[shuvc]

I had bought a Figo in Oct'12 last year. The ownership thread is at

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...km-update.html


Now I don't modify too many things in my cars and like to keep them largely stock. However, ICE upgrades are normally priority. Sadly, though, I had to give the Figo a pass - due to a combination of circumstances.

a) It would be the family runabout. Driven extensively by my driver. He requested for a non-Baleno setup which he can listen to when parked, without switching on the engine !
b) No space for an amp. I need to fold down the rear seat at times for luggage, so the seat back is ruled out. I often have to sit at the rear with my feet going below the front seat. Hence under seat amp location was out.
c) No space for a sub either, since I fully utilize the boot. The boot size and accessibility was an important purchase criteria.
d) Last but most importantly - severe funds crunch

And so the car has been with me for 9 months and close to 25K kms as of today, but with zero ICE upgrade.

This was bugging me no doubt, hence I decided that something, however little it may be, would calm my restlessness a bit, lol. Hence the decision to take the damping route. And since funds were a concern, D-I-Y it would be.

While I was at it I thought I'd take a few snaps, since there didn't seem to be too many Figo ICE snaps around*. I couldn't take too many since operating a touch screen with greasy/'tarry' fingers is probably not a very bright idea !



*@swami, I missed your thread and saw it today. Thanks for sharing !

[shuvc]

Here goes .. hope this provides some help to fence-sitter-Figo-DIYers

Tools I used:
1. Knife
2. Phillips cross-head screwdriver
3. Flat-head screwdriver
4. Damping material
5. Cloth to wipe off greasy/dirty fingers !
6. Park under a shade but with adequate light. Daytime preferred.




Opening door panels
Opening door panels and putting them back in place is possibly the biggest mental block. Once past this hurdle, the rest is just applying sticker

Each door panel is held in place by clips along the perimeter plus 4 screws.







At any time till now, the small triangular sail panel (front)/quarter panel (rear) can be tugged at and pulled out. These panels are snap fit using 2 clips in each. (Missed taking a snap)

Now that all screws are out, tug at the panel, starting from the top (along the glass channel). There will be some alarming 'gunshots' as the clips come loose. Brace yourself, grit your teeth and bear with the ordeal ! Use short sharp tugs along the top, sides bottom. Don't overdo it. You could slide in the flat-head screwdriver along the edges, create a bit of space to between the panel and the door metal to slide in your fingers, grip the panel and tug. There are a couple of foam pads under the panel, in the door sill area - typically at the position where Maruti's have the door lock-unlock control.

Once all the clips come out of their slots the panel will be connected to the door at 2 places
a) Wiring harness. (Don't have a snap. Sorry !). Like any harness, press to release and pull out the plug from the socket on the panel.

b) The door latch (pic below). It has 4 clamps on the inside of the panel. Prise out 2 of them and push the latch assembly out. It will pop out from the other side of the panel. The assembly is still connected to the door lock release cable. Now twist the latch assembly and pass it back through the hole through which it popped out.

Thats it! The door panel has now been conquered !





Important Note :

The rear doors have an additional step of removing the window winder which is the first step, after which the steps mentioned above should be carried out.

The door winder is a tad tricky. I wasted a lot of time pulling and tugging to no avail.

The trick is the small 'omega' shaped metal piece. This will be visible when a gap is created between the door panel and the winder (using the flat-head screwdriver). Make sure that the window is wound up before taking out the 'omega ring'. The ring needs to be slipped off the winder 'hub' with the flat-head. This might take a bit of pushing and prodding. Once it falls off, pulling the winder handle will make it come off easily.

Now the other steps mentioned above (screws/clips etc) can be carried out.

[shuvc]

OE Speakers

Before I proceed, a glimpse of the OE speakers. Rated 25W @ 4ohms.




I've always felt that the Figo has a decent OE setup. Relative to OE standards. The driver magnet seems pretty big, doesn't it?



Here's a comparo with the OE speaker in the Civic. Much smaller though it had neodymium magnets, if I recall correctly.



Nice connectors for a budget hatch. I was expecting bare-basic spade connectors !



One grouse though. Why have different standards for screws for the front and rear speakers? The fronts have phillips compatible 4 heads. The rears have allen-key compatible screws !! Why???!




Note the geared spindle. This is where the window winder fits. I will refer to it in the last post.

[shuvc]

Damp away !

The 'stickering' process begins. And this is just a cut paste job. Being in IT this was a cake-walk

Since it'd be boring to see snaps of all the doors, I took some indicative snaps. Hope it'll suffice.




Pull off the plastic protective cover. It's edges are stuck to the door metal frame with tar like material. There is a small metal bracket in the centre of the door frame to which 'Screw 2' (above) is fixed. The plastic is fixed to this bracket too. I did not unscrew it as I could access most of the door frame anyway.

Note that there is already a square patch of OE damping on the outside door panel.






Cut up the damping material with the knife into manageable strips, pass them through the holes and paste. After pasting, use the screwdriver handle to rub over the material.

It is a good practice to cut the material with the adhesive protector. Then test-place it on the panel. Once satisfied, remove the protector and lightly place the material. It will just about stick. Once again adjust to place it as desired. Apply force with your fingers/palm/screwdriver handle etc to stick it properly, only when the placement is final. It isn't a big deal .. a couple of pieces and it's easy thereon.



Continue damping liberally. It's a good idea to buy a bit of extra material to avoid shortage. Cover all holes in the front frame. I retained the plastic sheet (some may not), and pasted it back with the help of it's tarry adhesive edge.

- Take care not to cover any of the clip holes. I also kept all bolts etc accessible by putting damping material around them.
- Pass the door lock cable through a slit in the material.



On the inside surface of the plastic door cover, I damped only the edges of the speaker grill. I thought this should be enough since it's an OE system. Guru's please comment ! If it makes a difference I'm willing to open up the panels and cover all of the plastic too.

In fact my other cars have the entire plastic panel inner surface damped. But they have higher powered amplified setups.



Tip to protect the damping adhesive/tar from sticking to the power window assembly. In case the assembly needs repairs later on, having tar all over it will be messy, hence I decided to stick the material to the edges of the 'hole' and keep the damping adhesive protector on, on the area in contact with the assembly.







That's it ! Damping done !


Just like that ... A snap of the rear door after I struggled to open the winder the first time !



Now all that remains is to putting back the doors - just reverse the process in the 2nd post. Align the plastic panel along the clip holes and press it in. It may need a few punches !! And some more gunshots ! Once the clips are in, put back the 4 screws. Press fit the sail/quarter panels. And for the rear doors, put the winders back as the last step. Here's how to ...

Place the 'omega ring' on the winder hub. And then it needs to be pressed so the legs of the 'omega' goes into the slits in the hub. Once this is done, just press the handle into the geared spindle in the center of the door.

[shuvc]

So ! That concludes damping all 4 Figo doors !

What did I expect out of this exercise? Nothing much from a bare bones OE system that is rarely cranked up. But I more or less got what I wanted.

I normally keep bass at +3, treble 0, Loudness off. At the same setting the sound is now somewhat more punchier and well defined. I took it to around vol level 20-22 and there were no reverbs/vibrations. My normal listening in this car is around the 10-12 vol level. At that volume frankly the difference is nothing major. A tad less 'boomy'. However, since the midbass of the system isn't inherently punchy, it doesn't really feel that the bass has increased. The mid-range though, seems to have a bit more clarity.

I'm happy with the outcome. I've spent 1500-2000 odd rupees and 7-8 hours of getting to know my car better ! From a damping point of view, the car is fairly ready for an amp'd setup, in case circumstances someday are favorable. And then it will surely make a big difference, as I have learnt with my other setups.

If you are still reading this, then my heartfelt thanks for going through such longs posts related to something as mundane as damping

[moralfibre]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line (The "Assembly Line" Forum section) to the DIY Section. Thanks for sharing!

[DerAlte]

Fantastic DIY job, @shuvc

* You needn't have covered the entire inner metal part (the one on which the speaker is mounted). If one covers a hole with damping sheet, the damping sheet doesn't damp anything. Nor will covering the holes create something like a 'speaker box'. The plastic sheet is a vapor barrier, but now you have vapor barrier made of damping sheet!

* Instead, you *should* have covered any large expanse on the inside of the door pad with damping material. The bit & strips near the grill will not do anything

The difference in screws between front door and rear would be quite simply the Indian propensity to do jugaad - if the actual type is not available, don't go to stores to get replenishment. Use what is leftover in the bin and finish your job! At assembly stage they anyway don't expect anyone to open the doorpad, let alone change speakers

[rjstyles69]

Fantastic job there shuvc . What was the damping material that you used ? I mean what brand and where did you source it from , the thickness, price etc.

You should have dampened the door panels itself, doing that helps quite a bit to put a check on the rattles.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Fantastic DIY job, @shuvc

* You needn't have covered the entire inner metal part (the one on which the speaker is mounted). If one covers a hole with damping sheet, the damping sheet doesn't damp anything. Nor will covering the holes create something like a 'speaker box'. The plastic sheet is a vapor barrier, but now you have vapor barrier made of damping sheet!

* Instead, you *should* have covered any large expanse on the inside of the door pad with damping material. The bit & strips near the grill will not do anything

Thank you ! I was particularly looking forward to your 'review' ! And as expected I've learnt some more !

a) I was under the impression that the sound waves from the rear surface of the driver would interfere with the waves coming from the front of the driver as they are out of phase with each other. Potential distortion scenario. Hence I damped the whole inner metal frame too, covering the holes. Is this understanding wrong? Or is it that the impact of doing this is imperceptible ?

b) Point taken. I was in 2 minds to damp the door plastic. I did do it for both the Baleno and Civic. But in this case, I skipped it thinking that a non-amp'd setup may not rattle the door panel too much .. now that you say it, and the fact that I have left over material, gives me the impetus to take off the panels once more !


Edit: @rjstyles69, Thanks !! I used NoiseKill from B&T.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by shuvc

... the sound waves from the rear surface of the driver would interfere with the waves coming from the front of the driver as they are out of phase with each other. Potential distortion scenario. Hence I damped the whole inner metal frame too, covering the holes. Is this understanding wrong? Or is it that the impact of doing this is imperceptible ? ...

Imperceptible, I would say, since it is impossible without using a sealed box to achieve complete isolation of the front wave from the back. Where the speaker is mounted, there is enough distance for the rear wave to traverse around the panel through the hole for it not to reach the front wave in the right anti-phase to cause much effect at low frequencies (you would have to calculate the wave-length at those frequencies, but still ...). There are hi-fi speaker designs which rely on this and are just a baffle, no box. Perhaps Navin can give the exact reference.

There is another level of isolation here: the front the speaker frame is being cushioned against the door pad with foam - not much of the rear wave can meet the front wave.

The rear wave meeting the front wave results only in reduction of loudness at the affected frequencies (cancellation due to phase and anti-phase of each other). It doesn't result in any distortion per se.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

There are hi-fi speaker designs which rely on this and are just a baffle, no box. Perhaps Navin can give the exact reference.

Enlightening ! Yes, recall reading about them. Something like this? http://www.salksound.com/archos%20op...20-%20home.htm

Originally Posted by DerAlte

There is another level of isolation here: the front the speaker frame is being cushioned against the door pad with foam - not much of the rear wave can meet the front wave

Yes, this thought did cross my mind. I also extended it to speculate that the foam might act as a 'shock absorber' and reduce transmission of vibrations to the plastic door pad. Not sure if that is correct !

So the only +ve effect of damping the inner metal would be to reduce any frame vibrations, due to say, a powerful woofer being played at high volumes?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by shuvc

... Something like this? ...

Exactly!

Originally Posted by shuvc

... I also extended it to speculate that the foam might act as a 'shock absorber' and reduce transmission of vibrations to the plastic door pad. ...

Correct, though it is more about the door pad not rattling against the raised metal frame of the speaker.

Originally Posted by shuvc

... So the only +ve effect of damping the inner metal would be to reduce any frame vibrations ...

Not much vibration comes from speaker frame to the inner metal, no matter how loud you play. The vibrations there are the induced resonance from the road noise coming through suspension and then the door hinges.

[swami.n]

Fantastic work Shuvc. The greatest aspect of such DIY jobs is not the extent of result achieved, but the pride & satisfaction that I have been able to do something on my own on my vehicle.

[nura]

Great job. Congratulations.

Originally Posted by shuvc

The door winder is a tad tricky. I wasted a lot of time pulling and tugging to no avail.

The circlip on the window crank can be difficult. Looping a piece of cloth into the gap & pulling at the ends usually gets it out quite easily. You don't even have to peer in to locate the open end. If the window crank doesn't come out, just rotate your loop of cloth & pull again.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by nura

Great job. Congratulations.

The circlip on the window crank can be difficult. Looping a piece of cloth into the gap & pulling at the ends usually gets it out quite easily. You don't even have to peer in to locate the open end. If the window crank doesn't come out, just rotate your loop of cloth & pull again.

Thanks ! And good to hear from you !

I had actually called up my Service Advisor on a Sunday! He mentioned the same 'cloth technique'. But he wasn't able to explain properly over phone, so I took my own way out with the screwdriver