After driving the car with a stiff suspension & poly bushings for a number of years, I started to miss being able to go on long drives and actually hear music while driving. At the end of a 1000-mile drive on a long weekend to visit Joshua Tree National Park for some climbing, I decided to order up some sound deadening. After some research, I decided to go with a product called Damplifier from Second Skin Audio. A close second in my book was RAAMMat from RAAM Audio. The only difference I was told of was that the RAAM product was a bit messier to install. On top of the deadener, I also installed some 1/8" thick closed cell foam, which I ordered through RAAM Audio, along with the recommended contact cement.

To start, the interior needed to be gutted. Pulling the seats and rear panels was simple and straightforward. Only the carpet really required a lot of work to pull out. The most difficult part was disconnecting the gas pedal, but once I saw how it went in it was pretty simple to deal with. The carpet can be a little cumbersone, but patience paid off.

In total, I ordered 160 square feet of Damplifier, and 120 square feet of foam with 6 cans of adhesive. This was enough for the floor pan, doors, rear seat area & firewall, plus a little extra. It was a bit pricey, but well worth it in the end. This was probably the most labor-intensive project I have undertaken, and I highly recommend wearing gloves since the foil gives very nasty cuts. While the carpet was out, I also decided to steam-clean it. This made the interior feel much newer. I opted to use the easy method of removal on the carpet: making careful cuts up around the heater core & leaving the small bit of carpet in there. Anyway, enough reading...

Reinstalling everything went pretty smoothy. It can be somewhat of a nuisance to get the carpet organized up by the driving pedals, but with a couple small cuts it will go right in. The car was noticeably quieter with the floorpan deadened. I later installed it in the doors & rear quarter panels. The back sides of the door cards & rear panels were also deadened. Deadening the doors made the largest difference of all; when driving on the highway, cars driving next to me are almost inaudible when the windows are sealed. The doors also happen to be the toughest spots to deaden, so beware!