# LostnEye's 2013 Ford Taurus SHO. Simple Yet Effective. HAT, Seas, Helix, Alpine



## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Well, here it is. My second install on my all-alone venture. For those who didnt know, i am now working for myself and installing out of my garage. Im excited to see whats to come. Here we have a 2013 Ford Taurus SHO in for a simple build. The customer supplied all of the gear except the helix processor, which i supplied. The goal was to maintain the OEM look, retain cargo space, all while maximizing sound quality. 


The gear from the top of the chain goes as follows


. Helix DSP
. Alpine PDX V9
. Seas Prestige 27TFFNC/G (H1396) 1" Textile Dome Tweeter
. Hybrid Audio L6
. (2) Image Dynamics IDQ 12v4d2


SDS MLV, STP and Dynaliner CCF, Stinger CLD, Knu Konceptz wiring, Fast Rings


The Helix DSP got high level inputs from the factory sony system. Ken Ward over at Musicar Northwest had previously tested the outputs on these and supplied me with the info that the front mids get full range left/right signal and have only a very little amount of eq from the factory. (THANKS AGAIN KEN!).

















Front doors got a liberal amount of CLD. Luckily there was a nice sized access hole to get to the outer door skin.
















Once the outer door skin was deadened, the access holes factory vapor barrier was covered with cld and "taped" over the edges for easy access while still sealing up the hole and maintaining some rigidity.














Sound Deadener Showdown mass loaded vinyl cut to the shape of the door. The scuffs are from 32 grit sandpaper to help the closed cell foam stick to it better.















Closed cell foam stuck to the mlv















MLV/CCF mounted with SDS Velcro (before i cut the hole out for the mids baffle). It was a ***** to get the doors on after. For anyone wanting to do an install in one of these cars, use thin and very forgiving ccf. 















Baffles to house the Hybrid Audio L6's. The factory baffles were used as a template for the bottom layer. then two 3/4" Birch was used for the other two layers. They were primered, painted in a rough texture coat, then pained over again with a few heavy layers of plasti-dip to protect them from any possible interactions with water. I would have used HDPE but unfortunately i only had enough for one baffle. Should have gotten more before hand. Not the end of the world though.















Since the Hybrid L6's have push terminals, i found no reason to use XT60 connectors. I did however tin the ends of the exposed wire so they dont fray while being removed/re-installed, and heat shrunk for quick and easy identification.















Hyrbid Audio L6's all mounted up with Fast Rings.

Side note: Hybrid L6's are a hair to big for the 6.5 inch fast rings. I had to stretch them out a bit.
















The bass knob was mounted hidden behind a factory flip-up panel next to the cigarette lighter.The bass knob was mounted on a spacer that was help in with hot glue and CA glue.
























Bass knob hidden with the flip of a panel.
























Sail panels before...















Sail panel and door panel prepped. The sail panel was scuffed with 32 grit sand paper and had holes drilled for the resin to grab onto.
























Not pretty yet, but functional for the time being.















After filler and sanding.















Some more body filler to get the sail panels to line up to the door panel.















Before primer.















After a few layers of texture coat. I went with light layers sprayed from a little over a foot away to get a rougher look/feel to better match the factory texture.















The tweeters got sets of XT60 connectors for quick/easy un-installation/re-installation.

































Rear deck before sound deadening.















As you can see there are tons of holes between the trunk and cabin. No good for an infinite baffle setup.















Rear deck cover getting a conservative yet effective amount of CCF. Once the system was playing there was zero vibration from this thing. Dead quiet.















Rear deck cover getting spot treatment on any possible thing that could cause unwanted vibrations. Same thing was done with the doors/door panels.















Trunk deadened and all holes patched up.















All holes sealed. Rear speakers removed and covered with CLD covered wood and bolted in.















Baffle cut out and test fitted. Nice and toight 
























The subs were mounted to the baffle using machine screws and t-nuts for a clean look















Test fit round 2. Ready for its second layer and upholstery.















PDX V9 and drawing up its mounting panel.

































Unfortunately there wasnt a better spot to mount the fuse holder so i didnt have to loop the wire around. 0 gauge wire was ran and then a fused distribution block was used to step it down to 4 gauge right before the amp. This was done in case he wants to upgrade in the future.















Amp and DSP wiring. The DSP was secured with SDS velcro. That thing isnt going anywhere.















The rear of the baffle got carpet to blend in with the rest of the trunk















Front of the baffle got vinyl to make it pop. the subs were flush mounted into the baffle. I wish i had a bit more time. i would have liked to hide those L-Brackets under the carpet/vinyl.

































Doors and sails installed.
























Money shot..


















In the end, this car sounded great. I am always impressed by those seas tweeters. Spend the last few hours with it tuning and settled for a slightly modified Harmon house curve. Thank you again LostnEye for giving me the opportunity to do this install.


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## dcfis (Sep 9, 2016)

Nice install! What crossover points did you use and how thick is that baffle?


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

dcfis said:


> Nice install! What crossover points did you use and how thick is that baffle?


Baffle is 1.25" thick. under full volume it was rock solid. settled at 80 and 2500 all 24db LR


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

So, you're Nick, then, huh?

Always cool to put screen names with actual people.

Nice work. Tweeter pods turned out great.

A suggestion perhaps, it looks like there was a ton of room on the factory amp bracket. In the future, do you think you could redrill the holes, move the amp over and have space to mount a DSP next to it? If the factory amp gets warm, the adhesive on the velco might let go. Or it might now, I'm not familiar with Don's velcro. Just a thought for the future.

Great work and good luck in your venture.

Jay


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

JayinMI said:


> So, you're Nick, then, huh?
> 
> Always cool to put screen names with actual people.
> 
> ...


Thanks Jay. and yes, thats me lol. It is always fun to put a face to a name
i wished there was more room but unfortunately there werent really any other solid options. with the RCA's that i was supplied, i only had a few feet of length to work with so the other side of the trunk was a no go. there wasnt enough space under the rear deck cover. to the sides of the bracket there wasnt enough room for it to sit properly anywhere. couldnt really move the bracket/amp either since there wasnt much tolerance in moving the factory wiring harnesses. if you look at how the bracket is mounted (look to the right side of it) you will see bolts sticking out right next to it. wouldnt really be able to move it more than an inch in the one direction, or a couple inches in the other. ive used the velcro in my own install on top of my sub amp which gets pretty darn warm. no issues whatsoever. thats the only reason i was comfortable doing it this way


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## dcfis (Sep 9, 2016)

SkizeR said:


> Baffle is 1.25" thick. under full volume it was rock solid. settled at 80 and 2500 all 24db LR


Thanks, The Big Boxstore stuff?


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

Good Job Nick... Keep up the good work my friend.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

#1BigMike said:


> Good Job Nick... Keep up the good work my friend.


Thanks!


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Nicely done Nick!


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

Nice work. Those sails came out great! I've been thinking about sail tweeters and if that is what I decide I may be contacting you for your services.

There must be a lot of room behind those door grills for such a deep baffle.
I've seen others cover wood baffles in CLD like you did... is that necessary for HDPE baffles too?.. Maybe I'm missing something but I just can't see it making much difference especially on a 3/4"+ baffle thickness that is properly sealed and secured


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Very clean install! Love the tweeter pods!! They are some of the best I have seen...


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Truthunter said:


> Nice work. Those sails came out great! I've been thinking about sail tweeters and if that is what I decide I may be contacting you for your services.
> 
> There must be a lot of room behind those door grills for such a deep baffle.
> I've seen others cover wood baffles in CLD like you did... is that necessary for HDPE baffles too?.. Maybe I'm missing something but I just can't see it making much difference especially on a 3/4"+ baffle thickness that is properly sealed and secured


Thank you. The baffles were made to mimic the size of the factory ones. and i use a layer of cld (or sometimes ccf) to help make a better air-tight seal from the driver to the baffle.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

DavidRam said:


> Very clean install! Love the tweeter pods!! They are some of the best I have seen...


thank you. that means a lot


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## robolop (Mar 10, 2008)

Tweeter pods turned out very beautiful.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

robolop said:


> Tweeter pods turned out very beautiful.


Thank you. Means a lot to hear that from someone like yourself


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Frequency responses after 1.5 hours of tuning.. 
Overall (Red), subs (light green), mids combined (pink), tweeters combined (purple), left mid (dark green), right mid (dark teal), left tweeter (blue), right tweeter (gold).

the sub to midbass transition flattens out if you adjust the gain knob a hair. didnt have it set right for the overall measurement.


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## LostnEye (Feb 18, 2016)

The sails look even better in person. It was dark already and started raining right before I picked the car up so I didn't get the best look even though Nick took me through the install. I had a long ride home to appreciate what he could do with the Helix but this morning a got a better appreciation how they came out. 

I am also happy with going IB. I never would have considered it if it wasn't for Nick.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Nice, simple and effective.. Well done Nick! Didn't realize when I glanced at those sails at first you textured them.. On phone it looked like vinyl. Well done. Takes an experienced touch for that stuff. That little V9 is no joke isn't it.. Great little amps big in sound. And stealthy as heck! I'm digging how it's all out of sight.


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## Bayboy (Dec 29, 2010)

Nick does great work and is an inspiration to DIY'ers. Just wish he wasn't so picky about helping "some" people.


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## danno14 (Sep 1, 2009)

LostnEye said:


> The sails look even better in person.


Not meaning to seem argumentative, but how could this be?!!! They look amazing in the pics, so they must be amazing x 1000 in person 

Very nicely done Nick.... a great start to what I hope will be a highly successful venture for you. Keep posting build threads!


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Bayboy said:


> Nick does great work and is an inspiration to DIY'ers. Just wish he wasn't so picky about helping "some" people.


Denis, all you have to do is drive the car to NY..

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk


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## Bayboy (Dec 29, 2010)

SkizeR said:


> Denis, all you have to do is drive the car to NY..
> 
> Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk


How about we meet at the state line. Florida state line

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## miniSQ (Aug 4, 2009)

Really solid install...tweeter pods are some of the best i have seen on this forum. You have some great skills. My only neg would be the wiring of the subs. Anyway to hide it better next time so you only see a couple of inches off each voice coil and bury the rest under a beauty panel?


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

miniSQ said:


> Really solid install...tweeter pods are some of the best i have seen on this forum. You have some great skills. My only neg would be the wiring of the subs. Anyway to hide it better next time so you only see a couple of inches off each voice coil and bury the rest under a beauty panel?


Yeah, I wish in had time to do it cleaner

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## LostnEye (Feb 18, 2016)

Considering I held Nick to getting the car finished by this weekend im not going to nit pick minor things I know would have been addressed if he had more time. The sails are what's really visible and came out outstanding. While I didn't have a budget for this build, regardless of price, I feel the quality of work is above what I would have gotten at any of the local shops. I'll probably end up doing something about the factory tweeter grills and did think about a beauty panel for the back of the subs in the future. Right now I'm just enjoying the music.


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## glockcoma (Dec 22, 2015)

Looks really good, those tweets are amazing!!
I have a 2010 SHO and I'm considering dropping the pods I made and doing door sail tweets. 
SkizeR,how hard was it to run the tweet wire through the molex plugs? 

LostnEye, glad your happy with the IB. Those ID are pretty sweet.


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## glockcoma (Dec 22, 2015)

SKizeR, also did you re-use the factory mounting for the sails? Or did you opt for something else?Those clips still allow a little movement, especially after being removed/installed.


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

It all came out great. Those tweeters are sick sick and I love the sub baffle. Nice work nick. I would drive and let you finish my truck butttt I am a bit far.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

glockcoma said:


> Looks really good, those tweets are amazing!!
> I have a 2010 SHO and I'm considering dropping the pods I made and doing door sail tweets.
> SkizeR,how hard was it to run the tweet wire through the molex plugs?
> 
> LostnEye, glad your happy with the IB. Those ID are pretty sweet.


Thank you thank you. Running wire through to the doors was probably the most frustrating part of this build. I actually told lostneye that when he picked it up.

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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

glockcoma said:


> SKizeR, also did you re-use the factory mounting for the sails? Or did you opt for something else?Those clips still allow a little movement, especially after being removed/installed.


I used the factory sail panels. Theres no movement as it anchors from one point and clips into two otheres. One clip into the top of the door panel, and one clip to the metal the sail panel covers. Its secure

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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

optimaprime said:


> It all came out great. Those tweeters are sick sick and I love the sub baffle. Nice work nick. I would drive and let you finish my truck butttt I am a bit far.


Thank you as well. Also, I just got a new phone, shoot me a text if you still have my number!

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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

SkizeR said:


> Thank you as well. Also, I just got a new phone, shoot me a text if you still have my number!
> 
> Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk


Ya buddy coming at ya


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## LostnEye (Feb 18, 2016)

glockcoma said:


> LostnEye, glad your happy with the IB. Those ID are pretty sweet.


Thanks pushing me over the ledge I was on about going that way.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

LostnEye said:


> Thanks pushing me over the ledge I was on about going that way.


IB can be the simplest, yet most nerve-racking installation, but can easily be absolutely stellar. Flattest, cleanest sub response I've ever seen in my car.. But man I had to step up my skills game to get it done.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Babs said:


> IB can be the simplest, yet most nerve-racking installation, but can easily be absolutely stellar. Flattest, cleanest sub response I've ever seen in my car.. But man I had to step up my skills game to get it done.


Yeah can be very tricky in some cars. 

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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

SkizeR said:


> Yeah can be very tricky in some cars.
> 
> Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk



Amen to that!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Good Job Nick. I like the sails!


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Niebur3 said:


> Good Job Nick. I like the sails!


Thank you Jerry!


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## High Resolution Audio (Sep 12, 2014)

Cool build.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

High Resolution Audio said:


> Cool build.


Thanks gerald

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## GEM592 (Jun 19, 2015)

Wow that pod fab is what I would call "instructive." Clever all the way around, and it probably didn't even take you too long. Excellent.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

GEM592 said:


> Wow that pod fab is what I would call "instructive." Clever all the way around, and it probably didn't even take you too long. Excellent.


Thank you. 

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

The install as a whole is stellar,the pods look OEM.Good job!


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

strong*I*bumpin said:


> The install as a whole is stellar,the pods look OEM.Good job!


thanks


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## enigma (Jul 5, 2008)

A lot of quality time and effort went into that build and it shows, tweeter pods look oem....very nice work.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

enigma said:


> A lot of quality time and effort went into that build and it shows, tweeter pods look oem....very nice work.


Thanks. It sure did

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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

UPDATE: Rich wasnt 100% on how the stock tweeter grills were still "there" while the new sail panel tweeter location was right there. It just looked "off" and i agreed. He mailed me his pillars and i removed the factory tweeters/grills and filled in the remaining hole by taping off the pillar and filling with duraglass, and wrapped it with a matching color Alcantara. The Alcantara had to be wrapped over the factory fabric as it was actually chemically bonded to the pillars and was impossible to remove. 

Side note: i still didnt have my camera back when i got to this.. phone pictures will have to work.


Here they are taped and filled.















Tape removed, and edges filled with poly filler






































Shipped back and installed! Matches the factory color and suede on the steering wheel perfectly.


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## glockcoma (Dec 22, 2015)

Great job SkizeR!!


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

glockcoma said:


> Great job SkizeR!!


Thanks


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## glockcoma (Dec 22, 2015)

Just looking back at the early stages of this build and I noticed he doesn't have the Sideview mirror controls on the driver side sail panel. 
Did you have to relocate them? Or are controls located somewhere else?
I have a 2010 SHO and it's located on the driver side sail.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

glockcoma said:


> Just looking back at the early stages of this build and I noticed he doesn't have the Sideview mirror controls on the driver side sail panel.
> Did you have to relocate them? Or are controls located somewhere else?
> I have a 2010 SHO and it's located on the driver side sail.


They werent there. I dont remember where they were off the top of my head.


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## Agent13 (Mar 17, 2014)

Very nice!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Probably a good idea to remove the grills, because I don't know how many Taurus' I see with those falling out of the panel anyway. lol More than half, I'd say. 

Great job, Nick.

Jay


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

JayinMI said:


> Probably a good idea to remove the grills, because I don't know how many Taurus' I see with those falling out of the panel anyway. lol More than half, I'd say.
> 
> Great job, Nick.
> 
> Jay


Thanks jay

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## jbeez (Aug 20, 2013)

SkizeR said:


> They werent there. I dont remember where they were off the top of my head.


They're down with the window switches on the newer models


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## Timelessr1 (Feb 12, 2010)

Awesome job Nick! Those tweeter pods look OEM! and beautiful work on shaving the stock grilles!


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Timelessr1 said:


> Awesome job Nick! Those tweeter pods look OEM! and beautiful work on shaving the stock grilles!


Thanks John


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## Fruitcake (Jun 4, 2015)

SkizeR said:


> The Helix DSP got high level inputs from the factory sony system. Ken Ward over at Musicar Northwest had previously tested the outputs on these and supplied me with the info that the front mids get full range left/right signal and have only a very little amount of eq from the factory. (THANKS AGAIN KEN!).


First off - good looking stuff!

Second, am I reading this right that you used only two inputs to the DSP; the front right and left?

I am about to work on my own 2015 SHO with an MS-8 that I already have, but I was planning on using inputs from the front tweeters, front mids, and center channel.

You are too far a drive or I'd just bring it to you!


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

yes, i only used the front left and front right woofer as they have full range left and right signal out of the amp when you have all the funky surround processing turned off in the stock head unit


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## LostnEye (Feb 18, 2016)

Fruitcake said:


> First off - good looking stuff!
> 
> Second, am I reading this right that you used only two inputs to the DSP; the front right and left?
> 
> ...


I didn't care for the factory processing for the center. You are starting with a 2 channel source anyway so I would just take the 2 channels like Nick did for my install and let the MS-8 do it's thing for the surround processing.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

LostnEye said:


> I didn't care for the factory processing for the center. You are starting with a 2 channel source anyway so I would just take the 2 channels like Nick did for my install and let the MS-8 do it's thing for the surround processing.


actually, yes this is probably the best idea. you have no idea what kida ****ery the sony amp/dsp is doing


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