Aren't Rattles The Best?

[Dan the 480 Man]

I know that the 480 is very rattley (i know thats not a real word). I've just put some 13cm speakers in the front and rear to replace the originals. Sound quality is really good. But....

The bloody drivers side door pocket is vibrating like no tomorrow! It really is spoiling the sound quality. I've had the door card off and tightened the screws but alas. The annoying thing is that the passenger side is fine, but it's exactly the same! It's driving me

Has anybody else had and solved this problem? I know chris1roll removed hi door pockets completely, but i use mine a fair bit so i want to keep them. I've rolled up several beer towels and wedged them in for the moment, but it's not a practical solution!

[Brasco]

Have you taken the grills off completely?
If the vibration (or is it more of a rattle?) is continuing, is the cone making contact with any of the surround?
When you took the door covers off, did you check all the screws front and back?
Have you tested the speaker when not attached to the door?

(Sorry if u have done all this btw, just trying to get all the details)

[Ed.]

You need to sound deaden your doors. This basically involves buying some sound deadening (brown bread, dynamat, ivanhoe, second skin, bodyline, etc), stripping the door cards and applying the deadening to all the exposed metal on the door. You need to deaden the inner and outer skin of the door, a couple or more layers on the rattley bits and then put everything back together.

This will get rid of the rattles and also improve the sound quality and bass of your speakers.

Ed

[Dan the 480 Man]

Have you taken the grills off completely?
If the vibration (or is it more of a rattle?) is continuing, is the cone making contact with any of the surround?
When you took the door covers off, did you check all the screws front and back?
Have you tested the speaker when not attached to the door?

(Sorry if u have done all this btw, just trying to get all the details)

Hi Ad

The grills are off completely-the speakers have tweeters in the centre which protrude, so the grills are off as they won't sit how they should.

It's def. a vibration-on the lower bass frequencies, the pocket vibrates alot more. I have checked all the screws on the back, and all the holes (:shock: ) are filled, as in the screws are all there.

I've not tested the speaker out of the door (and this isn't in a patronising way >), what would that do? What would i be looking for?

@Ed-i'm not sure if it's sound deadening i'd need. I know the basic principal of Dynamat etc, but i'm not sure wether that would solve the problem-the vibrating seems to be coming solely from the door pocket. Sound deadening is something worth doing though i know, done it in my 440 and the sound difference was noticeable. At the moment though (touchwood), there doesn't seem to be much rattling elsewhere!

I was thinking about some draft excluder tape. I was having a fiddle this afternoon, and i've noticed that if i put my hand on the inside of the pocket and pull out, the the vibrating stops, the same happens if i push down on the bottom of the pocket. What i might try is taking the door pocket off, and runnig the tape along the bottom edge, fixing it back on the door card, and getting my scalpel and trimming the excess off the bottom. The intention is to try and pack the gap out, as it's like it's vibrating against the door card. Obviously i can't do something permanent because there may be times when i need to take the door pocket off (can't see why but it's best to cover these scenarios).

What you think?

[catgroom]

draft excluder!
private joke!

[MGB_GT]

Had this problem since I've installed a decent set of front speakers too. It's much better with the frequency cut off at 78mhz (I thnk that right). I use a sub to produce the bass, so overall the sound is pretty good.

I'm going to install an Amp onto the front speakers soon though as I want more Treble and to use two sets of tweaters to do this. I'm re-designing the door pockets out of wood (resonable MDF) so they not only fit speakers in properly, but would allow some stowage space also. Frankly I am fed up of replacing door bins as well having broken three now!

I've been meaning to do this for a while, so don't expect a posting tomorrow, however I will upload all the design plans and pics if/when I finally get it done. To be honest I think it's the only way a set of aftermarket speakers will fit properly, I've only ever managed to bodge a set in and I've tried three different sets now.

BTW: Autoleads actually made a front speaker adaptor kit for the 480 would you believe. Upon trying to order one, was informed they had none and that they were no longer in production. Of course if you bother to advertise products, or show them off in say a shop, maybe people would know you made them! If anybody has a set, I may be interested.

[Ed.]

MGB_GT 78hz

For anyone who doesn't know what i'm going on about when i said about sound deadening, here is what i mean...



I bought some front component speakers that didn't fit in the doors, so i build some mdf cradles to house them. They work alright at the moment but it would sound better if i built kickpods for them. Only problem with this is it will impede the accelerator pedal

Here are a couple of pics showing the cradle i built.... (NB: I own a 440 not a 480)





Ed

[Dan the 480 Man]

@ MGB...

Would be interested to see the door designs-i'd like to build my own section for the speakers, but i done so much cutting/mdf work on my 440, i just wanted to leave the 480 alone. I tried getting 2 pairs of speaker grills for the front doors, removing the grill from one and glueing the other on top of it. Then sanded it down and used a bit of filler to fill the gaps in round the eges and just secure the unit, then masked the grill up and sprayed it a glossy acrylic black... Actually, i lie. I got to the glueing bit but haven't got any further, but thats the plan. With the covers doubled up and the grill removed, it still looks like standard fitment but allows he deeper speaker to fit in and be covered up.

With regards to speaker adaptors-i've seen this Autoleads Kit on eBay. It say's it's for a 460, but you can clearly see it's a 480. 460's never had door speakers that shape. It's always in the 'Additional' section, and has been on there for about 90 days Don't know if thats what you meant??

@Ed-some pretty neat sound deadening there-must have cost a small fortune doing that to both doors Where did you get yours from and how much? I think i'll invest in some in the future.

I will be Amp/Sub'bing it, but i need to sort out a rollerblind/load cover/some form of parcel shelf first-can't be leaving it on display all the time!

[MGB_GT]

@ Ed:

Ah the 440 is VERY simple by comparison, as I'm pretty sure 13cm's go straight in easily if you want them too. However the 480's screw the speaker in from both sides usually and the door pocket part is where I am struggling a little to make a design that works and looks ok. I plan to cover it in the same material as the door cards when finished to look a bit closer to factory, although I envisage some space will be lost, I was thinking with some foam cut to size you could also incorporate a drinks holder too . Have finally bought all the materials and started getting on with the drawing board, so hopefully I'll get off my arse and start doing it soon.

@ Dan:

Yup absolutley what I was refering too, just not sure they would be any good, anyone else had a set know if they work? Be much easier to do this and use Dynamatting to deaden any vibrations, but then it's all cheap plastic still, be nice to remove some of it from the 480!

Would also like to know how much it costs to sound deaden a door, whats the cheapest material of any decent quality, and can I use Egg Cartons as a cheap alternative?

[Ed.]

The sound deadening i have used in the doors is called bodyline and i was able to get hold of a couple of packets for £20-£25. A cheap and cheery alternative would be to use Aquaseal. This stuff is usually used for roofing, but a couple of layers of this in the doors will set you back less than £20. It is limited in what it can do, i have used it in the boot of my car but the single layer i put down hasn't really made much difference.

To do it properly with dynamatt or brownbread will probably cost around £50-£100 for both doors.

Ed

[Brasco]

I've not tested the speaker out of the door (and this isn't in a patronising way >), what would that do? What would i be looking for?

To check the speaker isn't blown. If the bass is "farting" then that'll cause vibration.

[Dan the 480 Man]

Right. Little update. I've had the doorcard off and speaker out. The speaker isn't blown, it's operating fine. So, i double checked all the screws on the back of the pocket, but they were all home! Aagghh!

So, i raided the shed and found a nice pack of black draught excluder. It's quite thick, but quite narrow too. I carefully laid the tape across the edge of the pocket and peeled the backing off. Then laid it in place, turned it over and put the screws in. When it was all back together i put the card back on, secured it and got a really sharp scalpal blade and trimmed it carefully off the bottom (the overspill).

Whacked the stereo in and cranked it up-little bit of vibration but not as much. I'm not sure if it's to be a permanent solution, but it'll do for the time being. I had an old plastic store card in my car, so i wedged in the bottom of the pocket which helped the vibration, which is why i thought the draught excluder would be ideal.

If i discover a better solution i'll update the post!

[Dan the 480 Man]

Well, i glued the speaker trims together, and then filled the gaps with P38...then caked it in the stuff. When it dried, sanded it all down so the join is now nice and smooth. Tried the covers on and they fit perfectly. Just got to get them primed and then sprayed...then it just leaves the rear ones.







Seems ok at the moment, no apparent rattles. Just glad the speakers are covered up and safe from the missus's pointy shoes!