# 2011 Subaru Legacy Build -The Search For SQ Begins



## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

2011 Subaru Legacy Build The Search For SQ Begins

Hello everybody!

Just wanted to introduce myself and my current build to you guys. My name is Chris and i've been lurking around here for a little while now. I've done a lot of research and have learned a lot from you guys and will hopefully learn a whole lot more during this process.

I've done a couple minor builds in the past but never a full blown install like I'm planning now. I had an 04 vw r32 that I built a fiberglass box in the spare tire well for 2 -12's. I never finished it but it sounded really good for my first fiber glassing experience. My next build was an 07 Subaru Impreza Wagon 2.5i. That one I glassed a box into the spare tire for 1-12. I have pictures of both those installs. If you want to see them let me know.

I'm coming from an 05 Subaru Impreza STi that I was building a 500 awhp motor for. After 3 years of ownership and 1 year building the motor I gave up and decided to buy something a little bit more luxurious. So off to my favorite dealership (Chaplins Subaru) and a couple hours later I came home with a 2011 Subaru Legacy 3.6r Limited. Its Satin White Pearl w/tan leather interior. I'll try to get some pictures of it soon and post them up. I've had the car for a couple months now and love it. 

Anyways on to the build. So this is going to be a 2 part build. I'm going to be building both the stereo and installing an air suspension at the same time. I've gathered most the stereo items needed and about 1/2 the suspension items needed so far. Unfortunately I bought most of the stereo stuff before I really did any research (It was going to go in the sti). So eventually the speakers and amps will be changing but i'm going to go ahead and install what I have now and see how it sounds. It'll be easy enough to change when I upgrade.

This is what I have so far:

Stereo -

HP Elitepad 900 10.1" tablet for the source.
CDT Audio - CL-51A-25 Pro - 5.25" Mids and 1" Tweeter
CDT Audio - ES-02 - 2" Mid Tweeter - Not sure if i'm going to use this or the 1" tweeter
RE Audio Sex12d4 - 12" Subwoofer
RE Audio xtx800.4 - I have 3 of them. 1 for the tweets, 1 for the mids and 1 for the 8" mid bass in the doors(which I still need to buy)
RE Audio xtx3000.1 - I have 2 of them. 1 for each 12" sub.
Raamaudio sound deadening and ensolite.

I have all the wiring, fuse blocks, etc... needed for the install.

Still need to get - DSP, 8" mid bass for the doors, and some MLV.

Suspension - 

Airlift Struts front and rear
2 - 3 gallon tanks
2 - Viair 444c Compressors

Still need to get Accuair e-level management and vu4 valves and fittings.

Air is going to be all custom polished aluminum hardlines and black an fittings.

I'm sure I left some stuff out but I'll add it as I remember it.

The trick is going to be installing everything excepts the subs in the spare tire well and about a 4" raised floor. Subs will be glassed into the back corners of the trunk. I want a stealthy install but full show when you remove the floor. I'm going to through in some motorization into the mix and a lot of led lighting for the shows.

The design is highly influenced by a couple of Bing's installs (hopefully you don't Bing)

Alright enough for now. This is going to be kind of a slow build. Hopefully it will be done around October.

I know you guys like pictures so here are a couple to hold you over for now.

Some of the sound deadening and getting ready for fiberglass.













































I'm currently glassing the bottom of the amp/air rack. Will get pictures when I can.

Chris


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here are a couple pictures of the car


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

A little update. Got 3 layers of fiberglass down for the amp/air rack. I'm not to happy with the results. I was using bondo brand resin (I know this stuff isn't that great). I was originally going to make the rack out of mdf but after a lot of measuring I figured everything wouldn't fit like I want it to. I was kinda in a rush so didn't have time to get some good resin. Oh well we'll see how it looks tomorrow when I pull it out.

Anyways here's some pictures:


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Nice color choice


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Thank you. Its one of my favorite colors. Fell in love with it when I had my impreza wagon.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Sweet! I had a 2007 in Garnet before getting this Satin White Pearl WRX. 

Love me some Subaru builds!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

I've seen a few of your posts/presence in threads I was viewing, and I have to ask where "Bonesmcgraw" comes from. 

Was wondering when you'd start a build thread. Figured it had to be coming!

Jay


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

JayinMI said:


> I've seen a few of your posts/presence in threads I was viewing, and I have to ask where "Bonesmcgraw" comes from.
> 
> Was wondering when you'd start a build thread. Figured it had to be coming!
> 
> Jay


lol. It's a nickname one of my ex's gave me a LONG time ago. The bones is because im super skinny (6' - 120lbs) and the mcgraw had something to do with mcgruff the crime dog. I don't really remember how they correlate. It's just kinda stuck with me.

Yeah I've been lurking around for a little over a year watching everybodies build threads including yours. I wasn't going to start one until I was further along in the process but I figured why not. At least this way people can chime in on if i'm doing things wrong/the hard way or let me know if i'm doing alright. 

Chris


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

My last name is McGraw and I've caught the McGruff reference from people in school when I was young. Kinda funny. Backwards to yours. haha.

Jay


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Haha thats awesome. Most people I know don't even know who McGruff is.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Scruff... McGruff... Chicago Illinois... busted for growing... weed!

McGruff the Crime Dog actor sentenced to 16 years in prison


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

"police seized 1,000 marijuana plants, 27 weapons — including *a grenade launcher*, and 9,000 rounds of ammunition"

A grenade launcher? Must have lived in a rough neighborhood!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Surprised he plead guilty. Seems like nowadays they'd have pled down the grenade launcher to a gun charge, and claimed the pot was for personal consumption. lol


Jay


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## eddieg (Dec 20, 2009)

"it's a small world after all..." I think now in the web era it supposed to be "it's a small world more than all..." 

Interesting naming incidents over here! 


Thread opener - Use the ES-02's if you are not much a fan of tweeters.

If I did edit my signing below you should see I am using them as mid-tweeters and they are freaking awesome! 

I've even posted a detailed review about them over here in the members review.

They are outstanding wide banders and incredible midranges. 

As well they also have these es-02 as a center speaker kit with a matching xover and a volume control knob 

Look over here: 






Another common to both of us is that we have such legacy subi as well - fantastic vehicle for SQ installations


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

I figure i'm going to give the ES-02 a try first. I'm going to put them in the A pillars on axis with the 5.25 in the kicks and the 8's in the door. We'll see how that sounds. If I don't like it I can either add the tweeter in the A pillar and run both or remove the ES-02. I'll have to play around with it when I get to that point.

Thanks for the review on the ES-02. I like what i'm hearing about them.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I can't wait to see someone do 8's in theses doors.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

It's definately going to take some work to get the 8's in the doors but I'm up for the challenge. I'll have to give up the cup holder in the door but i'm ok with that. I never use it anyways. I'm also putting the controller for the air suspension in the lower pocket of the door so i'll be reconstructing them anyways I figured why not do 8's and make the speaker opening a little larger.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Oh and I love the LGT! Sometimes I mis the feeling of being set back in your seat when the turbo kicks in. Although I also really like how smooth the power is of the 3.6 all the way through the power band.


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## MayLegacy (May 26, 2014)

Going to be following this one. About to start my build in my 14' legacy, 2nd Subaru


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

Got my eye on the '15 model,good luck with build


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

MayLegacy said:


> Going to be following this one. About to start my build in my 14' legacy, 2nd Subaru


This is my 4th Subaru. I won't buy any other type of car unless its a second vehicle. Scoobies for life! 

This build is going to take awhile so be patient with the progress. Looking forward to see your build when you start it.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

strong*I*bumpin said:


> Got my eye on the '15 model,good luck with build


Thank you I'll need it.

I'm waiting for the '16 sti so I can have my weekend warrior back. Hopefully it'll look like the '15. If Subaru holds true to the way they update there models it should.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Just looked at a 2015 Legacy 3.6R Limited, looks to be a great contender.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Just looked at a 2015 Legacy 3.6R Limited, looks to be a great contender.


I've been wanting to goto the dealer and take a look at one. One of these days I'll make some time for it. 

From the pictures i've seen (which isn't that many) I like the way the interior flows and I want to try out the new eye sight and see how well that works.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I'm opting out of the eyesight, but going for the GPS just for that factory flow. Plus I will still have my 2.5GT Limited Legacy to play with.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Time for a little update. Haven't been able to get much accomplished the last few days but hopefully things will change soon.

So the air/amp rack has been pulled out of the spare tire well. I added a couple more layers of fiberglass to help strengthen it. It has about 4 layers of glass on it. It's not really a structural piece so that will be good enough. It's actually pretty sturdy.

I made a template of the bottom and will transfer that to some mdf over the next couple days plus I need to trim the top of the rack down to be flush with the top of the tire well.

Here are a couple of pictures for you guys (and yes I suck at taking pictures:


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Good to see you still sticking with it. I'm waiting on the dealers to get a 2015 Legacy 3.6R in white. While waiting I went with an oem+ wheel on my 2010 2.5GT Limited.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

I like the wheels. I haven't fully decided on what wheels I'm going to go with yet. I'm going to wait until I get the suspension installed so I get the right size/offset. I don't want to buy wheels twice. lol.

My dealer only has 2 '15s coming to them so far and neither of them are white or 3.6R. They told me that white is the hardest to get for them so they don't know when they will arrive.

I'm still plugging along at this build slowly. When I first got the car I took measurements of everything and drew everything up in google sketchup to the way I wanted things. Well I don't know what I was measuring or what kind of measuring tape I was using but they weren't even close to being right. Maybe I was reading cm instead of inches. :laugh: j/k. Anyways the layout I had drawn up won't even remotely work so I'm doing this without having a set plan (which I don't like doing) so it's taking a little bit longer to get this going then I was hoping.

My plan is basically everything for the air suspension in the tire well and all the stereo stuff will be at floor level. I have to fit 2 - 3 gallon tanks, 2 - air compressors, 2 - water traps and all air lines in there somehow. I'm also going to squeeze in my dsp and I wanted 2 extra batteries in there but I don't think they're going to fit.

I have somewhat of a plan in my mind of how I want to do it now. I'm just going to take it one step at a time and see how things work out.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I've tried several times going at systems without a plan, and I only end up redoing them. As far as wheels, these are my fourth set so far and I still have another set on order sadly. But the good part is the set on order are for the winter as what's current on the car are strictly high performance summer only tires.

Yes the dealers whom I've spoke to can get white, but not in a 3.6R configuration. I've told them I can wait as I have the Legacy and my Ram to tide me over.


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## sqgodz (Feb 3, 2011)

Well I'm intrigued by this build. I love the Legacy. Heck, I love all Subaru's. I just can't decide which one I will buy.


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## theoldguy (Nov 17, 2009)

I wish my tire well was that deep! Lucky! The impreza is super shallow


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## Black Rain (Feb 27, 2011)

bonesmcgraw said:


> I figure i'm going to give the ES-02 a try first. I'm going to put them in the A pillars on axis with the 5.25 in the kicks and the 8's in the door. We'll see how that sounds. If I don't like it I can either add the tweeter in the A pillar and run both or remove the ES-02. I'll have to play around with it when I get to that point.
> 
> Thanks for the review on the ES-02. I like what i'm hearing about them.


The review Eddieg has on the ES-02 is one of the best available on the web. I also have the ES-02, but I'm using it as a mid/tweet and I love the way it sounds. If you choose to use it as a tweeter, I believe you will enjoy as long as you are comfortable with a very smooth and tamed tinging. This driver is very versatile and enjoyable, just make sure you give it around 100wrms and they will shine.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Black Rain said:


> The review Eddieg has on the ES-02 is one of the best available on the web. I also have the ES-02, but I'm using it as a mid/tweet and I love the way it sounds. If you choose to use it as a tweeter, I believe you will enjoy as long as you are comfortable with a very smooth and tamed tinging. This driver is very versatile and enjoyable, just make sure you give it around 100wrms and they will shine.



I'm going to give them 180ish. We'll see how they sound. So far I've heard nothing but good things about them.


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## e=mc2 (Dec 4, 2013)

Stay off .com and nasioc


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

e=mc2 said:


> Stay off .com and nasioc


I've actually been a member there for 10 years now.  I only go there if I need to buy/sell something and when I was researching my sti build. I pretty much stay on this site and since I got the Legacy I've been kinda browsing legacygt


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## e=mc2 (Dec 4, 2013)

bonesmcgraw said:


> I've actually been a member there for 10 years now.  I only go there if I need to buy/sell something and when I was researching my sti build. I pretty much stay on this site and since I got the Legacy I've been kinda browsing legacygt


Lagt and stoplight assassin are douches


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

e=mc2 said:


> Lagt and stoplight assassin are douches


No idea who they are. I haven't joined yet just been browsing the suspension threads mostly.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

cool...looking forward to it...as we have the same car basically  i have a 10 LGT


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

simplicityinsound said:


> cool...looking forward to it...as we have the same car basically  i have a 10 LGT


Hopefully you don't mind Bing but this build is based off a couple of yours and Joeys builds (2012 genesis build, GT-R build and the Scion FR-S build). I'm borrowing different design elements from them along with adding some of my own. It definetly won't be as high of quality as your guys builds but I'll give it my best.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Alright I need some opinions from you guys. I know this isn't stereo related but it's part of the amp/air rack. 

Which one of the designs do you like best? I'm leaning towards 1,2 or 3. Keep in mind I need to add the valve manifold somewhere in there also. Its 7"x4"x3" roughly.


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## theoldguy (Nov 17, 2009)

I like #2


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## sqgodz (Feb 3, 2011)

I'm a sucker for symmetry so #6 is out for me. #'s 1 and 7 look like they would allow the most real estate for your manifold. I don't like the angles in #'3 and 5. Personally, I'm lazy and I would get pissed if they weren't matched up perfectly. #2 has a TON of dead space that you could otherwise use. #4 is ok, but I feel the compressors need to be separated and then you could put the manifold between them.
As they all sit, I would do #7 and throw the manifold in between the tanks. 

Sorry for the long explanation.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I feel and bit for #7...


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## diy.phil (May 23, 2011)

Probably #5 but with both small tanks in the middle, one on top of the other. Less for looks but more on safety in case of emergency situations. Should leave as much empty room back to front as a crumple zone. (We normally don't want to talk/think about all this in this forum.)


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Thanks for the feed back everybody.

I'm a sucker for symmetry as well so #6 is out. I'm leaning towards 1 and 7 now. They will give me the most room out of all of them. 

I forgot to mention but I need to fit my dsp (don't know which one i'm getting yet) and hopefully distribution blocks in there also. 

hmm...I guess now I need to figure out what dsp I'm getting so I know exactly how much space I need for it.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

diy.phil said:


> Probably #5 but with both small tanks in the middle, one on top of the other. Less for looks but more on safety in case of emergency situations. Should leave as much empty room back to front as a crumple zone. (We normally don't want to talk/think about all this in this forum.)


Unfortunately the tanks are 8" in diameter. There isn't a way to stack them on top of one another I only have a little under 10" to play with.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Any further thoughts on which way you're going with this ?


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

I'm going to go with #1. I made a crude drawing in sketchup on how i'm going to layout the area between the 2 tanks.

Picture below. The 2 white things at the bottom are the 2 compressors right in front of that are 2 Tsunami TPFDB-4PG power/ground distribution blocks the large angled dark gray piece is going to be my dsp (i'm leaning toward an ms8) and the small gray piece on top of the dsp is the valve block for the air suspension. I'm going to play with the position of the valve when I get it but it'll probably be more toward the top of the dsp.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

I'm working on building the "center console" for the rack right now. I have all the pieces of wood cut and am gluing them together now. I'll have pictures when its done.

I also got the fiberglass structure trimmed down so its flush with the top of the spare tire well and layered it with some ensolite.

After this stuff is done I need to re-work the front legs of the tanks to get them to fit in straight. Right now the left of the front leg is hitting the curved section of the enclosure and pushing the front of the tanks inward.

Once the tanks are mounted I can get the entire enclosure bolted in the trunk and start working on the false floor for the amp rack.

It's slow going but it's getting there.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here's today's update.

About 75% done with the amp/air rack center console. Main console is built and glued together. Compartment with air compressors is covered in black suede. Compartment with distribution blocks is covered in white suede. Everything is bolted down with allen head screws screwed into nutserts. 

Wiring is covered in carbon tech flex for the power wire and black tech flex for the negative wire. White heat shrink for positive and black for negative.

All that's left to do is install the acrylic over the distribution blocks and run the leds around it then build a top cover for the whole thing.

Here's the pictures


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here are a couple more. Oh and sorry about the crappy pictures I suck at taking pictures.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Forget about the quality of your pictures, you make me proud to own a 5th generation. I was in the garage a few minutes ago looking at where my amps are and how they are covered. It's making me rethink how and where my amps are mounted. Albeit I don't have air tanks to deal with, you are giving me some great ideas.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Forget about the quality of your pictures, you make me proud to own a 5th generation. I was in the garage a few minutes ago looking at where my amps are and how they are covered. It's making me rethink how and where my amps are mounted. Albeit I don't have air tanks to deal with, you are giving me some great ideas.


Thanks for the kind words. It makes me feel good that i'm able to inspire other people. I usually look towards you guys for the inspiration. lol.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

It is what we are all hopefully here for. Not only to inspire, but to push each other to achieve audio nirvana. Plus we like pictures lol.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here is what i've been doing today. I made the top to the compressor console. The console is almost done. I'm going to make sides for it and then call it good.

I drew out the design on the top board and cut it out with my jigsaw. Then I used a 3/8 roundover bit and routed the inside edges of the openings. This is the first time I've ever used a router and I think it turned out pretty good. Then I covered it in more black suede. I'm going to install magnets on it so it can be removed. I need to be able to get to the fuse blocks in case something happens.

The brown piece is a piece of acrylic wrapped in rgb led's that is going to light up the fuse blocks.

So here's the pictures for you guys:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here a couple pictures with everything in the fiberglass enclosure. Please note that nothing is bolted down and the front of the tanks aren't sitting on the floor. I still need to rework the front mounts on them to get them to sit flat.

It's a VERY tight fit in there but it looks like everything is going to work out. The cover to the console just barely squeezes by the tanks but it will come off.


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## expiredtags (Jan 29, 2014)

Sick build so far!

Subb'd


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

expiredtags said:


> Sick build so far!
> 
> Subb'd


Thanks man.

Hopefully more updates over the next couple of days.

Chris


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

This is what little I got done today.

I mounted 2 of the actuators to the bottom board in the tire well. They just barely fit under the 2 tanks. I need to build custom brackets that will attach to the upper panel.

I then made a mounting board for the ms-8 and a trim ring with a 3/8 round over. This will go in front of the console in the lower rack.

I got the upper rack lower panel cut and fit into the trunk. I had to cut it into 2 pieces to get it to fit into the trunk. I'll have to cover it in there I guess. 

So here's the pictures:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Quick update. 

I got several pieces of wood cut for various aspects of the upper rack. Man I wish I had a table saw. Spent a few hours measuring, clamping my straight edge, measuring again then cutting. Did this somewhere around 50 times.  At least most of all the cuts are done. Now I just have to put it all together.

You can also see in the picture the amp layout. I need to get one more amp.

Here's the pictures:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here's the latest update.

Made a cover for my struts so I can get to them without having to take out the whole rack. The top of the struts are in the cutouts toward the top of upper rack. Also built up the wall for the viewing tunnel so you can see the lower rack through the upper. It's not secured yet just sitting there.

Tomorrow I'm going to work on the sides of the upper rack and install the amps.

Here's the pictures:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Another quick update. I got the amp boards cut out and mounted to the upper rack. In the pictures they're lifted off the floor. There will be acrylic under there with led's.

I've also got several other pieces cut out and glued together. I temporarily placed them where they are going to go. They aren't mounted in anyway they are just sitting there. I need to do some sanding and filler work on them and also add some acrylic with led's.

I didn't get a chance to work on the sides like I wanted to the other day so hopefully I'll be able to get to that within the next couple days.

My goal is to have everything mounted in the car by next tuesday. Once everything is mounted and confirmed to fit with no problems. I'll pull it all back out and wrap it in white, black and red suede. Then onto the wiring.

Here's the pictures for you guys:

Mounting blocks for the amp boards










Amp boards mounted.

















And finally a sneak peak on what it'll look like when done


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

I need some opinions on the led placement under the amps. Should I set the acrylic flush with the edge of the amp boards or set them back so it kinda appears the amps are floating?


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Alright here's a small update for everybody.

I got the amp platforms wrapped in red suede and acrylic with led's attached and wired up. I just need to get them wired to the controller which will happen with the rest of the wiring later on. I'm going to be wiring all the led's into zones so they will all light up the same colors or I can light up different zones different colors.

Anyways here's the pictures.

Amps sitting on there platforms:























Wiring of the LED's with all wires in black techflex:
















LED's installed. Tape covering the back to prevent light bleed through:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Time for another small update.

Working on the sides of the upper rack. I got the outer sides cut and painted. Installed t-nuts to attach the cleats that hold the sides to the bottom. Also installed wood inserts in the bottom of the rack. I also got the acrylic cut and frosted for the sides. I have the other 2 pieces for each side part way completed. I need to get another router bit to finish them. Then the sides will be complete and I can start working on the center section.

Here's the pictures.

A few of the pieces completed


Wood inserts installed in the bottom panel to hold the cleats.


Cleats installed




T-nuts installed and painted black so they don't show through the acrylic.





That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get some more done over the next couple of days.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Whoa mama!!! That's a lot of detail. Good work!!!


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## TheDavel (Sep 8, 2006)

Finish this please!


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

chithead said:


> Whoa mama!!! That's a lot of detail. Good work!!!


Thank you. I don't want to half ass anything and either have to redo it or have it fall apart LOL!


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

TheDavel said:


> Finish this please!


I know right. I've been battling around 90 degree weather and my work area is in the direct sun. It doesn't get shady and cool down until late so I only have an hour or two to work on it. 

Maybe I just need to man up and get out in the heat.


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## theoldguy (Nov 17, 2009)

TheDavel said:


> Finish this please!














Great work so far!


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

theoldguy said:


> Great work so far!


Thank You!!


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Small update. This will kind of give you an idea of where this build is going.

I got the frosted acrylic side panels wrapped in rgb led's and cover with black tape to prevent any light leaking out. I'm working on the side panels that will cover those pieces. I will post pictures when they are done.

The small black panel in the middle is also a frosted piece of acrylic with rgb led's again covered in black tape. I put velcro on the bottom of that panel to hold it in place. The reason for the velcro is being the bottom panel is 2 pieces so I can get it into the trunk I can't install the center section until it is in the car. The screws that hold that center section are under the acrylic so I need to be able to get to them. Hopefully that makes sense.

So here's the pictures


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## RC-NUT (Jan 19, 2013)

looking good man. Keep the pics coming!

I just picked up a 2012 3.6R (Satin white pearl) last night. I sold my 2005 LGT in February and just had to get another one.

I'm anxious to see what you do with the front stage. I need ideas.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

RC-NUT said:


> looking good man. Keep the pics coming!
> 
> I just picked up a 2012 3.6R (Satin white pearl) last night. I sold my 2005 LGT in February and just had to get another one.
> 
> I'm anxious to see what you do with the front stage. I need ideas.


Thank You. Congrats on the new(to you) car.

So right now I have cdt 5.25, cdt 1" tweet, cdt 2" mid/tweet. I'm going to try to fit 8's in the doors then I was going to put the 5.25 in the kicks and the 2" mid/tweets in the a-pillars. I decided to go with an ms-8 dsp so I'm going to run a center channel as well. I have to pull the dash apart to see what kind of room I have in there so I can decide on what speakers for that location.

That was the original plan (which I knew would be temporary) but I think I'm going to hold out and buy new speakers and install it only once. I think I'm going to go with HAT Legatia for the front end now. I think I'm going to go with L1v2 tweeters, either L3v2 or L4 Mids and L8v2 Mid-bass. I might run the 5.25 and 1" cdt tweet for center or maybe the Legatia L6v2 and L1v2. Once I get to that point I'm going to try and find somebody around here with a similar setup and see if they'll let me take a listen.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Today I continued to work on the side panels. I know I know you guys want me to finish already but there is a lot involved to these side panels. Good news is i'm almost done with them finally. All I need to do is drill the holes in the acrylic for the fans and install them. They are going to go where the oval shapes are on all 3 sides. 2 per oval, 16 total. Then i'm getting some polished aluminum plates that will fit in the ovals to finish them off.

So here are the pictures.

Fourth layer of the side panel wrapped in red suede

















Third layer is a florescent light fixture plastic cover










Fifth layer and final layer cover in white suede. Panels first painted white so wood color doesn't bleed through the suede.

















And everything covered. The 3 smaller white pieces on the right go around the outside of the center opening. Same treatment was applied to them. Painted white and then covered in white suede.










Everything sitting in place. Nothing is secured yet due to I still need to install the fans.
































Finally a picture with the amps sitting in place.










More pictures to come soon.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

If you're keeping track of the side panels this is what they consist of:

1. 1/4" outside panel painted black
2. 3/8" acrylic wrapped in rgb led's covered with black tape to prevent light bleed through.
3. 1/8" Flourescent light fixture plastic cover.
4. 1/4" panel with 1 1/2" holes wrapped in red suede.
5. 1/4" panel with 2" holes painted white then wrapped in white suede.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here's a couple pictures of the led's on. This is only one color. These are rgb led's. I just quickly hooked them up to make sure everything worked. I still have to finish the 2 small back sections then its on to a lot of sanding the center section to make everything nice and flush.

Left side










Front










3 sides


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Well I haven't been able to do much work on the amp rack recently. I've been putting in a lot of hours at work the last week and will be doing the same this week. I hope to be able to do some work monday though. I'll keep you guys posted if I get some work done.

In the mean time though i've made a few purchases. I bought HAT L1v2, L3v2 and L8v2 speakers. I wasn't planning on upgrading speakers so soon but I got a great deal on these and couldn't pass it up. Plus it saves me from having to redo things later (at least for the front stage ).

I also bought a JBL MS-8 and an Accuair iLevel (to control the air suspension via my phone and tablet).

So far the only thing i've received are the L3v2's:


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Still following, and still very enthused about what you are doing build wise.


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## MayLegacy (May 26, 2014)

I'm interested in seeing the L8V2 install! I am sitting here staring at the HAT Clarus 6.5" midbass wondering how the hell it is going to fit in my Legacy, lol. I set it next to my old infinity Kappa which barely fit in my old Subaru and the Clarus is just so much bigger.


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## low-fi (Aug 18, 2014)

sexy! love the lighting


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

MayLegacy said:


> I'm interested in seeing the L8V2 install! I am sitting here staring at the HAT Clarus 6.5" midbass wondering how the hell it is going to fit in my Legacy, lol. I set it next to my old infinity Kappa which barely fit in my old Subaru and the Clarus is just so much bigger.


Yeah i'm probably going to regret getting them during the install process but i'm sure all the work to get them to fit will be well worth it. I'm going to try to cut up the door panel and extend the speaker opening and make it look stock. Not quite sure how i'm going to do that yet but we'll see what happens.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Still following, and still very enthused about what you are doing build wise.


Thanks. It's getting there slowly. I plan what i'm going to work on the next day and think its only going to take an hour or two and next thing I know a few hours later i'm only part way through what I wanted to get done. Lol. Oh well it'll be done soon enough.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

low-fi said:


> sexy! love the lighting


Thanks. There's a whole lot more to come


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Quick update. I got what I believe to be the last of the major pieces cut to get this rack finished. Now I just need to get it put together. More acrylic cut and frosted and wrapped in rgb led's.

I also received several custom cut aluminum pieces for varies things in the build. I got them cut from emachineshop.com. If you guys haven't heard of them they did a great job. Basically you download there software, draw up what you want them to cut and they check and verify everything will work and will quote a price all through there software. Great service.

Anyways here's some pictures.

These are the pieces that go in the ovals on the side panels. I added them in because at some point i'm going to install some fans and don't want to have to redo the panels later.










These are going to be used as the lift supports for the motorized middle section.










This piece is going to be the fan cover in the lower rack for the fans for the air compressors.

















This is with the fan covers pressed into the side panels. They're just sitting there not fully aligned yet.





























[/URL]

That's it for now.


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## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

Looks pretty sweet yo. Hopefully you'll finish before I graduate


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## diy.phil (May 23, 2011)

^ha ha don't make fun of him!!  That's a lot of good stuff there!! 
Also lots of custom stuff all over .. that's a big budget DIY install and he can do the stuff the other professionals can't due to the effort/time needed for all the planning and custom parts.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

WhereAmEye? said:


> Looks pretty sweet yo. Hopefully you'll finish before I graduate


If you're going to medical school then I might finish it before you graduate. Lol. No hopefully the amp rack and suspension will be done by October.


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## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

I'll be counting on it. Nahh no medical school, engineer, which is why all your custom work and sick components thoroughly amuse me  Good luck though!


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

diy.phil said:


> ^ha ha don't make fun of him!!  That's a lot of good stuff there!!
> Also lots of custom stuff all over .. that's a big budget DIY install and he can do the stuff the other professionals can't due to the effort/time needed for all the planning and custom parts.


Thanks. The most time consuming part is actually because I'm trying to save a few dollars. Instead of cutting all the walls out of sheets of mdf so they are one piece I'm cutting numerous strips of mdf then glue them together to make the squares ( like a picture frame). Making sure they all line up and are level is a tedious process. 

That's alright though I would rather save a lot of money doing it this way and having it take longer.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

WhereAmEye? said:


> I'll be counting on it. Nahh no medical school, engineer, which is why all your custom work and sick components thoroughly amuse me  Good luck though!


Thanks


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Well you guys are probably getting tired of my small updates but I don't care here's another one anyway's :laugh:

I got the led wiring (for the sides) extended and soldered connectors and installed plugs on them. All tech flexed and heat shrunk. I still need to run the wiring to the controllers (6 in total) but that'll be done when I run all the rest of the wiring when the rack is completed.

I also installed more rgb led's around the middle ring for passage way to the lower rack. I'm currently gluing the last couple pieces together for the upper rack. It's getting very close. All I need to do for the upper rack is install several more wood inserts so I can secure the top ring to the side panels then do a lot of sanding and filling to get everything nice and flush so I can wrap the remaining pieces in suede.

Here are some pictures:

Wiring for the side panel led's. Connectors soldered, molex plug installed, tech flexed and heat shrunk































Installed acrylic and rgb led's around the middle ring. Covered in black tape to prevent any light bleeding through the back.
























Small rear side panels completed and installed.










Top ring being glued together. It consists of 1/4" plywood, 1/2" mdf, 3/8" acrylic and finally another 1/2" mdf. The 1/4" plywood is about 1/4" wider then the rest of the pieces. This will be the ledge the beauty panel will sit on.
























So that's all for today. More to come soon.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Forgot to mention but things are starting to arrive in the mail. Today I received some more 1/0 wire for my run from the battery to the trunk. Monday i'm supposed to get my jbl ms-8. Tuesday i'm getting my iLevel for the air suspension (lets you control the suspension via smart phone and tablet), Wednesday I should receive my L8v2's and L1v2's. Thursday or Friday I should get the valves for my air suspension.

I'm really excited about all these items and can't wait for them to arrive!!


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Dang, this is unfolding wonderfully. Excellent work!


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Exciting news! I received my jbl ms-8 today. I can't wait to get it hooked up.

Here's what I got accomplished over the last couple of days. Not much but progress none the less.

I got the top rings wrapped fully wrapped in black suede and the last one is currently being glued together. I got a bit of sanding done on the center viewing window (No pictures of this yet). It's ready to be wrapped in black suede and put together. I also cut out the mounting platform for the ms-8 and cut the acrylic then wrapped it in rgb led's covered in black duct tape as usual (No pictures of this yet either). I also routed several pieces with a 3/8 round over bit (Again no pictures yet).

Here's the pictures that I have from the last couple days. I will take pictures of all the other things tomorrow.

Wrapping the top ring. I didn't take to many pictures of this process. Sorry about that I'll try harder next time 

















Gluing all 4 rings together. 1/4" plywood on bottom then 1/2" mdf followed by 3/8 acrylic (wrapped in rgb led's) and finally another 1/2" mdf layer to top it off.










Here are the pieces glued together and just sitting on the side panels. I'll try to get them secured tomorrow































View from the back side










And finally my new toy

















More to come tomorrow or I guess I should say later today.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here are my presents for today.

The L8v2's are HUGE! Holy crap! This is going to be a challenge to get them into the doors. I guess i've got my work cut out for me. 

Accuair iLevel Controller. Allows me to control the air suspension with my tablet or smart phone



HAT Legatia L8v2, L3v2 and L1v2




















































And the whole line up


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Digging it. What does the iLevel do again? lol 
I seem to remember that the MS8 won't do 3 way front stage (crossovers, etc.) how are you dealing with that?

Jay


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

JayinMI said:


> Digging it. What does the iLevel do again? lol
> I seem to remember that the MS8 won't do 3 way front stage (crossovers, etc.) how are you dealing with that?
> 
> Jay


hmm...I was under the impression it would do a 3 way front, center and sub or 2 way front, rear, center and sub. I'm not doing anything in the rear so that would give me channels 1-6 for the fronts, 7 for the center and 8 for the subs.

I'm going to be running accuairs eLevel management for the air suspension. You get 3 presets that you can set to whatever height you want. Generally low, drive height and full up. It's based off height sensors instead of the normal pressure based systems. So basically you set it at whatever height and it automatically/continuously adjusts the suspension to stay that height. If you load the car with several people, groceries, etc... it will automatically add more air to keep it at the height you set it at. You empty the car and it will let air out. Hopefully that makes sense.

The iLevel lets me use my smart phone to control those 3 presets from upto 100' away from the car. It can also adjust everything manually and do diagnostics on the system.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Alright here we go again. Another little boring update 

I got all the acrylic pieces wrapped in rgb led's and wrapped with black tape to prevent light bleeding through the back (just like before). I also got the center viewing ring complete, top outer rack ring finished and the strut covers finished.

All wires have been soldered and wrapped in black tech flex and molex connectors installed for ease of installing/removal.

I also ordered my center channel speaker. Originally I was going to try to squeeze a 6.5 and tweet in the dash but I got an absolutely fantastic deal on a single HAT Legatia L3se. We'll see how that does by itself or if I'll need to install a tweeter along with it.

So here are the pictures:

Top outer ring LED's.



Acrylic that will go under the JBL MS-8 in the lower rack.



Viewing panel LED's



Several of the LED rings completed.



Several shots of the viewing panel being put together. Wrapped in black suede. Wood inserts installed and everything bolted together.




Sides wrapped in a thicker material. I used this so I didn't have to do as much sanding.












And finally the strut covers.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

It's that time. Yes time for another update. Again not a whole lot has been done but it is just a little bit closer to being done.

Over the last couple days I was able to get the center ring basically done. It was wrapped in white suede. I'm not sure how I feel about how it turned out. I'm not really fond of the grooves left by the way it was wrapped. I can't wrap it in a single piece of fabric due to everything having to be installed in pieces in order to get it into the trunk. I'm going to go with it for now but I'll probably end up making side panels out of 1/8" or so thick material and wrap them to make it a 1 piece design.

Being the ms-8 is going in the lower rack I painted it satin white to match everything else in that rack (tanks and compressor).

I also added another acrylic ring to the bottom of the center ring stack that will lite up the lower rack better. Also added zip tie holders to the bottom of the upper rack. These will be used for all the wiring of the leds.

My goal is to have the upper rack installed and secured in the trunk tomorrow(tue). I need to go buy a riv nut tool. Once it's secured all I have to do is wrap the main bottom board of the rack and the top ring of the center stack then its done (minus the rack cover).

Anyways here's some pictures for everybody:

JBL MS-8 painted satin white. It's hard to tell in the pictures but it really is white.






































Wood inserts installed to screw down the zip tie holders for the led's.































These are the blocks the amps mount to. They will never be seen but I figured what the hell why not cover them also.










Velcro was installed around the center ring. The Led strip sits on top of that and the top ring will be glued to the acrylic ring. I didn't want any screws to be seen and I couldn't think of another way to secure this.










Middle section of the center ring










Lower section of the middle ring

















Lower acrylic ring. RGB led's installed on the top so it will light up the entire bottom rack. The wires are all soldered and heat shrink applied then covered in black tech flex and finally a molex connector installed for easy install/removal.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Great progress so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing that trunk come together.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

captainobvious said:


> Great progress so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing that trunk come together.


Thank you. I am also.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Alright so updates for today.

I received a package in the mail today. It is my single HAT Legatia L3se that i'm going to use for my center channel.

I went to the store and bought a rivnut tool. I installed the rivnuts that will secure the upper rack in place. I need to make a couple minor adjustments to the rack then I will cover the bottom in white suede then call it done. 

Mostly I spent the day making the hard lines for my air suspension. Hopefully I will finish that tomorrow then get started on the mounting of the ms-8 and finish the bottom rack.

Here's the pictures.

HAT Legatia L3se for center channel































Rivnuts installed

















Hardlines for the air suspension.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Snazzy!!!


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Today's update. I haven't gotten a lot done over the last few days but I have made some progress.

I had to reroute the air lines due to them being to close to the valve assembly. I went through a few different designs and I think I finally came up with something I like.

I also got the last of the upper rack pieces wrapped in suede and I cut out several speaker rings.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to mount the dsp and valve body into the lower rack and then finish running all the air lines. I might get the upper rack mounted into the car. We'll see if there is enough time.

Anyways here are the pictures.

Middle section of center ring wrapped










Top of center ring wrapped










Floor of upper rack wrapped in white suede.

















If you guys remember I had small cleats attached to the main board of the upper rack and the side pieces which held them both together. Well I cut out some new ones that are taller and will hold the side pieces and top ring to the main board.










Speaker rings cut out with a jig saw - 4 rings for the 8's 3 rings for the 3's and 2 rings for the tweets.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Ok I need some opinions on a couple of things.

First is how I should mount the ms-8. First is with a mounting board under it with a ring that surrounds or with the mounting board cut to the same shape as the ms-8 so it is basically sitting against the wall of the rack.

Second is how the air lines are run. 

















This picture shows 2 different routes for the air lines. One is straight along the top of the tank and the other the line goes down to the bottom of the tank in the back then goes back up in the front of the tank.































Here are a couple of pictures with both sides of the air lines run toward the top of the tank.

















And here is the latest design. i like this one the best.

















Let me know what you guys think.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

I haven't gotten much done the last couple of days. I've been cleaning up some things that were temporary when I started this. Stuff that won't be seen but I know it's there and it'll bother me if I don't fix it. I don't have any pictures uploaded now so nothing to show. I'll get them up soon though.

I also got the jbl ms-8 mounted with rgb led's under it. Of course the acrylic is frosted then wrapped in the led's covered with black tape to prevent light bleed through and then the wires soldered and heat shrunk and wrapped in black tech flex. Again I'll upload pictures later for you guys.

So with the reletively recent announcement of the SI BMiv's not being made anymore i'll be upgrading my subs sooner than expected. I'll be ordering 2 of them on friday. I think i've changed every piece of equipment so far before they've even been installed. :laugh: The only things that haven't changed are the suspension components and the amps.

Here's the updated list of the audio equipment:

HP Elitepad tablet
JBL MS-8
(4) - RE Audio xtx800.4 amps. All 4 will be bridged to produce 180x2. 1 - for the tweets, one for the mids, one for the mid bass and 1 for the center channel.
(2) - RE Audio xtx3000.1 amps. 1000x1 at 2 ohms. There's a lot of headroom there for the SI BMiv's 
HAT L1v2 Tweeters
HAT L3v2 Mids
HAT L3se Center channel
HAT L8v2 Mid Bass
(2) SI BMiv 12" subs (to be purchased in a few days)

I'm still trying to decide what head unit to run. I'll let you guys know when I figure that out.

That's it for now. I'll get the pictures up when I can.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Wonderful to hear I, looking forward to hearing about your choice in head units.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here's an update that you guys might like. There's going to be a lot of boring pictures and maybe a teaser picture or two of something kind of exciting.

So I have the bottom ring of the opening to spare tire well finished. Installed an acrylic ring with rgb led's to light up the bottom rack. All wires have been soldered and wrapped in black tech flex with a molex plug installed. Ring is wrapped in white suede.

I also completed the mounting board for the jbl ms-8. Created a ring to mount in between the ms-8 and the mounting board. This ring is also wrapped in rgb led's covered with black duct tape and all wires soldered, covered in black tech flex and molex plug installed.

Next I made new mounting blocks for the air tanks and the center console in the lower rack. I wrapped them in black and white suede. Although these will never be seen I fell better knowing they are wrapped 

After that I briefly started working on the hinges that will raise/lower the center opening ring. There's still a lot to do with this but I need to get the upper rack installed in the trunk first. (This might be the teaser pics or maybe not  )

Alright so here's some pictures:

These are the pictures of the mounting board for the ms-8 and all accompanying pieces.






































These are the pictures of the lower ring

















All the mounting pads
























The hinges for the center ring


















And














Here













Are












The













Teasers:


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Duuuuuude... Sweeeeeeeet


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

So I haven't been getting much done lately but I did get a couple things done and received a few more packages.

Here's some pictures for you guys and gals.

I didn't like the way the red on the side panels turned out. The suede doesn't have any give so it didn't form well around all the circles. I got some stretch suede like material and am going to recover them. Here they are disassembled and old suede removed.










I filled in the edges around the bottom board in the lower rack.

















This is the head unit I chose to go with. Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS.










I'm going to be mounting it in the pocket below the stock head unit.










Here's the pocket all disassembled. Going to have to make a few brackets but I don't think it'll be that bad.










Also started to look at where to mount the jbl ms-8 screen. I think I'm going to put it in this little coin holder or whatever it is right below the gear shift lever.

















And my subs finally arrived


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## MayLegacy (May 26, 2014)

Looking good, curious why you chose to go single din below the factory head unit? Is there some kind of function you retain by doing this? Just asking because it seems like alot of unnecesary work. But with how well your system is planned out I figured you had a really good reason?


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

MayLegacy said:


> Looking good, curious why you chose to go single din below the factory head unit? Is there some kind of function you retain by doing this? Just asking because it seems like alot of unnecesary work. But with how well your system is planned out I figured you had a really good reason?


I'm putting a 10" tablet where the stock head unit is. The tablet will be my main source. I'm adding the single din for those times I want to listen to an actual cd or if for some reason I don't have the tablet (It will be removable).

I thought about putting the cd player behind the tablet being it won't be used that much (I don't think) but if I do decide to listen to a cd I don't want to have to remove the tablet and stash it somewhere during that time.


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## MayLegacy (May 26, 2014)

Makes sense, after I put up that reply, I thought to myself "that would be a good place to put a tablet"


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I have an Alpine 910 in that spot, but a tablet would look sweet...


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Coppertone said:


> I have an Alpine 910 in that spot, but a tablet would look sweet...



Pretty pretty 

Build log...? :surprised:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Ok quick update for everybody. I just started my 2 week vacation so hopefully I'll have a lot of updates coming (weather permitting).

Today I recovered the red section of the upper side panels. The fabric wasn't staying in place around all the holes so I removed it and rewrapped them in a stretch suede like material. I'm also getting a lot of my wiring bundles put together. 

I'm working on finishing the lower rack with the air tanks, etc... All the equipment has been mounted and lines run and everything fits great. So I'm finishing off the sides so I can cover them in black suede. I stretched some grill cloth under the main floor and up the sides then covered it in resin. This is where I'm at as of now. Waiting for the resin to fully dry.

Tomorrow I will add some fiberglass in areas and body filler to smooth it out a bit so I can cover it.

Here's some pictures.

Red section of upper side panels recovered
























Grill cloth stretched and plug put in place where the ms-8 is going to go.
























Resin applied







































Goals for the next 2 weeks:

Remove interior of car.
Sound deaden interior with cld tiles, ccf and mlv.
Finish sound deadening trunk.
Run all wiring.
Finish lower amp rack and install.
Install upper amp rack.
Make cover for upper amp rack.

If I still have time then I want to also:

Install Pioneer head unit.
Make sub enclosures.
Make all beauty panels for trunk.

And if I still have time:

Make a pillar pods for the 3's and tweets.
Install 8's in doors.
Pretty sure I'm not going to have time for this part but we'll see.


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## Black Rain (Feb 27, 2011)

I see that you are now going with the L3s. Curious as to your decision for changing from the CDT ES-02. I looked through the thread again but don't see where you tested the CDTs before changing to the HATs.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Black Rain said:


> I see that you are now going with the L3s. Curious as to your decision for changing from the CDT ES-02. I looked through the thread again but don't see where you tested the CDTs before changing to the HATs.


I've always wanted to run the Legatia speakers. It was always my goal to finish with them. I had bought the cdt es-02 a couple years ago and had planned to use them for a year or two and then decide then if I would upgrade to the Legatia's or not. Well I ran into an excellent deal on BNIB L1v2's, L3v2's and L8v2's that I just couldn't pass up. Then I ran into another great deal on a single L3se which I was going to use for my center channel and most recently I just found an L6 for again an outstanding deal.

I decided that being these were the speakers that I would eventually end up going with or at least trying at some point that I might as well get them and install them now and save a lot of money in the process. If I had kept the cdt's no matter what I would have changed everything at some point to try the Legatia's. I don't want to do things twice (all though I know I will anyways, nothing is ever good enough for me or I come up with some other idea) so I decided to start with the Legatia's instead.

Hopefully that all makes sense.


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## Black Rain (Feb 27, 2011)

Cool. Nothing against HAT, their great speakers. Just curious if you had tried the CDTs and your thoughts on them.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

So for those of you that have been following along with this build I have some sad news and well some good news I guess.

First things first the build has pretty much stopped until sometime in the spring. This is for a couple of reasons one the weather has changed and it's to cold and very very rainy for me to be able to do anything. Again I don't have a garage to work in unfortunately.

Secondly is I'm scraping the entire top amp rack section of the build. I found a Mosconi AS300.2 for a good price and ended up buying it. Even though I swore to myself I wasn't going to change the amps out (being they were the only things that hadn't changed in the build) but well I just can't turn down a good deal on something that I want and I've wanted Mosconi amps since the first day I started planning this build. 

I'm kinda glad that I did find them though because I would rather not do everything twice. Although I will be doing some of it again I will be able to re-utilize most of what I've already done.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Black Rain said:


> Cool. Nothing against HAT, their great speakers. Just curious if you had tried the CDTs and your thoughts on them.


No I never got a chance to listen to them unfortunately.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Alright so here is an updated list of what i'm going to be running. Almost everything has changed since my original post.

Head unit
- HP Elitepad 900 10.1" tablet
- Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS

Speakers
- HAT Legatia L1v2's in a-pillar or sail panel
- HAT Legatia L3v2's in a-pillar
- HAT Legatia L8v2'2 in doors (stock location)
- either HAT Legatia L3se or L6 with L1v2 for center channel

Subs
3 - SI BMK IV in sealed box in the rear deck

Amps
- Mosconi AS 300.2 to the L8v2's
- Mosconi AS 200.4 to the L1v2's and L3v2's
- Mosconi AS 200.4 bridged to 2 of the SI BMK IV's
- Mosconi AS 200.4 2 channels to the center channel and 2 channels bridged for the 3rd SI BMK IV's.

DSP 
- JBL MS-8 for now. I don't know anything about tuning. Once I learn I will probably upgrade to something else at that time.

I might start another build log in the spring time when I start the new install being almost every aspect of this build has been changed. We'll see.

Anyways I have everything already except the 3 AS 200.4's. I open to suggestions on changing which amps I buy and which one is used for what. I want to stay in the AS line due to they are all the same size with the exception of the length.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Bump to see whatever happened with this build.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Bump to see whatever happened with this build.


It has been awhile with no updates. Most of the original build has been scrapped due to the change in all the equipment. I finally have all the equipment so once the weather starts cooperating with me we'll get back at this. I think it's going to be even better then the first go round.

I'll be sure to keep everybody updated. 

Oh and I would like to thank Steve (captainobvious) again for the pair of as200.4's. They look absolutely amazing in person.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Alright ladies and gentlemen I have some long overdue updates for everybody. I've been working on a bunch of small things here and there throughout the summer. I've been working a lot of long days so I haven't gotten as much done as I had hoped. Oh well it'll get there eventually.

Pretty much all the equipment has changed since my original post. There's a relatively current list of the new equipment a couple posts back. I'll update that and add pictures of all the new equipment when I can.

The only part of the actual build that has been reused so far is the main base board which has been modified quite a bit.

I have a lot of pictures to post but did miss taking a bunch as I worked on multiple things for a few minutes at a time whenever I had few extra minutes over the summer.

I'm going to start with non car audio related stuff then over the next couple of days will get the audio portion uploaded and posted.

My car came with a tan interior which I didn't like so I changed it all out to black. New leather seat covers and then dyed all the misc plastic panels. Everything is done except the door panels which will wait until I install the mid bass. I'm waiting because I will have to heavily modify them for the 8's.

First thing was to pull the rear seat and install the new leather:
































Bottom rear seat:
























Misc pieces from the rear seat center arm rest that needed to be dyed:
























Map Light:


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Now why did you have to go and post this lol, as it now makes me want to also " black out " the wife's Legacy interior.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Headliner:
























Misc interior trim panels:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Every trim panel had cld tiles and ensolite applied:






































Front seats pulled and stripped apart:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Seats recovered with new black leather:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

A few more misc interior pieces:




















































And a couple pictures of interior put back together:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

And here's a few of things I did to the exterior:

Rear diffuser, Side skirts:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Painted the headlights black and installed HID's:
















































































That's it for now. I'll start posting the audio updates tomorrow:


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Now why did you have to go and post this lol, as it now makes me want to also " black out " the wife's Legacy interior.


LOL! I don't think I'll ever do a full color switch again. It was a major pain in the ass. I am glad I did it though I think it looks a million times better than before.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Those are the darkest Legacy headlights that I have ever seen lol.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Those are the darkest Legacy headlights that I have ever seen lol.


Yeah they are very dark. lol. I hate chrome headlights and the Legacy's lights are so huge they were an eye sore to me. I thought about painting them jdm style and leaving a little chrome but with the windows tinted so dark and the black roof and soon to have black wheels I think they blend in pretty well. You can't see it in the pictures but the high beam housing is painted a medium silver/gray to add a little bit of color to the lights.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Wi went with the 2013+ appearance pkg as far as headlights on mine. It's a direct replacement, and I've had hid in them since 2009. I agree about the chrome but with an all black car, I can't do the black wheels thing again lol...


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Wi went with the 2013+ appearance pkg as far as headlights on mine. It's a direct replacement, and I've had hid in them since 2009. I agree about the chrome but with an all black car, I can't do the black wheels thing again lol...


I'm with you on the black on black. It's ok (I had it on my sti) but with a black car I think you need to have something to break it up a bit. Yours looks good with the '13 head lights. I think it fits perfectly. What hid's did you use? Did you do a retrofit or just and hid kit in the stock projectors? I went with theretrofitsource mini h1 6.0 kit for ease of installation. All my imprezas I custom fit s2000 projectors into them.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I just went back then hid in the oem projectors. Those things are probably older then I am lol, but when it works no need to change them. I have a set of matt grey wheels that I'm still at odds about installing.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here's a small update.

Like i mentioned earlier the only part of the old build of the upper amp rack was the base board. The amps will be lined up right down the middle, dsp on one side and power distribution on the other.

Here are some pics of side pieces that line the amps:

Wood cut and being glued together:


























































And a little bling for the shows:


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Oh wow mirror mirror on the wall lol, what size subwoofer did you decide to go with ? My 15" was pulled in favor of a corner loaded 12".


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Here are the center discs that will go in the panels on the side of the amps.

2 1/2" x 1/4" acrylic disc, frosted, drilled for individual rgb led's and the wiring process:









There are 16 disc's in total. Top piece is a 2 1/4" acrylic tube 1/2" thick with a wooden disc to seal off the top. Then the 2 1/2" acrylic disc with led's and finally another 2 1/4" acrylic tube 1/2" thick. Top and bottom tubes are wrapped in black suede:






























































































Real bad jig I made to cut the 1/2" tubes:

















Center discs being placed in there home:






































Side pockets being made. These will hose the led wifi controllers:




















































Rear panel that will house an air gauge for my tank pressure and switches for various things:
























That's all the pic's I have for now. I will work on uploading more and keep everybody updated on the progress.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> I just went back then hid in the oem projectors. Those things are probably older then I am lol, but when it works no need to change them. I have a set of matt grey wheels that I'm still at odds about installing.


Those look good. What size are they?


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Oh wow mirror mirror on the wall lol, what size subwoofer did you decide to go with ? My 15" was pulled in favor of a corner loaded 12".


I'm going with 3 si bm mk iv's firing through the rear deck. They'll all be in individual boxes and I'll have it so I can run with just 1 or all 3 depending on my mood


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Good deal as far as the sub/s, I couldn't tell you the size of the lights as its been 6 years and I'm sure the oem box for them is in one of my storage centers.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Good deal as far as the sub/s, I couldn't tell you the size of the lights as its been 6 years and I'm sure the oem box for them is in one of my storage centers.


Sorry I meant what size wheels?


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Oh lol, I really read that one wrong. See what happens when you can't sleep and are up all night.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

They are 18x9 which is perfect for this particular application.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

bonesmcgraw said:


> It has been awhile with no updates. Most of the original build has been scrapped due to the change in all the equipment. I finally have all the equipment so once the weather starts cooperating with me we'll get back at this. I think it's going to be even better then the first go round.
> 
> I'll be sure to keep everybody updated.
> 
> *Oh and I would like to thank Steve (captainobvious) again for the pair of as200.4's. They look absolutely amazing in person.*


Thanks for that. They sound even better!


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

captainobvious said:


> Thanks for that. They sound even better!


If they sound as good as they look (which i'm sure they do) then I'll probably live in my car and just listen to the music. lol. I can't wait to actually get them installed  Probably won't be until spring time though unfortunately.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Small update (don't laugh I know I need to learn how to take better pics):

I've been working on the upper rack for awhile now. There is a lot more to it then it looks like. It's take several measurements, cut a few pieces of wood, test fit and then repeat 100 times. I have the 2 side storage cubbies finished. These house the LED controllers. I also have 1 lower side compartment finished which will house the MS8. I'm almost finished with the other lower side compartment which will house the custom distrobution blocks. The distro blocks are all custom made cut out of aluminum, drilled and tapped to fit my installation.

Here's some pics:

These are the pieces for the 2 side cubby holes. Covered in black suede and nutserts installed:
























Assembled and LED's installed:
























LED Controllers installed:










LED Controller Wiring:










Lower side compartment covered in black suede. It's a piece of 1/2" mdf on the bottom then 3/8" acrylic (frosted) wrapped in rgb led's covered in gorilla tape to prevent light bleed through. Then there is a sheet of hex metal with the MS8 sitting on top of that. Holes were drilled and tapped in the acrylic to fasten the MS8. There there is another 3/8" clear acrylic covering everything with a 1/4" black suede covered trim ring. There will be a final trim ring installed later on:

Pieces covered and all layed out:































Picture of the hex metal installed and lit up:

















Couple pictures of the MS8 installed and lit up. The top and bottom will be able to be different colors or the same whichever I choose.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Why not until spring ?


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Coppertone said:


> Why not until spring ?


With the amount of hours i'm working and the weather starting to turn and no garage to work in I don't think I'll be able to get everything completed that I need to to power it up. It would be great if I can but I don't want to say it'll be done in a few weeks then not get it done.

My biggest obstacle is going to be the motorization of the amps and figuring out how to get them all to flip up and slide back in unison. I have a few ideas but don't know how well they will work out. I'll be starting on that part of it here shortly so we'll see how it goes.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

So i've been working on my distribution blocks. There are 2 of them one for ground and one for power. I had the basic shapes cnc'd then I drilled and tapped all the screw holes. Which I might say was a pain staking chore. 56 holes drilled and tapped just in the aluminum blocks. The blocks are then sitting on a 1/4" ply wrapped in black suede which sits on top of some hex mesh. That then sits on a frosted piece of 3/8" acrylic which is attached to a 1/2" mdf base board again wrapped in black suede.

I'm going to have 2 1/0 ofc wire running to each distro block and then 6 runs of 4 ga ofc wire running to my 4 mosconi amps and 2 fuse blocks(for other accessories).

As usual all acrylic is wrapped in rgb led's covered in black tape to prevent light bleed through.

Anyways on to the pics:

Here are 2 pics of the main compartment that holds the distro blocks. This will be located on the left side of the amp rack.

















Here's a pic of it put together:










Custom distro blocks (power and ground):










Distro blocks in. The top one will be for the ground wires and the bottom one is for the power:










And finally a picture of it all lit up. This is a very bad picture. The colors are all washed out. The bottom piece of acrylic is lit in green and the top is lit in blue. It looked awesome in person. Once I get it installed I will try to get some good pictures of it to show the lighting some more:










That's it for now. Will update with more pictures soon


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## TheDavel (Sep 8, 2006)

Loving all the work and attention to detail!!


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## Basshertz1 (Jun 17, 2011)

This is proving to be a great looking install, I like the look of the distribution blocks but those are really really close I would be worried about them touching. Is it possible to get a little more room between them?


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

TheDavel said:


> Loving all the work and attention to detail!!


Thank you! That means a lot coming from a great installer like yourself.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Basshertz1 said:


> This is proving to be a great looking install, I like the look of the distribution blocks but those are really really close I would be worried about them touching. Is it possible to get a little more room between them?


Thank you. I don't think they'll ever touch. They are bolted down really well. I am a little concerned with possible arcing between the 2. Any thoughts on if that'll be a problem or not. There's probably about 1/8" between the 2 at the closest spot.

Moving them will be real tough without reconfiguring the whole section but if I have to then obviously I'll figure something else out.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


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## Basshertz1 (Jun 17, 2011)

bonesmcgraw said:


> Thank you. I don't think they'll ever touch. They are bolted down really well. I am a little concerned with possible arcing between the 2. Any thoughts on if that'll be a problem or not. There's probably about 1/8" between the 2 at the closest spot.
> 
> Moving them will be real tough without reconfiguring the whole section but if I have to then obviously I'll figure something else out.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


I would probably cut it down to keep some distance between the two if it is bolted down good and also fused up front or circuit breaker then I guess you could let it slide but that's a lot close for me


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## Basshertz1 (Jun 17, 2011)

I like where your build is going for sure, I think You could also just heat shrink the ends of the positive block and you should be covered, great build can't wait to see where you take it from here


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

I remeasured the distance between the distro blocks. It's a little over 1/4". I might make some kind of acrylic piece to go between the two of them and over the top of the bottom block. I'll have to ponder that one for a bit.

Each run of 1/0 will be fused at the battery and I might also put a circuit breaker on them in the trunk for ease of disconnecting power if I need to work on something.


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## Basshertz1 (Jun 17, 2011)

bonesmcgraw said:


> I remeasured the distance between the distro blocks. It's a little over 1/4". I might make some kind of acrylic piece to go between the two of them and over the top of the bottom block. I'll have to ponder that one for a bit.
> 
> Each run of 1/0 will be fused at the battery and I might also put a circuit breaker on them in the trunk for ease of disconnecting power if I need to work on something.


It just looked really close in the pic but a 1/4" is mucho better, acrylic would be a very good idea also i like where this is going


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Well things have slowed down a little bit unfortunately. I've been working on wiring the led's and led controllers which is taking a lot of time. I've also started working on placing some of the barrier strips on the amp rack that will distribute power to all the led's.

There are a total of 10 led controllers. 1 master and 9 slave. This will give me 9 different zones that i'll be able to change colors on or have them do different functions. All of them will be controlled through my tablet and phone via wifi.

Here's a few pictures for you guys:

1/4" ply covered in black suede which holds 4 barrier strips. There are two of them. One on each side of the amp rack. They are hinged so I can get to the top strut bolts for when I install the air suspension also because there is 1 barrier strip located under them bolted directly to the main amp rack board.
























Couple of the wires temporarily installed so I can measure them and cut them to the proper lengths.



Wire bundles that will go from the led controllers to the barrier strips.










Wire bundles for power to each of the led controllers.










Wire bundles from the barrier strips to the led strips.










Close up of wire which is wrapped in black tech flex. All ends will have heat shrink. I ran out of the right size heat shrink which is why you don't see any on most of the wires. Its on order and should be here in a couple of days so I can get these completely finished.










Finally a big pile of wires all prepared. Sad part is this is only a small hand full of bundles I will need to make.










For those of you wondering each wire bundle goes like this:
1. Cut wires to length. There are four wires in each bundle (except the power wire bundles which only have 2)
2. Solder spade terminals to one end of each wire.
3. Heat shrink over spade terminal and solder joint.
4. Tech flex over all four wires.
5. Heat shrink over both ends of tech flex.
6. Solder male or female molex pins.
7. Install molex connector.

That's it for now. More to come soon.


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## Basshertz1 (Jun 17, 2011)

Damn that's going to be lit up


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Basshertz1 said:


> Damn that's going to be lit up


Just a little bit


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Looking back through all the pictures I feel like everybody might be really confused on how things are going to be layed out. So I figured I would take a little time and put everything together and kind of show how it'll look when it's done.

So here we go:

Wiring getting ready to be installed under the side panels.










Rear of the rack which houses some switches for various things and the air gauge for the tanks for the air suspension.










Inner side panels of the amp rack.

















Mostly put together.

















And with the amps. The amps will eventually be tilted up a tiny bit.


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Today's progress wasn't that great but I did manage to get some things done.

I'm working on the back wall to the amp rack. It will house 4 fans to help cool the amps. I got the 4 holes drilled and a 45 degree chamfer put on them. I'm tossing around a few ideas on how to finish it off. One of them is using the aluminum fan covers I had made for the previous amp rack and doing some type of design work to tie in the back panel and the lower panel.

I also have a drawer made for a couple smaller distro blocks and bluetooth relay boards. This drawer will go under the back of the amp rack in between the rack and the floor of the car.

Drawer being made for relays/distro blocks.
























Here's the back panel starting to be installed.


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## Basshertz1 (Jun 17, 2011)

I'm jelling man really like the equipment amps specifically


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Well it looks like this jurney is coming to an end.

I picked up a brand new 2017 Subaru Sti a couple of days. So it's time to reorganize and start a new build. I'll start a new build log when I get everything going.

Here's a picture of the new car:


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

bonesmcgraw said:


> Well it looks like this jurney is coming to an end.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I'm picking mine up in about a week and a half! WRB base STI. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## bonesmcgraw (Jan 7, 2013)

Awesome. You will absolutely love it. Shoot me a picture when you get it.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Absolutely. It'll be my second STI. I had a '14 STI and a '15 WRX as well as a '15 BRZ. Great cars


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

^^^. Oh wow lol, somebody likes his Subarus.


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## beerdrnkr (Apr 18, 2007)

I threw an IB setup in my 2015 wrx before I traded it. I loved that car.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

I'm seriously thinking about an IB setup


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