Sound deadening - working on your car after?

[Scubaboo]

I'm exploring automotive sound deadening and what I am curious about is what happens when you need to work on something covered by it?

Specifically wondering about the doors.  It is usually recommended to cover the entire inner door skin with butyl deadening, including all the access holes for the stuff in the door like the power window, door mechanism, etc.

What happens when you need to do a window regulator?

I read the deadening usually sticks very well (some guaranteed to stick for the life of the car IIRC), so they dont sound easy to peel off like the OE plastic vapor barrier.

So what happens?  Cut up the deadening and install a new one?

So much info on kinds of sound deadening and install details online, but cant find any info on working on areas covered by them.

[creep_nu]

only done it once because i got ahold of a lot of cheap sound deadening, but...i made sure I didn't cover anything i'd need access to.  put it on the door skins, the floor, trunk, spare wheel well etc, but never covered up any wires(routed them on top if need be) or closed any holes up like on the door frame.  worked well to quiet down my impreza...could have been better i suppose if i really attacked the doors, but i was worried about the same thing--ease of servicability.  

 

might want to just try something like that, cover stuff that's out of the way and not covering anything, and if it's not enough, explore from there

Edited August 15, 2023 by creep_nu

[Scubaboo]

Noted, will be thinking about this some more, thanks!

Edited August 18, 2023 by Scubaboo

[m sprank]

You don't have to cover every square inch. All you are doing is adding weight to the metal to give it density and decrease vibration. Take a small piece and stick it to a sheet of metal and bang on it. Play. You will see that a small amount strategically placed makes a big difference. It's diminishing returns from there.  Yes. If you cover it removing it is a mess and a pain. 

40 years of auto sound Installs. Bass head.

[Scubaboo]

Good points, thank you!

That would be the plan with the outer door skins.  For the inner skin though, most instructions tell you to remove the vapor barrier and replace it with sound deadening.

You mentioned it sucks, what kind of work does it entail to remove and replace that door layer if, say, you had to replace a power window regulator?

Just trying to weigh if the juice will be worth the squeeze.

I do remember you posting your Punch DSM amps in the SE-R I think, in the spark plug thread.  I sometimes think about maybe doing a system with some today, I liked those!  I never got to the point of deadening back then though, usually just tossed in a couple of amps, do a front stage, then subs at the back.

[m sprank]

Want to get crazy, spend a bunch, add some extra weight to the car and then pound out around 150db???  Do this.

[m sprank]

Want to decrease road noise, make the car sound more "expensive" and increase the clarity of your mids and highs do this.

 

You put the skin back, you dont replace it with deadner. 

 

Removal is much like removing a 1/8" thick layer of tar.  Heat, scrape, repeat.  Do not cover what you want to get back to. 

[Scubaboo]

I think I will go put it a bit at a time like that instead of covering everything all at once, good point!

[Aphex28]

In my doors, I actually put it on the outer skin rather than the inside part. So I still have access to everything. 

[Brunzo]

I did a huge work on it. If you are interested, i can add a detailed post with pictures. 

[dgoodhue]

It can be removed.  I put dynamat on my collectible vehicle’s doors and had to do window regulator. I used heat and adhesive remove and it come off relatively easily.