# 2006 Lexus RX330 Build Log. First Build At The New Location!



## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

And here we have it! The very first build of 2018 and very first FULL build at Apicella Auto Sounds new location! 

Robert contacted me about 6 weeks ago looking to do a build in his newly acquired 2006 Lexus RX330. Over that time we went over ideas, constraints, timing, etc etc. Just before the new year he was able to drive from Richmond Virginia all the way up to New York to finally let me get my hands on it. 

Over the weeks leading up, we also tossed ideas as to what equipment would be best for his goals, which were to maintain a semi-stock look while giving the best possible sound quality as he has plans on competing in the future, and not take up to much space.

The equipment we settled on were:

Pioneer 6200 (already installed)
Audible Physics Ram 2Q
Audiofrog GS690
Tang Band 2" fullrange
(2) Illusion Audio C10Helix Director
Helix PSIX MK2
Zapco ST-1000XMii

Before we get into things, i want to give a huge thank you to my friend Matei (who got me into this hobby) for helping me out for a few days (and kinda made himself a part time employee lol), and Kevin "Mullings" for helping out for a day. Thank you!

Another side note... apparently when you work 65 hours in 4 days, your brain goes numb to things that dont fully matter and i may have forgotten to get various finished pictures.. Robert will be sending me some soon.















Heres the main power wire fusing. 0 gauge from battery and split to the alternator and to the amps, along with the additional upgraded battery ground to the frame.
























GS690 with our standard wiring practices. 

Note: Audiofrog does not advise soldering to the GS series terminals due to the plastic housing. I trusted my soldering skills to get it done without any harm and succeeded. YMMV















Doors fully deadened with about 8 SDS tiles per door, holes sealed up with aluminum and deadener and GS690's installed on composite baffles that use the oem mounting locations. On top of the GS690's is closed cell foam rings to couple the airspace in front of their cone to the cabin, while isolating them from the door panel and taking the airspace behind the door panel out of the equation. Also a close up of the closed cell foam rings that i make instead of using the pre-made open cell foam ones, which defeat their own intention of sealing the airspace while decoupling the door. The door panels were also hit with deadener and were spot treated with CLD, foam, etc to prevent any rattles and resonances.

































On to the A pillars, which i forgot to get finished and installed pics of 

We decided on using the Audible Physics RAM 2Q as a wideband. The pillars feature fully sealed enclosures, are on axis, and are sunken in enough to qualify for street class in MECA with their new rules for 2018. They are flush mounted into the baffles and leave enough wiggle room to wrap the pillars and still have them fit nicely.

Also, the RAM 2Q and the chamfered backside of their baffle
























First step.. cut em up. Then prep for glass, and then take the first initial mold of the a-pillar frame.

































Next up was installing the pillar and glassing a mold of the dash while also glassing the original mold to the pillar. After that the glass was trimmed and baffles were secured.

































Back of the sealed enclosure on the pillar. After this pic was taken, more glass was added around the edges to seal it fully and to adhere it to the pillar better















Body filler and sanding all done. Unfortunately, this is the last pic i have of the pillars  I will post them when Robert sends me pics tomorrow.















Since Robert had two extra channels available from the Helix PSIX MK2, we decided to have a go at rear fill since ive had good luck with it in the past. Heres a before shot of the D-pillar.















Me making a mold of the rear pillar. Thanks for the photo Kels. This was made out of 3 layers of Biaxial mat. Very strong stuff and amazing to work with in certain situations.

































Baffles for the 2" Tang Bands made. If you remember, i used these in the versa and figured i'd give them another go since i knew what their size was like.















Baffles aimed and secured to the molds, then were fully glassed, filled, and sanded.
























Final piece test fit, along with a shot with both from the rear. You can hardly see them.
























Now these were a royal ***** to make. So essnetially, what i did was make another baffle, which was routed out to flush mount the 2" drivers to them. then they were fully wrapped over in alcantara, as was the pod. Then the baffle was secured to the front of the pod. you cannot see the driver from the front, and the alcantara acts as a natural low pass filter, which is normal for rear fill anyway. They start rolling off at about 4.5k at 12db/octave. With the crossover i pushed it to acoustically roll off at 3.5k.















Fully wrapped and ready for install. Unfortunately no installed pics as well. I pretty much only got finished pics of the trunk. FML. Will wait for Robert to send me a few. I will say this though.. the alcantara matched the factory pillars PERFECTLY.















We were originally going to go with a Helix URC.3. We ended up just using a Director instead. The bracket that housed it was made out of acrylic and fiberglass. First step was the housing for the director, then the brackets that matched the panels they were being attached to shape.

































The brackets and housing were then duraglassed to the panel to make the fit tighter, then fully glassed and filled.
























Test Fit. Unfortunately no finished install pics. It was finished in Sem texture coat and painted to match the beige panels.
















With the amps and subs taking up the leftover space in the trunk, we had to improvise with the jack and jack accessories. Matei made a wooden panel to attach brackets for the jack and a pouch for the accessories. The pouch was made out of left over alcantara. The brackets, which are made out of HDPE, are cut to fit the jacks profile and secure it by expanding the jack.




















































Trunk emptied of all panels to finish running power wire and see what we have to work with.















The amp rack cut out and test fit. Note the hole to access the spare tires lowering hoist. Also a shot of various wires ran through the rack.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

In previous cars ive noticed that the PSIX amp can get very hot. So we decided to add fans. Matei made the baffle, installed and wired them. This was his, and i quote "favorite part of this install".. weirdo. The baffle was painted black to match.

































On to the beauty panels. When kevin came in he helped make a template for the beauty panels. He make the overall shape, then we all decided on what would look best in terms of cut outs, and he cut them out. Thank you Kevin.















The panels all were rabbeted on the underside to account for material thickness.















test fit with acrylic in place















Start of the enclosure. made from 3/4" Birch and fiberglass. The bottom edge of the sides were cut as closely as possible to match the profile of the trunks floor. 5 layers of biaxial mat, and some regular 1.5oz mat on the sides were used for the bottom side of the enclosure.










































Filled and wired.















The top of the enclosure was used as a template for the sub enclosures beauty panel.















Everything installed.. 100% hidden with zero compromise.















The woofers were flush mounted and the enclosure was wrapped in black suede while the panel was wrapped in black vinyl. I love the look of the contrasting textures.















And the amp rack all finished.










































Thanks again for looking! And i promise i will get the pics of the rest of the install tomorrow.


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

Undeniable talent you have for this stuff Nick. Looks amazing :thumbsup:


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## tbomb (Nov 28, 2007)

Great install, but pretty sure that's an RX330

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## AyOne (Sep 24, 2016)

WOW! Way to start the new year with a bang.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

AyOne said:


> WOW! Way to start the new year with a bang.





Truthunter said:


> Undeniable talent you have for this stuff Nick. Looks amazing :thumbsup:


Thanks guys!




tbomb said:


> Great install, but pretty sure that's an RX330
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


dang it.. fat fingers strike again


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## casey (Dec 4, 2006)

wow! excellent work! Love the usability of the trunk space all while being able to make an awesome display for the subs and amps


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## GEM592 (Jun 19, 2015)

Wow, very interesting one. Love the sparing the spare tire part, and the interesting mid install. Great job.


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## glide 1 (Mar 26, 2006)

Cant see pics Nick. Would love to see this build.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

glide 1 said:


> Cant see pics Nick. Would love to see this build.


try this link

https://imgur.com/a/6Gq3c#NSrhp2N


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## Blu (Nov 3, 2008)

Looking great - congrats on the new location!


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## cmusic (Nov 16, 2006)

Cool install. My wife has a 2009 RX350 with the same color interior. She hates car audio but this gives me some ideas if I ever want to do a system in her SUV.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Very nice, Nick! Way to break-in the new shop!


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## Mullings (Jan 31, 2016)

Nice build nick, it was fun working with you guys,definitely looking forward to helping you out with more projects.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

UPDATED PICS FROM ROBERT!


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## foreman (Apr 18, 2007)

Atta boy Nick, great work


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## Dan750iL (Jan 16, 2016)

Awesome work!!! Love the rear fill solution.


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Beautiful work Nick

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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Wow!!!! Just ... Wow!
Love every part of this build!


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## aholland1198 (Oct 7, 2009)

Excellent work! What are the pillars and rear fill pods covered with? I have a 2011 and would like to build the pillars. 


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## dcfis (Sep 9, 2016)

Top level pillar with as usual. Would not be surprised if a top install nomination was coming soon


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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

Awesome work as always, Nick!


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

aholland1198 said:


> Excellent work! What are the pillars and rear fill pods covered with? I have a 2011 and would like to build the pillars.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Alcantara. I can get you the color code if you want (or even sell you some as I have some left over)

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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

dcfis said:


> Top level pillar with as usual. Would not be surprised if a top install nomination was coming soon


Thank you, but I doubt it. I have a long way to go for that

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## aholland1198 (Oct 7, 2009)

SkizeR said:


> Alcantara. I can get you the color code if you want (or even sell you some as I have some left over)
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk




My interior is grey, but I appreciate the offer. 


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

aholland1198 said:


> My interior is grey, but I appreciate the offer.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Gotcha. The alcantara matches the factory texture pretty damn well 

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## lashlee (Aug 16, 2007)

Looks great Nick!


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## OCD66 (Apr 2, 2017)

Looks like you're on your way to doing some nice work. Tighten up those gaps and you'll be pro soon. 

*constructive criticism...


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

OCD66 said:


> Looks like you're on your way to doing some nice work. Tighten up those gaps and you'll be pro soon.
> 
> *constructive criticism...


which specifically?


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

great job buddy !


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## Timelessr1 (Feb 12, 2010)

Awesome work Nick!! Majorly impressed at the attention to detail!!!


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## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

SkizeR said:


> Me making a mold of the rear pillar. Thanks for the photo Kels. This was made out of 3 layers of Biaxial mat. Very strong stuff and amazing to work with in certain situations.


Very nice job on this build. Had a question about the axial mat. I've seen this material before but not in this application. Just wondering what weight mat are you using?


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

bigbubba said:


> Very nice job on this build. Had a question about the axial mat. I've seen this material before but not in this application. Just wondering what weight mat are you using?


It's the us composites 1708 biaxial if I remember correctly

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## raadkins16 (Apr 21, 2005)

I’m the fortunate guy that gets to enjoy this build every day. The attention to detail is evident when you get to see the car in person and pics don’t do it justice. Nick was great at communicating before, during and after the build and his work ethic is incredible. After those long days of little to no sleep, I arrived in NY and Nick took his time to finish all the little last minute details and then tune the car properly and not just half ass the process as the project neared the end. It’s clear this is the just the first successful build of many to come in the new shop. Thanks again for doing such a great job with the Lexus, Nick!


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

great job nick , but i would have used the tri-axial glass mat , but thats just me bro .


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## TerryGreen5986 (Jun 23, 2017)

And here I thought I was gonna be the only person driving from Richmond VA for Nick’s services lol. Great build 


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## Firefighter9 (Sep 23, 2015)

TerryGreen5986 said:


> And here I thought I was gonna be the only person driving from Richmond VA for Nick’s services lol. Great build
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


HAHA.. I wish NY wasn't so far away


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## TerryGreen5986 (Jun 23, 2017)

Firefighter9 said:


> HAHA.. I wish NY wasn't so far away




It’s just a shame that we have to drive so far for decent work! Lol 


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Lol I feel the same way, and I’m less the two hours and it’s still a distance.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

raadkins16 said:


> I’m the fortunate guy that gets to enjoy this build every day. The attention to detail is evident when you get to see the car in person and pics don’t do it justice. Nick was great at communicating before, during and after the build and his work ethic is incredible. After those long days of little to no sleep, I arrived in NY and Nick took his time to finish all the little last minute details and then tune the car properly and not just half ass the process as the project neared the end. It’s clear this is the just the first successful build of many to come in the new shop. Thanks again for doing such a great job with the Lexus, Nick!


Hey! Didn't even know you were on here haha. Thanks again! Your car was fun and was a pleasure to work on.

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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

TerryGreen5986 said:


> And here I thought I was gonna be the only person driving from Richmond VA for Nick’s services lol. Great build
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Ha! Funny thing is I have a customer (possibly two) that have about 2400 miles on you guys 

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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Damn nick the install is fantastic! That sub box looks great !


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Coppertone said:


> Lol I feel the same way, and I’m less the two hours and it’s still a distance.


I drove 700 miles just to see the shop. Quit yer bitchin'. LOL (j/k, guys)

Jay


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## leogcalegari (Jun 13, 2017)

great job. Keep up the good work!


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## bonesb (Sep 19, 2017)

Great work. I wish I had such good installers in Dubai


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

leogcalegari said:


> great job. Keep up the good work!





bonesb said:


> Great work. I wish I had such good installers in Dubai


thanks guys!


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## SinisterDodge (Feb 21, 2019)

Can I ask if price was why you went with GS690’s instead of GB60’s?


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

SinisterDodge said:


> Can I ask if price was why you went with GS690’s instead of GB60’s?




OVAL air waves man ....come on  j.k. 


Nice build nick. Looks like a lot of fun


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

SinisterDodge said:


> Can I ask if price was why you went with GS690’s instead of GB60’s?


Budget. Customer was having a baby soon after this build and didnt want to go totally bonkers like we originally planned. 

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## pw91686 (Apr 1, 2015)

how much volume does the AP ram 2q need? how low were you able to cross it?
thanks.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

pw91686 said:


> how much volume does the AP ram 2q need? how low were you able to cross it?
> 
> thanks.


Honestly, this build was done so long ago that I dont remember :/ I know I managed to give them enough airspace though

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