# 2004 G35 Coupe Trunk Renovation :)



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Its pretty rare that we get to do a version 2.0 on a previous installation, but, it just so happens that a car i did almost five years ago came in last week for a freshen up. 

here is a link to the old install from back in the day:

Newest simple G35 Stealth Install  - G35Driver










the ONLY changes he made to the equipment of the trunk is to swap out the idmax 10 with a specially built 4080 box housing a single RE 12" sub.

it is actually a surprise that the owner of the car has kept it all these years (my sports car customer base seem to have a high turn over ratio  not only that, he has steadily upgraded it into a daily driver/show car. 

The reason behind the trunk rebuild is that he is going onto air ride suspension and need to integrate the tank, the compressors and all the accessories into the fold.

So here are the goals:

1. rearrange the trunk to allow proper fitment of air suspension components

2. retain ALL existing gear and upgrade the installation technique as i have improved over the years

3. add a touch of lighting to the overall design and still maintain some slight usability in the trunk (some towels and cleaning supplies etc)

4. build it so the air ride installer can easily do his tasks without having to mess with the stereo components

so lets get started. the car actually came to us BEFORE the airride system was hooked up, and had me do all the work, and then, it went off to get it done, and then came back for me to snap some more pics 

so here is the car in its full up and full down position...the body panels are oh so close to the ground hehe



















so let us take a quick look at the new trunk build. here is the normal every day view, a new fake floor is in place, that covers the entire trunk. his 4080 box housing the RE12 is on the left as before, and the air tank and compressors are visible upfront, trimmed in white vinyl, in the back, a pop off cover allows him to throw some items in the trunk without damaging or scratching the amps










lift up the floor cover and here is what you see. two zapco i-force amps are trimmed in white vinyl, with a strip of 3M CF trim separating them. (matching the CF trim he has on the interior) also visible is a strip of 1/2" frosted plexi on the inner opening of the cutout. 
































































flick on a switch embedded in a trunk panel and two things happen. first, the plexi strip around the cutout lights up with 6 feet worth of RGB Leds, a wire less controller allows him to cycle through various color and changing schemes. secondly, three mini LED flood light he provided me baths the air tank and compressors in a gentle glow, highlighting them at shows:





































turning the garage lights off gives you a better sense of the various lighting effects...i will just let the pics do the talking 









































































so thats it...it sounds just like before, of course, whcih is to say, pretty nice daily driver with a lot of bass  so here comes the build pics.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

first, i installed a plethora of rivet nuts into the floor to anchor the foundational boards for the entire build, while adding some sound proofing as directed by the customer:



















next, the three foundation support were bolted in place via those rivet nuts, this gives me a completely level platform onto which i can install everything else:










this next pic shows the bottom layer of stuff that went in first, icluding supports for all the components, the passive xovers for the DLS set and all the related wiring:










this is the main board onto which sits the tank and compressors, built out of 3/4" MDF for durability, the holes are drilled to allow bolts to travel through it to secure the components. the various items were then test fitted:




























one thing about this build is that the floor has to be able to be removed to acess the components WITHOUT disturbing the air tank and compressors. so the main fake floor is actually a two piece unit upfront, with the portion that goes right behind the seat backs being a separate portion and will be secured to the airtank mounting baffle, so here they are before and after vinyl/carpet




















and then the components are bolted back in place:










here is the amp rack trim panel before and after vinyl:



















here are all the bare fake floor pieces laid out:



















here is back portion of the fake floor before and after carpet:



















here is the edgelit plexi border before and after being frosted:



















and it is then attached to the floor piece, double sided transparent sticky tape applied (the yellow is the backing before it was removed), the led strips secured, and then black tape applied to prevent like leaking out from the backside:





































and here is the final product with quick disconnects on the pig tails:



















here is the front portion of the floor before and after carpet, looking quite like a Klingon weapon lol



















and the side floor panel:










here is the breathable grille before and after carpet:




























and here is the 4080 box he had before we recarpted it to match better:



















finally some wiring shots.

the first three shows the amp wiring plus the various wiring and blocks i left for the air suspension installer:




























these two pics show the wiring after the air components are wired up, i can access just the amps for any trouble shooting without disturbing the air stuff:



















and finally, here is the reason why i did the back floor in two separate pieces, pop off the side panel and you see this little barrier strip. at car shows, they require the engine's main battery to be disconnected. by moving two wires over from one set of terminals to another, this allows him to hook up an external battery just to power the lights 










so thats it, got another log coming up i hope to put up by this weekend...back to work! 

cheers

Bing


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## 3cyltrbo (Apr 11, 2011)

Nice install

Will


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

The trim over the amps reminds me of a Kia grille....install looks good, as always.

Jay


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

I said it looked like batmans kia lol

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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Like this?

Batman Inspired Optima - Built for Justice

LOL

Jay


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## watts (Oct 11, 2012)

How does that RE do in a sealed enclosure? It's on my short list for my install. How much power to the sub?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

to be honest i didnt get to do much listening to this. it was just remove, build, replug kind of job. it was quite loud though.


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## jeeptian (Feb 9, 2013)

good work


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Looks good. Bing, what do you use to frost the plexi?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

usually start with 80 grit and finish with 200 grit


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## watts (Oct 11, 2012)

What's your technique for cutting plexiglass? Assuming you route the edge to match the opening...any particular bits? What speed on the router???


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

rough cut with jigsaw, and flush trim with the spiral cut bit on the router...pretty high speed but go slow. at least i think thats what Joey did. 

b


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## robert_wrath (Apr 24, 2011)

Love the re-do Bing. The new sub drops in perfectly. Great accent of lighting.


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## watts (Oct 11, 2012)

Thanks! I appreciate that you always reply to our questions...it's a bunch of help!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

whats the point of posting installs if you dont stick around and be part of the community?


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

Oh my name! Lol.. Rough cut as close as possible for the first step on the plexiglas. Then I used a medium speed to cut. I cut it with a spiral bit because both my sheer bits are sent off for sharpening. (yep, the day after I sent them I had some plexiglas to cut.. Lol) there is a line between too fast and too slow. Too fast and you can start melting, too slow and it can chip. I use a porter cable 7518, which maintains constant speed regardless of load. It has like 5 speed settings, I think I was on the middle one.


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

(and if y'all (yep, I came from florida! Haha) have any questions that are important, just pm me, i don't always get to look over all the posts here, some of the SiS team has to work! Hahahaaaaa)


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

DIYMA IS work dammit!


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

lol you guys.

i cant tell you how many people i have showed the pictures of your installs to.

i always love reading your install logs. just pure awesome


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## rmchevelle (Jul 22, 2008)

simplicityinsound said:


> whats the point of posting installs if you dont stick around and be part of the community?


I truly appreciate that mindset. Too many people post up a thread and then abandon it. Thanks for sharing your installs.

EDIT: As you can tell, I've been going back and reading some of your earlier threads.


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## Datsubishi (Jan 9, 2012)

Well thought out and cleanly installed as always. Looking forward to seeing more. When you sand the plexi, do you use a straight across motion for a brushed type look or a random or circular motion? Thanks again


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

Datsubishi said:


> Well thought out and cleanly installed as always. Looking forward to seeing more. When you sand the plexi, do you use a straight across motion for a brushed type look or a random or circular motion? Thanks again


When I sand it to frost it, I use a da sander. I haven't ever tried to give it a brushed look. I just typically want to to disperse the light evenly..


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## Datsubishi (Jan 9, 2012)

I use a brushed technique when I frost edges so I don't lose the sharpness of the 90 degree cuts. I thought of using a frosted vinyl to catch light, but never got around to testing it out. I guess I need a DA sander. I was worried about getting a uniform finish by hand. Thanks again for sharing your installs and your knowledge with us!










I didn't have time to clean this one up in the evening, it was going in the morning.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Datsubishi said:


> Well thought out and cleanly installed as always. Looking forward to seeing more. When you sand the plexi, do you use a straight across motion for a brushed type look or a random or circular motion? Thanks again


when i do it by hand, i tend to go in one direction, usually side to side along the edge

but really, i wish i had a sandblaster


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

If you get a DA sander do your wrists a favor and buy one that your hand sits directly on top of (sometimes referred to as a palm sander). The kind that have a handle are not very comfortable to use..




Datsubishi said:


> I use a brushed technique when I frost edges so I don't lose the sharpness of the 90 degree cuts. I thought of using a frosted vinyl to catch light, but never got around to testing it out. I guess I need a DA sander. I was worried about getting a uniform finish by hand. Thanks again for sharing your installs and your knowledge with us!
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