How To Dynamat your doors (lots of pics)
 

Hello everyone,

This is a "how-to" write-up on how to instal dynamat material on the front doors. It turned out to be an easy install with no complications, anyone can do it.
I upgraded my head unit and speakers on my evo, and noticed some rattles coming from the doors when i turned the volume up high. I did a little bit of research on what to do about it, and decided to go with Dynamat Extreme Door Kit. It contains 12 sq feet of material (4 sheets of 1'x3', just enough to finish 2 doors with a little bit left over). There are other brands you can go with, like Raammat, Elemental Designs, etc.
I'm not an expert at this, I just did some research, watched a few youtube videos on installation, so if you have any additional suggestions, let me know and i will add them to this how-to.

Tools recommended:
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4388.jpg

Sound Deadening Material:
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4423.jpg

http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4382.jpg

Let's get started.

1. Start by removing the door panel. There are 4 screws to remove, then you need to pop-off the door panel. I took a "larger" screwdriver as you see in picture 1 and wrapped masking tape around the tip, so I would not scratch the paint on the door.

2. Remove the plastic foil from the door as you see in the picture below.
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4383.jpg

3. Remove the goo (adhesive) that was holding the plastic foil in place. I used a flat-head screwdriver and scraped it off, and a thin layer remained, but it didn't bother me, and the dynamat went right over with no issues. This is the goo i'm talking about:
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4385.jpg

4. Remove all clips holding the wires in place. I just pulled them out with pliers, you will not need them. Also remove the white foam on top right side of the door, as well as the yellow foam cube from the back of the door panel. Remove your speaker too. The door handle unit also pops-off (slide-n-pull out). There is also a metal bracket in the center with 2 screws that needs to be removed before applying dynamat.

5. Clean the metal with some type of solvent so the dynamat sticks to it well. I used some isopropyl alcohol, and wiped the metal down to remove any grease or grime (don't waste your time to clean the goo i mentioned earlier).

6. Take a sheet of dynamat and place it on the door like so. Trim any extra material. I used a marker to mark it, then used the knife to cut it off. Notice the white foam is still there in this picture, but it needs to be removed as stated in step 4 (I took this picture before removing it.)
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4389.jpg
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4392.jpg

7. Peel the paper backing off the dynamat and apply the dynamat on the door. You will need to use a roller (get a heavy duty roller, I read some reviews on the 10 dollar rollers, that they break easy so it's not worth it, this one was 23 bucks) Push the roller across the entire surface to squeeze out any bubbles and to make the dynamat stick to the metal better.
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4393.jpg

It should look something like this.
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4394.jpg

8. Now do the remaining top side of the door with dynamat. Make sure to pull the wires outside before rolling it. You can cut holes in the dynamat, then patch it later as needed.
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4397.jpg
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4399.jpg

9. Mount the speaker back, also mount the metal bracket, and the door handle.
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4401.jpg

10. Cut out some small amounts of dynamat so it sits flat with the metal, otherwise your door handle will look like this when you put it back together:
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4402.jpg

Here is a picture of the dynamat cutouts.
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4403.jpg

Now your door handle will look like this:
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4405.jpg

Optional. My speakers came with crossovers so I just stuck it on top of the dynamat and secured it with another piece of dynamat.
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4418.jpg

11. Last step. Take the door panel and slightly press it against the dynamat. the clips in the door panel will poke small holes in the dynamat. Cut out a small patch of dynamat for each clip, so it will sit flush. You can see them in this picture along the bottom and sides:
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4401.jpg

That's it, it's finished. It wasn't so bad. I used some lamps to light up my door :) , but i would recommend to do this install during the day if you can.
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/IMG_4421.jpg

All door rattles are gone now, so this was well worth it for me. Good luck with your install.

picture are not showing except for one.
Also can you post how to dynamat the floors?

All images are now showing (switched them over to Photobucket).

I didn't dynamat the floors on my car, but it should be the same process. You just have to remove everything till you get to the bare metal and then apply the dynamat.
I also want to say that the audio quality has improved, the bass sounds better. I am very pleased with the results.

Awesome write up!

Thanks asdfasf128.
I think if people are going to upgrade their speakers, they might as well do dynamat too, to save time, and you will definitely notice the difference in sound quality, well worth it.

I have done my 4 doors, trunk and rear floor...still gotta take out the driver seat and finish it up.

Oh god...the weight. :( Very Nice write up though.

Is that the only way to do it? I only did my driver door and I did it by cutting in to small rectangles.

Did you take off the big foam block on the back of the door panel?

wowzzzzers!! good write up I agree but to much weight!!

Yes, i took it off, there was only one screw, then just "snapped" it off, it was glued to the back of the panel. See step 4.

Sweet, I already have the door kit installed on both my front doors. It didn't turn out quite as neat as yours so I am thinking of adding more. Focals+midbass don't play nice with cheap plastic doors imo.

Oh btw on the weight comments. Well if anybody has a half way decent stereo...meaning non stock speakers and more than typical deck power your doors WILL rattle. 10lbs of dynamat is not going to make you lose a race, maybe in a honda with 30lbs or torque but in an evo 10-15lbs of dynamat will not even be noticable and it help A TON.

^ I totally agree, it's not as heavy as you might think.
IMO, the doors should already come dynamated by the factory.
I also noticed when I get in the car and close the door, it has a slightly different "thump" sound than before.

I have been thinking about doing this since I have a RS and the matting in the trunk is non existant and the it's very loud with my ETS 3.5 exhaust.