# *Not a custom expert* e36 install



## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

So I am upgrading my old MB Quart 3ways and JL Stealth Boxes to Hybrid 6.5" Clarus' and a 12" Image Dynamics IDQv3 fiberglassed in the back.

Cutting the the kick panels larger went smoothly, no problems there just time consuming and I had to make a 3rd speaker ring because one of the dogs came in the garage and stole my drivers side one while I was eating lunch. I still havent found it. The tweeters I have to test position but I cant do that right now since my amp imploded and is at DB-R Electronics being fixed right now.

This is my first time fiberglassing. Since I have my passive crossovers mounted one above each shocktower on the carpet instead of behind the carpet, I found that you can punch in the carpet buldge on the passenger side and get a lot more space for the sub. I am talking about the buldge for the factory amp, I have the carpet against the metal of the car now.

The first coat of resin is actually drying right now but I think it is going to crack because even though I mixed the hardner like it said, 90 drops for 5oz because its 60 degrees outside....my mix turned to jelly in like 2min and got molten hot. I guess I will use half the hardner next time or less. Not sure why the mix was so off but I did get a full coat before it became unusable. *actually I just went and checked and it hasnt cracked but it does look a little thin, its probably ok for me to do a mat layer now though.

I got a gallon of resin from the boat store, evercoat or everlast, something like that I think. And I currently have 32 square feet of mat, we will see if that is enough. 

More to come as I get more work done. This has been the first day over 50 degrees in over a month.

*Update, I got a layer of mat in but the outside temp dropped and I probably backed the hardner off too much after the first batch going crazy on me, so it hasnt dried very much in a few hours now. Not sure how much its going to dry in 40 degree weather over night.



























My Clarus dwarfing my old 5.25" MB Quart






















































My resin after like 3-4 min


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## cleung (Feb 11, 2010)

GL with the install, fiberglass isn't the easiest thing to work with especially if its your first time.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

Took the mold out when I got home from work. This tape doesnt come off very easily even though I sprayed it down with cooking spray beforehand. If you look closely at one of the pics you can see the big hole where I apparently got no resin or mat....lol my first time fiberglassing skills show through. No biggie, I'll cover it with tape on the other side and plug it up the second time around. I have to say though unless you follow a set pattern of putting the pieces of mat down it is really hard to see where you have been because it turns completely transparent once covered in resin. Thats why I missed it the first time.

I am curious, after I put carpet on this it isnt going to fit as snug as it does right now....so how do people get around that....just put carpet on the front and something really thin on the back where it touches the car? I think thats what I'm going to do.

Its back into the 30's and 40's again, but now that it is out of my car I am going to put a new layer on, and put it in a big box with a space heater pointed at it....should do the trick...


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

I think it turned out pretty good for your first try with
fiberglass. As you learned it flashes really fast if you 
have too much hardener in your mix, temp does play a
roll but I don't think so much at 60deg. If its cold out 
just put your resin in a sink of running hot water to warm
it up a bit to a better working temp.

You should have more than enough resin to build a box and
kicks. Just remember your not going so much for the matt
to look almost dry, not so much floating in the resin. Kind of
like a wet gauze bandage. 

Good luck


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> I think it turned out pretty good for your first try with
> fiberglass. As you learned it flashes really fast if you
> have too much hardener in your mix, temp does play a
> roll but I don't think so much at 60deg. If its cold out
> ...


K, so second layer just went on. Man that comment about it being like a wet gauze bandage really helped out. I seriously think I used about 1/3 the amount of resin this time than on my first layer. This time I just kept dabbing at it and the resin below would slowly saturate the strands untill it was just right. Funny thing was that the amount of matt I precut was literally the exact amount I needed to finish the layer, I was feelin pretty good. This round is many times better than the last.

Because of the cold, I built a little mini booth and sealed it a bit with the left over plastic from the trunk and put a space heater pointed in it for the night. It was keeping me pretty warm with it going just beside me so I think it should have that layer nice and dry by morning.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

My heat booth trying to get the resin to cure in our mad Texas winter...lol









Second layer curing


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## jvr826 (Jan 8, 2010)

Nice work! As an E46 owner I'm very jealous of your kick panels. I'm shoehorning the same mid-bass drivers into my doors right now... may be doing a similar sub idea over the summer when I have more time. Looking forward to more updates.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

Glad my comment helped! Notice the color of the lay-up
and the color of the left overs from your first try. The
last lay-up is proper color, means you had the resin to
hardener just right... GOOD JOB! I'll bet it was much better
to work with? Keep up the good work.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

4th layer should be done drying by the time I get home from work. I think I might leave it at 4 layers instead of 5 like I planned since after the 3rd layer I could probably have stood on it due to the amount of curves in the mold. Should be cleaning up the edges and cutting the mounting ring tonight and working on the front of the mold this weekend.


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## diamondjoequimby (Jun 30, 2009)

what are you doing w/ the stealthboxes? Specifically the woofers in them?


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

diamondjoequimby said:


> what are you doing w/ the stealthboxes? Specifically the woofers in them?


Sold them as a pair for 300 + shipping before this project began.


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## diamondjoequimby (Jun 30, 2009)

TAMUmpower said:


> Sold them as a pair for 300 + shipping before this project began.


damn. I would love to get a hold of a pair of 8IB4s. Oh well. project looks good. Keep us posted!


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## tinctorus (Oct 5, 2009)

I would STRONGLY suggest AGAINST having that space heater in an enclosed space with fiberglass resin fumes AND plastic as BOTH are highly flamable and you may very well set your house on fire....

Fiberglass fumes ARE flamable FWIW


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

tinctorus said:


> I would STRONGLY suggest AGAINST having that space heater in an enclosed space with fiberglass resin fumes AND plastic as BOTH are highly flamable and you may very well set your house on fire....
> 
> Fiberglass fumes ARE flamable FWIW


The garage is a separate structure, but no worries. There wasnt enough concentration to have a risk even with an open flame. The heater I was using is a resistor type unit so it wasnt going to spark or anything.

Too late now anyway, I left it going for 8 hours 2 nights in a row, but shouldnt need to use it again since it will be warm for the next few days and I should be done by then.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

I meant to tell you the other day that you can add layer after layer of fiber glass, You can build up nearly as much as you want, that is if your working on an area that doesn't have a slope. Nothing like seeing all that work sag. If for some reason you have to stop and cant get back to the glass work for 18-24 hours, you will need to scuff the surface that your working on. Its called blush, and no your wife didn't put anything on your box. Its a texture and sheen at the surface, it will have some smooth spots where the resin self leveled. I don't want to come off as a know it all, just trying to help your learning curve, and less time spent on building.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> I meant to tell you the other day that you can add layer after layer of fiber glass, You can build up nearly as much as you want, that is if your working on an area that doesn't have a slope. Nothing like seeing all that work sag. If for some reason you have to stop and cant get back to the glass work for 18-24 hours, you will need to scuff the surface that your working on. Its called blush, and no your wife didn't put anything on your box. Its a texture and sheen at the surface, it will have some smooth spots where the resin self leveled. I don't want to come off as a know it all, just trying to help your learning curve, and less time spent on building.


Everything else ive seen has the layers drying inbetween.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

Ok, got some work done today. I stayed with 4 layers for the mold since I could stand on it just fine. The pictures tell the story but basically the only issue I had was that the fiberglass was too thick to staple through. There were a couple of thin areas that I got 1 or 2 staples to go through but everywhere else it would not penetrate at all. So I just 3m 77 glued the fabric to the mold so I could get the resin on.

Basically I am curious if the two pieces of the mold are going to stay joined this way. How much overlap should I have with the mat onto the back side of the mold? Should I put some screws through the fabric to strengthen the bond between the pieces?

I poured water in the bottom of the mold and with the amount the top ring sets out I would estimate I will be pretty close to my goal of 1sq/ft. I will check once its done but I have a 1lb bag of fiber fill just in case it is a bit under.









Mold edges cut









Test fitting









Ring hot glued


















Stonehenge anyone?









Fabric attached









Doesnt take up much space at all, I'm pretty happy









Sticks out about just as far as the fender well









Stink bug...


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

Got a bunch of layers on the top last night, they were done drying today so I filled it up with water from a 2 liter to measure the volume. In an almost perfect feat of judgement, I made the enclosure 1.04 cuft, and since the speaker displacement is .05, that gives me a net volume of .99 cuft. almost the exact 1.0 cuft I was shooting for. Maybe when I add the speaker gaskets it will bump it up to almost perfect. 

I have a pound of polyfill I already bought so I might test the sound with some in there for an A B comparison. Now I am just need to resin the seam...there were a few drops of water leaking out and stick down some carpet and it will be done....well besides finding a shop that has a speaker terminal plate. Ill probably just drill a hole for the wires and silicone it up for now till I find one.

Still waiting on my amp to get back from the repair shop so I can test mount my tweeters and get them molded into the A pillars.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

GOOD JOB!!!! 

Speaker terminal can be had at RadioShack, BestBuy, CircuitCity


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

Trimmed off the excess mat and got a layer of bondo on the seams to smooth it out and help seal it. I am on a hunt tomorrow for some carpet that will match OEM.

So is it ok for me to mount the sub against the carpet or do I need to trim it away and use the gaskets that came with the sub. For that matter, if it is ok to put it on top of carpet, do i still use the gaskets? They are not very thick.


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## Mless5 (Aug 21, 2006)

As long as there is no air leaking you are good to go. Make sure you pre-drill small pilot holes.


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## jvr826 (Jan 8, 2010)

TAMUmpower said:


> I am on a hunt tomorrow for some carpet that will match OEM.


If your trunk liners are similar to those in the E46, Parts Express item number 260-767 matches pretty well...










Amp board and sub enclosure covered in that carpet.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

Sanded decently smooth, it test fits in the car just fine so I think I am done with the clean up. I'm not going to get around to carpet shopping today, guess I will have to wait till Monday. I am thinking now that maybe I should have tried to make my speaker ring round...lol. the outer edge would take a lot of filler to take out the wavy profile. Its not perfect but I dont think it will catch too many peoples eye in the end.

It felt really good to set the sub in there...you have no idea. I actually intended to have the enclosure only half that depth because the sub is not that tall, but once I made my initial volume measurement of the bottom mold I realized I would have to extend it. The hard work is done now. All thats left to do is carpet it and mount the sub.

Oh, and I have to mount the thing somehow. I think I am going to make some finished looking like .5in cube blocks to screw one in on each side in front of the boxs' edges to keep it from sliding forward. One would screw into the drivers taillight cover and the other the fenderwell carpet. Its either that or I have to actually screw through the box down into the plastic trunk floor panel and put the box and the panel in as one unit.


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## niceguy (Mar 12, 2006)

Nice job so far....I'm a f'glass noob myself. My little brother wants to drop a 10" in the rear deck of his '01 540i but I hate to cut on such a nice little car.

Btw, I was raised around College Station for about 15 years..Gig 'em AGGIES!!:rockon:


Jeremy


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

If the fit is snug then try some strips of heavy duty velcro,it worked for me.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

strong*I*bumpin said:


> If the fit is snug then try some strips of heavy duty velcro,it worked for me.


I thought about that. It would probably work but how do I get it to stick to the carpet of the trunk? Sew it on...?


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

TAMUmpower said:


> I thought about that. It would probably work but how do I get it to stick to the carpet of the trunk? Sew it on...?


Get the Velcro Sticky Back Hook & Loop Fastener and stick on only the non furry side to the enclosure so it grabs the trunk liner.This is how I secured my enclosure and it hasn't budge an inch.BTW nice job on the enclosure.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

*Update*

Got the box finished up. Now that it is all done I notice that the top righ corner is pretty weird. I should have rounded it off so that it didnt just stick out like that. When I make some more of these to sell I will have the shape cleaned up a little more and the fiberglassing will pre decently consistent since I got pretty good at it towards the last few layers.


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

:thumbsup:


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## dvc (Mar 28, 2009)

very good job.
thumbs up


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

My amp turned out to have a blown channel. The shop(db-r) fixed it, shipped it out and UPS dropped it off today. So I'm going to get to hear all my equipment for the first time later today. *fingers crossed*


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## jvr826 (Jan 8, 2010)

Awesome! Looking forward to hearing your listening impressions after all your hard work.

Sub looks great!


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

Ok first demo done. Impressions:

I just have the tweeters taped up on the pillars as the little orb thingys I am going to put them in are not finished yet. The clarity of the tweeters is extremely noticable compared to my old setup, which was the MB Quart e36 specific 3 way components from back whenever. The first track I played just happened to be a Black Eyed peas song, dont know the track #, buts its about electric stuff, and all of a sudden I heard all this static lightning that I had never heard before in the 3 different cars Ive played this cd in before. So check plus to hybrid on that.

I am not sure wheter to put the tweeter on 0 or -3, still deciding what will be best.

As for the sub...well if I put the seat down it is pretty smooth, but with the seat up it sounds a little funny to me. I have the rear speakers removed but there just isnt enough venting into the cabin. Not that I want it bassy but it just doesnt sound very natural through that rear deck. There are 4 3in x 3in cubes that I can see of the rear deck from the trunk where there is no metal covering them. So I believe I am going to cut holes in the rear deck at these locations and recover the rear deck in new material so as to discuise the holes.

So as for now, even with crappy tweeter mounting, its sounding pretty darn sharp.


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## jvr826 (Jan 8, 2010)

How about the mid-bass with your woofers in the kick panels? Plenty? Good blend with the tweeters? Have you gone for a drive and listened yet or just in-garage listening?


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

jvr826 said:


> How about the mid-bass with your woofers in the kick panels? Plenty? Good blend with the tweeters? Have you gone for a drive and listened yet or just in-garage listening?


Yea, I actually have the head unit on +2 for the bass control to get the midbass to the level I feel is right. I do not have any door panels on the car right now as I am re upholstering them in microsuede and filling and covering the old speaker holes. So needless to say I had a lot of road noise on the way to work today. I think I had the volume about 6-7 notches higher than I had it last night...which a little comment about that:

I went back out last night to play some more charts through the system. So far I had been impressed with the clarity on some normal pop/radio charts I had been playing, I wasnt preparted for how good these speakers sound at playing orchestral/jazz/big band music though. I am a accomplished classical and Jazz trumpet player, so I know exactly how instruments sound live and in different types of rooms. If I close my eyes, I feel like I am standing in front of my own band. The recordings sound so accurace, I can tell instantly what size of room the players were in when the recording was made. Impressive is all I can say, it really was an emotional experience listening to some of my old recordings, I felt like I was there back in time.

I hate to sound like some overhyped review, but playing perfectly accurate instrumentals/vocals are where these speakers shine. I can't say these are better than speaker xx as I do not have the ability to listen to much around here, but I know live instruments and vocals and the Clarus play them good, real good.

As for the sub again, it actually sounds better than I thought, it is just real dependent on the recording. Most of my newer, more professional artists have recordings mixed correctly and the bass mix feels pretty nice. Once I vent the rear deck a bit more it should be even better.

I started listening at 10pm, and had to drag myself out of the car to go to bed at what I thought was 11-11:30....it was 1am....


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

Good work. Subscribing.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

*Update*
So below are some pics of my tweeter pods which are taken from a thread on DIYMA about killing diffraction, which should help hide the source of the sound. I got these "dense" styrafoam eggs at hobby lobby for 2 bucks each. I just sawed the front off them and hollowed them out with a jewlers flat head screwdriver. Maybe my dremel would have been cleaner, but it was easy enough to just pick at it, took maybe 6min each to complete. They also sand very smooth if I have to paint them. I want to try to cover them in suede, however it will be tough to do it without rinkles. 

I am going to mount them using either clothes hanger wire or something a bit thicker. Ill make it decorative some how making it loop off of the egg in a few places, it will be nice too because I am using Hybrids swivel cups and since the wire will be bendable I will be able to adjust the positioning indefinently once I finish everything up. So since I didnt need to blend the tweeters into the A pillars, I went ahead and covered them in some black suede, which I will also be redoing the door panels, rear deck(the pic below is the holes on each side I will be cutting out of the rear deck), and if I have time, the entire dash.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

So spent a little time today strategically placing pieces of sound deadning on the trunk lid. This made a huge difference in making the bass sound much more natural, as well as feeling more like it was appearing further foward in the car.

Next I removed the rear deck shelf to cut the holes where I am going to vent the deck. Remember, as shown in an earlier pic, for whatever reason, below the deck there are 4 holes precut, so I am just going to drill a bunch of half inch holes in the rear decd=k where the holes are, they I will put new microsuede on the deck to hide the holes.

There are actually 2 very large pieces of rubber sound deadning on the undersize of the rear deck that had just fallen off over the years and was all wavy just sitting on the foam under it. About 5min in the oven at 200 degrees got the nice and pliable and I was able to press it back to a flat shape. The adhesive is no good though so I am going to have to glue them back on if I am to reuse it.

With the deck cover removed it currently sounds exactly like it will with my holes drilled as these are the only extra vents to the trunk that get exposed with the shelf removed. The bass is perfect now, I was able to turn the level down and it blends beautifully.

Next, I got one of the tweeter pods wrapped in the same black microsuede that I did the pillars in, it came out really well with only a few tiny bumps/wrinkles which I may be able to work out or hide depending on how I mount it. I am thinking now that I will attach the pod directly to the pillar due to the size on the pod. If I hang it out at all the drivers side pod gets in my field of vision REAL quick. It also hides the wire a lot easier.


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

so how u manage to secure the sub enclosure?


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## jvr826 (Jan 8, 2010)

The feedback you're providing is excellent, thanks!

I resolved my mid-bass issues... giving the Clarus woofers breathing room was the ticket. I like your comment about deadening the trunk lid... I think that will be my next thing to do too as well as working thru aiming the tweeters properly in the sail panel location.

Keep up the good work!


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

strong*I*bumpin said:


> so how u manage to secure the sub enclosure?


1 or 2 little squares of velcro was enough since it was so snug anyway. The carpet that wraps around the edges by an inch or so provides good friction against the trunk material.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

So a little continuation update. I ended up trashing the tweeter eggs I had made because I couldn't stand them catching my eye as I drive. I had the tweeters then mounted about 45 degrees off axis in the pillars, but now I am in the process of mounting them 90 degrees off axis firing across the dash. 

A little testing with some fabric thrown on the dash provided better imaging from the tweeters in their new firin direction so I have a suede dashboard mat/cover being made that Gould match my suede interior I have been working on. I know everyone hates these things but it's for sound and I'm going to embroider some sort of BMW motorsport text on it near the glove box to make it look a bit more OEM. 

The big update is that I just got a good deal on an old JL e6450 6 channel amp. I'm going to sell my Clarus passive crossovers and go active with full crossover control/parametric EQ/time alignment being provided by 2 MiniDSP boxes. I'm going to buy a nice microphone and use REW to help with the EQing sice it will be my first time going active. 

I think I'm going to keep my nice Memphis Mc3004 amp around in case I try to go 3 way up front some time down the road. It will look nice on my desk...


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## tlow98 (Oct 8, 2009)

wow lots of good stuff in here. So you thnik the tweeter change was good for an improvement on the sound? i would have thought those pods were perfect.

anyway, great install!


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

very nice. i wish I had the knowhow to build a custom box, im sure i could manage but i'm so afraid of getting a poorly tuned box :\ did you get a good sounding box on your first attempt?


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

eviling said:


> very nice. i wish I had the knowhow to build a custom box, im sure i could manage but i'm so afraid of getting a poorly tuned box :\ did you get a good sounding box on your first attempt?


Well there really isn't any tuning involved with a sealed box. You just get the volume right by the what the specs sheet for the woofer says. Once the back side is made you can estimate the volume by prefilling the thing with styrafoam or water or something. Before you resin the top part just tape the material in place and using something other than water you can see if you need to move the ring in or out farther to get more or less volume.

This was my first try fiberglassing. It's not hard just read the how to threads. 

To the other poster above while the pods did hide the point source or the speaker well o just couldn't stand them in my periferial vision. I tried molding them in at the same angle but I could easily tell where the sound was coming from. Now I am firing them across the dash and it's pretty good, I think they blend in better now that they are broken in. Before I didn't like them in that configuration but now I do, and it's also what I see on the competition vehicles. Oh yea, and when they were on axis I had the passive crossovers set at -3. Now with them pointing off axis I have their level at 0.

The suede dash mat I have in the mail should help clean up some of the reflections(testin with towels showed good results) and my new amp and DSP sould be here in a few weeks so with my soon coming active setup and parametric EQ abilities I should be able to really improve the response of all the drivers and make up for the tweeters being do far off axis. 

I don't think the Clarus tweeters are going to be as hot off axis as some of the other offerings from HAT but I'm goig to see how much performance I can get out of them before I consider an upgrade.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

well thats easy to say when your sub is 30 lbs, but my W12gti mkii is like 50 lbs and has one of the biggest depths ive ever seen :\ plus i don't know how i feel about running it sealed, it just sounds so clean ported. i'd had to have to seal it up just for space


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

eviling said:


> well thats easy to say when your sub is 30 lbs, but my W12gti mkii is like 50 lbs and has one of the biggest depths ive ever seen :\ plus i don't know how i feel about running it sealed, it just sounds so clean ported. i'd had to have to seal it up just for space


Really...my box isn't scared of 50lbs...actually that sub is 41 pounds and my IDQ is 18. I jumped on the thing before I put it in my car. And yea I wouldn't want a ported box in my daily driver unless I had something huge. Ported for my sub would mean doubling the volume, and I just am not willing to lose that kinda space. 

Depth isn't as issue you just make what you need. I could have almost mounted my sub in my backing mold alone, but made it have the dimensions it does for volume. You could have the magnet angle to a corner and make the box a bit wider to sneak some extra space in there.


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## hcaleman (Jan 19, 2011)

Just starting to contemplate redoing my E36 M, glad I found this thread. Do you have any more detailed picture of the mid fitment in the kick panels? Would like to get a better idea of how much cutting was involved (or was it only the trim panel that was cut?).

Right now I have the usual BSW/Rainbow Soundline setup in the car. Looking at the Clarus also and dropping the rear speakers altogether and going with a small sub (leaning towards a JL 8w3)in the back to make it easily removable for track events. 

Thanks


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## Chriskb3 (Jan 12, 2011)

You do have to cut some sheet metal to get 6.5" to fit, but it's really not too much, just a half crescent. In addition to this, you have to trim off the ring on the inside of the trim panel.

TAMUmpower, how low on the pillars do you have the tweeters? I'm about to start playing with placement, but going active 3-way. Midrange placement is going to be a issue too unless I stick with the stock location.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

hcaleman said:


> Just starting to contemplate redoing my E36 M, glad I found this thread. Do you have any more detailed picture of the mid fitment in the kick panels? Would like to get a better idea of how much cutting was involved (or was it only the trim panel that was cut?).
> 
> Right now I have the usual BSW/Rainbow Soundline setup in the car. Looking at the Clarus also and dropping the rear speakers altogether and going with a small sub (leaning towards a JL 8w3)in the back to make it easily removable for track events.
> 
> Thanks


I might but I'm not sure. There really isn't much to it. Just take a piece of cardboard and draw out the mounting diameter if your mid. Should be noted in the manual. Then just trace around it with a sharpie onto the metal of the kick. You are only cutting the facia metal by about half an inch. You can feel with your fingers where you have extra space and not. I made my cut more on one side of the kick than the other since there was more space in the kick space that direction. 

You have to get some creative angles with the dremel to finish the cut and be ready for sparks to be flying. I had a friend take a picture with his camera phone of the sparks but I don't know if he still has it.


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

Chriskb3 said:


> You do have to cut some sheet metal to get 6.5" to fit, but it's really not too much, just a half crescent. In addition to this, you have to trim off the ring on the inside of the trim panel.
> 
> TAMUmpower, how low on the pillars do you have the tweeters? I'm about to start playing with placement, but going active 3-way. Midrange placement is going to be a issue too unless I stick with the stock location.


Believe it or not I never finished my tweeter install. I was not completely happy with any of my 3 pod/anti diffraction attempts. I have them just high enough to clear the gauge pod part of the dash. I am converting to active with DSP as well so I am going to wait till I have that setup before I decide on what angle I want. Then I'm just going to flush mount it into the pillar. 

I wish I had a truck and could do a pod but the interior is just too small for that as anything coming off the drivers pillar goes right into your view. Sometimes practicality comes first. 

And it doesn't really matter what size you put in if your going go remove it. You can pull a 12 out just ad easy as an 8 technically.


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## Chriskb3 (Jan 12, 2011)

I feel your pain. I originally wanted to try to set up a small mid/tweet arrangement in the pillars, but there was no way to get it to fit without sticking way out. Keep us updated on your upgrade, and I'll try to do the same. Are you located in CS?


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## TAMUmpower (Jan 29, 2010)

Chriskb3 said:


> I feel your pain. I originally wanted to try to set up a small mid/tweet arrangement in the pillars, but there was no way to get it to fit without sticking way out. Keep us updated on your upgrade, and I'll try to do the same. Are you located in CS?


Yea I'm still in CS. I'm not positive but I think I read about it being probably better to have ur mid in the kick and then the midbass in the door. It's going to take more to get the path length differences all sorted out but you don't have many options in our cars given how close your head is to everything. 

I like how my 6.5 sounds down there though and I have a pretty high stage for no DSP. My RTA mic and preamp should be in next week so I'm going to have some fun seeing what my current setup spits out on the response graph. It might be a bit funky right noe because I don't have the door panels in so the reflections are probably a bit worse than they should be


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## hcaleman (Jan 19, 2011)

Thanks for the tips. I've got to start pulling the existing stuff out of the car and see what I ultimately want to do.


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