DJ Waffles and The Mystery of the Jetta MKIV Install

[DJWaffles 10+ year member]

Hello!

So I thought I'd start a thread for my new build to get feedback, post some pictures, and hopefully helps some other Jetta owners along the way.

Step #1 (pictures to be posted shortly) I'm currently taking out the entire interior in prep for dynamat and running wires.

Questions:

I'm not sure if I should dynamat the roof of my car or not. Can anyone suggest if I should or shouldn't bother doing it? Is it really worth the effort?

I'm also not sure how I should point my tweeters (they will be in the a-pillars). I'm not sure if I want to point them towards the windshield or towards the passengers or just straight across. I'm going to try all three to see how it sounds, but if anyone has some advice on this I'd appreciate it.

I'm also contemplating getting Q-logic kick panels. I'm going to leave the woofers in the doors, but would It be worth while to get the kick panels for the sake of moving the Tweeter down closer to the woofer? It would also give me the option of moving to a three-way setup in the future. Any suggestions?

I'll get pictures up soon! Thanks for the feedback

Click to read more...

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

from what I hear, the q-logics don't give you a lot of mounting depth and they don't sound that great til you deaden/fiber glass them, you should def make a baffle if you get the q-logics.

 

[gangstajpimpin 10+ year member]

DEFINATELY deaden the roof...HUGE improvement and yeah...it sucks...but i think its worth it!

 

[DJWaffles 10+ year member]

So against my better judgment I took the headliner out so I could dynamat the roof. Talk about a pain in the ***. I couldn't even find anything that gave me clear info on how to do it so I just kind of winged it. I'm especially happy that I didn't set off the side impact airbags. I was staring cautiously at them the entire time I was working near them half expecting them to go off.

Oh and I learned an interesting lesson in all of this... apparently it's a good idea to use gloves when working with dynamat...I don't think I've ever had this many small cuts on my hands....ouch...

Tomorrow I tackle the floor and the trunk, and if I have any energy after that I'll start on the doors.

How long does it take on average to dynamat an entire car? I'm going to shoot for 3 days.

Here are some before and after pictures. I sure hope this ends up being worth the work!

 

[joshualittle]

Your gonna have one kickass sq system. I can't wait for the pics. Goodluck with everything.

 

[redfred18t 10+ year member]

Nice, I want to keep tabs on this. I have a mk4 as well and still undecided for which route I want to go to do the floor/amps.

 

[DJWaffles 10+ year member]

Well I guess 3 days to dynamat the entire car was a little bit conservative. Overall it ended up taking about 5 days to lay the dynamat. It also ended up taking a lot more dynamat than I expected. I was hoping to get away with 72 sq ft, but it ended up taking about 108 sq ft. I think I went a little overboard.

I ended up doing both the outer and inner door panels. The front door was easy to take apart so I put the dynamat on the inside which is why you can't see it. The rear doors apparently can't be taken apart easily. I couldn't find a single DIY online to that would tell me how to do it, and the manual I have doesn't even mention the rear doors. Either way it's done!

I've decided against the kick panels for now. I'm trying to fab some tweeter mounts using the factory mounting positions. Not sure how they are going to turn out, but we'll see. Pictures to follow there.

Up next I'm going to run all of the wiring so I can start putting the car together!

 

[DJWaffles 10+ year member]

I got the car mostly put back together and let me just say. HOLY HELL! The dynamat was a lot of work but it was **** worth it. I took the car out on the freeway and it feels like I'm in a completely different car. It's a TDI so some engine noise is inescapable, but it is quieter.

If anyone is thinking about putting the effort and money into dynamating the entire car I say go for it. It's a pain in the ***, but in the end well worth it!

One problem that I've encountered. The mounting depth on my Focals is too deep. The window gets in the way when it rolls down. I'm going to have to figure out a way to move them out far enough to keep the window from hitting...or possibly putting some spacers on the window track to move it away from the speaker. Any advice?