# 91 Corolla, need midrange!



## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Hello again everyone! I bought this '91 Corolla to get me to school after I quit my job, selling the 4Runner because of mileage 

First thing I did was pull the SA-8 V.2s from the 4Runner and drop them in the Rolla. I built the box to fit between the wheel wells in the 99 4Runner and it turns out the space between the wheel wells in a 91 Corolla is also 38 inches! I may do a PWK box later but for now this will do.









The interior is pretty clean for being a 20 year old car that is cheap and usually treated as such.




































The 4" speakers are literally painful to listen to. I need to fix that. Lucky me, I have a pair of Imagine I61-2v2 & a pair of Mirus M61-2 that were destined for the 4Runner. Problem, the 4Runner has ample room to hide 6.5s behind all four door panels, the Corolla doesn't. Here's what we have to work with...




































Obviously I wont be fitting 6.5s in the dash, and I can't do kicks because I NEED the dead pedal, that only leaves...









I don't want to cut these door panels but I think it is necessary. I feel bad cutting nice panels but in the name of good sound I think I can do it. Unless anyone has any better ideas I will probably just stack MDF rings off of the door shell until the speaker fits. Then find some ugly grilles so that they look like crappy speakers from the outside. Probably something similar for the package tray assuming I can work something out that doesn't come in contact with the glass. If you've got any other ideas please thow them out there. Thanks!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

It really would be a shame to cut those panels. Sooo clean.
I'd almost look for another set to mod.

Jay


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

I agree. I think even finding a set would be a challenge. I was looking for one of these for about 3 months before I bought this one and this is the only one I saw with power windows.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Pics of the car? My first car was an '87 Chevy Nova...same body style, IIRC.

Jay


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## Pitmaster (Feb 16, 2010)

I drove a '92 Corrolla for about 10 years and 200k miles.
I cut into a perfect set of front door trim panels( bought it with 8k original miles), fabed some pods from MDF for some 6.5 Kappas in the doors, tweets in the sails, no regrets.
The factory 4's in the dash are mounted in sealed enclosures(Bose like).
Maybe they could be used with an aftermarket speaker?


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

JayinMI said:


> Pics of the car? My first car was an '87 Chevy Nova...same body style, IIRC.


I'll post some when I get it clean. Yeah, same chassi and drive train. I believe minor differences like bumpers, tails, extra quarter window, and interior stylings.



Pitmaster said:


> I drove a '92 Corrolla for about 10 years and 200k miles.
> I cut into a perfect set of front door trim panels( bought it with 8k original miles), fabed some pods from MDF for some 6.5 Kappas in the doors, tweets in the sails, no regrets.
> The factory 4's in the dash are mounted in sealed enclosures(Bose like).
> Maybe they could be used with an aftermarket speaker?


Wouldn't happen to have any pics of those doors would you?


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## Pitmaster (Feb 16, 2010)

Sorry, no pics. That was pre build log, just build it.
I had the speakers in a octogon shaped pod, angled on-axis to the opposite side, with door metal cut-out behind the speaker.
Looked just ok, but sounded great.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Right on. Is it worth the extra work for me to aim them at the opposite headrest?

I'm trying to put a minimal ammount of work in this one and lower my standards. I am usually a perfectionist but the problem with that is that I want things so perfect that I never finish a project. With this one I just want to get it done so that I actually finish something, at least getting to hear them instead of looking at them in the box for years because I can't handle the hole I dug.


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## JCoffey (Feb 8, 2008)

I miss my old Corolla! Actually if you want to get some midrange up front look into a good 4" full range like the Dayton RS100 Parts Express has them for less than $30 each and you wouldnt have to worry about the fab work of cutting into the door panels


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## Pitmaster (Feb 16, 2010)

The battle between perfection vs gittr-donne is a problem for me also.
What about surface mounting the Imagines flat on the door, and use the 45 
degree tweeter mounting cup? (I'm sure you thought of that already)
But again, maybe some nice 4's in those factory enclosures...


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

With the semester's end I was able to find some time to work on a few projects I had going on. Had to swap an engine in a Camry I bought to flip, also did the valve cover gasket and distributor seals in the corolla. Found some time to start on the trunk of the Corolla. I have a PWK box to build for the SA-8 v.2s, and a 1200x1 AQ amp for them once the new box is done.





To start off I wanted to build an amp rack to hang the amps underneath the package tray. First made a piece to space the amp rack down in order to clear the trunk hinges.


It will attach here...


After it was all cleaned up...


In for the last time before carpet...




Then made a template for the amp rack so that it would conform to the body structure in the trunk, transferred to MDF and massaged with files until it fit, then attached until I take it back out again and carpet it. 










After the amps are mounted I will do my best at sealing the package tray and then stuff above the rack with PolyFill. This took me about 6 or 7 hours. It's slow progress but it feels good to get moving again.


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## Mrnurse (Sep 8, 2011)

updates?


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Uh updates, yeah...

Very busy lately with school, haven't been working so no moneys for big big boom stereo. But here's some stuff I've done within the last 6 months. Finally built the PWK box, it's AWESOME! Not a whole lot louder than my box but much much cleaner. I always recommend PWK for designs.































































Brings the corolla down from a 10 sec 1/4 to 10.5 









Going in...









My old box went into my buddy's focus with his Sundown E-8s...


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Also re-did the rear deck because it was so horrible, the wood panel was disintegrating so I made a copy of it and re-covered it, made some simple ring spacers to fit the Hybrid Mirus 6.5s. Very happy with how it turned out, I actually have sound from the rear of the car now with very little from the front because of the blown factory 4" in the dash. The Imagines for the front doors are next on the install list.



















Safety first!



























Deck cut...









How low the speakers hang, anymore and they're touching the package tray...


















Wires, still using factory wiring from the deck until I get the Alpine 4 channel in then these will take over...









Used a few layers of foil tape to stop some of the air from the trunk, really just trying to protect the rear speakers from the subs. Between the foil tape and the MDF baffle below there was a huge improvement.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

So here is the rear deck complete...



























And the trunk as it is for now. Once my 4 gauge comes in I will flip the amp up to the top of the trunk and rewire everything.



























And someone asked for pics of the car, here she is in all her glory...


















And the co-pilot, Jeff...


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

The next thing to do is get wiring and actually get some real 4ga on my 1200rms amp instead of 8ga that I had laying around :/

After that the front speakers need to go in and I would like to start sound deadning but all that is stopping me is money and time haha.

I would also like to make a new floor in the trunk out of mdf with a folding door to access the spare. Fixing the A/C and window tint are on the list too.

After everything is done I have been playing with the idea of some IB 15s


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

**** that cassette fabric is dope! I need to get me some of that!


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

sinister-kustoms said:


> **** that cassette fabric is dope! I need to get me some of that!


I know, I love it! I was just browsing at the fabric store looking for blue plaid to match the factory blue and saw that! I bought enough to do the headliner too haha.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Got some new stuff today. Sonic was selling a pair of JBL GTO 15s for ~$160 shipped, couldn't pass it up since I have been wanting to try a trunk baffle for a while. Also, worked out a trade with my brother, he is getting my SA-8s and he bought me an Alpine PDX-M6 and RUX-KNOB to go with these subs. Nice amp that I think I can fit under my seat and will match my 4-channel PDX better.

I am super excited to get a wall into this trunk!!!










Should I be trying to mount them as far apart as possible?



















And the PDX I got from Amazon through some other car stereo website. Some of the reviews people said they got refurb or DOA amps without paperwork. This one appears to be legit, box was in perfect shape, everything was sealed with paperwork...


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## ZombieHunter85 (Oct 30, 2012)

Hows the build coming? make any templates for the 15's yet? I didn't get a chance this weekend with valentines day and all, instead I ended up making a twin bed frame out of 
2x4 and 2x6 for the head/foot boards for my boy. I did take one out of the box and drool for a minute though lol


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

ZombieHunter85 said:


> Hows the build coming? make any templates for the 15's yet? I didn't get a chance this weekend with valentines day and all, instead I ended up making a twin bed frame out of
> 2x4 and 2x6 for the head/foot boards for my boy. I did take one out of the box and drool for a minute though lol


Yeah worked on it a little, made the template. Tomorrow I will probably start cutting wood... Still trying to come up with strong ways to attach it to the car.



















Amps are all going above the subs underneath the package tray, probably something like this...


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## rxonmymind (Sep 7, 2010)

Digging the cassette fabric & the build. Keep it up!


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

rxonmymind said:


> Digging the cassette fabric & the build. Keep it up!


Thanks for commenting, glad you like!


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

First baffle is cut, it gets dark too fast and I don't like cutting wood in the shop because it goes EVERYWHERE!

I'm pretty happy with the fit of the baffle but I'm going to have to flush mount the speakers to make them fit. I am hoping that a double baffle will be strong enough. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to attach the top edge without just having huge bolts pinching the pinch weld above. The bottom will be braced with a horizontal piece of MDF in front of the baffle on the floor with bolts through the floor as long as there is nothing underneath.


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## Nacho (Jul 4, 2011)

I like where this is going . Very nice so far &#55357;&#56397;


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Nacho said:


> I like where this is going . Very nice so far ��


Thanks!


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## knever3 (Mar 9, 2009)

It's good to see you are using the old Sony xm amp!


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## SQLnovice (Jul 22, 2014)

Subd because I love these corolla. My first car was a 84 corolla. I'm also interested in the outcome of those subs.


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## ZombieHunter85 (Oct 30, 2012)

Damn you work fast keep up the good work!


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks guys!

I made a decent size order today. The only thing I still need is a DEH-80PRS but I'm gonna have to wait on that one a while...

Amazon...
100ft spool Monoprice 12ga speaker wire
120A MANL fuses
70A MANL fuses

Sonic...
2x 250A Xscorpion circuit breakers
2x NVX Batt terminals
T-spec + Distro
T-spec - Distro

Wire and Supply...
10x 1/0 ring terminals
15ft 1/0awg black
6ft 4awg red
6ft 4awg black

KnuKonceptz...
10ft Kolossus Fleks 8ga red
10ft Kolossus Fleks 8ga blue

eBay...
50ft 1/4 techflex
25ft 3/8 techflex


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## timbo2 (Apr 25, 2009)

I love this little Toyota! It's stealing my heart. Also cool carpet on the rear tray. Keep up the hard work....


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## tulse (Mar 16, 2010)

You so need a shirt out of the cassette material. In fact, a whole suit... and a hat!


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

tulse said:


> You so need a shirt out of the cassette material. In fact, a whole suit... and a hat!


Haha maybe just a pair of boxers...


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Thought you guys might get a kick out of this....
I've only gotten pulled over for it once so far....


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

I needed to flush mount the subs in order for them to clear the bulkhead at the top so I used a sheet of 3/8 ply in between two sheets of 3/4 MDF. Got the holes cut today still need to glue them all together and then find ways to attach everything to the car...


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## Paulluap (Nov 5, 2013)

Great build so far. I too love that cassette fabric, very cool! Those subs should help you find all the rattles


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Paulluap said:


> Great build so far. I too love that cassette fabric, very cool! Those subs should help you find all the rattles


Thanks! Yes they will! I'm sure there won't be any shortage!

I've been working a lot lately, at this point I think I am done with fabrication on the baffle and attachments all thats left is cosmetic and putting it all back in the car.

First thing was the base plate, this is screwed into the floor where there is an empty bulkhead below that I can't get to the underside of. I was going to use nutserts but the floor is not smooth and they would never set. I ended up using 15 #10 stainless steel sheet metal screws and tinnerman washers.





































Across the top the baffle is attached via #10 stainless machine screws all going through the trunk bulkhead's pinch weld into a nut plate in some angle aluminum on the other side of the baffle. Both pieces of angle aluminum are 6061T6 because that is what I had laying around for scrap. The angle aluminum may be used later to mount hinges for the amp rack and new floor.























































The bottom is screwed from behind  the baffle into the floor piece with about 12 three inch long deck screws with more tinnerman washers and through another piece of 6061.




























Vertical side pieces were made with a nice round-over, they are bolted through the body into the wheel well with for #10 stainless machine screws each and nyloc nuts on the back which will be sprayed with rubberized undercoat once the baffle goes in for the final time. The baffle is screwed into these also using 3 inch wood screws.



















Sweat? Check
Blood? Check
Tears? Hopefully when I finally get to hear it....










Last thing for the night was glueing the whole baffle together, once dry it is ready for carpet and final installation...


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

AAAANNND!!! I got some pretty cool stuff in the mail today...










Scan 22W 8" Midbass
Scan 10F 4" Midrange
Seas H1396 1" Tweeter


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## SO20thCentury (Sep 18, 2014)

toylocost said:


>


91 Corolla need midrange!
Damn, what you running for lows?
Nice clean rear deck work & love that fabric.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

SO20thCentury said:


> 91 Corolla need midrange!
> Damn, what you running for lows?
> Nice clean rear deck work & love that fabric.


I know, it's ironic. I need mids because I have so much bass. What do I do? Get bigger subs!


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

You gonna get 8's in the doors or kicks? 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

teldzc1 said:


> You gonna get 8's in the doors or kicks?
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk


Can't do kicks, and it would be very hard to glass a proper enclosure into my doors so at this point I'm leaning towards glassing sealed enclosures in the floor in front of the seats facing up.

4"s and tweets will probably be in the a pillars.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Got lots done today. Carpet done, speakers in, baffle in the car. The sub install is pretty much complete. Next will be amps and wiring.

Painted the body where it would have shown through white, didn't want to see any white when the seats are folded down...










Carpeting all the pieces...










The fit was so perfect that I had to push the speakers into the baffle...



















Here is a pic of the backside of the side braces, I had to drop the struts out of the car to access this area. They are now covered in undercoating.










And the money shots...























































And one of the final puzzle pieces came in today. Thanks to AVIDEDTR from the classifieds...


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Hooked up a temporary amp today and wow. They are sooooo much better than the 8's. Much cleaner and on less than half the power. It feels like they play lower and higher than the 8's and it is effortless. It blends much better with the other speakers in there now. On top of that it moves a lot more air, feeling the higher frequencies is really nice. I am very happy with how it all turned out. Next on the list is and amp rack and some wires....


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

If anyone is still reading, how do you think I should organize the amp rack? I have the 3 amps and the DSP to mount. What do you think looks best? The DSP is small enough that I might just mount it somewhere else and do only the three amps on this board.... And the board will be cut along the curved line...


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Phenomenal work, dude! Everything looks amazing so far.

I probably missed it, but where are you mounting the amp rack? Under the parcel shelf?


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

bbfoto said:


> Phenomenal work, dude! Everything looks amazing so far.
> 
> I probably missed it, but where are you mounting the amp rack? Under the parcel shelf?


Yep under the parcel shelf, the amps will be mounted upside down with the wires going through the board. It will be mounted on a hinge so that it can swing down for access to the wiring.

And thanks for the compliments!!!!!!

Edit: now that I think about it I like the last pic if I move the DSP, or the second to last if I keep it. I think I will also move the power and ground distribution blocks to the amp rack so that they can be seen. Just need to decide whether to keep or move the DSP.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Cool. Keep the DSP with the Amps in order to keep the RCA interconnect runs shorter and simpler between the DSP and the Amplifiers.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

bbfoto said:


> Cool. Keep the DSP with the Amps in order to keep the RCA interconnect runs shorter and simpler between the DSP and the Amplifiers.


I'm actually just using RCAs I have laying around which are full length so it won't make much difference, but if I ever want to I can change them out for shorter ones. 

Here's pics for the last couple days, just using piano hinge for the hinge and another piece of angle aluminum to make a step for the rack to bolt to. The extra amp is just temporary so I have bass until everything is properly wired. I decided to throw the distribution blocks on there too, next up is wiring...


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## Mrnurse (Sep 8, 2011)

Looking great man. Wish I would have kept my little old civic.


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## Mless5 (Aug 21, 2006)

Looks so clean ... without the wiring


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## ZombieHunter85 (Oct 30, 2012)

Looks Sick!!! I bet you can't wait to hear those 2 15"s in IB


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Mrnurse said:


> Looking great man. Wish I would have kept my little old civic.


Thanks! I love everything about this car except front wheel drive haha



Mless5 said:


> Looks so clean ... without the wiring


Maybe I'll just leave it that way!



ZombieHunter85 said:


> Looks Sick!!! I bet you can't wait to hear those 2 15"s in IB


Thanks! Been listening to them for a few days with a temporary amp, mentioned a couple posts ago but they are sounding great!


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Moved to a new thread...

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...ib-trunk-baffle-jbl-helix-scanspeak-seas.html


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