# Twin Turbo 350Z Show car Install :) - Illusion Audio, Mosconi



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Its hard to believe but once up on a time, 350zs and G35s made up about 80 percent of my customers base  After while of what seems to be the same install over and over again with slight variations, i decided to stop marketing myself and gradually, less and less Zs and Gs came in and i moved onto other models.

But it was nice to get back into a car that i can almost take apart blindfolded after about a year and a half hiatus...(ironically my next project is another 350z lol)

This one is also somewhat unique and a shift from my usual focus, it is a pretty dedicated show car belonging to a long time friend. A 2005 350z that has seen several iterations over the years...but had been twin turbo charged since about 5 years ago. This time when i saw it, it sported a air ride system, a brand new color changing paint scheme and other goodies.

The goals for this build therefor is quite different than my norm:

1. To create a system for extra points during show judging, as the car had a lot done but no audio system

2. to retain all the components of the air ride system in their current positions into the design as they are already set by the hose routing etc.

3. still keep it clean simple and classy as i dont like to do wild painted volcano sub enclosures  also cant go too crazy as it is on a relatively modest budget

so SQ is not the goal here, though due to the speakers i used, i have to say this car sounds pretty decent 

So lets take a look at the car...these are actually NOT the wheels the car currently runs on, but umm...cheaper ones he drove down to me on (if you can call AMEs cheap by any stretch of the imagination lol)

here is the car dropped fully...talk about ON THE GROUND 

the colors change really shows under the sun...oh well...























































The signal starts with a pioneer Avic-F900 navigation headunit that has been in the car since the age of the dinosaurs lol, lovely screen background to see everytime i started the car though:










for his front stage, the goal was to have the speaker visible yet not hinder driving, so i molded a set of door pods to show case the speaker. they are wrapped in one piece black street suede/alcantara, which is a bit of a pain if you worked with it 




























if you look around the speakers, you will see a trim done in CF vinyl, a theme that carries over to the trunk. the black suede is identical to the material on his headliner and other parts of his interior soon to be upholstered.










and the passenger side:





































and a quick shot of the interior:










in case you are wondering, the speakers are the Illusion Audio Luccent L6CX point source set...its a high end set with a full bi-amp capable passive xover. I chose this set for its sound and to show case it all in one location without a separate tweeter:



















a few quick build pics of the pods:

first molds were taken off the locations:










once cured, they were pulled off and trimmed to the desired shape:










the ring baffles were aimed and attached:










mold cloth pulled and resin applied...once it cured, excess cloth was trimmed:










next the pods were reinforced from the inside heavily with a mixture of duraglass and resin to make them very solid and the exterior rough sanded:










next, filler was applied and the two pods sanded smooth:










the inside received a layer of STP gold damper to reduce resonance:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

next, the pods were wrapped in black street suede, and the trim rings were done in black CF vinyl:










the two were then mated with staples to form the final pod:



















and then they were secured to the door:




























next are four quick wiring shots of the bundles, just to show that even though this is not a focused sq install, the bundles are still neatly ziptied every few inches as they run throughout the car 





































so moving onto the trunk...as it turns out, this was one of the tougher 350z builds i have had to do...the air tank and pumps were okay, as they took up the front portion of the hatch...but the main control box and the plethora of air lines was in the spare tire well itself, taking up valueable room. with the limited budget, i also could do anything too crazy, so here is what i came up with 

a new fake floor was built in the back and wrapped in black alcantara, in the center is an Illusion Audio Luccent L10 10" subwoofer, flanked by a pair of Mosconi Gladen M-line amps, a 4 channel powers the front stage bi-amped with 75 watts x 4, and a M600 mono amp runs the sub. I chose these amps becuase their unique brushed aluminum/titanium tile look works well to contrast against the black suede and cf vinyl. 

there is a blank CF vinyl trimmed panel at the front for him to add sponsor logos, emblems, pics of naked chicks...whatever he fancies 

the air tank and pump are are their old locations but on a new board trimmed the same way, and i cleaned up his hoses and wiring a lil:














































a closer look at his tanks and pumps:




























and a shot from the above:










for some additional visual pop, flip a switch and edge lit plexiglass borders around the sub and amps glow white 

Unfortunately, even though i ordered the same color LED strips, one of them somehow was more blue tinted than the others. this will be addressed very shortly with a replacement strip, but hopefully you can get the idea now:



















here is what they look like in a darkened garage, again i apologize for the blue tint on one of the strips 




























Even though its simple, here is what it looked like when i got the car, with the center floor removed...so i had to quite a bit of um...wiring organization to get it to all fit, but the control box presented the biggest obstacle, and cannot be moved due to where the hoses go under the car. the rear battery i removed becuase with his new alternator pulley and upgraded front battery, it was no longer needed:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

now comes some build pics, which will be relatively simple.

first this is the rather flat subbox as i wanted to keep the floor oem height. its .55 cub feet sealed. the top part trimmed in black CF vinyl:










these are the three amp flush mount trim panels before and after CF vinyl:



















these are the four top fake floor panels pieced togehter:



















here is the front panel that houses the tank and the pumps...i cut a hole on the driver side that lines up wtih an access hole in the floor, so all the wires and hoses pass through it, into the section behind the seats, and then through another hole into the hatch floor, connecting to the control box. hard to see and i forgot to take pics of it, this section is secured to the car via two bolts and two rivet nuts into the metal floor...i guess you will just have to take my word for it lol



















here are the three back floor sections trimmed in black alcantara:










the clouded plexi rings were attached:










and the led strips secured in place, i forgot to take a pic of the black tape that went around the edges to prevent any light leakage:










and since i had very little clearance above the air ride control box, the blank trim panel upfront is a piece of 22 gauge steel sheet with CF vinyl attached:










the center panel is press fit, so he can access the fittings and air lines on the control box without removing the amps and other electronic components:










and finally, a few shots of the wiring:




























so thats it...quite different to do a car that doesnt require hours of tuning  but tonality wise, i have to say the L6cx illusions sound quite good, once again, like all the other illusions i have done thus far, very natural, smooth out of the box...no real issues to speak off...good strong midbass extension, though i have these highpassed at 100hz to protect them during blasting...

so time to rest my back, which had turned slowly to dust while working on a car that is dropped this low. lol

cheers,

Bing


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Good job Bing! I gotta hear some more of the Illusion line up soon haha!


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## ib2ez2 (Apr 7, 2012)

Fantastic job as always Bing!


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Beautiful job Bing like always!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

thanks guys...its a departure in sonic criteria for sure...but at the same time nice to change it up once in a while


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## Jeff Smith ATL (Sep 11, 2012)

Looks good man!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Nice install...very clean. Are those door panels stock (except for the pods you made)? If they are, then Nissan dropped the ball on those...they are soooo plain. Needs an indent or something above the arm rest to break it up.

Oh, did you end up selling the Subie?

Jay


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

yeah those are them stock nissan 350z door panels  

yeah, subbie was sold a coupla months back


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

How many times did you cut your shins on those exhaust tips?

You should try taking the owner into getting a new rear lip...


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## shawnk (Jan 11, 2010)

Nice as always!!


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## papasin (Jan 24, 2011)

Saw this car in person. The changing colors of the car given different angles or lighting is a bit OT for me. The install however goes very well with the goals and theme of the car. The craftsmanship (as always) is top notch.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

thehatedguy said:


> How many times did you cut your shins on those exhaust tips?
> 
> You should try taking the owner into getting a new rear lip...



none lol, but standing back a foot and leaning over to do wiring is the new waterboarding


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Looks great Bing.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Super clean, that trunk is nothing short of artwork.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

xwhatever on it looking good.


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## Kellyo77 (Dec 5, 2009)

Not a big fan of the car, but your install work is perfect as always Bing. Well done.


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

Install = LIKEY!....Body Kit = NO LIKEY!


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## GSlider (Jun 11, 2009)

System turned out nice, as usual Bing. But, God that car is ugly! Why would anyone do that and be proud of it? People haven't figured out how retarded, gay, ugly, useless, etc the whole "Stanced, HellaFlush (HellaGay), Poked, Stretch, Slammed" look is.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

BING, the work is kickass as per the norm!

I do understand to each his own, but is this owner stuck in the mid 90's? or
blind? Such a cool car to be that jacked up, wheels and bags and call it a
day.

LOLing @ Waterboarding, my Coke came out my nose a bit on that one.....


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## trojan fan (Nov 4, 2007)

What's up with the rear bumper cover....ouch!

PS....nice work Bing


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> LOLing @ Waterboarding, my Coke came out my nose a bit on that one.....


seltzer water here.


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## TREOUSAMPS_GP (Dec 24, 2009)

I like the install but the rear bumper and exhaust i dislike, if he likes it good for him but i wouldnt do that if it was mine


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

chad said:


> seltzer water here.


ROFLOL...

Zeltzer Seltzer was the bomb, could be b4 your time


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

Dude, I drink Seltzer water..... I'm a year younger than you


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

guys, try to be nice  i am sure the customer isnt thrilled reading all the hate on the car hehe..

to be honest, is it pretty wild? sure, but for me, the car itself is consistent. the color, the wheels, the exhaust, the twin turbo etc, its on the same level to me...and IMO, the rear bumper, though crazy, looks better IMO than the OEM nismo bumper: 










See to me,i dont like the nismo becuase i feel its inconsistent in its presentation.


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## jpswanberg (Jan 14, 2009)

Great install as always Bing. The looks of the car? As long as the owner is happy, who cares. To each his own. How do the Lucents sound compared to the Carbon drivers? Tweeter harshness and midbass impact specifically. I am rally considering a set of coaxes for my nexr car.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

this would not be a good car to judge sound on the speakers...but i can tell you with no band moved just flat eq and bi-amped throught he passive, its once again very natural, no real issues, nothing stood out at my and said here is a problem 

i would say both the luccent and the carbon are very natural, but i find in my so far limited experience, the carbon to have stronger midbass impact, and more surprisingly, i find that the copper C6 tweeter is perhaps both smoother and more detailed than the softdome tweeter on the L6 set...just very airy and lifelike sounding, out of the box.

b


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## takeabao (Jul 18, 2005)

simplicityinsound said:


> guys, try to be nice  i am sure the customer isnt thrilled reading all the hate on the car hehe..


Pretty sure the owner has enough money that he doesn't give a **** what people think about his car on the Internet... LOL


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

simplicityinsound said:


> guys, try to be nice  i am sure the customer isnt thrilled reading all the hate on the car hehe...


I'm sure too Bing. 

But you know, its diversity is what makes the world go round. If
we all liked the same things we would live in one boring place. I'm
sure we don't all like the same installs on this site, but we can all
agree on one thing. We are addicted to great sounding audio 
whatever your definition of that is.


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## ohiodish (Jul 6, 2010)

Your work is awesome. I love your attention to detail and how clean the finished product always looks. Heck even the pics of your work under the finished product is amazing. I will not say anything about the outside of the car. Not my taste, but someone likes it and thats all that really matters. I would love for you to do an install in my GTR. Too bad your out west. Wish you were closer. You should move back to Pittsburgh


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## hrearden22 (Sep 20, 2008)

Beautiful work. Thanks for posting the pics, its cool to see some of the steps and planning you went through to pull off quite a feat. Well done.


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## Woosey (Feb 2, 2011)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> BING, the work is kickass as per the norm!
> 
> I do understand to each his own, but is this owner stuck in the mid 90's? or
> blind? Such a cool car to be that jacked up, wheels and bags and call it a
> ...


Drug are bad mmmkay?? 

Nice job, one little remark : Audio system by Gladen is not Mosconi..


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Woosey said:


> Drug are bad mmmkay??
> 
> Nice job, one little remark : Audio system by Gladen is not Mosconi..


hey, its under mosconi-america.com so i will call it mosconi  

but yes, its quite a notch below the AS, the Zero, and the One lines.


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## Woosey (Feb 2, 2011)

simplicityinsound said:


> hey, its under mosconi-america.com so i will call it mosconi
> 
> but yes, its quite a notch below the AS, the Zero, and the One lines.




The NEW M-Line amplifiers 

Features M-Line series amplifiers

High/low pass filter
Remote control optional (60.2/100.2/600.1)
Made in Korea
Changeable chip system to individualise the amplifier

If it's not made by mosconi you shouldn't call it that... But that's my view of it..

Not to be an *******, just so the people get correct information..


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## Mike1082 (Apr 8, 2011)

Wow... beautiful work as usual!

As a 350Z owner, the rear lip and the steering wheel made me a little sad... but to each his own!

Bing, I am in the process of a basic build in my own Z, and I have a question for you.
When designing one of your famous false floors for the Z, do you prefer to have the sub as far back as possible, or closer to the rear strut brace? I have seen you install them both ways, and I am wondering what differences you have noticed, if any.

Thanks!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Mike1082 said:


> Wow... beautiful work as usual!
> 
> As a 350Z owner, the rear lip and the steering wheel made me a little sad... but to each his own!
> 
> ...


with it loading primarily off the hatch, i have not noticed any difference in bass in the 40 or so Zs.


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## SaturnSL1 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great work as always bro, but that may be the ugliest 350Z in existence. The wheels and color are gorgeous but good god that body kit and exhaust are horrendous...


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## Wesayso (Jul 20, 2010)

Very nice install, I expected a big glam install after seeing pictures of the car. Glad to see you stuck with tastefull and classy. By the way, what happened to that car... Good thing there isn't a real fashion police.



















I know which one I'd choose...


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## SilkySlim (Oct 24, 2012)

Very nice again.


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## mosconiac (Nov 12, 2009)

Do you mind revealing your source (& lumens level) for the flexible LED strips? I only ask because their are so many choices & you've likely found one that is consistent & relaible. TIA.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

LEDs - flexible LED strips, LED modules, 12v LEDs i have been using them for 6 years, there maybe cheaper sources, and what not, but i am a loyal person, over the years they havent had any major issues, always took care any problematic pieces immediately, so i never found a reason to switch to another brand 

b


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