# '83 Z28 New System Install



## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Hey all. Just wanted to let you know that my wife hates each and every one of you!!  

I was going to just tear out my old system and do a simple replacement of speakers in the factory locations, and maybe a new HU. But then I started looking at what you all have been doing and decided I wanted to try something a little more ambitious.

Here are some pictures (history lesson) of the system I installed some time ago (1989, I think. Memory fails). At that time, subs were a rarity and there were nowhere near the choices there are now. I installed some 8" Altec-Lansings (I notice that many of you use 8" 's for mid-bass now) powered by a Denon 65W x 2 channel amp. And they sounded GOOD. Check out the Alpine deck, their styling is still very similar to this deck I installed in 1986. I added the Harmon-Kardon equalizer to get a sub-out. The Alpine deck only had two pre-amp outs. I had 4x6 Alpines in the dash, and 6x9 three-ways in the B-pillars. 

Since this is my summer driver, I have time to work slowly. So far I've got the interior stripped and 2 rolls of Raamat installed. I've cleared the door panels off, but haven't started deadening the doors yet.

Ok, enough for now. More pictures when I figure out how to shrink their size a little.

(Edit - I removed the gigantic file-size pictures and replaced them with smaller versions of the same things!)


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

I just re-sized some other pictures so I want to try to upload them and see if it works a little better.

One is the "somewhat-infinite baffle" closed so you can see the sub-grills and the mounting point for the CD changer. The other is one of the 6x9's, uncovered. Normally it was covered by the stock trim piece.

Let's try.


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## jisturm (Feb 4, 2006)

I had that tape deck in my first Jeep. Wow, memories.

I am thining of looking for an old Alpine CD player for the wife's 80 Turbo-T/A


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## bentleyrb (Apr 4, 2007)

I love the old systems. 
That's just great! I look forward to seeing the new system. Thanks for the memories!


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Hey, thanks for the kind words.

Here's the equipment list for what I'm putting in:

HU - Eclipse CD5100 (AM/FM/CD, real basic but nice FM sensitivity and 5V pre-outs.)

Fronts - MB Quart QSD 216 (6 1/2 in 2-way components, Q-series is MB Quart's nicest line)

Rears - MB Quart RCE 269 (6x9 2-way components, R-series is the next nicest. I couldn't find 6x9's in the Q-series.)

Sub - JL Audio 10W0 (a nice 10" sub I've got laying around from a previous install in my old truck).

Amps - Precision Power (I don't remember the model, but it's 50x4 ch, also from my old truck)

Sub amp - either the old Denon bridged into one channel at 125W or an old ADS amp I've got, or an Orion Amp I've got. By spring I'd like to upgrade to a JL Audio 500/1.

Here's some pictures of the matting so far. I spent last night putting in wires: power wire for the amps, RCA signal wires, and speaker wire. No pictures of that yet. Props to Rick at Raamat, great service and Raamat was very easy to work with. I don't think I got one cut on my hands from it!


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## coffee_junkee (Jul 13, 2006)

Nice job on the deadner! Can't wait to see the finished product.

That old-school Alpine will fetch some serious dough on eBay...


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

coffee_junkee said:


> Nice job on the deadner! Can't wait to see the finished product.
> 
> That old-school Alpine will fetch some serious dough on eBay...


Thanks, I was pretty nervous when I stuck the first piece down...it seemed like a pretty permanent thing to screw up. But it sure went well after that.


Really?? Thanks for the E-bay tip, I don't think I would have considered trying to sell it, it probably would have just sat on the shelf. It was a good HU.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Now I'm looking for a little help on tweeter placement.

The fronts are going to go into kick panel mods, so I think I'm set on those. 

The rear components are trickier. There is a spot at the rear of the roof, right before it ends for the hatch. There are two recessed spots already that should work to mount the tweeters. I'm thinking of angling them forward a little. I'll try to get a picture of the spot and post it later, but basically it will put those tweeters above and behind the driver seat.

Any opinions on what that would do to the soundstage??


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

Those pics took me back!

The 6X9's those are Polks aren't they?

They sold a "satellite" mid tweet combo with those HF elements in a "pod"


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## 99IntegraGS (Jan 18, 2007)

chad said:


> Those pics took me back!
> 
> The 6X9's those are Polks aren't they?
> 
> They sold a "satellite" mid tweet combo with those HF elements in a "pod"


I had a pair of those mid/tweeter modules in an '87 Accord sedan mounted at the top of the door panel.

JD


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

99IntegraGS said:


> I had a pair of those mid/tweeter modules in an '87 Accord sedan mounted at the top of the door panel.
> 
> JD


A buddy had a pair of the 6X9's and the tweet pods in a '76 monte carlo. He also had 2 of the original punch 12's with a Punch 150 for the subs and a punch 75 for the 6X9's and "pods" on an L-Pad.

Ahhhhh, the days. **** was not cheap back then. I'm almost afraid to ask the OP if he remembers the total price of everything. Remember, gas was less than 75 cents a gallon


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## lotusing (Mar 8, 2007)

Thats awesome!! I had 6x9 Alter Lansing.In fact I recently found them stored in my basement.The carbon fiber woofer was still good but the foam around it was shot.I cut the tweeters out and installed them on the a-pillar on my Volvo and sound awesome .I had a Concord HPL-532 head unit with the first aux output.Nakamichi and ads amps.All in my 88 VW GTI.I did have 2 10" sub's with an alphasonic sub-amp.This thread has killed me!!!!!
I will post pics tomorrow.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

BADASS! Concord heads killed! The alphasonik amps did not suck either.

I had thier (Alphasonik) 18WX2 that had the DIN input that accepted the DIN from an Alpine head. I had a REALLY old-skool Apline that I can't remember the model number of. That was my first rig along with Alpine 4X10's and a set of tweets up front. Front stage? Who needed it?

I'd love to see pics of the OP's altec subs. They would be cool to have.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

chad said:


> Those pics took me back!
> 
> The 6X9's those are Polks aren't they?
> 
> They sold a "satellite" mid tweet combo with those HF elements in a "pod"



Yup, good eye. Polk Audio something or others. I still have the original box, I should go look up the model number. They were very nice sounding, but I wasn't impressed with their durability. I quickly blew out the tweets in the first pair I owned, and had them replaced under warranty. These lasted a lot longer, but they're pretty used up now.

Went and looked at the box, they are Polk Audio MM6900.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

chad said:


> A buddy had a pair of the 6X9's and the tweet pods in a '76 monte carlo. He also had 2 of the original punch 12's with a Punch 150 for the subs and a punch 75 for the 6X9's and "pods" on an L-Pad.
> 
> Ahhhhh, the days. **** was not cheap back then. I'm almost afraid to ask the OP if he remembers the total price of everything. Remember, gas was less than 75 cents a gallon


Good question, but I don't remember. I pieced the system together over time, first the HU, then new speakers. I tried several different set-ups in the 4x6 dash location and they all sounded overly bright and harsh. I always figured it was the reflection off the glass. Last I added the subs and Denon amp. But I know the entire system didn't top out over $1,000.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

chad said:


> BADASS! Concord heads killed! The alphasonik amps did not suck either.
> 
> I had thier (Alphasonik) 18WX2 that had the DIN input that accepted the DIN from an Alpine head. I had a REALLY old-skool Apline that I can't remember the model number of. That was my first rig along with Alpine 4X10's and a set of tweets up front. Front stage? Who needed it?
> 
> I'd love to see pics of the OP's altec subs. They would be cool to have.


I haven't seen 4x10 speakers in years!! I remember replacing factory 4x10's and thinking how much better the sound was. 

The Altecs are still in amazingly good shape. They're still mounted on the board that I took out. I'll try to dismount them and take some better pics.

Edit: Ok, here's some pics of the subs. Cone and foam surround is still excellent.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

Rockin'Z28 said:


> Yup, good eye. Polk Audio something or others. I still have the original box, I should go look up the model number. They were very nice sounding, but I wasn't impressed with their durability. I quickly blew out the tweets in the first pair I owned, and had them replaced under warranty. These lasted a lot longer, but they're pretty used up now.
> 
> Went and looked at the box, they are Polk Audio MM6900.


We kept blowing the low end out of them, thus the RF12's later added.



Rockin'Z28 said:


> Edit: Ok, here's some pics of the subs. Cone and foam surround is still excellent.


Wow, just wow, very cool!


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Oh, man. I've been busy the last few days. I put the finishing touches on the Raamat, that went a lot better than I thought. I dreaded doing the inside of the doors, but that was also a lot easier than I thought. However, if you do the inside of your doors, be careful of the things in there that bite! I got more slices from the door (3) than from the Raamat (0).

I included a pic of the bucket of wires I pulled out from the previous install. A good time to upgrade everything. One pic of the new wires installed.

I got the inside of the doors matted (2 layers), added some expanded metal to cover the bigger holes, matted the interior of the door with one layer, and then added Ensolite. The doors are considerably heavier now, and close with a noticable different sound.

And, I present for your amusement, the WORLD RECORD for the most ghastly Ensolite job ever. As easy as Raamat was to work with, I hated the Ensolite. I coudn't make it lay even and I got glue all over everything, including my fingers. Finally, as I was finishing the last few panels, I got it figured out so my doors actually aren't too bad.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Just a quick update with some pics. I feel like I'm closing in on the end of re-assembly. I'll probably leave the seats out for the equipment install. Leaves a lot more room in the vehicle to move around.

I attached a couple of pictures of the carpet back in, and the console is in. Both doors are re-assembled. 

I also included a pic of the Raamat and Ensolite that I started with, and what I ended with.

My equipment came on Monday, head unit and two sets of MB Quart speakers. The tweeters were missing from the box for the rears. Grrrrr! I guess I'll find out about the customer service at Sonic Electronics. 

More excitement starts on Friday when I start the install!!! I can't wait.


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## ws6 beat (Jul 14, 2005)

I have an 87 rs and i love that car. i call it the hooptie and me and my friends took many of trips to mexico for spring break in it. bu now i have a camry and ws6 so im repainting and am gonna sell it(too many cars).


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

ws6 beat said:


> I have an 87 rs and i love that car. i call it the hooptie and me and my friends took many of trips to mexico for spring break in it. bu now i have a camry and ws6 so im repainting and am gonna sell it(too many cars).


Sorry to hear you're selling it. They are fun cars...although not real practical. Mine is just my summer driver.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Whoo-hooo! Now my new toys are in. I've attached a pic of the HU, front and rear speakers. Cool boxes, eh??

HU is an Eclipse CD5100, pretty basic. Front speakers are MB Quart Q-series (216). They are 6 1/2 2-way components. Rears are MB Quart R-series 6x9 2-way components. I'm ready to get started!!

One pic of the HU installed. Just an adaptor plate in the stock location. Not as cool as what some of you have done, but I'll take it. The 7th try was the charm...I spent a lot of time fussing around to get it shimmed out properly to match the depth of the stock trim.

One pic of the 6x9 mid installed. This is also the factory location in the C-pillar. I'm going to try the tweets mounted on the rear trim of the roofline, angled forward. The 6x9's will be covered with a piece of stock trim.

A couple of pics of the amp install. I know...it looks like a rat's nest. I want to do some tuning before I build and install the amp board and cover up all the wires. It will look a lot better before I'm done. I found a local store with a nice supply of nylon bushings to run the wires through, nylon clips to hold wires down, and other misc. organizing stuff. I wound up dropping the best part of a $20 on a bunch of plastic! The amp is an older Precision Power from a previous install.

While I was at it, I took some of my leftover 4 ga. power wire and made some jumpers for a "Big Three" makeover. I think mine will be a "Big Two" makeover. There is already a nice ground wire from the alternator body to the negative battery terminal.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Ok. Started my kick panel mods yesterday. What a nightmare...I have the mind of a perfectionist and all the motor skills of a total klutz. :blush: 

I used my Roto-zip saw to cut some speaker rings. Attached is a pic of the first one I did. I tried to cut a relief in it to sink the speaker into. As you can see, that didn't go anywhere. 

I started again today with some new ideas. Instead of using the RotoZip to drill the center hole for the circle cutting tool, I used a drill with a tightly sized bit. That cut down on the slop a ton. I also cut in only one direction, and tried to keep a smooth motion going. You can see my rings turned out better, but I don't think a RotoZip is stout enough to do the work. I'm going to try to recover with some sanding, but if I have to bail out of this I'm going to see my friend to have him program a CNC machining center and we'll cut them out on that.

The picture of the rings clamped together shows how inconsistent the OD's and ID's are. 

I also cut some rings for the tweeters. I used a hole saw for those, and a spade bit for the ID. Those are much better, but no pics yet.


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## DaveRulz (Jun 22, 2006)

Rockin'Z28 said:


> Ok. Started my kick panel mods yesterday. What a nightmare...I have the mind of a perfectionist and all the motor skills of a total klutz. :blush:
> *
> I used my Roto-zip saw to cut some speaker rings*.


It's not a problem with motor skills, it's a problem with the tool. Those things are hotrible for cutting consistent circles. Use your buddy's CNC, or find a router with the jasper jig on it. Then you'll be on the right track


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

DaveRulz said:


> It's not a problem with motor skills, it's a problem with the tool. Those things are hotrible for cutting consistent circles. Use your buddy's CNC, or find a router with the jasper jig on it. Then you'll be on the right track


Yeah. Did you ever just get bullheaded and try to do something just to prove you can? That's where I think I'm at right now. I needed a post like this to get me off this track and chalk it up as experience. The CNC machining center seems the way to really go.

Thanks.


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## DaveRulz (Jun 22, 2006)

Absolutely! When my brother got his rotozip, the first thing I thought was "Oh sweet, I can cut perfect circles without having to invest in a router and circle jig." Boy was I wrong. That rotozip is a piece. The worst is when the jig itself, no matter how hard you tighten it down, moves, and you get to the other side of the circle and the cuts don't line up. Yeah, piece of crap for cutting circles. Lesson learned and move on to the right tools for the job, it's much less frustrating and more precise with a router. With a CNC... perfect.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Rockin'Z28 said:


> My equipment came on Monday, head unit and two sets of MB Quart speakers. The tweeters were missing from the box for the rears. Grrrrr! I guess *I'll find out about the customer service at Sonic Electronics*.



Ok, props to Sonic Electronics. They sent two replacement tweeters, no questions asked. They arrived today (one week later.) Great prices, great service. Can't beat that.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Back in business on the kick panel mods! I scrapped the RotoZip rings and went back to square one.

Here's my tutorial on how to make speaker rings: 

1. Call Dave. (Dave is my buddy that programs CNC)
2. Bring square boards to Dave.
3. Bring speaker rings back home and sand the burrs off.
4. Done.

Here are some pics. I thought that cutting MDF would be a breeze, but it turns out to be pretty abrasive. We were cutting with a 1/4" ball endmill. (HS cutting steel). We got 4 rings cut and the the endmill broke. It was pretty dull. We switched to a 3/8" endmill and cranked up the speed a little. The 3/8" mill had a much coarser flute, which I think is the way to go with MDF. 
Ok, no pics. It says I exceeded my quota. Last time I posted I had plenty of room left. I wonder if the switch to the new server is causing issues.

Sweet! Able to add pics again. One shot is of the MDF mounted in the CNC machine cutting. The next shot shows the board out of the machine, notice the huge burr along the top. The bottom cut wasn't as bad since the cutter penetrated into the backer board a little. The next one shows how well they cleaned up with just a little hit from a palm sander. The stack shows the rings I cut with the RotoZip saw vs. the CNC cut ones. You should be able to tell which is which.

Cool. Back out to the garage. I've got the rings glued up, and right now I'm re-installing the head liner and various trim. Should be able to post some pics of the kick panel mods later tonight.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

This is just me trying to figure out how to post the pics full size into the thread instead of as thumbnails. 


This is my stack of CNC cut speaker rings. I'm mounting 6 1/2 mids from MB Quart in them, so they are 8" dia.









Ring on the left is cut by a RotoZip saw. On the right is CNC cut.









Ahhhhhhh...this is much better. I always like pictures posted like this in other threads instead of thumbnails.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Oh man! Major progess on the kick panel mods. And one major "Uh-oh" incident.

I'm showing progress on only one mod because I was trimming the parts for the tweeter in my chop saw...and something hooked up and it flew across the garage and hit the other wall. So I'm re-gluing another tweeter module. 

Here's some pics of the progress:

Speaker rings glued and weighted









Rings I'm using to mount the tweeters









Tweeter rings glued and clamped









Tweeter rings ready to go.









Tweeter rings cut.









Tweeter rings assembled to the Speaker rings, with the drivers just setting in place.









In car position, roughly. 









I plan on carpeting the pods and mounting them to some kick panels I got from the junkyard. They should just mount right into place, a little wiring, and this part of the install should be finished.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

I've spent hours over the last few days just doing detail work. I finished installing all the trim, all that's left now are the front seats. It was a lot of work that needed to get done, but didn't really make for any good pics.

Last night I carpted the kick panel mods. Here are some pics of that, I hope to get them installed and wired today.


Here are the rings for the mids ready to wrap.









Here are both rings wrapped.









One ring trimmed up, the other ring waiting.









The tweeter pod ready to wrap.









The tweeter pods wrapped and ready to trim.









One tweeter trimmed out.









The tweeters just sitting in position on the rings for the mids.









I'll assemble these to the stock kick panels, wire them up, and hopefully screw them into place still today. I've got to do just a little Raamat and Ensolite behind them. 

Music is in my future


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

After a full day of working at it, I finally finished the install on the front stage. I even took it for about a 1/2 hour drive before bringing it back to start tuning. Here are some pics of the install for the fronts:

The Passenger side mod assembled to the kick panel. Note the hole drilled through the wood, it's about a 1" hole. I wonder if that should have been bigger. I stuffed each one with polyfill before inserting the speaker.









The passenger side mod installed. I think I should have rotated the unit around so the tweeter was down lower.









Passenger side installed, just from back a little further to give perspective.









Driver side mod assembled.









The backer ring on the driver side. Passenger side is similar.









Driver side installed.









Driver side from further back.









Although it sounds good, it doesn't sound great yet. I've yet to install the sub, so the bass is lacking. It seems like I should be getting better bass from this set of drivers than I am. I'll spend tomorrow going through the set-up, it almost seems like I've got a high pass filter cut in somewhere, the bass just seems to disappear way too early. It does create a pretty nice soundstage with decent imaging. Still some work to be done on the rears (I chose to include rear fill, this will probably always be more or a 'jammin' system), I tried to balance it using the HU. I'll go back to the gains on the amp tomorrow.

Enough for today...it's 2:30 a.m. here in Michigan and time to rest up for tomorrow.


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## brendan 67 (Mar 12, 2007)

Very nice job on the kickpanels.Bass may be lacking because of the small space the drivers are in.Do the kick panels vent to anywhere.If so opening up the hole in the back of the kickpanel may help.


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## Whiterabbit (May 26, 2006)

love the carpet job. No matter what else, that rocks. 

do you think the passenger tweeter is aimed poorly? try a piece of foam on the underdash. dont even glue it on, just situate some foam down there and listen for cymbal presence and right side stage height. if it's better, glue in place. No need to rebuild the ring stack if some foam solves the problem, right?


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## dawgdan (Aug 10, 2006)

Nice job on the kicks.

I love how the cigarette lighter is just BEGGING you to smoke while driving. LOL


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Whiterabbit said:


> love the carpet job. No matter what else, that rocks.
> 
> do you think the passenger tweeter is aimed poorly? try a piece of foam on the underdash. dont even glue it on, just situate some foam down there and listen for cymbal presence and right side stage height. if it's better, glue in place. No need to rebuild the ring stack if some foam solves the problem, right?


Thanks for the kind words. This was my first set of kick panel mods. I would have liked to match the carpeting a little better, but when you really look at the carpet in this 25 year old car, it's not even a single color anymore. Sunfade, wear, dirt, etc. has left it all sorts of weird colors.

It may have been my first, but it definitely won't be my last. Now that I've done one set, I have some things I'd like to try, maybe in the spring.

The foam thing is a good idea. Although it wouldn't be hard to turn the unit. I can pull the kick panel, take 5 screws out of the back, rotate the whole thing a few degrees and then re-attach.

And now, on to the sub-box. I've got a JL Audio 10W0 from a previous install that will go in the back. Probably drive it with an old Denon amp; 125 watts bridged. When funds allow, I'd like to bring in a JL Audio 300/4and a JL Audio 500/1 to allow more tuning options.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Ok, a big day back at it today. I went through and re-checked all my RCA connections. Not one was correct. :blush: As I faded and balanced the HU not one of the correct speakers would play. And thought I was so careful when I plugged them in!! There's a lesson here somewhere...if only I was smart enough to figure it out! Anyway, that made a major improvement in the sound.

I also temporarily installed my sub using a pre-fab box from an old truck install I had. That cranked me so much that I started my sub-box. I found the data sheet for my old JL Audio 10W0 and it calls for a .75 ft^3 box. So I scaled my plans way back. I was going to overbuild in anticipation of adding a new sub in the spring, but figured this will be my practice box. 


Got the parts all cut. It was getting dark as I finished, and it's almost too cold here in Michigan to glue. Almost.









So I got the back clamped up and glued so it can cure overnight. It seems this first piece will be the most difficult. 










Another view of the glue-up.










Here's the ADS amp I'll be using temporarily to drive the sub. I don't have the spec sheet anymore, but I think it puts out about 70W bridged!


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Finally, some more progress to show. 

Gluing up the sides. Hurry up and wait for the glue to dry.










Gluing on the front. Love those Quick Grip clamps.










Here's the box sitting in the back well of the car. It's just under 1 ft.^3










Here's the complete box, with the JL Audio 10W0 just sitting in place. And the obligatory shot of my "woofer" to go with the sub-woofer.









Here's the box just sitting in the car, with the sub also just sitting in place.










I got it hooked up today, connected to a little a/d/s amp pumping out a massive 80W in bridged mode. And it sounds really good. I tried switching the polarity of the sub, and it turns out that I had it correct the first time. Beginners luck FTW!! Still some tuning to go, but I'm getting a really nice front stage with good imaging, and this little sub and amp fill in the bottom end really nice. It doesn't make bass for everyone at the stop light, but inside the car sounds better than I expected.

Not to say it's perfect. I still want to experiment with bigger ports on the front speakers. I also need to carpet the top of the sub box. But first I'm going to carve a logo in and shrink some vinyl over it. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I hope that turns out nice.

Then, carpet and install an amp board to start cleaning up the mess 'o wires. And a combo power block so I can take the vice-grips off the ground wires!


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

I've been working on the logo for the top of my sub box. I spent a few hours trying to carve the letters in relief in the MDF top. Should have posted some pics of that failure. The letters would be almost cut and then the MDF would separate into layers and I'd be left with no letter, or just a stub.

So, I went and reviewed SinWolf's posting in Tutorials about his door panels. He answered my question and gave some details, so props to SinWolf for his help on my Logo.

Here is how it went on a practice scrap of MDF.

First I lightly glued down a piece of the same vinyl that I'll use for trimming the logo.











Then I stuck down a stencil I created using WordArt in Microsoft Word. I used double sided carpet tape. Then I carefully cut around each letter using a razor knife.











I peeled away everything that wasn't a letter, which is why I lightly glued things down.











Then I glued another piece of the same vinyl over the top. It took awhile, but I finally got it to look ok. I'm not too happy with the details, but the overall effect is what I'm looking for. 










I picture this on the top of my sub box to balance the position of the sub itself. Then I'll carpet the entire top, leaving a squarish or oval hole in the carpet for this to show through. 

Not too sure about how to trim out the edges of the carpet around the hole. Thought about cutting the hole a little small, snipping the corners on a 45, and then folding the edges under by about 1/2" and gluing them down. Or maybe just a nice clean cut edge and make sure it is glued down really well.

Any ideas or feedback is appreciated.


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

Rockin so far mang...!!

I gotta question about this pic though.... 











Is the expanded steel to bridge the hole in the door? This worries me, just in the fact that that steel is going to rust really quick AND it's going to cut it's way through the paint, making it worse... Was that ever a consideration? 

Looking good otherwise man..


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

Looks very nice !


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> Rockin so far mang...!!
> 
> I gotta question about this pic though....
> 
> ...



I went back and forth on the material to use to bridge that hole. I didn't want to use aluminum because it doesn't co-exist with steel that well. So, I wanted something lightweight. This is my summer driver, so it never sees road salt. And it rarely sees rain. So, by the time this rusts through it will be my son's problem and not mine!!! 

Thanks for the nice words. Appreciated.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

I've been fooling around to add my logo to the top of the sub box. I wanted to wait until I had it carpeted, but I know I won't be able to get to that until Friday, so I'm posting pics of what I did this weekend (besides drive across the state to a meet to check out other member's cars!!)

I went to Hobby Lobby and found these chipboard (that's what it said on the package) letters. Two sizes, 2" and 4". I paid about $5 for the 4" letters to get just a Z, and another $5 to get the set of numbers for the 2 and 8.










Here's what the letters look like stuck to the top board of the sub box. A lot larger than I had pictured in my mind.









Here's the vinyl laying on the board, ready to be sprayed with adhesive.









And lastly, the finished logo. I'll carpet around this.











I got the top glued to the box this weekend, and the inside seams sealed with caulk. Just need to carpet the top and get it installed, add the sub, and wire it in.


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## xcoldricex (Apr 28, 2007)

looks good so far - hope you can bring it to the next meet!

you have a cnc hook up?  haha

ahh i guess i should to learn to use a router


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Finally finished the sub box, and a couple of other improvements to show off.


The logo trimmed up and taped off.









Covered the Logo and the mounting hole to prevent overspray of glue.









Window trimmed in the carpet for the logo.









Close up of the logo in the car after carpeting.









I different view of the sub box installed. I had to turn the sub because the terminals are too close to the box edge to get wires on them when the JL Logo reads from the same direction as my logo. If you look to the left, you can see the latest addition.










I'm feeling some JL Audio love, thanks to Ge0. I really liked the a/d/s amp I had scavenged, but 80W vs. 500W isn't much of a contest.










And the final addition...no more vise grips for the ground!!! Went and got a fused distro block from Stinger, and moved the un-fused block that came in my JL Audio wire kit over to the grounds. I liked the ghetto look of the vise-grips, but they didn't have any mounting holes for when I install the amp board!  










Next up is an amp board to get those wires out of sight.


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## goes2eleven (Nov 15, 2007)

Lookin' good Bro.
Can't wait to hear it.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

Ok, after a long winter off it's time to clean up the hatch area. Take a look at the pictures above and you can see that major work was still needed. 

First thing I did was cleared out all the equipment in the hatch area, leaving just the wires. I covered the sub and logo with some scraps of MDF for protection.











Next step was to fab-up the amp board. It's your basic 1/2" MDF with a 1"x2" to allow space underneath for wires. This is the underside. The hinges are not functional at this point, I put them on to help hold things in place while I glued the seam.










Here is the raw amp board sitting in place in the car. Still a ton of work to do.










Ahhhhhhhh...carpeted and trimmed out...looks a lot better.










I need to drill holes through the amp board to pass through the wiring. The next three pics show some plastic grommets I found at a local hardware store, and what a just-trimmed hole looks like, and then with a grommet in place. I like the effect.




























Then I did as much wiring as possible outside the car, saves on the back and was a lot easier. The JL Audio 500/1 is from Ge0, we made a deal at last fall's Metro Detroit Meet. The JL Audio 300/4 is the newest addition, just purchased this spring to replace the PPI amp I was using from an earlier install. I love the look of matching amps! The crossovers are all MB Quart, the two center ones are for the Q-series up front and the smaller, outboard two are for the R-series 6x9's in the back.










And now (drum roll, please!) the amp board installed, the main power and ground wires attached, remote turn-on brought in, and all of the speaker wires attached to their proper (hopefully) crossovers...










and again, from a different angle...











And, of course, the ultimate question is "how does it sound?" which I can't answer yet. I just got this done last night, and haven't even had a chance yet to re-install the main fuse at the battery. Hopefully, tomorrow...


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## brendan 67 (Mar 12, 2007)

Nice work man.Pretty impressed with how good you got the logo finished.


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## goes2eleven (Nov 15, 2007)

DUDE!!!
SWEET!!!

Sorry I couldn't make it over to help with the install.
Maybe you can help me fix my mess








Thanx to Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX for the pics.


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## Rockin'Z28 (Sep 26, 2007)

brendan 67 said:


> Nice work man.Pretty impressed with how good you got the logo finished.


Thanks, it looks pretty cool, but I gotta admit, the vinyl isn't sticking down as well as I hoped it would. It makes the letters a little "blurry" as it pulls up from around them. But it was a fun part of the entire project.



goes2eleven said:


> DUDE!!!
> SWEET!!!
> 
> Sorry I couldn't make it over to help with the install.
> Maybe you can help me fix my mess


That's ok, it was just a lot of putzing around. But I'll still help build you a new sub box.


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## spudracer326 (Jun 8, 2006)

great job...there is just something about a 80's car with a killer stereo!! i love it!!


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