I just took the first step toward my stereo upgrade. I ordered some RAAMmat BXT, foam, and adhesive from RAAMmat. I had a glitch in the on-line ordering so ended up talking directly to Rick after he called my cell to work it out.

Wow! Really cool to chat with a true enthusiast who runs his own company. I'd read this about him elsewhere but nothing like spending some one-on-one, especially considering what a small fry I am the spectrum of his customers. We talked about racing, all the time he's spent at Miller Motorsports, and his current & future track day cars.

He ended up saving me some money and he didn't have to. I thought I'd need two rolls, and assumed the increment was whole rolls, but he convinced me to buy one and a half rolls instead (and the correct amount of ensolite) AND gave me multiple roll pricing!

Can't review the product yet but I had an excellent buying experience. I'll try to document my install and share it because I would never consider doing it myself if not for all you posters who shared before me. I haven't nailed down any components yet but I'm leaning toward Alpine HU (still debating 9887 vs X100) & amps, Focal 165VR's for the doors, and a Stealthbox w/10W3v3 for the trunk (if I can find one used at a reasonable price). Knuconceptz does look like a good wiring supplier but I'm thinking their battery terminals don't go down to my size (thinking 8 or even 10 gauge would work for 300W A/B + 600W D amps)? Otherwise I also found decent prices on Kicker's 8 ga dual amp kit.

 

Can't wait to see the pics of the install.
Best of luck

 

Just undertook this same process this week. It is a big project if you do the whole car, but there are a lot of good step by steps on the site. Good luck!

 

I promised some photos. I figure we can use all the images we can get. Did the passenger door today. Took me over four hours. Now that I sort of know what I'm doing I imagine the driver's door will take maybe three.

The original door liner adhesive is nasty goop. At least Goo Gone wipes it up nicely. Same for the RAAMmat adhesive, felt very similar. I didn't need a roller because the RAAMmat conforms so well (thin aluminum). I only used one layer plus foam but you could layer it for more damping.

Some of you guys showed such clean pro matting. I felt lucky if I got enough coverage!






Here is the door after some Goo Gone wiping

I was fabricating some aluminum screen material to support the large opening but I gave that up. Not really needed with the aluminum-backed RAAMmat. And I was getting too many aluminum splinters! Note there is also no way to really seal the door compartment completely. The door lock and opening control arms have to pass through.

Here's the virgin door skin.


Our pathetic stock speaker.



How did you guys trace the speaker for MDF rings? It doesn't sit flat for tracing (I think even if the speaker is removed from the ring?). I may not need them but I took this photo as a reference (I could enlarge to match the scale and then trace on MDF).


Here is my matting. Not nearly as seamless as some of your installs.


Here is the final foamed door.


Here is the mat-and-foam on the outer door skin, seen through the speaker opening.

I damped the lower half of the door and the cross brace.

I seem to have neglected to take a photo of my matted door skin! You're not missing much. I didn't foam it, just matted where it seemed to need it.

I might do a little more work after the new speakers are installed. I haven't decided on those yet. I figured I could do this work ahead. I should get the driver's side done next weekend.

 

That's a great start! Are you planning to put some mats at where you'll be mounting the speaker?

Also, have you water tested the foam? Some foam soaks up water and hold them and cause interior parts within the door to rust. You may want to use rubber pads behind the speaker instead of foam

 

Pen, looks good. It is a big job. I did the doors and the floor pan. It took way longer than I thought it would, and I started to wonder if it was worth it. After getting everything back together, it certainly was worth it. Hopefully you have a similar experience with less frustration than I did.

Just some encouragement, though, from someone else who just RAAMmatted the car.

Greg

 

The funny part is I have no idea of how much better the sound will be than if I hadn't done it at all! Got the driver's door done yesterday. I am getting faster and better with experience. More tips, the adhesive sticks less to nitrile gloves than to skin and pressing the mat edges down with backing paper makes MUCH less sticky mess than by fingertips.

Did the trunk lid today. I'm not so pleased with it cosmetically, a few ripples and a couple of obvious odd pieces in the foam. And I haven't figured out how to re-mount the top of the Muz saddlebag now that there are no passthroughs for tie wraps (d'oh!).

Maybe next weekend I'll get the rest of the trunk done and figure out what sort of amp racks I need to fabricate. Looking in the shop manual, geez there are a lot of fasteners!

 

The big difference that I noticed was the midbass is a lot tighter. A lot of that is probably due to better speakers, but the door feels more solid and it doesn't feel like the panel is vibrating as much. Also, the mat and foam on the floor seems to have cut down on engine and exhaust noise a lot.

I didn't have enough to do the trunk as much as I would have liked. I was running low after I finished the cabin. I basically got the spare tire area, and main level of the trunk. The well area was best I could get with what I had left. I only had a roll though, so you should be fine with a roll and a half.

Oh, for the MDF ring, I traced the speaker basket onto the MDF just with a pencil. I found my speakers were a bit bigger than the factory, so I had to enlarge the ring a bit. I traced another, marking the middle as best I could. Then I traced my speaker using the same center. Then, I expanded the areas that needed to be and cut to fit. I may have made it a little too big on my passenger side, because I couldn't get one clip back in, but the door doesn't have a problem and you would never know without specifically looking for it, so I left it for now.

Good luck. Keep us updated. I'll try to post some of my pics when I get my camera back.

Greg

 

I cut out the middle of the speaker basket and reused it with my aftermarket speaker instead of making an MDF ring. 7+ years ago