# 2006 Subaru Forester XT/STi



## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

Ok, here is my 400hp grocery getter.
A 2006 Subaru Forester XT/"STi"

I have "STi" in quotes because the Forester was not available in the USA as an STi variant. However in Japan, Australia and a few other places, you could get it as an STi which stands for "Subaru Technica International" and basically means it comes with the extra handling and go fast bits that make Subaru a wildly popular brand amongst the tuning and rally crowd.



















Here is a build journal on the car if you are interested in seeing what I have done to this car since I purchased it last year from a 33 year old woman.

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f115/team-screams-06-fxt-sti-project-73362/

Yes I am "Team Scream" on Forester.org and Nasioc.

Anyway, on to the build...

I have several goals with this build:

(1) I need good tunes, I have always had good tunes in my rides and now that I am pretty much done with the mechanical aspects of building the car, ICE is one of the final steps.
(2) I need another hobby, and I want to start honing my skills as a custom installer (primarily because I have 6 cars, 3 of which are Subaru's).
(3) I am getting older and I need to have some sort project going all the time, so I don't start getting senile and forgetful. (brain exercise).

TO begin with, I called Rick at RAAMmat and ordered up about double of what he told me I would need, that way I was sure to have enough, and I could use whatever was left over for my 2001 Subaru RS coupe project which is next on the list. It too will become an STi by the end of the summer.

Here are pics of the process on one door. It took me 4 days, but I got all 4 doors, the rear hatch, the rear compartment, spare tire well, rear quarter panels and everything around the rear windows done. It would take 40 pictures for me to show it all to you so I will spare you and show you a door.

Also, I added CLD to the outer door skin as well, but I was selective about it. I tend to get the occasional door ding and I have it removed within a week of getting one, so I did not want to bone my paintless dent guru too bad. I would say that a bit more than 30% of the outer skin is covered, and there is an 8-10" area behind the door speaker(s) which is covered and has a layer of Ensolite on it for back wave elimination.

I should note, that I also ran my new speaker wire (as seen in the pics) and because I am anal, you will see a gray wire along with the speaker wires in my hand. That wire is a "pull" wire I ran to each door and left in place in case I ever need to upgrade a wire, or a wire gets damaged, I have the ability to connect the new wire to that gray pull wire and get it through and into place without having to take everything apart. That was a trick I learned while rebuilding my house. I know at some point it is going to save my ass, and they will be taped down out of the way and nobody will ever know they are there.

The giant opening(s) that needed bridging to support the CLD.



















Butyl rope to seal them up



















A slot cut for the door latch cables










Same thing on the rear doors










Solidly in place with CLD (RAAMmat).


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

Door mostly done with CLD.



















The extra "pull wire" I mentioned.










A layer of Ensolite (once I confirmed the door panel fit, I added an additional layer to ALL doors).
Yes that is the STOCK speaker still.










This is my first effort, but I am sure that I will continuously improve things over time as I get better with different tools.
Right now I have a jig saw, a miter saw, brad and staple nailers, belt sander, orbital sander and crap loads of hand tools. I am in the market for a decent table saw + some kind of router set up, and may sell my miter saw in favor of a decent radial arm saw at some point. 

For this build I borrowed my friends table saw to make a few cuts and the rest I did with a jig saw and belt sander.

This will be a simple build with a sub floor/amp rack, an enclosure for (2) 10" subs that fire toward the rear glass of the Forester, (2) 8" mid bass woofers in IB mounted under the front seats (ala BMW), 6.5" components in the front doors and tweeters in the sail panels modified to fire off axis slightly.

Here is my gear list for this build:

Zapco Reference 750
Zapco Reference 350
Zapco Reference 360BK
Zapco Reference 150BK
Zapco DSP6-SL
Zapco balanced Line transmitters
IDQ10v2 (x2) (subs)
Oz Audio 200H (x2) (mid bass)
RS Audio Pro165 (mids)
Vifa D26NC05 (1" tweets)
Clarion NX501 (dd head unit/nav) <-- not purchased yet!!!


*Here is the beginning of my amp rack/sub floor:*










What you see is 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood. (chosen for weight and finish).
It will be attached to the floor of the car. I intend to sand and (analine) dye the wood black and then use matte clear coat on top of that for the finished look. I want to see some of the natural grain, but I want it to be black or as close to black as possible.


Here are some pics of teh amp rack farther along in the process. I am taking all of the pieces to work tomorrow to have the guys in the paint shop help me dye them and get them ready to assemble.






























*SUB BOX:*

Here is how the sub box will be made.
I designed it to give me "large" sealed box volume, as indicated on Image Dynamics .pdf for my subs. It will be divided down the center so that each sub has it's own separate (sealed) chamber.
I intend to build the box out of 3/4" MDF and seal/coat the interior chambers with 2 coats of resin. I will also place 11" diameter pieces of Ensolite behind each sub to break up the back wave, (although I am not sure that is really necessary since the subs are angled compared to the back plane of the enclosure) ?










The box is shaped like it is for a few reasons. (1) I needed it to fit below the rear cargo cover. (2) I wanted the subs to be aimed at the rear glass for the 3db gain. (3) When the rear seats are in the up/seating position, the back side (of the seat back) is angled and I needed to account for that.
Notice how I designed the sides of the box to extend past the back plane?
This will give me a small discreet storage space between the rear seat and rear of the sub box.

*Signal Path/Speakers*

Here is a diagram of how I see the signal path layout.
The idea is to have a fully active system, with a 3 way front stage, and DSP.
The cross over points are simply starting points, and listed to give you an idea of where I plan to begin.










If you pay particular attention to the colored lines and arrows, you will see how I believe the signal path should be. This is where I fall off the face of the earth (if you will), in that I am NOT convinced that this is the IDEAL set up.
Since the HU I have selected in my gear list has 3 pairs of pre-outs, and I am running 4 sets of speakers, this is the best I could come up with.

The concept is to use the "sub" out from the head unit, run it via Symbilink transmitter back to the amp rack and then use a Symbilink "Y" splitter. From the "Y". One side will go to the DSP6 for the mid bass channels and the other side will go straight to the sub amp. ALL sub processing would then have to take place at the sub amp. The Clarion NX501 has 8 pairs of 4v pre outs but 2 are slated for the rear "zone" and designed so the rear passengers can listen to/watch something different than the front passengers. It may be that these (rear) outputs can be used as discreet sub outs, but I have yet to determine that.


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

reserved again


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

reserved for more


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

This should do it


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## Chayse (Nov 23, 2010)

Fozzie looks great! Always wanted a Forester XT Sports before the STi came in a hatch.


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Looks good! I wish they made the STI forester in the US. I would have bought one instead of my WRX I think. What was the material you used to close up the holes BTW? I am gonna do something similar, but use duct seal to hold it on, then tiles over that.


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

ecbmxer said:


> Looks good! I wish they made the STI forester in the US. I would have bought one instead of my WRX I think. What was the material you used to close up the holes BTW? I am gonna do something similar, but use duct seal to hold it on, then tiles over that.


I actually used some plastic sign board that my wife brought home a couple years ago and I had sitting in the garage.

It is corrugated and really very stiff.
Once I got it roughed out and stuck in place with the butyl, it was pretty solid by itself.

After I covered it with RaamMat it was as solid and dead sounding as the rest of the door skin.

It would have probably been just as good and as easy if I were to use some thin aluminum, or heavy screen of some kind, but I had this, and it made sense once I roughed one hole in, so I went with it.

Man, the Forester doors are much less resonant than WRX doors (at least my 2006 STi). I have the luxury of comparing the 2 side by side and the Forester is much more solid. Probably because of the body contour lines in the doors.


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## oldturd (Oct 31, 2009)

I was so close to getting a Forrester XT before I bought my Mazdaspeed 6. I definitely miss having the utility of a hatchback. 

Install is looking good, keep up the good work!


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## theredraven (Feb 25, 2010)

I just read through your whole build journal on SF.org..

It is completely amazing what you've done with this car :shocked2:


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

oldturd said:


> I was so close to getting a Forrester XT before I bought my Mazdaspeed 6. I definitely miss having the utility of a hatchback.
> 
> Install is looking good, keep up the good work!


Thank you so much, I hope it turns out well.
I am seriously thinking about going car-pc now that I have seen and touched a few nav head units, the more I read up on reviews and having played with a Z120, and NX501, I am less inclined to buy one of these (nearly thousand dollar) items than I am to just build a full tilt carputer.



theredraven said:


> I just read through your whole build journal on SF.org..
> 
> It is completely amazing what you've done with this car :shocked2:


Thank a lot man, I really appreciate it. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like when I started, and I got pretty close.
I am a bit anal about a lot of things, so I put that energy into building the car.


Here is a pic of the amp rack lower all boxed out, dyed and cleared.
The clear came out a bit more glossy than I wanted but I think it looks alright.











The smaller amp (reference 150bk) in the lower right of the box may be eliminated, I figure I have the reference 360bk which is a 4 channel amp and I can use that for mids/tweets and by eliminating the reference 150bk, I can place the DSP6 right there in that spot and make the layout a lot cleaner.

Once I get the DPS6 in hand, I can see if the cable layout makes sense, and commit to a 3 amp or 4 amp system.


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## slpery (Jan 14, 2011)

Looking forward to this. Subscribe


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## Motown (Mar 12, 2011)

Subscribed


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## labcoat22 (Mar 29, 2009)

Cant wait to see what the under seat mid/bass looks like and how the tweets turn out as well.

You should through this on NASIOC as well
R-


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## Irishfocus06 (Sep 11, 2008)

Wow, amazing ride and clean install thus far. 

Good idea on the cardboard for covering the holes. I am gonna borrow this idea. Just need to pony up more moola for some deadener. 

Good job and sub'd!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

dude I LOVE your car, if i didnt have my car, your car would be exactly what i have, though i prolly wouldnt go quite as insane with the swap mods as you did...wow...

if you ever get bored of it let me know, my LGT is gonna get old someday


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## vwtoby (Oct 28, 2005)

damn, awesome proejct..

can i ask what you do? great skills


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

labcoat22 said:


> Cant wait to see what the under seat mid/bass looks like and how the tweets turn out as well.


Well, I am going to use my old school Oz Audio 250H's, they are designed for infinite baffle as I understand it, and that is how I am going to run them.
I think they will sound great under the seats, I am going to try and face them forward ever so slightly.



Irishfocus06 said:


> Wow, amazing ride and clean install thus far.
> 
> Good idea on the cardboard for covering the holes. I am gonna borrow this idea. Just need to pony up more moola for some deadener.
> 
> Good job and sub'd!


Thank you!!! stay tuned!



simplicityinsound said:


> dude I LOVE your car, if i didnt have my car, your car would be exactly what i have, though i prolly wouldnt go quite as insane with the swap mods as you did...wow...
> 
> if you ever get bored of it let me know, my LGT is gonna get old someday


Will do Bing! man I would love to have your skills!, this is my first attempt at a sound system build, and after today, I find that I really LOVE working with these materials and building things like this. I think I may have found my new passion. !



vwtoby said:


> damn, awesome proejct..
> 
> can i ask what you do? great skills


Thank you man, I was a master mechanic back in the day, and I have always been pretty mechanically inclined. I have been working in the movie business for the last 15 years now. (video engineer).

Ok so here is today's progress!
I got a late start, it looked like it was going to rain, and it was cold so I was lazy until about noon.

I had to completely remake the top portion of the amp rack because like an idiot, I cut the back part of the top piece 3/4" too short. :mean:

So, I had to bust out another sheet of ply and redo the whole thing.
Anyway, once I got started, I got on a roll and every cut I made was right on the money. 

Cut all 3 pieces, beveled the front edges @ the rear hatch door opening for a nice smooth transition. Test fitted everything, sanded, filed and cleaned everything up.

Once I was sure that I had enough clearance between all 3 parts (including carpet thickness), I went to town carpeting everything.

I think it came out FANTASTIC for my first attempt ever at building an amp rack. I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment when it all went together.

Here are a few pics.

Here is the new top section all cut and roughed in place:










Here is the left segment, and the first piece of carpet I have ever installed in a car in my life (i've always let someone else do it!)





























It came out perfect, and I thought to myself, "I got this!" so I was all fired up to do the rest.

Here is the right piece in progress:



















The side pieces I did not bother carpeting the bottoms since those will be screwed in place once I get the system integrated.

(continued)


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

The center piece was a lot more difficult because I completely covered it on both sides. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how I was going to go about it, and because the leading edge is curved, I decided to make the bottom piece NOT wrap up around the sides and back. Instead it covers the flat part of the bottom only.

The top section wraps around the sides, front and back and came out really good I feel. After I got the bottom "skin" in place, I taped the all around the edges to protect the carpet from glue spray. This allowed me to spray the sides and face (including the edges of the bottom piece of carpet) so that when I wrapped the top skin around and down the sides/back carpet was bonded to carpet so there are no visible seams.

I was really impressed with myself when It was all said and done, and my wife was really impressed too (double win!).





































Anyway, it was a very productive day, and one that left me feeling really good about myself.

Now I need to build the sub box and start integrating things.
I have ditched the idea of a car-pc for now, I am not convinced they are the way to go for me. I love to tinker, but I do NOT want to be messing with a car-puter every other day because of this-that-or the other problem(s) that seem to be the norm for car-pc's.

So, that leaves me in a quandary over what DD nav-unit to buy.,..... argh... I think I am going with Kenwood because of the Garmin nav.


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## Chayse (Nov 23, 2010)

That looks really good. I still have to do the cover panel for my install. Right now I still have the factory cover in place. What carpet did you use to cover the ply?


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## ALL4SPL (Sep 30, 2009)

Love the hidden look you did with those panels over the amps, can't wait to see more, and LOVE the grocery getter!


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## knifedag007 (Mar 14, 2011)

awesome build, on here and the other forum for the actual car build...more than a little OCD but thats ok great attention to detail :thumbsup:


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## AKMetal (Mar 3, 2011)

dude.. sick ride. i might do what you did with your floorboard with my impreza 2007


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

^^ Thanks man, I appreciate it!

Ok here is a question I posted in the no dumb questions section, but I wanted to post it here as well, since it is part of my build journal.
I am trying to figure out how to wire my subs up in 2ohm stereo to my Zapco 750.
Can someone clear this up for me?

Here is a picture of how I see it going. Please let me know if there is a better way to do it? The image of the amp connections is actually my Zapco 750

My subs are: IDQ10v2 (D4)










Each sub is in it's own (sealed) chamber in a sealed enclosure.

The Zapco 750 has 3 wiring options as far as I understand it, (I want the red option).

780w x1 @ 4ohm mono
*360w x 2 @ 2ohm stereo*
175 x2 @ 4ohm stereo

Here is how Crutchfield lays it out.










As long as I can start with the 360w x2 @ 2ohm stereo set up, I think the rest of the system will be reasonably balanced (power wise).


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## Chayse (Nov 23, 2010)

Both diagrams you have posted are correct to get a 2ohm load for each channel. Are you feeding the amp a Mono signal or Stereo? I'm not sure you would notice much difference either way if they are crossed low enough for subs.


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

Chayse said:


> Both diagrams you have posted are correct to get a 2ohm load for each channel. Are you feeding the amp a Mono signal or Stereo? I'm not sure you would notice much difference either way if they are crossed low enough for subs.


Yes I think I am feeding the amp a stereo signal.
I am going from the R/L (sub) out pair on the back of my HU to a Symbilink transmitter, then from there to the amp via Symbilink.

I pulled the trigger on the Pioneer AVIC X930BT. Primarily because it has a volume knob, so I think the fact that it has R/L sub out means they are stereo?


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## Chayse (Nov 23, 2010)

Yeah, that output would be stereo. You could always flip the switch on the amp and switch it to L+R summed Mono. That is how mine is running, then again, I'm only running a single DVC 12" with around 500w from a DC 650.6.
On another note, I really like my X920, I may buy the upgrade to the X930 software when it is available. I don't mind not having an actual volume knob since I have the controls on the Steering wheel. I configured one of the buttons for Mute if I need to drop the volume quick.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

i love your subaru. i love the choice of amps.

any progress man?

exelent idea with the corragated plastic board for the deadening!


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

very nice install that has started.

Suprisingly, my Brother has a Genuine STI forester in the same colour as yours. Currently making 320WHP. Still pretty much stock other than Exhaust and re-tune.

Will be very interested to see how your sub box and front doors progress.

Keep it up.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

I love fozzies.... I love yours especially... (Aaron'z 2.5RS on NASIOC)

I've been driving my moms, beat to ****, fozzy around and love it... I can't even imagine it with one of "our" motors in it.. (well I can, and it would be a ****in BLAST)

cheers...!!


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

req said:


> i love your subaru. i love the choice of amps.
> 
> any progress man?
> 
> exelent idea with the corragated plastic board for the deadening!


Thank you very much man, I genuinely appreciate it!
The system is complete, it sounds BITCHEN, and I am making good progress on the tuning, I have a LOT of pictures to post up here so stay with me!



glidn said:


> very nice install that has started.
> 
> Suprisingly, my Brother has a Genuine STI forester in the same colour as yours. Currently making 320WHP. Still pretty much stock other than Exhaust and re-tune.
> 
> ...


Thank you bro, Yeah the genuine FXSTi is a dream machine for me.
I turned mine into as close a representation of that car as I could.
The Foz's are really neat little wagons!



Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> I love fozzies.... I love yours especially... (Aaron'z 2.5RS on NASIOC)
> 
> I've been driving my moms, beat to ****, fozzy around and love it... I can't even imagine it with one of "our" motors in it.. (well I can, and it would be a ****in BLAST)
> 
> cheers...!!


Thanks Aaron, yeah I posted up a few questions over on Nasioc (I am Team Scream over there) in the Car Audio, Video and Security forum. ("need some advice on my old skewl stuff"), you actually participated in that thread with Tex.

I loves my FXT !!!


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

Ok well, I am bummed that I cannot edit any of the (reserved) posts that I placed at the end of my first 2 posts, what kind of crap is that? Paying members only? Now the journal will be spread out over many pages and is almost not worth doing...

Anyway, here are some up to date pictures of the installed amps, subs and (temporary) mid bass speakers.

Here is the Reference 360bk (4 ch) wired up:










The Reference 350 wired up:










The Reference 750 wired up:










The DSP6 wired up:










Here is a couple wide shots of the amp rack and components all wired up:



















And a wide shot of the amp rack with the lid in place, also showing the subs and enclosure:










Here is what my temporary mid bass solution looks like. I have not done anything permanent yet because I am experimenting with placement. The Oz 250h are old school free air mid bass speakers, so I built small boxes with open backs out of 3/4" birch ply. 

Oddly enough, these things add a LOT of depth to the sub/mid bass stage and actually sound quite good right behind the front seats. I have enough speaker wire length to place them in front of the front seats as well, and honestly they do not sound any worse behind the seats.

I may end up buying used front door panels and fiberglassing in some pods to have mid bass, mid and tweet in the doors, but for now, I am playing with it like it is while I learn how to tune an active 3 way set up.










Here is what the rear hatch looks like in stealth mode, with the cover pulled over everything:










And here is my Pioneer AVIC-X930BT installed:










Anyway, it sounds AMAZING to me right now. I have had it installed about a week, and it has taken me about that long to get it dialed in using the DSP6. All my friends think it sounds fantastic, and believe it or not, the sub and mid bass are not localize-able.

The front sound stage definitely feels centered and there is nice separation.
The DSP6 is pretty easy to try new things out with, now that I have it somewhat figured out.

I like the depth a lot better with the mid bass speakers playing, so I am pretty convinced that I am going to go with a 3 way set up on a permanent basis. I have been bitten HARD by the "bug" and so my next phase will definitely be custom door panels.

One final note I need to add is that I purchased Vifa DC26NC05 (1" soft dome) tweeters from Madisound, mostly because I knew I could make them fit in the stock location pretty easily. I did not really have very high hopes for them @ $19.00 each.
What I can tell you is that they are absolutely AMAZING little tweeters, and easily perform as good as ANY 1" soft dome tweeter I have ever heard in a car bar none. Zero listener fatigue, fantastic clear presence, loud as I need them to be and ZERO harshness whatsoever.


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

OK so here are some more pics. Again, I am pretty perturbed that I cannot edit earlier posts to try and keep things in order better, but since that is the case, I am just going to hodge-podge this journal...

Here is what the rear hatch looks like.
I laid down BXTII in the spare tire well, but I did NOT cover the whole thing.
This area is heavily curved, and has many high/low spots in the sheet metal which make it far less prone to resonation so I covered about 40% of the bottom of the well, and then covered the whole area with closed cell foam, then I covered the bottom of the spare tire well with 1/2" thick foam using 3M 77 spray glue. I also covered the surrounding area with closed cell foam.



















Prior to that, I set in on deadening the outer skin/rear quarter panel areas with BXTII and Ensolite:




























If you look at these pictures, you can see the cabin pressure equalization vents (black plastic), there is 1 on each side cavity. The right one is smaller because this is the side that the gas tank filler neck is on so the space in that cavity is also a bit more cramped to work in:



















On the Forester, specifically on the left side, this vent lets a LOT of exhaust noise into the cabin, particularly if you have a decent exhaust on the car like I do.

I decided on a solution and fab'd up a couple of baffles using cardboard boxes that I cut to size and covered with multiple layers of gaffers tape:



















If you notice on the 2nd pic, I left the bottom of the baffles open so that air pressure could still escape once they were secured to the body of the car over the vents

Then I crammed as much fiber fill as I could behind each one:


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

Then secured each one by fitting it under the plastic tabs of each vent:










Then I taped each baffle securely to the body panel:










And stuffed as much fiberfill as I could below, around and on top of each baffle:










After that, I set in on the inner skins and shock towers using BXTII and Ensolite:



















And finally, I went to town on the rear hatch door with BXTII and Ensolite, followed by closed cell foam and then a 1/2" layer of the same blue closed cell foam as I did the spare tire well with. I only took a few pics of this because I was running out of daylight and time but it's there and I can tell you that this thing is about 40% quieter than it ever was before I started:



















More to come shortly.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

Boogaloo said:


> Thanks Aaron, yeah I posted up a few questions over on Nasioc (I am Team Scream over there) in the Car Audio, Video and Security forum. ("need some advice on my old skewl stuff"), you actually participated in that thread with Tex.
> 
> I loves my FXT !!!


DOH, now I remember... the Zapco gear... lol.. duh...


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

Here is the tweeter build up.
As mentioned, I used Vifa DC26NC05 1" soft dome tweets from Madisound.


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

Here is the amp rack as I started to integrate it.
I installed (2) 120mm silent 12v computer fans that push air up into each amp rack chamber under the largest amps.
I bored 1-1/4" holes at the ends of the amp rack chambers near the cooling fins of the amps, the air exits these holes, so it has to blow across the cooling fins of the amps and through the vents of the DSP6 to leave each chamber. It works like a charm. The amps dont even break a sweat after 20 minutes of solid high volume listening pleasure!

I also made 1/4" spacers that go under each amp mounting point to raise the amps off the deck and provide solid air flow.

I used a relay and a buss bar to send turn on power to the amps and DSP6, as well as the fans.

I know the picture shows one of the (RED) power cables appears to be short and under stress. This was only during pre-rig. Once I integrated everything, there was a nice lazy curve to ALL of the wires/cables. Nothing was "clothes-lined".


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## douggiestyle (Apr 29, 2008)

love the ride! i was so close to buying an FXT i signed up on SFO. this build gives me the what if demons.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

when you are done, do you wanna trade cars with me? ahhaha.

i love your work. amazing job with the mechanics of things, then picks up the stereo work like youve always done it.

you are giving mattR a run for his money


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## quietfly (Mar 23, 2011)

Wow this was an excellent build up. thanks for sharing with us


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## HondAudio (Oct 19, 2006)

What kind of foam did you use in the spare tire well? It looks kind of like toolbox liner.


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

req said:


> when you are done, do you wanna trade cars with me? ahhaha.
> 
> i love your work. amazing job with the mechanics of things, then picks up the stereo work like youve always done it.
> 
> you are giving mattR a run for his money


Thanks man, I really appreciate it! But dude! mattR's work is off the chain! That is some serious fabrication skill he has going on there... I am not even in the same league, let alone the same game!



quietfly said:


> Wow this was an excellent build up. thanks for sharing with us


You are welcome sir, I really appreciate it, thank you!



HondAudio said:


> What kind of foam did you use in the spare tire well? It looks kind of like toolbox liner.


It is a 1/2" thick foam rubber matt that we got at Target in the pool section.
It is meant to lay out on next to the pool on the concrete.
The black stuff is a Yoga mat and is about 3/16" thick.


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## kenikh (Jan 17, 2011)

Damn, I disappear for a month and a half and a kick ass Fozzy build materializes out of thin air. NICE.


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## kenikh (Jan 17, 2011)

I tried running my wire through the existing channel using your method - let's just say my hat is off to you. There was no way I could see to make this happen without disconnecting the entire door harness from the car, removing the channel, laying it all flat, then trying to get the wires to run through using your method. 

I bagged it and went outside the channel: I pulled the body gaskets out, punctured them with a tiny hole and pulled the wire through, parallel of the OEM channel. The hole is small enough that it provides a water tight compression fit. I used shrink tubing to get the speaker wires to blend in with the black OEM channel, then used black zip ties to bind them together. Looks stealth enough - I hate seeing speaker wire in the door gap and this did the trick:


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## Tnutt19 (Dec 22, 2010)

Install looks awesome, super clean! Nice work! Are you doing anything to cool the amps or are you concerned about them having air to breath a little


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Anymore updates?

Will do a log of some of the install of my brothers forester hopefully in the next day or two.


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## mtbwrx (Jan 9, 2011)

How much weight do you think you added to the rear of the car?
I had a ton of stuff in my forester xt and it did affect the ride some....
sub box built in the spare well, amps/xovers on top of it with a panel similar to yours.


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

oops.... next post.


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## Boogaloo (Jan 1, 2010)

kenikh said:


> I tried running my wire through the existing channel using your method - let's just say my hat is off to you. There was no way I could see to make this happen without disconnecting the entire door harness from the car, removing the channel, laying it all flat, then trying to get the wires to run through using your method.
> 
> I bagged it and went outside the channel: I pulled the body gaskets out, punctured them with a tiny hole and pulled the wire through, parallel of the OEM channel. The hole is small enough that it provides a water tight compression fit. I used shrink tubing to get the speaker wires to blend in with the black OEM channel, then used black zip ties to bind them together. Looks stealth enough - I hate seeing speaker wire in the door gap and this did the trick:


Yeah, I had to unseat the rubber plug portions of the pass through in each door gap. Then from there I could straighten it out enough to feed the snake I made from a super heavy coat hangar with an ear plug taped onto the tip to provide a rounded "guide" to work through the rubber channel.
I also used some dish washing soap (very little) as lube and was able to snake 2 pull wires through.

Then, one pull wire was used to pull the speakers wires through, and the other I left in place, in case I ever needed to do it again for any reason (like going 3 way front stage eventually) 



Tnutt19 said:


> Install looks awesome, super clean! Nice work! Are you doing anything to cool the amps or are you concerned about them having air to breath a little


Yep, under each "bay" section of the amp rack, I cut 120mm holes and mounted 120mm computer fans which pull air down in to the spare tire well from (4) 1-1/8" holes I cut into the sides of each "bay".

This has the effect of pulling in non heated air from the sides of the exterior part of the amp rack, sucking it past the cooling fins and venting it out the bottom of the rack and out of the vents to the outside world.

I used really nice (expensive) ultra silent computer case fans, and even running on high, they make no noticeable noise.



glidn said:


> Anymore updates?
> 
> Will do a log of some of the install of my brothers forester hopefully in the next day or two.


Nothing new, other than I am have an odd turn on thump of the subs, which consequently are the only non DSP6 controlled elements in the system.
Zapco has me running a few tests which I will do tomorrow.
They think there is some kind of voltage on the RCA (sub out) lines of my HU.



mtbwrx said:


> How much weight do you think you added to the rear of the car?
> I had a ton of stuff in my forester xt and it did affect the ride some....
> sub box built in the spare well, amps/xovers on top of it with a panel similar to yours.


53.4 lbs total

I am running RCE Tarmac II coilovers with 400/350 springs and I had the car (re) corner balanced after the install. I am now back to almost perfect 50/50 and the difference between pre and post install was 53.4 lbs.

I think using Birch ply instead of MDF for the amp rack saved me a few lbs.

Thanks for all the compliments guys!


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## DLO13 (Oct 24, 2010)

i just crapped myself after looking at your log on the subaru forums.... AMAZING


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## redbaronace (Sep 27, 2011)

Nice. Another Zapco build.


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## blackknight87 (Jul 11, 2011)

Very nice build. Love attention to detail.


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## cnut334 (Oct 17, 2009)

Nice build on a unique vehicle!!


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## Swanson's Performance (Mar 27, 2011)

How hard are the door skins to take off? I want to deaden my doors but can't take the car down for too long because of work. Nice job, I'm jealous!


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## jward84 (Jul 21, 2011)

Love the build!!!!


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