So last week I vastly improved the sound of my wife's Scion xB by adding a layer of eDead to her front/rear doors, rear hatch and rear side panel areas. I posted a thread about it on the Scion boards:

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=137129

Anyways, this week I felt like trying it out on the Corvette because it was such an easy install and really improved the quality of the overall sound of her system. I followed one of the how tos here on removing the door panel and it was very easy. There's a little panel under the door handle that I popped off with a screwdriver. Then after removing the two hex screws I used a rivet removal tool and slid it in the little slot along the bottom side of the door and pryed the push pin out. Then after it was out enough for me to slide a few fingers under the panel I pulled the rest of the pins out and lifted the door cover away from the door. Then it was just a matter of unhooking the wiring harness and unscrewing the Bose speaker from the door.

I then put in a layer of eDead along the interior face behind the speaker as far back as I could reach inside the door. I put one extra piece over the layer right behind the speaker for better response. The whole process only took half an hour or less.

I will admit that the sound improvement isn't as big as it was in my wife's xB. Mainly because the Corvette already has pretty quiet doors to begin with and the overall quality of the factory Bose in the Corvette is a major step up from the P.O.S. in the Scion. I also have a JL Stealthbox in the Corvette, so it already sounds amazing bass wise. I didn't do the passenger side yet, so I was able to notice a bit more door rattle on the passenger side, with the driver side door I did sounding a bit more tight all around.

Overall, for a job that takes less than an hour for both doors, and a minimal amount of material you can get for $1.28 a sq. foot. it's something that ANYONE can do. I'm totally not a mechanic, and was quite apprehensive to do it at all, but I'm VERY glad I did.

On to the pics...

Before eDead...



After eDead...

 

Nice work. A worthwhile time investment, if i can give you any tip it would be to make the additional effort to apply some of the edead to the outer skin of the door as well to reduce some of the resonance that occurs. The speaker is located on this skin and it is the first, and generally most common source location of resonance (vibrations and rattles). G'luck if you tackle the door skin as well .. same process as before, just a few more cuts and a bit more time to make sure everything bolts down/sits flush with the edead under it. (easy)

On my personal car I did an edead v3 liquid coat on the inner doors and front portion of the interior, and added dynamat extreme to the door skin and behind the speaker as you mentioned.

Fej

 

awesome. I love my edead sound deadner as well. Try out the wheels wells and you should see some improvement there as well. Nice pics and write up as well for the less mechanically inclined

 

Did you cover the entire face of the exterior? Something like this...?

It's not a Corvette door, but you get the idea...

 

Ya something similar to that, just have to be careful to check the edges where the door panel does not cover, maybe trace a line with the door panel on before you start. I recommend unbolting the door control module and deadening behind that as well and look for possible rattles from the factory door wiring .. othat than that you are gtg.

Fej

 

So I went to do the passenger door and am having a HELL of a time with the single hex bolt under the handle as well as the one under the door button. I tried the same size hex wrench on the driver side and it's like it wont work. It's like it's not big enough, but the one a size bigger is too big.

I think I've tried a 1/8 and a 5/32. Is there something between that or something I'm missing here?

 

LOl! You drive a new Corvette and bought your wife a Scion.... No doubt who runs the show over there ! Oh yea, great write-up.

 

They're the same size, but it's a Torx head, not an allen. With the angle up under that handle it's a pain. IIRC it's a T25.

 

its a little tight cause of the angle... edead = amazing

 

Well she used to drive a Mazda6 which was really sweet, but she wanted something more "economical." It was her call hehe. Obviously, I do make more than she does, but that doesn't effect how we spend. She just got sick of filling her Mazda with gas all the time, as she drives about 25 miles to work and back each day.

The xB cost her $100 less a month in payment and she cut her gas usage in half.

The xB is definitely more affordable, but to be honest, it's a lot more "fun" of a car and she actually likes it more so it's not like she feels she "downgraded" so much.

So ya, I'm going to Home Depot to pick up a Torx kit...

 

Torx set is a good investment, lots of those little buggers in auto fasteners. Besides, how can buying a new tool be a bad thing?

BTW, nice job and congrats on TXB, that's my #1 360 info site.

 

Ya I went out and got a ratchet and a T25 thing for it.

The only problem is I think the guy who installed my amp must have kinda stripped the inside edges of the bolt because the T25 seems to just roll around without gripping. I guess I can try the next size up and see if it fits, but I have no idea what he did. I tried it on the driver side and it works fine so it seems he definitely stripped some of the "teeth" from the bolts. Also, I think I need some kind of extension for the ratchet so i can undo the bolt under the door button since it won't reach. The one under the handle is a pain too because the part where the T25 attaches to the ratchet is about the same width as the hole.

Probably how come he stripped it using whatever way he did it and didn't see what he was doing or whatever. Either way, hopefully I can get the damn thing off so I don't end up with just one side deadened and the other not...

Thanks for the comment about TXB! I appreciate it...it's been a long bumpy road but it's turned out pretty well for me and I enjoy it.

 

So I finished it out today but had to get a T30 to unscrew the passenger door. The T25 that worked on the driver side was too small on the passenger side.

Anyways I did as much of the interior face as I could and put some on the exterior face in spots where it wouldn't affect the door panel fitting back on, but I didn't cover it completely.

Sounds tighter, clearer and a bit louder with less outside noise.

 

Glad you got the project done.

I was going off the top of my head with the T25 but on my '06 both sides were the same size. Very like both T30 from the sound of things.

 

glad you got that other door off to deaden it. Would you say that its a whats the word im looking for, is it a worth it mod?

 

Ya for the time/money it's worth it. I only used a few sq. ft. and it only costs $1.28 per sq. ft. and both doors took less than an hour to do.

I spent a lot more time and material doing my wife's xB though, and that REALLY made a big difference. The Corvette is better made, with less rattle and a better factory stereo to begin with though.

 

good to hear. I noticed improvement when i did my liquid install. Glad your happy and that it was worth it.