Second Skin Sound deadening install/review

sig11

This was the first project in any car where I took so many interior panels off. If I learned one thing it is that I never want to do that again. I find dashes fairly simple, but the tight clips in the rear interior panels had me on edge with every "POP." Overall I think the result was worth it, but next time I will at least have a garage to work in and some help. If I don't have that I will go to one of SecondSkin's dealers. The smell alone is reason enough to go with SecondSkin over Dynamat.

First remove the carpets and the spare from the hatch area. Once they are all out you will remove the back panel and then the side panels. Remove the pins from the back panel by pushing the loop up or down and gently prying the cap out with a screwdriver. Be careful with the top clips. I managed to crack the panel while trying to pry them up. The trunk light can be unclipped from the power wires or you can remove it from the panel and let it dangle in the trunk.

In the picture above you can see the light dangling and the next plastic rivets that need to be removed before you can remove the side panels. Use your screwdriver to pop the cap up slightly and they should come out easily. These rivets should not separate like the first two you removed. Once you have removed the four plastic rivets you can start popping the panel's clips and remove the side panels.

Finally, remove the plastic screws from the styrofoam on either side and remove all the styrofoam.


A far better trunk panel removal guide: SlikNik's video guides. I wish I had found these videos BEFORE I took the panels out. I just discovered them and he makes the job look incredibly easy with the right tools.

I sat in my trunk to do a lot of the install so I unmounted the antenna that you can see mounted here on the sheet metal across the trunk



The above picture is great to show the size of the SPL tiles. I tried to keep them whole wherever possible but there were only a few places where I didn't have to cut them. I started out using a carpet knife to cut the tiles but eventually switched to a pair of shears that were left in my desk by an automotive seating company. The shears in my opinion made all of the cutting much simpler and faster.

The places I considered the most important to use the tiles were the fender wells and I actually doubled up the tiles where I could on them.

I don't believe it was necessary, but I did tape up the joints between most of the tiles since I had quite a bit of extra foil tape. I discovered after I had removed the panels that my vinyl roller was lost in a move so I had to resort to using my screwdriver handle to work out the air under the tiles. Generally it went well, but the fender above gave me some trouble.

Once the tiles were in I started laying down the Luxury Liner Pro. Spray the surface of the tile and the foam side of the LLP with a good coat of the glue and let them sit for a minute or two. Roll the LLP on and try to keep pressure on the surface for several minutes. I used some old text books where possible. Then use the foil tape to seal seams and edges.

I was starting to lose light quickly at this point so I actually snapped these before I had finished with the tiles. When you put down the Luxury Liner Pro double and triple check that you aren't covering any clip holes and be careful of the clearance with the panels. I ended up with some fitment issues between the styrofoam and the passenger side panel because I didn't pay close enough attention to the fit there.



In all this is an install that produced some pretty good results. It knocked out a lot of the tire noise from the stock rubber and a good deal of the dinging in the fender wells. Most of the road noise is coming from other parts of the car now but if I get the urge to tackle that I will leave the install to a professional. Dealing with the interior panels was a nightmare for me. I will readily admit that having the proper tools for the job would make it a lot easier but without them it was hell. I spent nearly an hour getting the panels lined up right with the weatherstripping. There was a definite smell from the glue for a day or so after the install but within a week neither I nor my girlfriend could detect any new odor from the install.

As I wrote this and flipped through the pictures I got this horrible feeling about letting other folks see the install, but I wanted folks to learn from my mistakes if at all possible. My most important piece of advice is to make sure that you don't end up with too much height from the tiles and LLP. It makes sliding the panels back on a lot more difficult.

Thanks to ANT (SecondSkin) for the Second Skin Giveaway.

KamikaZ

sig11 - I'm working on a similar install now and would be interested in seeing your pics. Are they still available? Thanks!

-J

sig11

I'll see if I can find 'em. My server's hard drive crashed since I posted the thread.

On a related note this summer at the track the glue on the luxury liner melted and quite a bit of the material slid out of place. The glue slime was pretty nasty and I inevitably put my hand in it whenever I went in the trunk.

37Z

I use the same stuff and installed it earlier this year. It is best to install the sound deadening stuff to the wheel wells inside the hatch area for the most reduction in unwanted noise. You may want to consider using their roll on material on the outside of the rear wheel wells. The metal is thin is this area.

Also, add the material to the inside of the doors (involves removal of the door trim panels and the door acess panels). The door trim panels are easy to remove (see Sliknik vid). The door access panels are a job to remove (have to remove the window motors).

I notice a good improvement.