# 2011 WRX SQ + build (lots of shinny brands!)



## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Hello all,

This is my first build thread on DIYMA so I hope I have the format right. I will reserve a spot on the first page for current pics to be updated so you don't have to dig too much to see what's going on currently, I have a feeling this is going to take some time.


*CAR:*

2011 Impreza WRX base model

My first new car I've ever bought, it completes me.
























*Goals:*
I want to acheve the highest level of sound quality possible without what I would consider major reconstruction(dash from scratchums), or large holes cut into the body.

I would like to have an auxillary bass circuit for different sub setups other than the sub responsible for sq. I like trying lots of different subs and boxes so I would never be happy without the ability to throw something new in. This means whatever I build for sq has to either be flush/stealth or flashy yet well designed for quick removability.

Stealth mode-steathy enough to fool anybody staring in my windows. This means incognito mode for radio, pillars, doors, and in the hatch nothing above the sun shade line. Now don't get me wrong, I love flash. I get all warm and fuzzy inside every time I see a piece of mirror acrylic, but everything must be able to be covered, flash on the inside.



*Install Highlights:*

Stealth or Show
Well intergrated SQ system
Custom A-pillars
Custom doors
Custom dash bezel
Custom guages/console
Spare tire well amp rack
Sub-box????



*Equipment:*

(at the time of starting the thread)
Headunit-Pioneer DEX-P9
Processor-Pioneer DEQ-P9
Amps-Audison LRX 2.150, Audison LRX 2.250, Audison LRX 1.400
Speakers front-Pioneer Stage 4 TS-C172PRS(active)
Speakers rear-none
Sub-A/D/S PX310
Wires-Stinger expert power, Monster cable power and signal.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

-future current state post-


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

under construction...


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

well that's good to know...lol


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Now that's out of the way, let's get to the build! I picked up the car early spring last year. First upgrade was straight to the tint shop for Llumar ceramic tint 30% all around.
Next I placed an order to Second Skin for some Damplifier Pro and Luxury Liner Pro.

I wanted to better understand what all the damping and deadening was going to really do for me throughout the spectrum so using TrueRTA and Audio Tools I blasted the car from about a meter away with pink noise one octave at a time. One reading from just outside the car and the next from the listening position. These will be my before readings for later graphs. Already though it seems the car is insulated well in some ranges. I then redid the test with the engine on.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Couple of days later and a nice shipment from Second Skin was waiting for me at home. Even though I bought a shop pack, this will be the first of three rounds of damping/deadening to come. Really I want to concentrate on the floor at this point since it's a part of the car I only want to tear up once if possible maybe twice...

I began the tear down and gave a light layer in the doors and a couple of pieces on the door cards. The doors will come after the pillars so just light work in the doors for now.
































In the car I started in the trunk area and worked my way slowly forward. I pulled seat belt holders and everything I could to get material as far in the rear wells as I could. I also damped the rear panels as well.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Next I ripped out the rest of the interior for damping, and began the techflex campaign. A single run of 1/0ga for power and 12ga for all speaker wire. Because of the P9 combo there are no runs of RCAs from the front to the back of the car, instead fiber optic and IP-bus cables are ran in wire loom.(tips were too big for techflex)


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Definitely not ruining any grommets in the car either so the decision to cut a hole in my car had to be made. Didn't want to do it but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Once the hole was drilled, I went with a primer paint pen and painted all the bare metal surfaces and installed a waterproof grommet.















The damping continues...also wire running, zipped every 6 or so inches where applicable. Right side first and coiled wires for door run later.





















I installed the blue factory foot well lights and decided they weren't bright enough so I upgraded them including the one in the console.


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## wrximage (Oct 21, 2011)

Looks on point Rick, glad to see a thorough build thread.

(it's Kolten btw, long time no see! hit me up sometime, alot has gone down since the last time we talked lol)


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## SouthSyde (Dec 25, 2006)

Yea man, looks great! More pics please!


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

awesome!

take your time and do it right the first go around! thats what i like to see!

keep taking pictures and keep doing top notch work sir!!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Thanks y'all, appreciate the compliments.

To clarify, this is all been done in the past so far. Currently I'm a little over a year into the build and have a bit more done and have a few hundred pics so even getting to today is going to take a minute.

As far as the thread goes we are about three weeks into the build.

Kolten!! What it do? I was just in a conversation about you with Sabastian From BB and Prince like two hours ago, crazy!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Here I began the pillar build. I wanted the tweeters to be against the metal of the a-pillars for width, and I wanted to countersink the whole operation inside the factory pillar without wrapping the pillar for that ultra factory look. For steath purposes, grills were to be made and attached with my favorite stealth fastener, magnets.

The stage 4's seemed to be a small enough tweeter to pull this off so I went for it. Now what I had in mind seemed rather elaborate and they turned out that way for sure. In total I spent 60+ hours on the pillar build over several weeks. I not a slow builder and I'm an installer by trade so that's a very long time for some damn a-pillars...but I couldn't be much happier with how they came out.

First I had to chose a pattern I liked. The trapazoid shape I ended up with seemed to allow a direct path to either passenger from either pillar and I thought it would look stylish without that "over the top" look.

I started taping the pillars on the outside to make a shell. One key step on the build was to mark the spot they will go with an ink pen very accurately. I made two identicle templets from thin white construction paper.























Meanwhile, the damping/deadening continues across the car towards the front doors.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

Great start and great car......

Congrats on your 1st new car, in all of my 41 years I've never purchased a brand
new car. I hope it keeps you as happy 10 years from now as it does today...

Cheers,
Scott


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Every couple of days or so I'd get a chance to pull it into the bay for a couple of hours for progress. The left side was ready for wiring so more techflex and zip ties.


























With both lines inked as symmetrically as possible, I layed three layers of fiberglass mat/cloth/mat in one batch to make a thin outer shell.























Giant zip tie+Wd40=Easy as heck to run wires through boots!!

Thank you Subaru for no molex plugs!


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## IDGAF (Dec 27, 2009)

I am so sub'd to this. I have to see these pillars.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> Great start and great car......
> 
> Congrats on your 1st new car, in all of my 41 years I've never purchased a brand
> new car. I hope it keeps you as happy 10 years from now as it does today...
> ...


Thank you sir!! I hope to drive this car into the ground!! I've recently gone back to a 45 min commute to work so I really get to savor and enjoy my **** every day.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

The install of wires through the body of the vehicle are complete at this time and the floor has been deadened. I threw the mids in the doors on some quicky plywood baffles for now and double side taped the tweeters to the pillars in their mounting cups.

Here are some finished floor/wiring pics.










































Installed the radio in a metra kit(for now!!!)


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

The P9 is such a nice unit. 

It's weird, for as bas as everyone says the OEM system is, the door speakers look pretty impressive.


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## Kellyo77 (Dec 5, 2009)

Love it man. I really like the wagon WRX. 

Great job so far and I'm jealous of your equipment!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

quality_sound said:


> The P9 is such a nice unit.
> 
> It's weird, for as bas as everyone says the OEM system is, the door speakers look pretty impressive.


There were two levels of speakers offered in the WRX from 2008-2010. In 2011 they put the premium speakers in the base model like mine. The old base model speakers are HORRIBLE!!

The premium speakers are made by Kicker I believe.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

At this point I was starting to run low on Damplifier Pro so I put a little on some various panels, but most of what was left was put on the outside door skin of the front doors and just a little on the inside since the doors would be visited again anyways.












































With a simple board of wood with a couple of amps mounted to it temporarily, all I needed was the processor for sound. Since no adjustments need to be made on the actual unit I wanted to stuff it somewhere out of the way. At first I thought about under a seat but I wanted shorter signal runs so I found this little nook that seems it was made for a DEQ-P9, go figure.















I will put on my flame suit for the RCA's in the next pic, shop stuff just for early evaluation I swear!!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

So, back to the pillars. One thing I'd like to mention is that between each step I would give all fiberglass at least 24 hours before I would touch it to prevent warping. And catalist is strictly measured, no eyeballing.

I removed the outer shells and trimmed them a touch. Notice the ink has transferred nicely.

















A piece of tape is on each side facing away from the shell and one piece is folded doublesided style adhearing the pattern in the perfect spot without too much grip to the shell.

















With the fresh tape that was applied I now transfer the pattern back in it's exact original spot and trace it again, completing the first part of the pillar process.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

On to the inner shell which will be the insert/baffle. Tape is applied and strips of mat are preped.
























Resin. I rolled the pillars in my hands to help stop the resin from pooling.















While I wait on curing I focus on cleaning up the wiring, and start the amp rack for the Audison amps. For the big stuff I use a blow torch for soldering and the dress with heat shrink.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

First sub at bat, the a/d/s PX310. Ghetto yet solid 1cft box sealed. I love this damn woofer, if only I had four of them...
















I rode with my trunk like this for several weeks while working on other parts of the install during free time.

















With music paying I took the time to concentrate on some more serious fabrication. Refocusing on the pillars I removed the inner shell previously made.

Next came another crucial step. Accurately cutting out the pillar window. I think this is the most nerve racking step in the whole build. It took a couple of hours for both pillars, and the wheel I used is barely thicker than paper. No caffine or sugar before this is recommended. 


















With them cut I lightly sanded with 400,600,1000 grit.

















After smoothing the lip slightly with sandpaper, I retaped the area as tight as possible.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Before I taped them I inserted the inner shell and penciled a cut line. I used a washer to make a reduced line so the grills will have a lip to sit on.























I also did a quick test fit.
















With the pillars taped, it was time to make some rings...

Six rings were made to the size of the tweeter plus 1/16th.


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## shawnk (Jan 11, 2010)

Very nice! Liking how these A pillars are coming along!

Very nice choice of equipment too!


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

Nice work, looking forward to catching up with you.


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## Mless5 (Aug 21, 2006)

I like your pillar build idea! Lets see more.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

Wow dude, looks tight! I really like your idea with cutting those areas out! Looks fantastic!


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## danno14 (Sep 1, 2009)

Just when I "think" I have seen it all, I come across this. Now maybe others have done it and Ive missed it, but I have great appreciation for the stealth method. Kudos!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

oilman said:


> Nice work, looking forward to catching up with you.


Likewise, that build you and Rocky have going on is pretty sweet, I'd love to hear your car.



Thanks for all the kudos guys, I have poured a good amount of effort and cash into my ride and it's cool to have a place to share it with like-minded individuals. I promise it keeps getting better so stay tuned!

The pillars are a mix of several higher end fab techniques. I haven't ever seen the same mix of processes on pillars before but I'm sure I didn't invent this wheel. The doors will have similar properties.

I was looking to set the bar high as far as the install in my personal vehicle goes. It isn't practical to do installs like this for customers, imagine even at a low shop rate of $60/hr for 60+ hours...just for the pillars!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

The grills start off with some metal grill material. The pieces I used came from a 12 year old Alpine speaker grill. It had the sized holes I was looking for, so with my cardboard patterns I traced the shapes with a silver sharpie and cut them with tin snips.

Next I put the outer shells back on the pillar and then my new metal grill pieces inside. I bent the metal to match the curvature of the outer shell.















Once the grill takes the natural shape of the pillar I remove it and the outer shell. Then aluminum foil tape is applied to the outer shell and it is reinstalled.
















With everything ready to go the grill is made in this order; layer of resin, metal grill, layer of resin, two very thin layers of fiberglass mat, layer of resin.

Sorry for blurry pic...














After they were done I pulled the outer shells off.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Now it was time for the least fun part of the build. Drilling out the holes. This took over eight carpal tunnel inducing hours!!! I think I went through several batteries that day. Not looking forward to doing it again for the doors.

















The tweeters required two rings for depth. Here they are glued together.
















After plenty of auditioning, the angles were set and I first set the disk with the pillar on to get the position of the baffle perfect.

















Then I removed the pillar and took measurements of angle and position.

















With the wedge set in place, I retested the fitment.


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## shawnk (Jan 11, 2010)

Nice dedication!!!


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

shawnk said:


> Nice dedication!!!


X2, damn detail is an understatement.


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## onebadmonte (Sep 4, 2008)

Looking good. I like what you did with the a-pillars. Thanks for sharing the your techniques. I hope to do something similar in my suburban soon.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

onebadmonte said:


> Looking good. I like what you did with the a-pillars. Thanks for sharing the your techniques. I hope to do something similar in my suburban soon.


Dude, I'm sure you'll do a great job! Your truck is the sickness...It's actually the DIYer's on here posting all kinds of sick **** that inspired me to add my install to the mix. I tell installers I work with and ones at other shops all the time that they better step their game up because they are getting schooled by DIY installs. 


Side note:
I just realized I spelled shiny wrong in the thread title, hilarious!!


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

Ahhh I see what you did there... Pretty slick really looking forward to see how
the rings mate to the pillar or how you feel the void between the speaker and
the pillar plastic. Really neat. So, do the grills get cloth, paint? I would hate to
think all that work drilling out all those holes were to put cloth over them. Man
a dentist drill would really help doing something like this.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

K, so pillar come back off and the block with the angle is double side taped and aluminum taped to the pillar, it needs to be rather solid for the next steps.

















Another look with the tweeter in. Looking for the clearance on everything and decide to smooth out the longer sides of the trapizoid inner shell to meet with the pillar cut out. This will help the baffle have a less cramped look.
















Two of the six rings were for sandwiching. They are taped up. Little pieces of aluminum are used to hold them in place with a screw when assembled.
















For the strech I used very thin cotton. Fleece is too thick and I wanted something tighter than grill cloth. This is the pillar, cotton, and the inner shell. You can see through the cotton where I reshaped the inner shell a little.
















Inside view


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## IDGAF (Dec 27, 2009)

Couple questions on the tweeter position, if you don't mind (since I have the same car).

The positioning seems low. Is that because it's the highest you can get them in the pillar because of the airbag or something? Or is that purely aesthetical? I haven't looked behind the pillars yet.

Do you mind sharing the spot to which the tweeters are aimed with me? Or you gonna make me put in the work? Lol.


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## robert_wrath (Apr 24, 2011)

+20 Sub'd! Love the way you tackled the obstacles thus far documented. Eager to see the extended progress hidden on the pics which aren't on the thread build. Damn dogg, I'm envious up in here!


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Wouldn't have been faster to get a scotchbrite pad on an angle grinder to clean up the resin off of the grill metal?


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## quiet (Feb 15, 2010)

Pillars are looking awesome. I only hope I can get mine to that level.


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## Jaloosk (Jan 13, 2010)

I think your pillars look great so far and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

IDGAF said:


> Couple questions on the tweeter position, if you don't mind (since I have the same car).
> 
> The positioning seems low. Is that because it's the highest you can get them in the pillar because of the airbag or something? Or is that purely aesthetical? I haven't looked behind the pillars yet.
> 
> Do you mind sharing the spot to which the tweeters are aimed with me? Or you gonna make me put in the work? Lol.




Not sure how to best explain the position. I colaborated with a guy who help test the stage 4 for Pioneer on the angle. I also auditioned several angles after that. I ended up about 3 inches down and two inches rearward from the bottom of the mirror with the dowel rods. I did have to go low enough on the pillar for the idea to work but the image heigth is pleasing and I'm tall.





thehatedguy said:


> Wouldn't have been faster to get a scotchbrite pad on an angle grinder to clean up the resin off of the grill metal?


The idea is to end up with a grill that is the original thickness of the plastic that was cut out of the pillar. The metal was thinner than the pillar so I filled with 'glass. It requires a smooth surface for the finish so drilling is the only way I see. I though about alternative methods for a while but drew a blank.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Back in the wood shop, I install the pillar over the rings that are glued to the blocks on the car. The cloth is over the rings and aren't touching because the rings are sunken in. This is where the third pair that were wrapped in tape come in, they are pushed over the rings underneath the cloth and then the aluminum brace and screw is added. I screwed into the the base piece of wood the first rings are glued to.

















Then more tape...and resin...

















Popped of the taped ring and BAM! Also and early look at the grill against the naked pillar. MMM HMMM, started getting excied about the build...


































Here is a pic with the tweeter in, but I wasn't holding the insert in place tight so it looks off center.


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Your build is looking great! Love the pillar pod design!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Here they are after a light coat of bondo and some sanding.
















With the pillars close to paint I went to trunk for progress while I saved up for the paint supplies.

I traced the factory trunk to 1/2 MDF and cut an oval for the window. I placed the first oval centered over the middle amp and since you would typically see it from an angle it looks off as well as being too small.

























I grabbed an old scrap piece of acrylic that already had a design in it for temporary and carpeted the floor. Threw a couple of blue LED and this is how I rolled for a few days.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

I had a vinyl sticker made, but the shop I got it from misunderstood what I meant by sandblast-proof so it did not turn out so well... I realized things went wrong pretty quick so I was able to save the piece of acrylic but will have to revisit later.
















Next it was time to replace the temporary wood bridge in the amp rack with the acrylic that was going in.

















22 degree reverse edge. Sanded to 800 grit and polished.

















Checked with a light for flaws and lighting angles.



























I used nutserts and acrylic weld-it for mounting the amp.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

Wow dude. Thats an expensive amp rack haha!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

With the price of acrylic these days your right, this would have been expensive. Luckily, this was made from a scrap piece left over from a job I did years ago.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Thanks for all the support on the build y'all, sorry the chronological order is taking forever on the pillars but paydirt is not far off...



With the proper amp rack ready to go, I ran some new RCA's from the DEQ-P9 to the amps. I went with the Monster 300 series. Time to clean things up a bit I techflexed and zip tied in back.

















Amp rack back in place, time for a couple of money shots!



























Back to the pillars, I am armed with some Z-chrome Rust Defender. You can really build this stuff up pretty thick, but I don't want to change the shape.



Before:


















After:


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

holy cow that looks bad ass!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

quickaudi07 said:


> holy cow that looks bad ass!


Thank you!



A buddy of mine was upgrading his gauges, and to thank me for a job well done on a damping job, he threw me his old guages. They are 60mm so the bezel that can be purchased and goes around the instrument cluster was not an option. I had a better idea anyways...



























Around this time I was able to buy the paint for the pillars and other accent pieces to be made down the road. It's a dark satin/pearly color that is used on the dash of the car around the a/c controls and the vents. They matched the color rather well at the local paint shop.





































I think I nailed it on the first pass. Why the hell I went for a second pass I can't tell you...


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

Love Shop Line, I got some new goodies last week. It sure does help
to use good materials when doing a job like this vs a spray can. Nice
work


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## NA$TY-TA (Mar 25, 2009)

Looking awesome man. Loving the amp rack.


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## Datsubishi (Jan 9, 2012)

Looking forward to seeing more work of this caliber. Wish I still worked in a shop to bring my car in for a few hours here and there. Nice techniques.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> Love Shop Line, I got some new goodies last week. It sure does help
> to use good materials when doing a job like this vs a spray can. Nice
> work



Thanks, figured I would use the color throughout the install so might as well grab the real stuff and spray it all myself.





NA$TY-TA said:


> Looking awesome man. Loving the amp rack.




Appreciate it, unfortunately it had been hiding under the factory panel for the past couple of months, but that will change soon...






Datsubishi said:


> Looking forward to seeing more work of this caliber. Wish I still worked in a shop to bring my car in for a few hours here and there. Nice techniques.




Thanks, yeah I was at a shop getting hourly at the time and they didn't mind me working on my **** when we were slow, now I'm back at a real "car audio" shop so no time for that at work anymore. Luckily I have a wood shop at home!


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

Those pillars have me wanting to do something similar for my midrange. At the most forward part, mine get wide enough to go flush.


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## Aaron95867 (Nov 8, 2012)

Very slick


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

oilman said:


> Those pillars have me wanting to do something similar for my midrange. At the most forward part, mine get wide enough to go flush.




Those are great pillars, they would look sick with a grill that takes the natural spine of the pillar.






Aaron95867 said:


> Very slick



Thanks.








So I love the a/d/s PX310, in a sealed box it is so accurate and balanced, but one is just not enough for me. I just like more bass from time to time. 

Next up to the plate, the Focal 33kx. Straight porn. Friend let me borrow his 1.4cft sealed box...



































I enjoyed this sub thoroughly! Fast and fat at the same time, beautiful. It got close to enough for me to be happy, thinking maybe two of these for sub-bass might do the trick.


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

You will LOVE the KX33, it does a great accurate job on the sub bass.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

I had the 33KX in for about two months before my friend asked for his box back. I haven't made my own box for it yet.

I did love it while it was in, to be honest I'd have to say the PX310 is flatter in freq response. I do plan revisiting the Focal in the future in a 1.7cft box though.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Ok so back on the pillars I was getting close to finishing, I had painted the inserts and next I wanted to really match the look of the painted dash parts so I decided to wet sand with 1000 grit.

















The one on the left is the sanded one and came very close to the factory dash pieces. I figured one coat looked this good I should go back with a second thick coat, right?? So very wrong! It came out as this very dark purple metalic shiny gloss paint job. Don't get me wrong it's pretty and all that but not what I was going for at all. I haven't redone them yet because it doesn't bother me enough I guess.


















Here I was checking the grill for the proper height with cloth under it.


























I applied a light coat of rattle-can primer and then grey spray paint to the grills so they wouldn't show through the cloth.

















Getting ready to wrap the grills, I paid attention to try and get the grain in the same direction. Then I tape the grills where I don't want glue, and wrap them.


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

1.8 was the magic number for me. I've had it in a few smaller boxes but it worked better with more room, in my case anyway. Looking to catching up with you soon. 

Go Texans!!


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

so slick


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## DLO13 (Oct 24, 2010)

loving what i see. Keep up the good work.
This is your personal ride?
Have u done any tuning or moding?


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## mitchjr (Mar 8, 2010)

Sub'd


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## AudioBob (May 21, 2007)

Great job on the A-pillars. They look "Factry"!!!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

oilman said:


> 1.8 was the magic number for me. I've had it in a few smaller boxes but it worked better with more room, in my case anyway. Looking to catching up with you soon.
> 
> Go Texans!!




Hmmm, 1.8 sounds great, I think I will try it when I rebuild...thanks for the tip!






DLO13 said:


> loving what i see. Keep up the good work.
> This is your personal ride?
> Have u done any tuning or moding?





Thanks and yeah is my baby. I love the car for many reasons, LOTS of fun all around. I have an Access Port, short throw shifter, and front strut tower bar. Bigger stuff will come after the warranty expires, I'm sitting on a Perrin intake but waiting to get exaust first to put it on, but it's starting to kill me looking at the stock box taking up half my engine bay!!


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

LOVE the pillars!


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## derickveliz (May 15, 2009)

Wow! 

I like the details a lot!

.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Thanks everybody!!! I know you shouldn't get complicated for complicated sake, but I just wanted what I wanted you know? Sometimes you just want freakin' sharks with lasers on their heads...I just wanted grills that looked incognito so I don't have to be flashy all the time.


So the final step, magnets! Funny thing is while test fitting I realized the magnet in the tweeter was strong enough by itself to lightly hold the grill in place but just not enough for me to be happy so the magnets still went in. Mounted with epoxy, this takes some practice if it's your first time or it's been a while as in my case...


























Now the plan is to epoxy the inserts in place, but due to the over-glossy finish I went with damping material for a temporary solution. Has been working for months now but anyways here we have the fully installed a-pillars!!! Notice I went WAY too dark on my second pass to match the dash paint


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## DLO13 (Oct 24, 2010)

so impressed.


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## win1 (Sep 27, 2008)

Subscribed


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## Tsmith (Dec 17, 2008)

Really nice!


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## stef600rr (Aug 5, 2012)

everything is great... but... the work on the pillars..... IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

never seen something similar before... really congrats man!!!!

absolutely amazing


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

With the pillars in place I sat back and enjoyed the system for a few weeks and then I began to become a little bored for Houston standards. I needed some serious bang for a while. 

Now on the Stinger distro blocks I used in the trunk I had one empty spot on each side. This was intentional so I would have a place for an "umbilical cord" for any non-SQ endeavors. The setup would be a MMats 2000.1 powering two Digital Designs DD3512D4's. The Box would be a folded horn design Steve Milton helped me with. Birthed from PWK I believe. I enjoy it thoroughly...


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## DLO13 (Oct 24, 2010)

drool.


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## Jaloosk (Jan 13, 2010)

how on God's good green Earth did you calculate the port and airspace for that box/vent?


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## DLO13 (Oct 24, 2010)

Jaloosk said:


> how on God's good green Earth did you calculate the port and airspace for that box/vent?


Jello Mold


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

that is a nice looking box, and those pillars look fantastic.

please keep posting progress dude, your work is awesome


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## ToddG (Sep 14, 2010)

Sube'd


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## spoonsports86 (Nov 17, 2012)

this is my first post

but it had to here on your thread man i love what you did with the pillars 

makes me want to go and make me a set of my own


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## Lorin (May 5, 2011)

dd sure makes some beautiful subs. beefy!


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## SilkySlim (Oct 24, 2012)

Very cool lots of patience. I like it


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## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

Jaloosk said:


> how on God's good green Earth did you calculate the port and airspace for that box/vent?





speakerpimp said:


> .... from PWK I believe...


he does a good job from what I've heard.....


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## Bugs78 (May 14, 2010)

unf unf unf. love it


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## audio+civic (Apr 16, 2009)

jaw dropping A pillars!!!!


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Fantastic work sir! As everyone has said, the pillars install is excellent, and I really like the amp rack as well. Keep it up!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Just want to take a second to say thanks for all the comments and support guys, can't tell y'all how good it feels to finally get some work done to my own car I can be proud of.


Going back to the guages in the console, I was able to get them ready for paint working on them an hour here and an hour there when I wasn't busy over a period of a couple of weeks. Here's how the cluster went down.




Having already made the wood bottom I taped up the console and laid a very thin layer of 'glass.

















Once cured I removed the shell and trimmed it to match the inner edge of the cluster.
















Did some test fitting in the car trying to find the best angle. I thought about mounting them straight out but I would have to cut into the 12v outlet to pull that off, plus I like them angled toward me anyways.
















After some thought on how to fill everything I decided to go two-part foam. Before the foam, I had to frame the top where it would meet the dash. Might look crude, but the abs top worked great.
















Ready for foam! I used a 4lb variant.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

I really like the way that car looks, and the interior fabrication is quite impressive.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Chaos said:


> I really like the way that car looks, and the interior fabrication is quite impressive.


Thank you kindly, more to come!! Speaking of which here's some more on the guages...



Once the expanding foam cured, I cut down the foam to shape with a 3" sanding wheel on a die grinder. I cut deeper than my desired height so I can build up a stronger material.
















Some standard filler work taking it to primer, just some rattle can stuff for now...


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## Audio Options (Aug 28, 2008)

love the pilliars, great work


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## audio+civic (Apr 16, 2009)

Defi gauges? Pretty stuff.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

guages came out sweet! would have been cooler if they were flush mounted though


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## spoonsports86 (Nov 17, 2012)

nice work on the gauges 

i am actually in the process of building my a 2/3 gauge pod for my car 

thanks for the pics gave me some ideas


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

req said:


> guages came out sweet! would have been cooler if they were flush mounted though


So true, I thought about that for a while. It's because the damn cig lighter plug that is molded into the top of the area, plus 60mm gauges. But they were free so I can't complain. I finally decided I wasn't willing to cut the cig lighter. I am hoping that some 52mm will sit inside the cups flush.


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## warr40 (Jun 12, 2009)

love those pillars. might do the same on my 04 wrx but a little higher up.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

So typical, don't even have my front stage completely installed, and I have already bought new speakers. The decision was made for a couple of reasons, working at a new shop I usually like to run brands that are carried there, plus these speakers are so boss...

Enter the new Morel Supemo 602's:


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Niiiiiiiice. I wish I had more room in my doors just so I could try more things.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

so new pillars?


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Sub'd. This is very nice 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.....blah blah blah.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

quality_sound said:


> Niiiiiiiice. I wish I had more room in my doors just so I could try more things.



No way to make it work? What kind of vehicle is it?




req said:


> so new pillars?



I hope not but most likely. At least the inner baffle will be replaced, but I haven't checked to see if the Piccolo fits inside to factory pillar shape yep. I think even if it does it will not allow much control of angle. I haven't decided which way I'll go on the next pillars if I have to start from scratch, I have a couple of ideas so we'll see soon.



DAT said:


> Sub'd. This is very nice
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.....blah blah blah.



Cool man, thanks! I'm planning on having a lot of fun with this car, hopefully it will be interesting too...


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## [email protected] (Jul 21, 2011)

Those Morel's are TITS! 

If you decide to build new pillars and want to part with the old drop me a PM. I might be able to make use of those in my 08 STi project, if you are selling off the existing speakers to go with them well, let me know. 

Keep you the quality build!


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

speakerpimp said:


> No way to make it work? What kind of vehicle is it?


2013 Golf. My QSD216s barely fit and they're only 2.5" deep am have a narrow motor. The window regulator support is right behind the speaker which is what limits me.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

yea that window crap behind the speaker was a horrible idea. it pains me to know that there would be so much room if that was moved.

whatever the case, IMO - keep the tweets behind the pillars if you can. the stealth + width is a good thing.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> Those Morel's are TITS!
> 
> If you decide to build new pillars and want to part with the old drop me a PM. I might be able to make use of those in my 08 STi project, if you are selling off the existing speakers to go with them well, let me know.
> 
> Keep you the quality build!



Of course, thanks for the interest. For the record I would try to sell it all as a set if I do with the Stage 4's. 



quality_sound said:


> 2013 Golf. My QSD216s barely fit and they're only 2.5" deep am have a narrow motor. The window regulator support is right behind the speaker which is what limits me.


Those are nice cars, had a buddy with a '09 GTI that was awesome however I remember the stock front speaker locations sucking ass. Your year is different though right?


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

req said:


> whatever the case, IMO - keep the tweets behind the pillars if you can. the stealth + width is a good thing.


Truf, I am itching to test fit these puppies.

Ok, so time for some more equipment porn!


First up is a quick shot from the bay the other day. Installing a buddies LE's so I figured I'd take the opportunity for a photoshoot.














So I recently had an interesting acquisition to the arsanal. Two RE Audio XXX 18"s. I have no idea what I'm going to do with these but I'm doing something!!! I'm thinking of floating one in the hatch on a plexi wall. Not forever, but maybe for a season. So no box just walled off and the whole hatch will be the box. 





















13W7 for comparison...













So I deconstructed the factory premium speaker until I had just the ring. Mated to 1/2" MDF for a jig. I will be using Starboard for the rings. Best stuff I've seen so far, super dense.


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## LovesMusic (Mar 29, 2012)

Talk about clean attention to detail, keep up the great work!


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## stef600rr (Aug 5, 2012)

still astonished


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## Mike 01Hawk (Dec 25, 2012)

Love the center gauges. I'm pretty close to getting the SMY cluster, but dang there needs to be more options for us '08+ folk


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## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

5 pages of goodness here!! Great ongoing work mang!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Thanks everybody, I appreciate y'all checking out my build.

I agree with you Mike that there should be more out there, I don't want a top dash cluster or pillar cluster for obvious reasons... Haven't checked to see if I could get three 52mm in there yet, but I like what I'm working with for now, hell it's still primer right now. I'm going to shoot it the same silver as the dash piece it sits in when I get around to getting over to the paint store.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Soooooo struggling to get some work in on my own ride!!! After Christmas installs everywhere!!! It is hard to squeeze in even two minutes on the router between bites of lunch!


I did finish the first jig.
















So two things were quickly apparent, 1. I was 1/32" too big on my inner circle, and 2. The factory shape was not big enough to pull off a recessed lip which I desire so I would have to oversize.
















I prepped for oversizing but they don't have an extravagant enough bit/bearing selection at work yet. I will have to bring in some from home so this is where I'm sitting currently.
















Normally I'd knock this out at the house, unfortunately new flooring in the house turned my table/shop at home into this nightmare!!


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## stef600rr (Aug 5, 2012)

please... go on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

stef600rr said:


> please... go on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thanks for the motivation, yes I am on the case! The garage is halfway clean and ready to get down in, so very soon!!


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## mark620 (Dec 8, 2010)

Pillars are outstanding.! Great detail in the entire install..


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## Rusty (Aug 29, 2012)

sub'd. great build, and techniques.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

So in the past couple of days off I was able to finish my new door rings and remove the "old" pillars which I then threw in the trash. Just kidding, I'm going to hold on to them for a minute but they may become available later...

The new rings are one layer 3/4" Starboard and 3/4" super high grade birch ply. I put them all on scales to compare densities but I am having issues with posting pics at the moment and hope to have it cleared up soon. I have also pulled off one door in preparation for damping round 2.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Rusty said:


> sub'd. great build, and techniques.


Thanks!! Now that the garage at home has some breathing space it's on like donkey kong.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

speakerpimp said:


> Those are nice cars, had a buddy with a '09 GTI that was awesome however I remember the stock front speaker locations sucking ass. Your year is different though right?



I had an 07 Rabbit and an 08 GTI and the locations were different, but not necessarily worse. There was a TON more room in the MkV doors than the MkVI.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Wow very nice build. Love the Morels man, wow just wow. Great choice. Can't wait to see this one come together.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Audible Physics said:


> Wow very nice build. Love the Morels man, wow just wow. Great choice. Can't wait to see this one come together.


Well thank you very much!



Lots of updates to share, first of all I am already listening to the Morels and even in early evaluations (don't even have the door cards back on yet) I am quite blown away. The detail and resolution these drivers effotlessly display caught me by suprise a little but it was a happy suprise.

The permanent rings will consist of two materials, Starboard and high-grade birch, each 3/4" in thickness. First I still had to oversize my jig.











































Next, densities are recorded. Temporary rings will be constructed out of MDF later for comparison.

























The birch ring will be the mounting ring and is rabbeted accordingly, here you can see my zero tolerance policy on gapage in effect!!

























After that I made the temp rain guards...
















I'll try to put up the rest tomorrow!


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Fantastic build, man! Thanks for sharing your techniques. Equipment choices aren't bad either, lol. Great work...looking forward to seeing more.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

bbfoto said:


> Fantastic build, man! Thanks for sharing your techniques. Equipment choices aren't bad either, lol. Great work...looking forward to seeing more.




Appreciated very much!


Here I want to show why I hate factory grills. IMO they are one of the most destructive forces to great sound in a car. With just a little angle you can see in the second picture that there would be no direct pathway. From the listening position you can imagine it would be even worse.

























So the first step will be to clean the doors well enough for tape and other things to stick to it.
















Here's the temporary MDF ring on the scale for comparison.

















Update to be continued....


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## Derekj (Aug 11, 2011)

Hmm.... curious to see where you are going with the door panels.

Great build too:thumbsup:


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Thank you sir, I have one more location to audition before I decide which way I'll go will the doors but both directions are custom...

I am loving them so far. I have the piccolos in the pillars close to on-axis right now and I want to try them close to the mid on the area of the door that is curved towards the listening position before I commit. I seen't it on NASIOC once and thought it was a hot enough idea to try.

Here is the current setup.















I'm going to use some quickie MDF rings for the next couple of weeks while I experiment, also the rain guards are temporary(color doesn't flow with install).


































Here is a test fit of the screws I've chosen to use. They are stainless steel because rust is not allowed to touch my ****!!















And now some rings fo my tweet'uhs mang.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

awesome job. i would say go with the plywood. mdf sucks up moisture.


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## SACRAMANIAC916 (Apr 9, 2011)

excellent craftsmanship! keep the pics coming!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Nice work. I'm a big fan of StarBoard. Relatively easy to work with, holds screws well and will absolutely never rot.

Jay


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Seen't??? lol The word is "saw".  Sorry, it's one of my peeves. 

Love the build though!


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## rsutton1223 (May 29, 2011)

Just subscribing as another silver WRX hatch owner. Nice work.


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

there are so many guys on here building stuff that is jaw dropping and you my friend are on of the guys!! thanks for post you r build for all to see.


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## jhmeg2 (Nov 6, 2009)

Those are the baddest pillars I have ever seen. So smooth, detailed, and impessive. Thank you for sharing


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Top notch work good sir! As they say...It's all in the details!


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

Your car sounds great! Deep,wide, nice rich sound. Those Morels are the chiiiittt! Can't wait to hear after finish the doors.


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## SouthSyde (Dec 25, 2006)

Rick you got some skillz yo! Top notch work! Where have you been????? lol


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Thanks so much guys, I am glad y'all like the build and I'm happy to share! It's so great to have accoutabuildibuddies all over the place, makes me want to get in the garage and get to work.

I'll address some notes:

req, the MDF is temporary, but I wanted to compare densities to MDF for a benchmark. No way I'd leave MDF in a door, I've tried almost everything to stop the swell but it always seems to happen anyways so I stopped using it years ago.

quality_sound, ever seen that scene in the movie Halfbaked where Bob Sagat is talking about giving bj's for coke?? It's was more a quote...lol, no worries!

SouthSyde, it's a long story but under a rock!!! Trying to pull off high-end car audio in a big-box for too many years...


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## rsutton1223 (May 29, 2011)

speakerpimp said:


> Thanks so much guys, I am glad y'all like the build and I'm happy to share! It's so great to have accoutabuildibuddies all over the place, makes me want to get in the garage and get to work.


I am really interested to see what you do with the door cards as I have the exact same ones that did house Hertz 165XL's but will now have Peerless SLS's.


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## SouthSyde (Dec 25, 2006)

SouthSyde, it's a long story but under a rock!!! Trying to pull off high-end car audio in a big-box for too many years...[/QUOTE]

Well, welcome back!!


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## SoundJunkie (Dec 3, 2008)

speakerpimp said:


> Those are great pillars, they would look sick with a grill that takes the natural spine of the pillar.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You can listen to my pair at the gtg! They do the trick alright!










Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## fast4door (Aug 2, 2012)

WOW just got blown away with your attention to detail and professionalism on this install. Congrats on your new ride!


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## tru tech99 (Jan 3, 2011)

look soooooo gooddd I'm gonnaa dieeeeeeeeeee


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## knowledge (Dec 13, 2010)

awesome job here man


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

rsutton1223 said:


> I am really interested to see what you do with the door cards as I have the exact same ones that did house Hertz 165XL's but will now have Peerless SLS's.




I was just checking out your setup, and for those speakers I'd consider a brace from the inside to outside door metal, our cars are good candidates for them, might even be doing one myself here soon...







SoundJunkie said:


> You can listen to my pair at the gtg! They do the trick alright!
> 
> 
> 
> ...




*Cannot wait* to hear your "Papa Smurf"!!!!



Big thanks to the rest of y'all!!!!!!!! 




Oh yeah, and the doors begin.
















These will be slightly different from the pillars in the fact that the patterns aren't made first. Nope, straight to 'glass here...these were resin, mat, cloth, mat, cloth pieces, mat pieces, then a nice resin drizzle.


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## SouthSyde (Dec 25, 2006)

Yo Rick, is this gonna be all done by the G2G time?


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Nice build! Did you ever hear the previous Supremo line? And if so are there any comparative 602 points you could share? Thx.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

SouthSyde said:


> Yo Rick, is this gonna be all done by the G2G time?



No promises, but I plan on having *something* worth looking at since I pulled out the pillars already, although I have thought about bringing them with me so people can see them inside and out.

I will be making changes in the trunk as well so no telling what I'll look like by that time, but I promise I'll have sound. I plan on hitting it hard all weekend, I've already been out this morning laying 'glass on the inside of the first door!





Bluenote said:


> Nice build! Did you ever hear the previous Supremo line? And if so are there any comparative 602 points you could share? Thx.



Not in a close enough environment to say anything critical. We do have a set of the previous gen on our sound board at work running off of a Genesis Dual Mono and they sound amazing as well. I have installed a set before, and that experience was one of the reasons I chose them.


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

^ Cool thx!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Side note, the new Lotus grills may just be the sexiest grills I have ever seen and they fit the old 2.7" just fine.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Any updates?


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## sweefu (Jun 26, 2011)

This is a great install, top work mate!
I wish I could do things as neatly. Fantastic gear too.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Thank you!!



So working on it an hour here and there, progress is slow but steady...

Here is the second outer shell finished.

















Here is the first outer shell after removal.
















Prepping for the inner shell, I grinded off all interior plastic that stuck out of the surface. Also the clip in the top right of the pic was removed as well. I cut it as cleanly as possible and set it aside for possible regrafting.
















Here is the first inner shell, same process as the outer shells. I am mixing only about 200mL each, and these are done in one shot.
















Here it is removed.
























Now to figure out what kind of shape I'm going to go with, I start with just removing the basic circle that was actually grill, then I pop the card back on the door to see what it looks like from some different angles.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Is the grill for the mid going to be like the one for the tweeter?


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Dude congrats on the new car. I know the feeling of buying your first new car, I bought mine last year. I also almost bought a WRX. So nice!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

quality_sound said:


> Is the grill for the mid going to be like the one for the tweeter?


Originally yes, however with the lotus grills of the new speakers I am reconsidering. I don't see the 2.7" piccolo going where the stage 4 tweeters were without cutting my a-pillars so....

I will probably make two grills so I don't have to worry about which one I would have liked better because I will have them both.


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## DeanE10 (Apr 19, 2011)

Looking forward to seeing this at the G2G man...


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

speakerpimp said:


> Originally yes, however with the lotus grills of the new speakers I am reconsidering. I don't see the 2.7" piccolo going where the stage 4 tweeters were without cutting my a-pillars so....
> 
> I will probably make two grills so I don't have to worry about which one I would have liked better because I will have them both.


Wait, you're pulling the Morels?? Talk to me, brother.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

No way!! I love these drivers! Had Peter from Morel sit in my car and insist I at least audition the passive networks, sooooo I pulled everything out of my car except the HU/processor for a quick change-up. Hoping to get at least something to listen to before the meet, might not be the snazziest but oh well. Pics coming soon!


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Are the passives that good? I've said MANY times that my Quarts sound orders if magnitude better passive. I have NO idea why.


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## mattyjman (Aug 6, 2009)

sub'd... great install ability here.


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## jarod (May 9, 2012)

*just flat out awesome!!*

man that is going to be a testament to your abilities and its going to freakin ROCK!! are you considering selling the stage 4 set? do they even compare to the morels? pm me if so. Oilman highly recommends you and i cant wait to get over and meet you and talk with you about my install!!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Thanks man, should be a cool build if I can get around to finishing it! (knocks on wood...)

The stage 4 are wonderful drivers, and yes I am willing to part with them. The Morel's are more revealing, but are also 5 times the price of the stage 4. Overall with price in mind I'd say the stage 4 are a better value and bang for the buck. 

To be honest, my plans were to sell the pillars and the speakers together to another subie owner but I'm open minded...


----------



## mnjordan (May 23, 2013)

Killer work here. Very impressive and inspiring.


----------



## jarod (May 9, 2012)

i can certainly understand keeping them together but i do thank you for keeping an open mind as they are a set i have been looking at now for quite some time. I would love to start with those for an active three way front stage and see what kind of install you would do with them in my truck. Speaking of which i need to get over to c u soon and talk with you on the beginnings of my install which i hope to be starting soon. Is there a good day to come by and speak with you and could you give me an address to gps and a number so i can make sure your there before coming that way? Looking good man can't wait to see and hear it in person! Always wanted to here some Morel products.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Time for some updates! I have tried to work on the subie here and there, but between the job and having a kid, free time over the past few months has been sparse. 

Initially I though I may stop the cut line on the doors at the factory grill line. I made a rough cut so I could see what this may look like...











It in test fit, it was apparent that the speaker sat off-center a little too much for my taste and wouldn't look right once glassed, plus the idea of the double 3/4" ring was going to be obtrusive. My modifications needed modifications!

At the same time I was trying to deal with the thought of starting over from scratch on my pillars.  I tried mocking up the new ring to the old pillar to see what I was looking at.











The piccolos are deep as hell so to even think of the stealth idea cutting is required. So cutting would be needed on the pillars and the doors. Definitely NOT cutting my car unless I absolutely have too.

I stared at the doors for a long time and after some scrutiny it seemed I would have to go outside the grill line if I wanted enough real estate to have a decent transition between speaker and panel. I also took more to the idea of moving the speakers just slightly and maybe even adding some pitch to the mounting...

Either way I could move forward on the baffle so first a quick wipe down of the door and it was time for tape again.









Needed some rings for finishing up to the morel grill. Measure once, cut once.


----------



## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

Sub'd this is awesome. Great work.


----------



## PUREAUDIO (Jun 16, 2008)

Very nice work your doing


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## ZacG26 (Jul 26, 2013)

Great stuff!! Sub'd!


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Interested to see how you finish the door grills! I may go down the same route next year to install some more substantial midbasses.


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## RedRaider (Mar 8, 2013)

Simply immaculate work! Sub'd!!


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## diy.phil (May 23, 2011)

that's beautiful work and craftsmanship!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

I appreciate all the kudos y'all, I have some ideas that I think would be sick but manifesting them in my off time lately has been a task!

I think I'm coming to some final decisions on the trunk too which is getting me excited! Time to clean the garage!

So back to what was going down over the past couple months...


I wanted to open up the inner grill area more to have a nice transition all around the speaker. Nothing too extreme, just some subtle flair.














Then a test fit...









I really wanted a more centered position so I mocked up a ring in a better position and marked it for cutting. I felt this smalls shift would improve the shape greatly.








Meanwhile in the trunk...time for amp rack 2.0.


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## sbeezy (Nov 22, 2008)

Sweet ride! I want a listen after you finish your build! I would drive from port arthur to hear that!


----------



## SouthSyde (Dec 25, 2006)

sbeezy said:


> Sweet ride! I want a listen after you finish your build! I would drive from port arthur to hear that!


We have meets all the time.. Come join us.


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## sbeezy (Nov 22, 2008)

SouthSyde said:


> We have meets all the time.. Come join us.


Just let me know when a meet is happening and if i'm off I will be there.


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Good work! Question: with so much of the door card being cut-away, do you feel that this will be good enough to stop door rattles and resonance? considering something similar for door fab. Thanks!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Bluenote said:


> Good work! Question: with so much of the door card being cut-away, do you feel that this will be good enough to stop door rattles and resonance? considering something similar for door fab. Thanks!


I plan to build a new flange out of fiberglass that will attach to the card and lock around the speaker with magnets. The main idea is to get the speaker out from behind a restricting door grill which was not designed with SQ in mind. After I cut them out I could clearly see the benefit, with a slight angle you barely get any direct sound at all. I don't have the pics of the door grills right now but here are the subaru tweeter grills...









The grill on the door is worse and a direct path disappears before you get to the listening position angle. I wanted to open up the path between the speakers and my ears a little. I think the door card is doing better than before actually now that it's not absorbing the brunt of the force of the sound wave too.


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Awesome, thanks for sharing the knowledge; cant wait to see how it turns out!


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## Big_Valven (Aug 20, 2008)

I'm liking the approach so far. Is it safe to say it's a build of continuous evolution?


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## SWINE (Aug 29, 2008)

subscribed!! Great work!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Big_Valven said:


> I'm liking the approach so far. Is it safe to say it's a build of continuous evolution?


Oh yeah, the plans change all the time. Of course I want to “finish” the build, so many installers never finish their own cars, and this won't be the case! I like the idea of having different set-ups that I can swap out when I like so I have plans of some parts being built more than once.

So after moving the rings slightly and doing some very mild cutting, I installed the starboard rings by themselves. The double rings stuck out way too much! Here's a shot with the rings and rain guards in place. I used some amp spacers and dynapad for a slight angle and some decoupling.









Somewhere around this time I had an Audison amp take a dive on me so a new change in the lineup was in order. Enter a V4 stage 3 Tru billet 4100. I don't necessarily plan on staying with this amp forever, but it will get me by for now!!!! 











I also added a couple of small changes via plasti-dip to the outside logos on the side of the car, and plasti-dipped gauge cluster inside.











I wanted to start on the lighting upgrades to so with some lunch hours at work I started on those...


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

I need those soldering clips...


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Yep, they are a game changer! Learned about them at Knowledgefest couple years back, think it was Mike Abeita who busted them out but memory might not be serving me right now...Anyways, they are the poop!


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

I am really interested to see how you finish out those door cards. I want to glass my doors but really really dont want to have to refinish the whole thing, it looks like you are taking a nice route.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

So it was around this time that I went to an Audison training where they were displaying the Full DA line up off of a tablet and stopped me in my tracks. I've thought about a tablet dash install but only if I could make it real nice. I decided to chunk up my dash bezel for experiment, and see what I could come up with...









My idea is to keep it factory shaped, with a stealth cover face. I know I could leave it in there if I wanted, but I'm thinking some motorization of some sort.

Right off the bat I can tell something is going to have to give if I want this thing in here. I don't want to lose the vents though so I was thinking a small shave.

Here's the vents close up.











So this is what I was thinking.


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## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

watching...


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## expiredtags (Jan 29, 2014)

WOW WOW WOW!

Incredible build, cannot wait to see the finished product.

I just picked up a 2011 DGM wrx and am ready to upgrade the audio too.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Rick,

I picked up a '14 STI sedan and had a couple of questions. Do you think there's room for an 8 in the front door? Horns? I want to put my SA Elite horns in.


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## DrewV (Feb 12, 2014)

So what happened with this build?

I was hoping to see how the door cards turned out.


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

8" won't fit unless you cut up the door pocket. The main issue is the edge of the frame hitting the drink holder thing in the door pocket. But you should be able to get a decently deep 6.5". Rsutton is running SLS 6.5's in his doors with a single MDF spacer.


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

any updates? this is one of my favorite builds.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

ecbmxer said:


> 8" won't fit unless you cut up the door pocket. The main issue is the edge of the frame hitting the drink holder thing in the door pocket. But you should be able to get a decently deep 6.5". Rsutton is running SLS 6.5's in his doors with a single MDF spacer.


That's what I was thinking. I have some 18sounds 6ND430-4s now so I'm not sure there would be too many true upgrades but I'll keep an eye out. 

Thanks for the info.


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## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

ecbmxer said:


> 8" won't fit unless you cut up the door pocket. The main issue is the edge of the frame hitting the drink holder thing in the door pocket. But you should be able to get a decently deep 6.5". Rsutton is running SLS 6.5's in his doors with a single MDF spacer.


And he destroyed them....


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## rsutton1223 (May 29, 2011)

slade1274 said:


> And he destroyed them....


I like midbass. 

Good thing the V is getting at least 8's! I want to see this iPad install though. Very cool idea.


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

this was so awesome to see.i have the same car,but blue pearl,the bass sounds amazing in these cars. and just like you said we gotta have our bass on around here huh.i have a friend that owns a shop on fm 105 and his motto is i just wanna bang! haha
hope to see more.i read every bit.later lance


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Super behind on my build log.  Time for some catching up.

As usual I am several months behind where I actually am on the car so back we go a few months...

I was knee deep in the tablet bezel, it seemed that I would be able to get away with just shaving the top two horizontal slats so I proceeded to do some cutting.



Next I reduced the center piece that secured the vent slats in the middle, and did a test fit.





Everything seemed to work great so I fabricated a back piece from abs. Then I glued it all together with some epoxy.







I cut the bezel in a t shape, and with the vents, repositioned the "t" to fit the new location and dabbed a little epoxy to hold it in place.



A little sanding love and we are ready for some test runs of the vents.





They worked great and even had a little bit more velocity without any whistling. Phase one complete.


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Good work! I wanna see those doors again


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## "that boy asad" (Feb 15, 2008)

Can't wait to see the final results and to hear it in person, you are a busy man!


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## oilman (Feb 21, 2012)

Looks good Rick, hope to catch up soon. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Bluenote said:


> Good work! I wanna see those doors again


Thanks, good news is they are almost complete, and I'll get to the pics I do have soon.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

"that boy asad" said:


> Can't wait to see the final results and to hear it in person, you are a busy man!


Crazy busy lately, but you're more than welcome to listen to it anytime.



oilman said:


> Looks good Rick, hope to catch up soon.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


HEY RICKY!!! Yes it's been too long!


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## "that boy asad" (Feb 15, 2008)

speakerpimp said:


> Crazy busy lately, but you're more than welcome to listen to it anytime.


will take you on that offer sometime this coming week, I pass by the shop every weekday morning on my way home from the gym!


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

awesome install man,i love your a/pillars,i have a 2013 WRX hatchback i was wondering,do you know if a 3 inch mid would fit ,well without sticking out too far and be able to be aimed for center stage sound?
like a full range tang band or something like that is what i meant.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Funny you should ask. Because there are new pillars now. I had to rebuild due to the piccolos being 2.7"... So the other pillars sit around in case I ever go back to a normal sized tweet again. I think a 3" would go in there well, there is over an inch of open space behind the pillar.


Working on more pics.


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

thanks man i appreciate it,i think thats what i want to do is go with a 3 inch full range and have it as low profile as possible but still aiming where it needs to be.btw what side of town do you do most of your work ? I'm in montgomery in the national forest.
can't wait to see more pics too 
later Lance


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## vwjmkv (Apr 23, 2011)

Sooo sub'd to this!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

plcrides said:


> thanks man i appreciate it,i think thats what i want to do is go with a 3 inch full range and have it as low profile as possible but still aiming where it needs to be.btw what side of town do you do most of your work ? I'm in montgomery in the national forest.
> can't wait to see more pics too
> later Lance



I'm out on the southwest side. I do go to some subie meets all over town though...pm me if something is going down.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

So after a test fit in the car I checked it out with the dummy ipad mini looking for how much gap I'd need to fill.







It was also time to fire up the new lighting. Pretty much the only accent lighting going on the outside. They are RGB for her pleasure.





I too a couple of pics of the rings, but the early pics I lost on a previous phone so we pick up a little while later. Here I'm doing some preliminary fitment checks.


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

i dont hang out with anyone bro,i live so far out in the national forest you know.hey wait a minute is this? hold on a second..are you doing what i think your doing? is this a 3 inch mid oh never mind i reread its that 2.7 pretty big looking.i will be watching to see exactly where you aim that laser pen,can you get a pic of that for me dude?


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

hey bro can you do a fellow WRX fan a favor,when you do your aiming and find the best sounding position with your laser can you snap me a picture of the dot,that would help me out big time man thanks and good luck can't wait to see these,your work is crazy mad.
later lance


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

I went a little different with the aiming this time, with the pioneers I didn't have much tolerance for adjustments, plus with an emphasis on aesthetics I wanted them symmetrical. I listened to them for a few weeks before taking the shape. I used wooden dowels and came up with two inches below the center of the mirror, one inch back as the center point.

With the morels I auditioned angles for about 9-10 months. Towards the end I even contemplated moving them to the doors. The angles I came up with in the end were asymmetrical which usually pains me to build but I'm definitely happy with the way they sound. In the end you can't tell anyways so nothing but smiles on how they came out.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Back in the trunk, it was looking a little messy...







I'm really struggling on a permanent setup in the back that will please all of my car audio hopes, it's hard to prioritize between things like bass output and storage space, or gas mileage and alternator output, and in the trunk I'm having some serious blockage at this point.

On the doors I wanted to take a look at the new position and see if the inside rings would need to be trimmed.









They cleared just fine so it was a go on the doors, however I was stuck on finishing the pillars so I got to work getting a basic shape. I would frame the bottom first so the rings would be set and I could do the more intricate pull without worrying about them moving. After setting the angles I ca glued the edge of the fleece and then applied resin. The black lines in the last pic are from marking them inside the car so they take the correct shape around the dash.


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Looking good and loving the trim or grille baffle on the doors!


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

oh cool alright man thanks for the tip,i appreciate it.2 inches below the center of the mirror and one inch back.i will definitely see what it will do when the time comes,haha i wrote it down.peace buddy

and another thing to add to your thoughts list bro,is added weight to my car has made it ride a little rougher in the back when i hit bumps going fast,i might need to swop them for some adjustable koni's one day.because i have a big box and spare battery in the rear and it shows haha you can definitely feel it.


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## sqgodz (Feb 3, 2011)

Great build. Love the attention to detail and the thought process behind your actions. Build looks great.


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## badnerd (Apr 5, 2014)

subbd


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Any updates?


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

i wish,the dude has skills.


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## vietjdmboi (Jan 3, 2015)

Seen ricks car in person a few weeks ago (sounds superb btw). The a pillars were finished but looks like he still has some work to finish up the rear.


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

oh really,good to hear,i got him to write on here where he was planning on aiming his mid's and I'm about to do mine so cool deal.thanks man.


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