# 1991 Geo Prizm Install Thread



## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Well I thought I might as well show my progress. I forgot to take pics of the deadening of the car, but you all have seen enough of that I am sure. Also you have seen a simple Wood box, so I skipped that too. Here is my amp rack, and probably the layout I will use. This mounts facing the back seat in the trunk of course. So the only time these will be seen is when the back seat is out, which is easy for me to move if I need to work with the amps, and of course not easy to get to or be seen by would be theives. 


















I might mount these now, and get it back in the car. I am not sure if I want to spend the time or money to cover this, when I will be the only one who ever see's it. I have the baffles and backs made for the fiberglass pods. I will take pics of them right before I put the fleece on, in another thread.


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## minitruck_freq (Mar 27, 2005)

Arc......mmmmmmmm


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## evan (Dec 2, 2006)

Looks really good. I'm jealous of the amps. Feel free to add more pics of the details. The more, the merrier.


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## 03blueSI (Feb 5, 2006)

Nice amps. If I could have found some new XXKs I would have used them myself. I just picked up a 4100SE and will be getting a 4200SE when I same up some more cash. I will post pics when I get a chance as well as what I think of them when I get them installed.


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Cool, I used these XXK's in my last setup, so I know what they sound like. Just decided to change everything in the car except these amps and my CD player, so thought lets change the whole install too!


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## Wild Child (Feb 16, 2006)

dang, your amps are worth more than your car


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## ArcL100 (Jun 17, 2005)

Wild Child said:


> dang, your amps are worth more than your car


bwhaha

-aaron


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Wild Child said:


> dang, your amps are worth more than your car


LOL Yeah. I only paid $500 for the car. It was my gradfathers car, and only had 48,000 miles on it. That was 3 years ago. It now has 114,000 miles, but its a nice cheap car. I will be starting a new job soon, so I may look into a newer car in a year or so. Being an appraiser before, I just put too many miles on my cars to buy nice cars. It was a huge waste of money. With this new job, all I will be doing is driving from home to work and back, so I could buy a nice car and it would last longer then a few years lol. I have more then $500 wrapped up in wire and sound deadening alone lol.


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## rekd0514 (Sep 24, 2006)

Dang very nice equipment! I wouldn't go through all that deadening work if you are going to be switching cars soon. That would be such a waste as you can't move it once it's put down. haha Just wait for the next car....


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

rekd0514 said:


> Dang very nice equipment! I wouldn't go through all that deadening work if you are going to be switching cars soon. That would be suck a waste as you can't move it once it's put down. haha Just wait for the next car....


Most of the Deadener has been in the car for 3 years. And who knows, maybe I will drive her till she dies lol!


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## rekd0514 (Sep 24, 2006)

Ahhh I understand then. You can go until she dies and even rebuild her if you want. haha Put a monster engine in her so she is the ultimate sleeper!


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Well the amps are in and running. Sorry I already put the seat back in as it raining and wanted to see how much the water in the wheel well noise would go away when the seat was in. Needless to say all the trunk deadening helped a ton!

But here is my SI sub. OMG does it hit hard! For a single 15" its the best I have ever heard, and I have not even started tweaking yet.










Today I have been working on the door enclosures for the 8" Peerless Exclusives. I finished the drivers side seen here. Its been test fitted and works great. I did not have to cut any metal out on this side. But the passengers side looks a little different so not sure if I will have the same luck there.



















I hope to get the passengers side done today, and maybe start glassing tomorrow. My Rage Gold came in today, so the fiberglassing is a GO! 

As for the install, its ok in my opinion. I and going to see how the fiberglassing goes on the doors, and if it goes well I will probably glass a new amp rack and sub enclosure in the spring.


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## jearhart (Jul 28, 2006)

looks good, i cant wait until it warms up and i can start in on my car again


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## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

Nice looking pods so far, can't wait to see how they come out.


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## coffee_junkee (Jul 13, 2006)

Damn nice baffles. Damn nice!

Need some pics of that finished amp rack!


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## kappa546 (Apr 11, 2005)

where did you get the magnum from? i had that same sub, first batch of the original 15's. i LOVED that sub, one of those things i definitely regret selling. 3cf sealed and WELL braced box... ****ing awesome.


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

kappa546 said:


> where did you get the magnum from? i had that same sub, first batch of the original 15's. i LOVED that sub, one of those things i definitely regret selling. 3cf sealed and WELL braced box... ****ing awesome.


I bought it used from the forums. It is a little over 3cf sealed to allow for the sub and braces. I used 2X4 primed wood to brace right at the edges of the sub inside.


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## B&K (Sep 20, 2005)

Nice pods, that is going to look and sound great!


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Thanks all. I got done with the passengers side and have a question. There is a say 4X4" hole thats around the top left quarter of the speaker. The there is enough metal behind the magnet that it actually was pulling on the woofer as I tried to take it back out after the test fit. I am wondering, does the metal behind the magnet need to be removed, or is the 4X4" hole slightly above and left of the magent ok?


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Ok to keep this updated, I did my very first fiberglassing today. I have been weary about doing this, but for what I did today it was worth getting my feet wet.

On my baffles I am trying a method I have not seen before. I could fit a 8" driver in the door, but it was really a tight fit. So when I cut the baffles, I only made them about 1/8th of an inch larger the the speaker frame. Then to give it a edge to later put on a grill, I used some Iron on Birch Veneer. This gave me a nice clean edge as you could see, but I was affraid it was not strong enough to hold up when I have to tightly put on the fleece.

So today I took some fiberglass I have and cut it into strips and put a layer around the outside of the rings. I used a propane heater to heat the garage, and within 2 hours it was hard as a rock! Some of the thicker area is still a little sticky, so I am going to wait till morning to use a dremel to trim off the excess, and then its time to wrap these babies. 

Of course tape off the baffle to lessen the amount of resin you get on the baffle face.









Then here is the usefull but ugly results lol..


















I sure hope this works out. If it does, its a easy way to make custom fiberglass pods! My hope is tomorrow afternoon I will have the pods completely glassed Or at least the fleece layer.


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## legend94 (Mar 15, 2006)

great work and pics
i love the way the sub looks in the trunk...
is it crazy loud?


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Yes it is loud. I have the gains set at 0 and the non fader at 0 and it still pounds way before max volume. I want to hurry up and get these pods finished up so I can test tweeter location. I would start on that project too, except I am still not sure where they will go. I think once the glassing is done, I should be able to wire and do a sound test, before doing the Rage Gold layers and vinyl.


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Well made some decent progress today. As we left off, I had put some fiberglass around the edge of my baffle to give some extra strength to the veneer. So today I trimmed off the excess. 










And then it was time to wrap the things with Fleece. I used M3 90 strength glue to attach the fleece. 


























Then it was time to glass. I covered the whole thing fairly well from the outside, then when done, I poured mixed resin into the back of it and moved it around till all the area I could see was soaked inside. When you do this the outside looks saturated, so you can tell what has and has not been hit inside. Overall it went well. One of my cloves stuck to a corner and pulled it apart. Not cool but by that time the structure was well maintanied, so it will just take some extra cutting and sanding when its hard to clean up the mistake. Just so you know, the resin will loosen the M3 Glue bond. :-( I did not know that which is why the corner came apart. Wish some tutorials had mentioned that, but since not, now I have lol.


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## rekd0514 (Sep 24, 2006)

Nice progress! Should look great once you get them done. I should get around to messing with fiberglassing someday. haha


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Ok I am done sanding the Fleece layer. I am about to go out and get the bondo spreading tools I need for the Rage Gold layer. Here is the test fit. The drivers side might be able to move forward a little when its done, and the passengers needs to move back. Were onlt talking a cm or so, so I can easly drill the screw holes larger in the direction I need to more the pods. I using lock washers so this will not be a problem. I am pretty happy with my first Fiberglass attempt.

Drivers Side 

















Passengers Side


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## jisturm (Feb 4, 2006)

I love this thread. I almost bought a Geo Metro as a commuter once and had grand ideas of a nice set-up.

Keep up the good work.


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Ok the Rage gold was applied and has been sanded. Fairly easy to do, just tons of sanding! Also when it says mix on a non fiber board, do not try using Aluminum foil! I tried that the first time and the stuff dried in like 3 minutes, and got hot as sin!! I mixed the next batch on plastic, and it worked great.


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## Nass027 (Oct 25, 2006)

Boy you are one busy mo-fo beaver!!


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Ok after a morning of pondering where to put my HDS tweeters, I finnally got a tweeter pod formed. At first I was affraid to put a 4" speaker on a 3" A Pillar. So I drove around this morning with the tweeters in the kick pannel area. And in my car they just sounded average. I actually thought my CDT speakers sounded better. So at one of my stops, I changed and put the tweeters in the A pillar area, and was amazed! The sound difference was night and day. I had them turned in slightly so that they were aimed right across my face, and hitting the widow next to my head. I later had the A pillars out and the tweeters were facing each other, magnetize stuck to the pillars. This was a loss in SQ. The HDS tweeters need to be as close to On Axis as possible to really shine At any rate, here is what I ended up with. 

The drivers side...

















The Passengers side...

















Remember to tape off your Baffles...









Then I used Cardboard from a cereal box, to form the area above the window defroster, to make sure I did not interupt the air flow.









Then wrapped them in a T shirt...









And this is what they look like dead on...


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Ok well I got the pods glassed. I let them form and get semi hard (enogh to keep shape. Then I cut fiberglass and stuffed as much as I could inside. Then poured resin inside and let it swoosh around. Its messy, but a good quick way to add a lot of stregth in one step. All I will have to do is sand tomorrow, and add the Rage Gold, and these babies will start to take shape.


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## azngotskills (Feb 24, 2006)

damn man you work fast  Looking forward to future pics


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## Wild Child (Feb 16, 2006)

good install post


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Ok did the rough sanding, opened the baffles and gave them a test fit. I still have to put the Rage Gold on, so they will soon look even better. But I would like everyone to see each step to get a true understanding if they attempt to do a project like this themselves. Here is the look...

Drivers side...









I had to keep the lower area raised to not block the defroster...









From outside.. Of course these will be painted dark grey, so will not be as noticable when done...









Passengers side...


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## azngotskills (Feb 24, 2006)

They are really starting to take shape. Thanks for posting up some detailed progress pics of your work. I think you have inspired me to get more creative with my next install.


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## stormtrooper (Dec 10, 2005)

Looking good,........... soon it will be sounding better...


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## ArcL100 (Jun 17, 2005)

Tweet install is a lot like what I went through - trying to work around the defrosters and having on axis and ****, I feel your pain, lol. You work FAST, damn. Props! It will sound soooo good when alls said and done.

-aaron


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

Nice work. Good to see the progress you're making at each stage. I like the ideaa you had using the birch veneer. I used a product from NAME in the past called weatherproof panelboard that was basically water resistant cardboard. I've been thinking of something to replace that since the edge is a little thick and if the radius is too tight and you aren't careful, little crease marks pop up ruining the radius. So forget using it on tweeter pods. It only came in 4x4 sheets so it had to be cut on a tablesaw. And I don't know about you, but I don't like my fingers THAT close to the blade.


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## rekd0514 (Sep 24, 2006)

azngotskills said:


> They are really starting to take shape. Thanks for posting up some detailed progress pics of your work. I think you have inspired me to get more creative with my next install.


We can share ideas, as mine will be going in the pillars too.


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Well do not be fooled lol.... I thought since this was a much smaller project then the 8" pods, it would go a lot faster. But in fact it was the opposite. I started this at 9:30am, and did not finish sanding untill 4:55pm. Of course I took 30 minutes for lunch lol. Anyway, they are now sanded and ready for paint. I just need to find the right paint. I hope I can find it locally as trying to match my interior over the net is tuff. Anyway, here are the pics, and the final pics of my sound stage.... Well pre-finishes lol.

Drivers door....

















Passengers door...









Outside looking in... Oh and see the dust!! And the car was about 12 feet away from where I was sanding lol.

















And pics of my front stage setup...

















The vinyl I ordered will be here early next week, and if I can not find the paint, to paint my A pillars locally, I will have to wait for that to get delivered as well. But at least in the mean time, I can start tweaking.... Which means I will be able to take a pic of my amps rack for you all! lol


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## Nass027 (Oct 25, 2006)

GREAT JOB TIM


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## fit_tuner (Aug 14, 2006)

looking nice, really nice actually, good job!


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Hmm thought I posted this already, but I do not see it....

Anyway, I started the tweaking today. I set my gains, and the TA. So I took the back seat out to do this, so here is my amp rack. Its not the best, in fact after doing the fiberglass work with the speakers, I know I could make a cool FG trunk. But for now this will do. I may wait to do the cool glassed trunk for the next car I buy.


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## Amish (Oct 2, 2006)

Looks awesome! If you want texture on the a-pillars, try Duplicolor bedliner paint. I just made some bolt-on door pods for my WRX (will post pics in a bit) and used SEM texture light texture paint (will show close ups, so you can get an idea of what it looks like). Basically the stuff used on the bottom of doors/bumpers/etc for protection. The light stuff gave just that - light texture. You can spray more on for more texture, but the Dupicolor stuff is cheaper and has more texture, would be a good base for color on the pillars. Just a FYI.

"amish"


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Can I use Duplicolor paint? Or is SEM a special kind of paint?


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## Amish (Oct 2, 2006)

SEM is a brand and more of a "professional" paint. You can find it at some auto parts store but I went to an automotive paint store to get mine. The Duplicolor can be found anywhere, Walmart, NAPA, etc.

SEM makes TONS of colors, take a look online (I know it's tough to match, but you might get an idea) and see what strikes your fancy. Off to work on my pods!


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Amish said:


> SEM is a brand and more of a "professional" paint. You can find it at some auto parts store but I went to an automotive paint store to get mine. The Duplicolor can be found anywhere, Walmart, NAPA, etc.
> 
> SEM makes TONS of colors, take a look online (I know it's tough to match, but you might get an idea) and see what strikes your fancy. Off to work on my pods!


Yeah I have a SEM color chart on the way to my house. Then I can make a better evaluation. Its not too big of a problem. My car might sit in a busy parking lot for 20 minutes while I shop but other then that, its rarely left out in the open for long periods of time. Like at night it sits nested in my garage.


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## rekd0514 (Sep 24, 2006)

Good you must protect those ARC amps with you life. They are a thing of beauty all hanging together like that. haha


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

rekd0514 said:


> Good you must protect those ARC amps with you life. They are a thing of beauty all hanging together like that. haha



Yeah but even if somone broke into my car it would take a while to first locate the amps, then second get them out of my car. Even for myself who knows exactly how to get to, and here they are, it would take me 20-30 minutes to get them out. My back seat is not like the new cars with a simple button that lets it fold down. My back seat actually is bolted in, and is not intended to fold down or be taken out.


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## rekd0514 (Sep 24, 2006)

Well that must work very nicely then. Though inconvenient for you, makes it hard for thieves. Which is always good!


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## Jman (Nov 8, 2008)

Nice. i have a 93 Corolla that is the sister car to the Prizm. Watchin this thread to get ideas for my car.


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## rollininstyle2004 (Nov 30, 2009)

Jman said:


> Nice. i have a 93 Corolla that is the sister car to the Prizm. Watchin this thread to get ideas for my car.


Its from 3 years ago, so im not sure how much updates there will be.


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## j_blackman (Jun 14, 2009)

ROFLcopter. :laugh:


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