to a clean surface. My interior is loaded down with greasy leather conditioner and armor-all, so I don't expect it so hold well there. Even still you must physically scrape the product off with a solid object to remove it.

With the short term experience I have I can say I don't see any way it would not stick to any clean surface. It stuck to all metal/rubber/plastic panels in and on my door. It also stuck to the Damplifier Pro very well.

Spectrum can be used as an undercoating so I don't see how it would not hold up well to water. I sprayed some in my tire wells over top of the old undercoating already there. The weather calls for rain so I'll let you know how it holds up to it. It's had 2 days to dry in the sun first though.

Edited July 20, 2009 by tejcurrent

[tejcurrent]

Finished the front doors, review after the pictures.

Panel removed, the moisture barrier on the front is held in place with tape style glue, not the nasty caulk in back. It's not as effective once it has been removed once or twice imo.

Cleaning the door for installation. There's another brand "door kit" right at the speakers, it's two layers- not really bad stuff but no where near as good as the Damplifier.

Covering up for the spectrum, damplifier installed. Just two sheets on the outer skin, but two good coats on everything is enough to make up for the lack of mat.

Drivers door, I skipped a few steps on this because it was hot as balls and there was enough pics of the back:

Made a tent to block the sun- near 100 heat index and 90%+ humidity.

Final thoughts: This stuff is awesome.

Pros:

-Much quieter inside the vehicle- less traffic noise

-Better bass response from the 6.5" driver. I was listening to Placebo and actually heard bass from my front doors, which was almost non-existent before. I had my x-over set around 65-70hz just because it sounded like crap before, just to find out it was the vibrations sounding bad, not the driver. Now I have to adjust my amp and see what I can get out of them.

Solid thud when closing the door, it sounds 'sturdier' if that makes sense, higher quality.

-The damplifier has such good adhesive you can not leave it in the sun because it will separate- sticking to the wax paper. I put mine in the freezer for 10 minutes before installing just to get it off the backing without issue. After you put it in place there's no chance of it coming off though.

Cons: There was about an inch of solid stuff in the bottom of my gallon jugs- roughly 1/2 a quart. So one quart of unusable mass between the two jugs. This was not left sitting, this was unable to be stirred as soon as I opened the container, like it was already hardened. I tried everything to get it usable and it was just waste. The gallons weren't left uncovered and were stored in my house at 72degrees. Still worth it.

Overall a great product, good service, and I will never use anything but spectrum unless damplifier becomes cheaper. It's soooooo easy to spray in door panels compared to trying to roll mat out to adhere. I can see where it's a little difficult to get even coverage on strange shaped surfaces, but it's easier to install in hard to reach places, and faster (imo) than fighting with mat. I just don't like rolling mat on.

[Ipod]

good review and write up..

[tejcurrent]

Thanks. I still have about 20-30ft of spectrum left, I'm going to do either my front quarter panels and tire wells, or the front floor. I need power wire and wood to get my build going, but I really want to deaden the back before throwing heavy stuff in there. Hopefully funds will get a bit better in the next few weeks so I can do both. Every time I turn around someone is sending me another bill (college/hospital etc).

Must say I will make sound deadening the first step in any install from now on.

Edited July 26, 2009 by tejcurrent

[Anthony Collova]

Glad you like th results.

How thick did you apply it to the doors?

Looks like 2 coats.. 3 or 4 is really idea but you should still get a nice improvement.

Keep in mind though, Spectrum takes 30 days to fully cure.

It will be mostlky dry after 3 days, but full sound deadening benifits will increase over the corse of 30 days.

ANT