# Firebird SQ Install



## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

A little about my car: 

It's a 1993 Firebird Formula. It's my nice weather car, it rarely goes out in the rain anymore and never in the snow (though I do drive it in the winter if the roads are clear). This is definitely not the easiest car to put a SQ system in as the layout is about as acoustically unfriendly as you can find. But I decided to do it anyway. The system is all Alpine, starting with a CDA-9885 headunit (w/ipod), a PXA-H701 processor, a PDX 150.2, a PDX 600.1, one Type-R 10" and the SPX-17Pro 6.5" component set. The amps and processor display have been customized with red LEDS internally. I have used Streetwires for power wires and twisted pair speaker wires and IXOS for the interconnects. 

Being a SQ car, I have tried my best to make the most of what I have. While I retained the factory door locations for the woofers, the door has a layer of Cascade mat on the inside door skin, the door panel has closed cell foam between it and the door skin. The woofers themselves are bolted to 3/16" T6061 aluminum with a layer of Dynamat on the back. The whole unit is bolted to the door with a layer of Sorobathane sandwiched inbetween. There are also Dynaflex pads on the inside of the doors behind the speakers. 

Alpine's ring radiator SPX tweeters are attached to fiberglass pods in the A-pillars. The tweeters were laser aimed to cross in the middle of the car inbetween the front seats. 

The A-pillars and dashpad were covered with foam-backed headliner suade to cut down on the harsh treble reflections caused by the car's acre-wide windshield and ultra-deep dashboard.

I have two batteries in the car along with a high-output alternator.

The overall look of the system is based heavily on the style of the car. Nearly every detail in design of the system comes from some aspect of the factory design. I have many more pictures I will be uploading in the next few days and weeks.

The system is tuned for tonality first, and imaging second. The best two seat compromise I got is the driver gets a wide, centered soundstage with the vocals centered in the middle of the car. The passenger gets a soundstage about half of the width of the car with vocals centered directly in front of them. 

My mostly complete system looks like this:


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## vwjmkv (Apr 23, 2011)

nice! looking forward to seeing more

CC


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

The stereo install started out with an idea on paper:










This was the first system I installed in the car:










Now it's all gone:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Next, remove the old sub box and take it apart. The centerline of the subwoofer was previously centered in the off-center trunk. Soon it aligned with the center of the car.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

You wouldn't happen to know a guy named Doug Allen, would you?

Nice looking system.

Jay


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Thanks JayinMI! No, I do not know Doug Allen. Why do you ask? Is there something about this install that is similar to his, or is he a friend or something else?


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## Cruzer (Jul 16, 2010)

u ever been inside a honda element or vw beetle? those are deep dashes lol

look forward to this, i had a 97 firebird. plan to get a 98-02 firebird in the future


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## ReloadedSS (Aug 26, 2008)

Had a '93 and a '98 Chevy F-Body. This car brings back some great memories. Good work, looking forward to more.


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## DonH (Jun 25, 2009)

Freaking sweet!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

soundwavesteve said:


> Thanks JayinMI! No, I do not know Doug Allen. Why do you ask? Is there something about this install that is similar to his, or is he a friend or something else?


He used to work for the place I'm at now, and he also used to work at a shop called Soundwaves in Michigan...just wondered. I think he's installing DirecTV now.

Jay


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Next step is to start building the amp rack:

First, I took my already existing crossover panel, and made some copies:










The sides of the amp rack are two pieces. I wanted them to mimic the shape of my door panels:










So the sides are going to be two pieces. The back piece with factory door panel fabric and a top piece that will cover the fabric edges and provide the rest of the door panel look. They are literally identical in shape to the door panels, as I took a picture of the door panels, traced the shape of the curves in MS Paint, printed it out and drew it on my MDF panels.


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Continued...


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

This is just the back piece with a routed out section just for the carpet:










And this is both pieces together. The radius on the internal contour is the same radius as that of the factory door panel.


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

This next picture shows a mock up of the amp rack with the subwoofer trim panel to make sure the lengths are correct.










This next picture shows the already cut pieces of subwoofer trim panel. The foam is used to make sure that installation and removal of the trim panel won't scratch the paint and so it won't squeak 











As a side note, I used a left over radio and speakers to make a stereo for the basement:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

JayinMI - I see you work at a Car Tunes, when I took this car up the Car Tunes in Allen Park, the store manager Tom practically offered me job on the spot!  

This is just a hobby though - I wouldn't want to do it everyday!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

After 18 years of doing this for a job, I wish I would have kept it a hobby. LOL

Jay


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## focused313 (Apr 19, 2012)

soundwavesteve said:


> JayinMI - I see you work at a Car Tunes, when I took this car up the Car Tunes in Allen Park, the store manager Tom practically offered me job on the spot!
> 
> This is just a hobby though - I wouldn't want to do it everyday!


Tom is a great guy!!! Took care of me with that crap Mars alarm went dead in my Maggie and Charger. The owner personally called me and upgraded both alarms for free installed at the custom facility by their Omega rep.


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## DonH (Jun 25, 2009)

this just looks great man keep the pics coming! i like how you didnt tease us and already showed the finished product!!


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## phryed (Aug 5, 2011)

soundwavesteve said:


> Continued...


Ha, Love the Watch! Classic.


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## ken261 (Jan 5, 2011)

Love the car radio for the shop. I'm thinking to do the same type of thing. What are you powering yours with?


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Focused313 - You're right, Tom at Car Tunes Allen Park is a great guy! He went out of his way several times to help me with car alarms and some hard to find replacement parts. I've always had a great experience with his shop and crew.

Phryed - Yup - you can tell I'm a geek.....lol

Ken261 - The shop radio is powered by a Tripp-Lite 10amp AC-DC power supply I got from amazon. I leave the power supply on 24x7 to keep the radio settings, etc. Works great. The radio is an older Pioneer that came from a previous used car, the speakers are 3-ohm Infinity 6.5's. The boxes are made from scrap 3/16" plywood and I painted/routed them to match the cabinet faces. A little bass-boost from the headunit and they sound quite fine


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Next step was to design the new home for my crossovers. Those spots used to be the rear speakers for the factory AC/Delco/Bose 10-speaker stereo. The grills are magnetically attached.


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Of course, it starts with an idea on paper....










Then I measured and etched out my parts on 1/8" plastic:










Cut them out:










And glue them together:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

I cut out the openings with a dremal tool:



















Then I washed them with soap, and scrubbed them with peanut butter:










Yes, peanut butter! The peanut oil rejuvenates the plastic! See for your self!

Before:










After:










Notice, the after pic is bolder, not washed out anymore - likes almost new! Even some of the scratches are blended away.


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Cut off the factory mounting tabs on the grills:










And attach the magnets. At first I tried hot glue, but it didn't hold. JB Weld works perfect though.


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

I tape off the panel, so I can use spray glue to attach factory door panel fabric. The factory carpet has a horizontal pattern, so the pattern is aligned with the hole I cut. I couldn't align it with anything on factory panel since GM of the era never used a straight line anywhere on the entire interior.....Damn you GM!!!!










Make sure it fits....










Glue it on with some reenforcing tabs...



















Finished:


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## abdulwq (Aug 17, 2008)

wow what a install.


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Here's another round of photos:

First official mock up and test fit:










Here is the back panel:










Here is the creation of the side panels. The factory carpet is glued on with 3M spray glue and the horizontal pattern is aligned with the top shelf. The blue tape is where the shelf will be attached.










Now I am beginning to mock up the back of the shelf where the amplifier's back lights will be:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

I have already cut and routed two of the back pieces and set them in place. Here you can see my alignment marks that I used to check fitment:










I used wood molding to make the rounded edges of my volt meter panel. The rounded edge matches the radius of the center radio stack on the dashboard.










To make the amplifier back lights, I cut 1/8" thick acrylic, taped off one side and sandblasted the other for a frosted look.










Here is the volt gauge panel being made:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Test fit in the car to make sure it all fits:










Next, starting to map out the subwoofer trim cover. Here I am figuring out how big the hole for the sub will be and where it will go. I made a template to line up the center of the sub and the center of the trim panel:



















Now I am drilling out the corners of my two windows in the sub trim panel. One side will show the distribution block and the other side will show the processor.










Routing out the subwoofer hole:










and rounding the edges with a radius that matches other factory panels in the car:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

To further tie in the stereo design with the car, I added a Pontiac badge to the subwoofer trim panel. Here I am routing out a recess, so the tape on the badge won't be seen and the badge will look integrated with the panel:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

I am now done with the majority of the building. Now I have to start pre-wiring the system so I can send it off for painting.

I tired my best to keep power wires separate from the signal wires and only cross them at 90* angles. My own personal experience shows that this helps keep the background quiet and noise free.


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## Lunchmeat (Jun 12, 2012)

*Amazing!*


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Got the pieces back from being painted at a local body shop:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Now I'm putting the grills and Pontiac badge on my subwoofer trim cover:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

I didn't take any pictures of me polishing the aluminum bar that I used as to trim off and highlight the front of the amp rack, but here are some pictures of it being attached. Also of note, the curve of the front of the amp rack matches the curve of the back of the trunk/back of the car/taillights etc.










Two part epoxy and ten clamps later...


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## ken261 (Jan 5, 2011)

That is super slick. This is coming along just great.


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Time to silicone the frosted acrylic back-lights to the rack:










Start the wiring:










Attach the red LED back lights:



















and put it in the car:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

And this is the car it is installed in:


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

I still need to take some beauty shots of the interior to share. I have custom aluminum trim rings on the vents and gauge cluster. I have a start button from a Volkswagen, and custom headunit mount. I am currently working on custom mounting the RUX701 display in the passenger sail panel and I am also building a custom aluminum trimmed ipod/iphone mount in the driver's sail panel. I also need to get some good shots of my tweeters in here and how they are aimed. In addition, I'll be permanently securing the speaker baffles to my doors and adding some sound deadening to further improve woofer performance.

Thanks everyone for the many great comments. Look for more pics soon!


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## robolop (Mar 10, 2008)

You did a nice clean job, dude...


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## ken261 (Jan 5, 2011)

Props dude. That is a job well done.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

soundwavesteve said:


>


Where was this picture taken? I like the background.

Nice job on the install. Looks very clean.

Jay


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

JayinMI: I took that pic under a rail bridge on Milwaukee Street in Detroit near Hamtramck. Lots of other industrial locations in the area too.

Thanks for the compliments!


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

Sweet car & cool looking install - get those windows tinted and it'll be totally bad-ass


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Here was my baby before it got totaled last year by a deer. A Formula LS1 with T/A rear bumper and hatch (for the wing). Ghost bird on the hood!  Took 5 at USACI Consumer "q" 3-4 years ago.


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## soundwavesteve (Nov 27, 2011)

Niebur3: Nice, clean car! You have any pics of the install? If not, what did you have in it?

Chaos: You're right, I do need the windows tinted. Look for new pics coming soon


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

It changed a couple of times. Here are pics when it placed as finals (BTW, it was both mine and my wife's car and she would NOT allow me to use the well and get rid of the t-top holders, so....

Head Unit:









MR/Tweeter Pods:

































Door Panels:









Larger Pic of the Front Stage:









Amps/Processor:









Sub:


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Are are some changes in various different setups (used as a demo car).

Tru Amps:

























Then Arc Blacks (and final setup when it got totaled):


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