# Evo VIII Budget SQ Install



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

Ok, I had an old thread but it was outdated with old info I could not edit so I'm letting that die and starting fresh. I got the car last October and started thinking about what I was going to do with it...and then winter came.. and now winters gone !! Time to get started !! The equipment I will be using consists of..

Eclipse CD8053 HU
Audiocontrol Matrix level matcher/line driver
OS Soundstream Reference Class A3.0 amps (I STILL NEED ONE !!)
Rainbow Germanium components
Knu 4 ga. power/ground cables
Knu Karma RCA's

The Rainbows will run active off the HU and the Class A's for power. Mids will be in the factory door hole and the tweets will be up top somewhere. The car has factory tweets in the A-pillar so I don't know if I will just replace the factory tweet with the Rainbow or install the Rainbow into the corners of the dash firing at the windshield.. I had this setup before and was happy with the way it performed.

The doors will be sound deadened. Being that the $ is tight.. I have some rolls of Karnak Butyl tape with a foil backing that I am going to use on the doors. Maybe not the best stuff to use, but can't beat the price...lol I also have a couple cans of Cascade Quiet-Kote spray I will be unloading on the doors also.

I ordered a set of 1/4" thick PVC speaker adapters from the online dude that makes them. When they arrived, I was like...these thing are a joke so I used them as a template and made new adapters out of this building material called AZEK.. Super strong and impervious to water. They are 3/8" thick and should work pretty good. Then the drivers will be installed with XTC baffles.

I started stage 1 today.. Interior dis assembly and sound deadening.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

The door metal is rather flimsy. They are going to move with the Rainbows !! Mitsubishi used the nastiest glue for the vapor barrier I EVER seen !  It does not come off !!
One whole can of Cascade quiet kote on the inside of each door. I then used the butyl tape on the outer parts. Whada Pita, I hope i did this ok?!? I don't have the patience for this...lol

















































I still have the drivers door to do with the butyl tape. Next goal is to run the speaker wires from trunk into the doors and then install the drivers. Now I have the joy of riding around in my hoopty with no interior panels for a while...:laugh:


----------



## PottersField (Mar 18, 2011)

Let me know how the butyl tape works. I'm thinking of trying it to cut down on vibrations without adding a ****load of weight. I don't need a soundproof tomb, just need to make things a bit more civil.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

I finished the doors today before the rain. I double layered the tape on the doors. When I closed the door, it was quite a noticeable difference in how it sounded. It just felt much more solid ! I am expecting good results but I have no basis to compare to.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Good work so far. Are you going to seal the holes off too?


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

strakele said:


> Good work so far. Are you going to seal the holes off too?


I wasn't planning on it. I was going to install the driver into the door with an XTC baffle. 

Hopefully I can run some wire today.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Most people will tell you to cut the bottom out of those things so the drivers can breathe and just use the baffle to keep water off of them.


----------



## torontooddysey (Feb 5, 2011)

I've used that quiet kote before and you really have to put a LOT to see any results.. also I would but the butyl tape on the inside of the doors as well


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

WOOT WOOT, Wires in the doors ! Fished right through the factory booty and down the sill plate. The sills have plenty of room for cables on both sides !! I am using Soundking 16ga. speaker wire. Next I can install the adapter plates and drivers. Then button the doors back up. I hope the panel will fit over the driver without having to trim the inside. We will see !


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)




----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

Ok, got the drivers installed yesterday. I am happy with the way they turned out. No issues, everything buttoned up nice and tight! I left the foam baffles intact for now with just the wire poking through. I am debating on the tweeter placement, not sure where I want them yet. Next I will work on getting the 4ga. ran with the fuse block under the hood while I wait for the Monster DJ Pro RCA's to get delivered.


----------



## Fus1on (Feb 25, 2011)

Subscribed .... i've seen you post about the tape before but now seeing it applied, i'm interested and good luck with the install.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

I fricken need one more of this OS sweetness !! Whos got one??:cwm13:


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

lol budget build with rainbows XD an oxymoron if i ever heard one tehe looks good.


----------



## yogegoy (Feb 11, 2011)

Seeing images of the contents from the Cascade spray reminded me of rust proofing material (Tuff-Kote Dinol and Ziebart) used in the automotive industry.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

Alright, I got ALOT done today and have alot of pics. I will put a little description on the top of each picture.

I popped off the A-pillars and started scoping things out....









I came to the conclusion that I wanted the tweeters in the corners of the dash. I had excellent results from this location in my last vehicle. I started to pull things apart...

















A few choice words and about an hour later... It' out !

























After getting the dash out, I marked the holes and cut the leather. No turning back now !! I had to go and get a 2" hole saw to drill the hole through the base plastic.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

I got the dash back in and the tweet wires up into the holes

























Now that's done, I moved onto running the 4 ga. power cable and installing a fuse block under the hood.

















The 4ga. happen to snap right into factory clips running down the sill...Sweet !









Next I ran the 2 RCA cables from the dash, down the center console to under the carpet, under the rear seat and then into trunk...

















Next I started to reinstall the interior. I ended having to trim the inside of the door panel and with the panel installed, It is still REALLY close to the driver. I think I'm going to have to rework things. I don't know what to do.









Got the interior back together !!


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

some final pics of what I did today. The tweeter pockets and tweets will be glued into the holes. I can start planning where I'm going to mount the equipment in the trunk and get the 8053 installed!


----------



## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

ANy probs with the SRS light or pass airbag when you reinstalled the dash?
Mine is out too

I'd actually like to bypass the pass airbag if possible, but there is little info on how to do it on Lancers/Evos successfully


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

Mic10is said:


> ANy probs with the SRS light or pass airbag when you reinstalled the dash?
> Mine is out too
> 
> I'd actually like to bypass the pass airbag if possible, but there is little info on how to do it on Lancers/Evos successfully


No problems, just disconnect the battery when reinstalling. I don't think I would bypass the airbag. There is little info about it for a reason. If you ever got into an accident with a passenger and the bag did not deploy, the insurance company is going to want to know why and if they find out it was bypassed.. your screwed bigtime because they won't cover anything and it'll be on you. Is your house and and everything you own worth it?

That's JMO... to each his own


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

I replied to your question in my thread, but after looking at your most recent pictures, I see that you did the same thing I did with the back of the door panel. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot else that can be done to improve clearance issues without really customizing the door panel.

That being said, I had 7's on 1/2" rings and they were fine, so I'm nearly positive your Rainbows will be fine on a 3/8" baffle.


----------



## bsmith203 (Jul 23, 2008)

Nice job so far. Please take my advice and cut the entire back off of the foam protectors you put on your front speakers. They will make those rainbows sound worse than the factory speakers once you put power to them. Why you ask? It's only foam and any mid bass going to those drivers will vibrate the hell out of that foam causing you to think the drivers are blown. This is not my opinion it's a fact as I used those things back in 2004 in a install and had to glass them cause they were so noisy.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

bsmith203 said:


> Nice job so far. Please take my advice and cut the entire back off of the foam protectors you put on your front speakers. They will make those rainbows sound worse than the factory speakers once you put power to them. Why you ask? It's only foam and any mid bass going to those drivers will vibrate the hell out of that foam causing you to think the drivers are blown. This is not my opinion it's a fact as I used those things back in 2004 in a install and had to glass them cause they were so noisy.


I ended up ripping a big hole in the bottom of them for now to act as like a port. When I get the system ready to fire up for the 1st time, I will pull the door cards back off and fine tune everything when they are operating.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

I just might be ok with the door card...

















I was playing around with some of the equipment for the trunk and I think I cam to a conclusion on mounting everything. I'm going to fab a mounting board with a vertical backstop. The amps will lay flat so the heatsinks will dissipate the heat properly and everything else will mount on the vertical plane..


















Tomorrow I will try to get the 8053 and the tweets installed and close up the dash...And I need to run the turn on wire from the 8053 to the trunk..I forgot that when I did the RCA's..lol It's easy though.. I will also run the 3rd RCA when I install a sub. Just thought I would cover that...lol

I am going to run the Ref 200 on tweets, Class A 3.0 on mids and the 500 is reserved for sub duty. I need to find another Class A 3.0 or 6.0 for the front stage and then the Ref 200 will be a spare..


----------



## n_olympios (Oct 23, 2008)

Nice, although I'd never drill holes in the dash like that, especially when you have tweeters in the pillars already. You'll get a bunch load of reflections now.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

n_olympios said:


> Nice, although I'd never drill holes in the dash like that, especially when you have tweeters in the pillars already. You'll get a bunch load of reflections now.


The tweeters in the a-pillar are dead and I will be replacing the panels with solid ones eventually. Alot of people have good results from that location and my last vehicle sounded amazing with the tweets in the same spot so I rolled the die...and I will have full control over them to tune them...


----------



## n_olympios (Oct 23, 2008)

You might have full control over them, but not over the early reflections from the windscreen. 
On the other hand, this might be a benefit to some systems/cars. Rules in car audio theory are sometimes there just for us to break them. 

I should've explained further in my previous post, _I_ wouldn't do that because if at some point you wanted to return the car to full stock, replacing a pair of pillars would be easier (and cheaper) than replacing the dash. But that's just me. 

Edited because I also forgot to mention: I love your choice of amps (and car).


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

n_olympios said:


> You might have full control over them, but not over the early reflections from the windscreen.
> On the other hand, this might be a benefit to some systems/cars. Rules in car audio theory are sometimes there just for us to break them.
> 
> I should've explained further in my previous post, _I_ wouldn't do that because if at some point you wanted to return the car to full stock, replacing a pair of pillars would be easier (and cheaper) than replacing the dash. But that's just me.
> ...


I kind of think the windshield reflection is a benefit if you have the ability to tune and adjust. I think it fills the stage better.. 

I know the deal with returning to stock  I plan on keeping the car for a while and I kind of like to be different as opposed to just slapping the tweets in the stock location and calling it a day. And I didn't want to get involved with fabbing pods or anything crazy looking..


----------



## n_olympios (Oct 23, 2008)

That's a fair point.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

8053 is in the hole. Just need to locate a trim ring. Didn't think I would need it but I do.. The tweets are in the pockets, I will glue them after I fire up the system.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

Now for some eye candy ! These babies are the cleanest I've seen !!


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

I got the amp board done. It's a little heavier then what I wanted but it'll work ok. It's some kind of plastic composite. The power dist. block will be put into the upper left and the ground block into the upper right. I'm getting close to producing sound although I still need to..
Service and clean the amps
Order and install the power blocks
Wire the trunk
Remove doors cards and tweak the woofer install a little

After that, I can fire up the Ref200 on tweets and the CA 3.0 on the mids
I can't wait !! The Ref 500 will sit dormant until I get a sub...


----------



## LouderPlease (Apr 28, 2011)

Amp board looks fantastic!


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

LouderPlease said:


> Amp board looks fantastic!



Thanks! It'll look even better when it's in the trunk.


----------



## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

Interested in seeing how all those wires off the amp rack "disappear"... Clean looking SS gear though. Too bad that little reference wasn't a CA 3.0 :-( Oh, and replace that Ref500 with a CA10.0  Oh, and replace that 4ga with 1/0 ga  Lovin' the build so far!


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

farfromovin said:


> Interested in seeing how all those wires off the amp rack "disappear"... Clean looking SS gear though. Too bad that little reference wasn't a CA 3.0 :-( Oh, and replace that Ref500 with a CA10.0  Oh, and replace that 4ga with 1/0 ga  Lovin' the build so far!


Who said the wires were going to disappear ??  

Nahh, The wires will be in sight but neat. I did think about routing under the bottom to make them disappear but said the hell with that, for now. Although I do have something in the bag of tricks ! The Ref 200 is temporary until I can locate another CA 3.0 to match the other. I'm keeping the Ref 500...lol


----------



## chtaylor71 (Sep 26, 2009)

Great progress look forward the completion of this build...


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

I redid the woofer install and gained a couple extra millimeters clearance of the door cards. I then serviced the amps. Cleaned the insides, switches, and applied new thermal compound.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

I then wired the board for the maiden voyage with leftover wire I had. I got Phoenix Gold dist. blocks locally. I need to order some new power cable to get everything to match. I think I'm going to go with the red and black. This is temporary for right now to make sure everything operates properly. Right now, It is set up bi-amped with the 200 on tweets and the 3.0 on the doors. I will install the 500 when I get a sub.


----------



## mcm308 (Nov 24, 2010)

I made sure all the gains were down, dropped in the main fuse and fired the system !! WOOWWWWWWWWWWW !! Spent about 2 hours making adjustments, listening, and tweaking. WOWWWWWWWWWW !! 

I will probably run it bi-amped for a while before I send the speakers directly to the amps...lol


----------



## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

n_olympios said:


> Nice, although I'd never drill holes in the dash like that, especially when you have tweeters in the pillars already. You'll get a bunch load of reflections now.


True, but now everything is early reflections. It could work to his advantage. In the pillars, you will get late reflections off the glass, so which is worse? Reflections will happen no matter what. I actually was real worried about this with my TL when I wanted to use factory locations because it was my demo car. Bing did a TL and noted that is sounded like on-axis response and I would have to agree with him. Having the tweeters bounce right off the glass may not be a bad thing. I wouldn't try it with metal tweeters though!


----------



## Jersey Strong (Oct 16, 2010)

Nice Setup

Those are some nice Rainbows.


----------

