# FJ Cruiser Custom Enclosure / 10" With passive radiator



## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

Well my wife finally pestered me enough, I started putting her stereo in. 

But all she gets is my old gear... 

Alpine IVA W200
Image Dynamics 6.5 components
Boston acoustic G5 !0" with GTR Passive Radiator
JL 450/4
JL 500/1

Day 1 THE BOX 




























After 4 layers of heavy mat











Cut some rings





































Use a old fleece robe of my daughters for the wrap, worked great












More Tomorrow......


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## JediMentality (May 7, 2008)

Miska's daughter: Dad have you seen my robe? I could of sworn I left on the dryer.

Miska: No dear _[runs and hides in garage]_


 Looks good so far.


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## orangelss (Dec 20, 2008)

Always make the wife happy. She lets us have more toys than!!


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## SSCustoms (Oct 16, 2008)

orangelss said:


> Always make the wife happy. She lets us have more toys than!!


And allows us to spend time with our toys!!!


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## jowens500 (Sep 5, 2008)

I like to use pink with yellow rubber ducky fleece whenever possible. Spiderman is pretty cool too.


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

Very nice so far.

If you happen to remove the front door panels, any possibility you could measure how big the "hole" is in the middle of the door? The hole I speak of has a bolted and removable black metal plate, I need the measurements without the plate , like how high and wide it is and as well how much room there is in depth when the window is down. 

Thanks!


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

AAAAAAA said:


> Very nice so far.
> 
> If you happen to remove the front door panels, any possibility you could measure how big the "hole" is in the middle of the door? The hole I speak of has a bolted and removable black metal plate, I need the measurements without the plate , like how high and wide it is and as well how much room there is in depth when the window is down.
> 
> Thanks!



Not a problem, Wont be untill the weekend of 22nd.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

JediMentality said:


> Miska's daughter: Dad have you seen my robe? I could of sworn I left on the dryer.
> 
> Miska: No dear _[runs and hides in garage]_
> 
> ...



You know the funny thing is, it kinda went just like that


Update...

I threw a milk shake over it last night night but mixed it a little to thin. Its pretty cold here in the Seattle area so its hard to get the ratio right(due to lack of experience). Its still pretty rough. No big deal sense I plan on using bed liner spray for a finish. Tonight I'll cut the rings out so I can start adding layers of glass to the inside for strength. 
Throw some more pictures in a bit


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## SteveH! (Nov 7, 2005)

AAAAAAA said:


> The hole I speak of has a bolted and removable black metal plate,


sounds like a chastity belt


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Ok, it's been 15 minutes, where are more pics?:laugh:

Looks good. I built a box in the same location out of glass and mdf for a friend. I built an amp rack on the other side.

Where are you mounting the JL's?


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

Thanks!

Any idea how much air space you are going to have in it? I was thinking of doing the same things for subs.

Since you tried the milkshake, I guess you put some mat on the outside of the box. I imagine it would be a pain to layer it all inside. 

In any case with that textured coating there is no need to get rid of those pin needle holes.

Did you use rage gold?


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

Cut out the holes and to see how its going to look I sat the components in. 
I'm happy




























The amp rack Is going to get mounted on the opposite side. Like the sub box, its using the cargo hook mounts. Its sitting next to the Box in the picks.

I decided to just have the 450 run the fronts and sub, deck power running the rears. If it needs more, adding the 500/1 later wont be a problem. End result 150 watts to the fronts 300watts to the sub and whatever it is to the rears.

I think its going to be around .75ft3 which is a little large considering the sub with radiator only needs .50ft3. I'll figure it out later and adjust it.

I'm going to do all the reinforcing from the inside, the outside just needs some touch up then sanding and its ready for the bed spray.


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Are you using the factory rear speaker location? 

FYI-5 1/4" fit very nice in the rear door panels. I installed a set of coaxials there.


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## orangelss (Dec 20, 2008)

SSCustoms said:


> And allows us to spend time with our toys!!!


Now I guess I just need a wife! The enclosure looks great. Do the BCs let you tune the passive?


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

orangelss said:


> Now I guess I just need a wife! The enclosure looks great. Do the BCs let you tune the passive?



There are weights that you can change in the passive to manipulate the freq curve.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

crnacnac said:


> Are you using the factory rear speaker location?
> 
> FYI-5 1/4" fit very nice in the rear door panels. I installed a set of coaxials there.


I've never really been into rear sound so I think I am just going to stick with the factory location for the rears but thank for the info

The sub is also going in the factory location. Amp rack on opposite side.


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Some more info:I replaced the factory dome light with a ChevyTahoe dome light. I took it apart, sprayed it with the SEM I had matched for the sub enclosure, and replace the bulbs with led's. My friend loves her new dome light.
Ebay $32.00 item #180328068864


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

crnacnac said:


> Some more info:I replaced the factory dome light with a ChevyTahoe dome light. I took it apart, sprayed it with the SEM I had matched for the sub enclosure, and replace the bulbs with led's. My friend loves her new dome light.
> Ebay $32.00 item #180328068864



looks Way better than stock. Nice job


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

Love the box so far, really nice.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

thanks for the comps


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## zx3frenzy (Feb 5, 2009)

looks good i am about to dive into a similiar set up on this truck tomm at work


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## Coheednme13 (May 10, 2008)

Really nice work bro. I just sealed my enclosure this weekend with a very thick milkshake and a heat gun for speed. It worked really well. So are you gonna vinyl the thing, carpet, or texture it. I think you could vinyl it with the right glue and a heat gun and it would look almost factory.


I noticed in the pics that somebody has a tacoma me too but mine is just a reg cab.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

Coheednme13 said:


> Really nice work bro. I just sealed my enclosure this weekend with a very thick milkshake and a heat gun for speed. It worked really well. So are you gonna vinyl the thing, carpet, or texture it. I think you could vinyl it with the right glue and a heat gun and it would look almost factory.
> 
> 
> I noticed in the pics that somebody has a tacoma me too but mine is just a reg cab.




I'm shooting for the utility look .....heavy texured bed liner spray.

The Tacoma is mine (Stereo system is done)http://http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diyma-build-logs/23317-06-tacoma-access-cab.html


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

Got busy on other projects but took some time yesterday to work on the box. 
Its pretty much done. If I did this again, there are a few things I would do differently but over all it turned out pretty good.


Next..... The Amp Rack


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## Coheednme13 (May 10, 2008)

That turned out really really good. Awesome concept and execution and the passive radiator really helped make that a small enclosure. Have you listened to it yet?


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

SWEET......how does it sound?


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## Maddman (Dec 20, 2008)

Enclosure looks great installed in the vehicle. Have you powered it up for a listen?


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## LiquidClen (Dec 27, 2005)

how is it secured?


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## Coheednme13 (May 10, 2008)

LiquidClen said:


> how is it secured?


Velcro FTW 

I looked at the G5 sub after seeing this build for my Fiance's car and that sub looks beefy


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

Coheednme13 said:


> Velcro FTW
> 
> I looked at the G5 sub after seeing this build for my Fiance's car and that sub looks beefy


it's a good well built subwoofer....but it it lacks a little bit in the sound detail dept. but it's not a p.o.s in any way....great all arounder but it's heavy!


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

_"SWEET......how does it sound? "_

_"Have you powered it up for a listen?" _


I don't have any other gear in the vehicle so I hooked it up to the amp in my truck just to see if it has any noise anomalies. Sounded tight and it put out bass. Its hard to tell how the enclosure sounds though it was sitting outside the vehicle on the workbench. I'm sure once I tune it it should make her happy.

_"it's a good well built subwoofer....but it it lacks a little bit in the sound detail dept. but it's not a p.o.s in any way....great all arounder but it's heavy! "_

Totally Agree

Its all personal preference. This setup was running in my Tacoma and I eventually replaced it with a 10W7(which some people hate for SQ). 
You cant beat the G5 for the amount of space it needs to run- Half of Cube including driver displacement.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

LiquidClen said:


> how is it secured?


Its secured through the fender well and using the stock cargo hook mounts. 

I designed it so I can access the tail light bulbs. So there isn't any need to remove it.


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## SPEEDBUILT (Jan 21, 2008)

So what exactly are the benefits of going with a passive radiator?
I see them often in home tower speakers, but rarely in car audio.


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

SPEEDBUILT said:


> So what exactly are the benefits of going with a passive radiator?
> I see them often in home tower speakers, but rarely in car audio.


you get close to ported box performance w/o port noize and you can do all this in sealed box size


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## lask48180 (Nov 20, 2008)

looks great


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Nice job on the enclosure.

Did you start your amp rack yet?

I made an amp rack on the opposite side using the factory hook mounts to hold 2 PDX amps.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

crnacnac said:


> Nice job on the enclosure.
> 
> Did you start your amp rack yet?
> 
> I made an amp rack on the opposite side using the factory hook mounts to hold 2 PDX amps.


I am in the process right now. Sounds like we are going to have similar racks. Do you have any pictures?


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Miska said:


> I am in the process right now. Sounds like we are going to have similar racks. Do you have any pictures?


All my pics are in my home computer that is down right now. I do have the build log here:

'07 Fj Stereo Uprade (round 2) - GlamisDunes.com

Sorry but you will have to do a quick register to view the pics.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

*Got some more time......*

_*Finished installing the amp rack.*_




















The sub 











*and one door*










The MD100's fit perfect in the stock tweeter mounts










*Getting excited to hear it . One more door and a Little bit of amp tuning and I'm Done!!!*


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## JediMentality (May 7, 2008)

The hatch area looks great. I really like the amp rack. It looks like one big amp by the pictures provided. Nice job.


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Props for a great job. Well done.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

Well got it all together last night went to test it out and guess what...

I have a bad RCA input on the right channel of the 450/4. If you wiggle the plug one way or another you can make a connection. Tried a different cord, definitely in the amp.... BUMMER.
Guess I'll take it all apart and find the broken connection....will it never end


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

^Bad news but it looks great.


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

Got the connection problem fixed and did some tuning. 

I'm a little spoiled by the system in my truck so its hard for to be totally happy but it sounds pretty good. Most importantly my wife is happy.
Only thing I might do is decrease the air space in the sub enclosure a bit. It calls for .5 ft3 and I'm at around .625. This should tighten it up a bit.

All of the gear and most of the wire I had from previous projects so this build was mostly time. The only real (new)cost was fabbing the Sub enclosure.

End list of items installed (changed from original post )

IVA w200
Ipod adapter 
Pac video bypass
Pac steering wheel control adapter
JL Audio 500/1
JL Audio 450/4
Dynaudio MD100
Dynaudio MW160
Boston GT10 with 10GTR

:beerchug:

I love these projects but boy I'm glad when its over


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## InjunV18 (Jun 16, 2008)

Everything looks great! Love the way you did the amp rack and enclosure. I know you haven't gotten a lot of listening in but we have a lot of similar equipment (or at least your wife and I do... ha, neglect that) and I had some questions as I haven't finished my install yet. 

How do you like the sound of the Dyn combo? I'll be running the same set for now, albeit with the h701 and slightly less power. 

My mounting locations are similar to yours, unfortunately my tweets don't mount quite as easily. I'm not familiar with the FJ interior so are the tweets firing across the windshield or somewhat on-axis?


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

Dude, that's SWEET..... 


One question, maybe I missed it in my post skimming, but why a terminal cup?? wouldn't a simple wire through the back sufficed??

Such a nice looking box and then BAM, terminal cup...


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## Irishfocus06 (Sep 11, 2008)

Looks good! 

Those G5's are some nice subwoofers. I heard the discontinued them or something rather. 

Would love to get my hand on a couple 10's like you have with a couple passive radiators. 

Good job!


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## 03KingRanch21811 (Mar 18, 2008)

Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> Dude, that's SWEET.....
> 
> 
> One question, maybe I missed it in my post skimming, but why a terminal cup?? wouldn't a simple wire through the back sufficed??
> ...


I didn't wanna say it, but I was wondering the same thing. It is such a nice, efficient looking box, but the cup does distract from the craftsmanship IMHO.


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## JediMentality (May 7, 2008)

I don;t think the cup looks too bad. If black screws were used instead I probably wouldn't have given a second glance. And you can't really seem them in the install anyway.


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Looks great....great job!!!


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## 6APPEAL (Apr 5, 2007)

Nice job. Keeps the utility use of the rear, 2 thumbs up.
John


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> Dude, that's SWEET.....
> 
> One question, maybe I missed it in my post skimming, but why a terminal cup?? wouldn't a simple wire through the back sufficed??
> 
> Such a nice looking box and then BAM, terminal cup...


THE TERMINAL CUP...Hmmmm

I agree that it doesn't need to be there. Long story short....I had made the decision not to router out the glass that covered the mounting hole, but I'M AN IDIOT and still routered it out when I did the holes for the drivers. oops!

TERMINAL CUP STAYS 



Niebur3 said:


> Looks great....great job!!!


Thank you



6APPEAL said:


> Nice job. Keeps the utility use of the rear, 2 thumbs up.
> John


Thanks John


I have to give everyone that contributes info and tips to all of these DIY forums deserved credit. There is no way I could have done either of my last two builds to the level that I wanted without this vast knowledge base to draw from.


Thanks to all!!!!!!!!


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## Miska (Jul 25, 2007)

InjunV18 said:


> Everything looks great! Love the way you did the amp rack and enclosure. I know you haven't gotten a lot of listening in but we have a lot of similar equipment (or at least your wife and I do... ha, neglect that) and I had some questions as I haven't finished my install yet.
> 
> How do you like the sound of the Dyn combo? I'll be running the same set for now, albeit with the h701 and slightly less power.
> 
> My mounting locations are similar to yours, unfortunately my tweets don't mount quite as easily. I'm not familiar with the FJ interior so are the tweets firing across the windshield or somewhat on-axis?


 I have been running Dyns in my truck(3way active via h701) for about a year and love them. They sound really nice in this setup too. You should be very happy Only thing I miss is the midbass I get from the MW182's I have in the doors of my truck. 
The stock tweeter location fires the tweets off axis across the dash. It not perfect though I have quite a bit of space between the tweets and mids that causes some separation. Having some time alignment would be nice but nothing my wife would appreciate anyways. 

She's just happy to get rid of the FJammer.


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## InjunV18 (Jun 16, 2008)

Cool, thanks for the input. I think I'll have such improvement from my previous mids that I may be satisfied.... for a little while.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

Miska said:


> THE TERMINAL CUP...Hmmmm
> 
> I agree that it doesn't need to be there. Long story short....I had made the decision not to router out the glass that covered the mounting hole, but I'M AN IDIOT and still routered it out when I did the holes for the drivers. oops!
> 
> *TERMINAL CUP STAYS*


Oh sure, it's already there, it'd be silly to remove it now, I was just interested in the motivation for putting it there in the first place... 

It's kinda like a pimple on the face of a model... That's all, and in the truck, you would hardle see it because of placement, I was just courious.. 

I mean the box itself is sexy as hell, don't get me wrong here...


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