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Dynamat Install - Quiet The ChaosDampen your Mustang’s bad sounds so you can better hear the good ones From the August, 2011 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords By Mark Houlahan Photography by By The Author
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Project Generation Gap started out innocently enough as a father and son buildup of a classic Mustang that, when completed, would be a near daily-driver for said son. While we've both gotten our hands dirty on much of the project's dissasembly, the majority of the work to date has been a lot of automotive "heavy lifting" such as sheetmetal repairs, paint and body, and much more. We've both been pretty hands off because, well, we're not paint and body guys. Few of our readers are and I'm sure they understand the situation. Whether it's a transmission, an engine, or a paintjob, sometimes you just have to hand over your project, write a check, and wait for it to come back all smooth and shiny. Well, ours is back, and thanks to the crew at Classic Creations of Central Florida (and our good friend Allen Colding for the wet sanding and buffing) our fastback is now smooth and shiny as well. It's time to move forward, roll up our sleeves, and get busy with the final assembly! So now that our fastback is back home and ready to be assembled, we're going to get our butts in gear and wrap this Mustang project up by year's end (we know the cover of the magazine says August, but it's just the first week of May as I write this). Much of the assembly, including fuel and brake plumbing, wiring, and so forth can easily be handled by the two of us with the Mustang at home in the garage and we should need very little outside help from here on out, except for possibly some custom exhaust work and an alignment, both near the bottom of our punch list right now. Of course, before we can work on the wiring and other interior items like glass, audio, and so forth, we wanted to give the fastback a fighting chance to be as comfortable and as quiet as a new car. At this point in the project, with a painted, yet bare, body, it was the perfect time to enhance our Mustang with some sound and heat control products from Dynamat. Dynamat Xtreme is a butyl vibration dampening product that is bonded to a thin aluminum sheet. Together, they conform and adhere to various sheetmetal panels in your car to dampen road noise, eliminate "oil canning," and enhance audio system efficiency. We've used Dynamat on numerous projects in the past with great success, but one of the biggest hurdles to installing the product was determining how much and where to install it. Then, being able to accurately cut and install the product to the section of sheetmetal without waste. Well, Dynamat has introduced a new product line, Dynamat Xtreme Custom Cut, for many popular muscle cars, including the '64-1/2-'73 Mustang (we're told newer Mustangs are on the list for future kits). The Custom Cut product eliminates waste, is much easier to install, and reduces installation time. Dynamat has Custom Cut kits for the entire car, including the main floor, under the rear seat, doors, trunk, and roof panel. Of course, you can still buy the standard Dynamat Xtreme in sheets for custom installations (consoles, engine compartment, speaker enclosures, and more). We also opted to include Dynamat's Dynaliner, a closed-cell foam insulation, over our Custom Cut installation to aid in thermal blocking. Read on to see just how easy the Custom Cut installs and stay tuned for more assembly stories on our fastback.  1 Similar to a paintjob,...  1 Similar to a paintjob, the success of a Dynamat installation can be traced back to the prep. Having a clean installation surface is of utmost importance. While we’re starting with a bare floor straight from the body shop, as shown here, you’ll most likely find a mess under that carpet and seats that you’ll be removing for your installation.  2 Begin with a complete vacuuming...  2 Begin with a complete vacuuming of any metal the Dynamat Xtreme will be adhered to, and then follow that with a shop rag and some wax and grease remover or lacquer thinner to remove any loose paint or contaminants that will prevent proper adhesion. You can see the difference here from the driver side to the passenger side in our cleaning phase.  3 Finally, we decided to...  3 Finally, we decided to give the floor and trunk a nice simple coat of satin black from a couple of rattle cans, mainly to give the surface a uniform color/look and for better photography. Be sure to mask off any openings and to paint in a well ventilated area. While everything you’ve seen installed in this story is for acoustic dampening on some level for the body itself, we can’t forget what Dynamat is often used for most, and that’s to enhance an audio system by delivering deeper bass, eliminating panel resonance, and increasing dB efficiency. The Dynamat Xtreme speaker kit is the perfect way to get these benefits from your own audio system by installing these 10x10-inch squares directly onto speaker enclosures, speaker mounting panels, and such. As an example, we’re installing a speaker kit on our MP Products [www.mpcustom products.com; (866) 602-3423] component speaker kick panels. Be on the lookout for more interior goodies from MP Products in an upcoming interior buildup story.  1x Make sure the trim panel...  1x Make sure the trim panel or speaker enclosure is clean and free of any dust or loose dirt to allow maximum adhesion. Lay the speaker kit square so that it’s centered over the speaker opening (ours isn’t cut out yet) and begin to apply pressure with your thumb to shape the square into the speaker enclosure or housing.  2x Once the Dynamat Xtreme...  2x Once the Dynamat Xtreme has been roughly shaped into the enclosure grab the Dynaroller to fully seat the product to the enclosure or panel.  3x When you’re finished rolling...  3x When you’re finished rolling the product, you can cut out the Dynamat Xtreme that’s in the speaker opening to allow the speaker to be installed. The section you just removed can be used elsewhere on the panel/enclosure, or used anywhere on the car you feel extra product is warranted (pillar area, cowl sides, firewall, and so on).
| Item | PN | Price |
| '64-'73 Mustang Floor Kit | XFO M1 F | $400 |
| '67-'68 Mustang Door Kit | XFO M1 D2 | $200 |
| '64-'68 Mustang Under Rear Seat Kit | XFO M1 U2 | $200 |
| '64-'73 Mustang Trunk Floor Kit | XFO M1 T | $160 |
| '64-'73 Mustang Roof Kit | XFO M1 R | $110 |
| 1/4-inch Dynaliner (three rolls) | 11102 | $98 |
| 1/2-inch Dynaliner (two rolls) | 11103 | $140 |
| Dynamat Speaker Kit (two packs) | 10415 | $28 |
| Dynaroller Rubber Roller | 100007 | $25 |
| Switch-a-Blade cutter | 100001 | $23 |
| Dynamat work gloves (XL size) | 8581XL-01 | $25 |
| Total | $1,773 |
 4 Over the years, we’ve used...  4 Over the years, we’ve used Dynamat’s sound control products in dozens of projects and personal cars with great success. Its new Custom Cut line comes in specific kits (floor, trunk, doors, and more) by body style, and is shipped in large flat boxes to prevent rolling the material onto itself after the cutting procedure.  5 Besides the Dynamat Xtreme...  5 Besides the Dynamat Xtreme Custom Cut product and the Dynaliner foam insulation, we also ordered the proper installation tools to help with the job. Dynamat’s Dynaroller is a hard rubber roller that helps the product conform to the panel it’s installed on without damaging the panel like a wooden roller might. The gloves will protect our hands from the foil backing during installation (and keep the butyl off of our hands), while the Switch-a-Blade is perfect for trimming.  6 Each Custom Cut kit box...  6 Each Custom Cut kit box is labeled, so you’ll know what’s in each box if ordering multiple kits like we did. Starting with the floor kit, we laid everything out and then compared each panel to the layout shown in the instructions to verify where each panel goes.  7 We started with the rear...  7 We started with the rear floor sections first. It’s a good idea to cut each panel from its master sheet (leaving the paper backing in place) and test fit it to the area as shown. This will get you familiar with the way the Custom Cut panel needs to fit and you won’t have the other pieces from the master sheet getting in the way during installation.  8 Dynamat recommends partially...  8 Dynamat recommends partially removing the backing paper to expose a section of the butyl and then placing it on the sheetmetal without any pressure to the aluminum backing. Keep pulling the backing paper as you gently slide your hand in the same direction as the paper is being pulled. This will allow the Dynamat Xtreme to stay in place, but be easily lifted if repositioning is necessary.  9 Once you have the Xtreme...  9 Once you have the Xtreme Custom Cut panel located properly (keep an eye out for items like seatbelt holes, mounting brackets, and so on), you can secure it with the Dynaroller, working from the center out. Be sure to work the Dynaroller into floorpan grooves and such so that the butyl is contacting the sheetmetal 100 percent. Any gaps or air bubbles will diminish its dampening value.  10 If you want things to...  10 If you want things to go a little faster, enlist the help of a friend (or a dad!) and tag team the work. Here, the front floor sections of the Dynamat Xtreme Custom Cut are being installed. To save even more time, order a second set of gloves and another Dynaroller too!  11a While the small ribs...  11a While the small ribs in the main floorpan weren’t a problem, the larger ribbing on the toe boards was preventing the Dynamat Xtreme from adhering to the panel...  11b ...A quick slice down...  11b ...A quick slice down the middle of the rib with the Switch-a-Blade, followed by some roller work from the Dynaroller got the material sitting properly. We ended up repeating this procedure for several of the larger ribs found on the car.  12 As noted earlier, the...  12 As noted earlier, the included diagrams with each kit spell out the locations for each Custom Cut panel, so it’s a simple matter of matching up the pieces and installing them. This particular instruction sheet is for the trunk area, though we couldn’t install the fuel tank portion just yet.  13 While struggling a bit...  13 While struggling a bit trying to get the panels through the passenger door’s openings, Kyle figured out it was easier to drop it into the door shell from the top via the glass opening. What can I say, sometimes I over think things!  14 Like any work inside the...  14 Like any work inside the door shell, the final positioning and rolling of the Dynamat Xtreme must happen through the door shell’s openings, so watch those sharp edges by wearing gloves, or put a section of split vacuum hose or duct tape on the edges you’ll be working near.  15 Another panel we’ll be...  15 Another panel we’ll be holding onto for a while before installing it is the inner door portion of the Custom Cut kit. Since our fastback is fresh out of paint, the doors are still bare shells and require glass, window mechanisms, wiring, and more. Plus, this panel will pull double duty as a vapor barrier once installed, so back in the box it’ll go until we’re ready to seal up the door shell for good.  16a The Dynamat Xtreme Custom...  16a The Dynamat Xtreme Custom Cut installation is complete, though our under front seat panels are still on their backing paper for now, as we don’t have the seat risers in place yet...  16b ...This is because we...  16b ...This is because we need to fabricate seat mounts for our ’05 and up Mustang seats in the near future.  17 A relatively new product...  17 A relatively new product for Dynamat, Dynaliner is an additional layer of product you can apply directly over Dynamat Xtreme to aid in thermal insulation. Available in three thicknesses (1⁄8-, ¼-, and ½-inch), we opted to create a custom firewall pad out of the ½-inch-thick Dynaliner product, as a stock-type reproduction pad wouldn’t work for our project. Later we’ll cut openings as needed.  18 For the roof panel, which...  18 For the roof panel, which was previously covered with Dynamat Xtreme, we used ¼-inch Dynaliner. The Dynaliner can be pre-cut with scissors, or you can use the Switch-a-Blade with the Dynaliner in place to trim it to fit. The Dynaroller works well on the ¼-inch Dynaliner as well.  19 To install our ¼-inch...  19 To install our ¼-inch Dynaliner on the floor area, we took each roll of material and cut it in half, with each half earmarked for a section of the floor. Since the Dynaliner is not custom cut, it takes a little more patience to smooth the material out over compound surfaces.  20 For inside corners, you...  20 For inside corners, you can gather the Dynaliner together at the corner and trim off the excess to make a nice seam. Also, don’t forget that the universal Dynaliner will need to be trimmed for brackets, seatbelt holes, and the like too.  21 The finished job looks...  21 The finished job looks good, though it’s a shame we’ll be covering up all this work with carpet soon. No worries though, as we’ll certainly know the Dynamat and Dynaliner are there every time we head down the road and we can actually hear ourselves in a classic Mustang!
 | Upgrading To A Mustang II-Style Frontend Offers Multiple Improvements-In One Project |  | Not everything makes the magazine! |  | Project Generation Gap Readies for Final Body Prep and Paint |  | Project Generation Gap Gets More Mods And A Coat Of Primer |  | Finally wearing paint, our Ghost Gray Filly waves goodbye to the body shop |
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