# 05 Monte Carlo LT Build



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Intro! If you just want pretty pictures, keep scrolling, there’s a ton. If you have 3 minutes to spare, read on.

Finally starting a build log for my 05 Monte Carlo LT. A little bit about the car: I decided to go with the red/black/chrome theme, and began adding little accents soon after I got the car.










Red stripe:










Seat/steering wheel covers:










Carbon fiber Di-Noc /vent trim:



















Brake calipers. While working on painting the front two calipers, I did a stupid thing and jacked up both wheels. The tire jacks caved as I was taking off one of the front wheels and the weight of the car was resting on one corner of the jacks and the tire. See here  :



















But it all turned out alright:


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I got into car audio back in November of last year and my first system comprised of the following:

-stock HU
-Alpine SPS-600 coaxials in doors
-stock 6x9s in the rear deck
-stock 4 channel amp
-db Drive K3 15D4 subwoofer in a sealed 1.75cu ft enclosure
-Alpine MRP-M500 mono amplifier

In other words, the sad system of a broke college kid. Here’s a couple quick pics of what I had:

HU:










Speakers:










Stock amp:










Sub/amp: 











I settled with it for a couple of months until I caved and went even more broke and thus begun the addiction. The majority of my playlists consist of rock and metal, i.e. AC/DC and Metallica, so my goal is to create a system that will function most optimally for that type of music. My up-and-coming system, version 1.5, will be made up of these:

- Pioneer AVH-P3200DVD head unit (ideally. Stole the idea from Scotty’s RX8 – it looked great.)
- JBL C608GTi MKII components in doors
- JBL MS-8/Alpine H800/650 processor 
- PAC 4 channel line-out converter (thanks to Ryan Slade for the wiring help!)
- No rears
- MB quart ONX4.60 4-channel amp, bridged to fronts
- db Drive K3 15D4 sub , forward-firing
- Alpine MRP-M500 mono amp

Since the beginning, strakele has been an enormous help in the project and teaching me everything he’s learned. My first system I mostly watched and learned; this time I was actually doing it. Won’t be trying for any SQ competitions for a while, but that’s my ultimate, distant goal.

The next component I added after the speakers and sub was a 4 channel amplifier for the speakers. I chose the MB Quart ONX4.60 since it had sufficient power for my Alpine front and stock rear speakers, and could also be bridged to provide more than enough power to my new JBL’s. 

New amp:










Comparison to old:










Ghetto wiring (for now):


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

The weekend before the new JBL’s arrived, we prepped for the install by running new 16ga speaker wire. The stock speaker wire had about 5 strands of copper in it. 

Wiring pictures:





































With the big 15” sub, I had been getting rattles in my rear deck, so Erin was kind enough to give me some closed cell foam to help quiet it down. This area will also be covered with CLD.

Rear deck pics:










Apparently Chevy thinks it's cool to just clip the speakers down and doesn't bother to screw them down. 'merica.










CCF to cover rear deck:










All cut to fit:










Car full of crap:










Having some fun:


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Yesterday, my new JBL C608GTI MKII’s arrived! 










All the stuff:










New and old:





























I couldn’t wait to put them in and have a listen, so I realize the current install is not optimal and will be improved ASAP. I’ll have them mounted on MDF or HDPE baffles, but for now they’re decoupled from the panel by a layer of non-hardening modeling clay and closed-cell foam.










The diameter of the magnet is JUST small enough to fit within the stock water shield on the speaker mount!

The tweeters were installed in the stock location right above the woofer with some Liquid Nails silicone glue:










The crossovers are mounted under each front seat with Velcro to allow easy access for adjusting the tweeter levels.



















All wired up:


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

And the final product:



















Crossovers mounted and wires braided to keep them together:











The amplifier is currently not bridged to give the speakers a while to break in before applying full power, and my sub level is turned down while the rear deck is still apart, so I don’t have any real listening impressions yet, other than that it’s awesome to finally have 2 working tweeters!

These JBL's are known for being able to produce very strong midbass, so I'm also awaiting more CLD for the doors to stop vibrations, and thanks to John, will also be adding MLV to the doors as well.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Good job so far. On the mounting rings I'd do hdpe for sure. I did and will never do mdf again. Plastic holds screws so much better and will last forever. Have you decided between the new Alpine processor or ms8 yet? Personally I think you could do a lot better tuning by ear once you get the hang of it but for a plug and play the ms8 is still a great unit. Autotune will only get you so far on time alignment.

Other than that have fun and show your battle scars with pride. Look forward to hearing it at the next g2g.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Just a thought, if those passives can be biwired you might get a cleaner sound going that route instead of bridging. Less energy would be wasted through heat. Might even get more output that way and also have time alignment for mids and tweets. Trust me, even with drivers right next to each other time alignment can make a difference.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

I had recommended the PXE-H650 for a factory integration processor that is more budget conscious than an MS-8 or the new H800, whenever it comes out. Less fine tuning options, but at 1/4 of the price of the H800, it'll get pretty darn close.

If the passives could be bi-wired, we would have gone that route instead, but they can't. Using the amp bridged should be able to get her more dynamics.. not necessarily just getting louder. At high volumes, the stock head unit does some kinda funky EQ anyway. The AntEQ feature of the H650 (and the 800 too I suppose) should be able to clean that up until she gets a new HU.

Anyway, we have replaced the coil of speaker wire going to the sub with a single thicker gauge wire cut to proper length, and are in the process of making RCA's of the right length to get rid of most of the mess of wires behind the sub.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

On the hdpe, here it is in my 09 Ram. Identical install to the 11 I have now. The ensolite covering ended up going on the "what NOT to do list".


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

Looking good :beerchug:

I've never thought of doing an install in a parking deck. Is there room on a lower level in case of rain?


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Parking deck is partly out of convenience, but mostly necessity. Unfortunately we both live in apartments while going to college with no garage to work in. The top level is nice for lighting and because it's the least crowded. There are lower levels that we have used during bad weather, but the lighting sucks, so we try to avoid it.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> Seat/steering wheel covers:


Naturally, this is one of my favorite shots - love the hog's tooth hangin' from the rear view!

Fantastic work! I really want to hear this car some time. Great execution, especially while working on it in a parking deck! I'm glad you were able to get some ideas and some materials from Erin's G2G - really validates why we do those. BTW - love the humor you put in the build log!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks Jason. I thoroughly enjoy watching the chain shake along with the bass in some songs, cause it appears to be dancing. Dancing chain.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

Nice lookin' ride. The red accents really set it off.


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Nice job !!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

What a difference proper length wire makes.

From this:










To this:










Thanks to Ryan for the RG59 cable and connectors for the RCA's so we could make them ourselves.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

So, finally got around to bridging the JBLs this evening, which are now running at a theoretical 240w. For the first week I was breaking them in and they sounded alright, but I thought they were lacking in the famed JBL midbass/midrange. The tweeters were bright even at the lowest setting in the xover, which was good because I tend to like a bit of brightness. I reserved judgment on the rest of it until it was time to bridge them.

Once I initially bridged the connections, there was a noticeable improvement in the overall clarity but it wasn't what I had anticipated. The mids were still lacking. Boo...

That was, until....

*drumroll*

strakele had the brilliant idea of switching the right side polarity to see if the issue was due to phase cancellation! We did so, and BAM! Punch, kick, outstanding sounding mids from the JBLs at last! It was a really remarkable improvement and I am seriously digging the sound. Now I just need to slaughter some serious rattles with some heavy dosing of RAAMmat and we'll be sounding pretty good for a while in the Monte.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

I had never tried switching polarity on one side before, but I had read a lot about people doing it. I wasn't sure how audible something like that would be, but this sure made a believer out of me.

Simply swapping the polarity made a night and day difference in the sound. The midbass is much punchier now and the midrange no longer sounds hollow. Very cool.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> And the final product:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


nice, finily another monte build around these parts  









you should think about changing those brackets, idk how well those tweeters will hold, but this is what i did. i had that same speaker kit, AMAZING speakers, i LOVEEEEEEE them. you might be starving them a bit with that amp, they like allot of power, but they still play fine with a moderate amount.


check out my build, maybe it'll give ya some ideas, read the whole thing, because ive redone it twice since ive had it  

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...s/85154-my-build-my-04-chevy-monte-carlo.html


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

We've been through your thread a couple times before and during this project. The lighted dash kit you had before was pretty sweet. I think she'll be going your current route though with a double DIN touchscreen unit.

Anyway, I used the same method of attaching tweeters to a bracket in the A-pillars of my car a few versions ago, and they held just fine, so I don't foresee any issues here.

Also, if you check her most recent post, the amp is now bridged to the components, providing up to 240 watts, which should be more than enough to get these suckers playing.


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Nice job !


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

strakele said:


> We've been through your thread a couple times before and during this project. The lighted dash kit you had before was pretty sweet. I think she'll be going your current route though with a double DIN touchscreen unit.
> 
> Anyway, I used the same method of attaching tweeters to a bracket in the A-pillars of my car a few versions ago, and they held just fine, so I don't foresee any issues here.
> 
> Also, if you check her most recent post, the amp is now bridged to the components, providing up to 240 watts, which should be more than enough to get these suckers playing.


ahh well if you go single din and youre interested in that bracket i sitll have it laying around :blush:


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Ah, other Monte guy! Kind of you to stop by here. Yeah, I've been following your build. These cars are so friggen difficult to work with, you remind me that it's possible to bypass the absurd oddities of GM manufacturing  Since you're so far ahead of me in your build, and it looks good, I'm gonna PM you a couple questions.

And like strakele said, with 240w of potential power, the tweeters are making a show of themselves. It's great, huge improvement, even at -2.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

take those 660's active and you'll cream your pants  the passive cross over crosses them over pretty high, i played with them active for awhile doing them at 4500,3500, 2500, and even 2200, i'm not a real professional but they sounded fine at 2200 but i dont think they can do everything down that low but I personally liked them at 2200. 

ask any questions you like  yes this cars a ***** to work with, especialy with that massive trim peice for the dash that has to come off just to take out the deck <_< I also have some pictures of some repairs ive done if you watch my log, i broke the 4 way button, pretty easy fix, just dont do what i did and let the glue seap through  stilll erks me that it has all the sraches and ****, plus some of the glue can still kind of be seen 

i dont know what you did to get 220 watts out of that setup unless you changed amps, but that mb quard says 60 x4, so 120 x 2, unless your bridging it with that stock amp still? i don't advise any of them shanagans O_O


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

RMS Power Rating:

4 ohms: 60 watts x 4 chan.
2 ohms: 120 watts x 4 chan.
Bridged, 4 ohms: 240 watts x 2 chan.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Well, I was all set to get an audition of the millerlytemobile, but was put off for now. Even though strakele (in keeping with the last name motif ) and I goaded her, the decision was final that the Monte just wasn't quite ready for 'public consumption'. I look forward to a future trip to Atlanta when the beast is unleashed! (reference to that 15 lurking in the back). 

I did get an opportunity to have an extended demo with 'SQ music' in G's Mitsu - fantastic! And I did get to see the famous parking deck where the install magic happens, despite the lovely Atlanta background noise. Where does that helicopter show up on TrueRTA? Thanks guys for meeting up with me last night - it was a pleasure!


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

It was great to see you again too. By next time, I should have an even better tune going, and we'll make sure the Monte is ready to rock as well.

And yeah, I've always wondered how Imprint or MS-8 corrects for helicopters, sirens, horns, loud motorcycles, gate buzzers, or any of the other stuff we have to deal with up there...


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

So glad I got to meet you again. Next time you're around you can listen to the Monte all you want. But after I bridged those JBLs, the doors are shaking so much it's probably shifted the earth's axis. It sounds like there is a caged animal behind the panels. So my doors are being deadened tonight and tomorrow, and hopefully by the time you return I'll have my processor and HU so you can hear it yourself, sans demonic rattles and distortions.

First impressions, you know. Yesterday would not have been a good one.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

I woudlnt honestly put 220 into those, if you have em bridged id make sure you go easy on those gains, i meanwith 220 with proper gain settings your gonna do like 150 which is what they want, but i had 187 rms rating at 100% on my pdx's and i ran them as low as 40% on the gains and they were beautiful, so don't push them all out  they'll treat ya good.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

The gains are adjusted appropriately so as not to damage the components. The extra power will provide headroom for better dynamics.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

i see


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Yeah, I used to think putting that much power (or more) on any speakers was pretty crazy too since even at loud listening volumes, you're really only using 10-15 watts. But Miller and I went to the Alabama GTG and heard Kirk's car that has like 600+ watts to every driver... talk about headroom. Nobody could say that car wasn't dynamic. The extra power isn't just to get loud (a normal car speaker can play 100+ dB with 16 watts, then add in multiple drivers, etc) but just to provide the dynamic headroom that can really make music come alive. Sounds kinda cheesy, but we heard the difference.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

We got a lot of work done on my doors this weekend after strakele finished his.

Same basic concept. Raammat / Damplifier all over the doors first. I know they're not sealed due to this huge hole with different contours, door linkages going through it, etc, but it's not as simple as gluing a board or something over it. The only thing I can think of that would fit the changing contours would be doing something with fiberglass, but I don't have the time or money to learn how to do something like that right now. If anybody has any other suggestions to seal this huge hole, please let me know!

Before:










After










MLV and Ensolite were cut to fit over the door:










Ensolite stuck to MLV:










Gorilla taped to the door:










Raammat and Ensolite added to the door panel:



















End result? Basically no more door vibrations! It sounds so much better. Unfortunately I used all the Raammat on the doors and didn't leave any for the rear deck, so it still needs to be deadened. There are also several vibrations in the dash that I have to kill as well. Every single interior piece in this car, minus the seats, is plastic...

Then a few other things.

I replaced the white footwell and rear view mirror lights with red ones to keep with the theme of the car:










Covered the rear Chevy logo with carbon fiber. I might also try black instead of graphite, depending on how this survives a car wash.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

how did that deadening help the door? these panels creak allot when you lean into them, did that deal with allot of that?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

The Raammat virtually demolished all rattles and echoes and vibrations that used to be in the doors. The panels used to creak like all hell but after the deadening and some Ensolite, I don't really hear from them anymore. Still needs a lot of work, but for what it is, it's great.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Alright, so it's been a while since I've had anything to update here. The past couple days have consisted of little things, but necessary as far as audio goes. The pics aren't great quality because my camera's memory card eloped with the USB cable and I have yet to track them down. Bring on the camera phone shots.

First, I had a bit of fun with the engine cover. Painted it red and went over the lettering with carbon fiber vinyl. Worked well:

Taped over the lettering with gorilla tape. It turned out to shield it from the many layers of spray paint better than expected. 










Cover painted with an initial layer of VHT spray paint. 










Carbon fibered the lettering. About to do touch-ups. Did several more coats after I covered up the CF again. Ran out of tape so it got in some places it shouldn't have, oh well, paint remover to the rescue.










All said and done. Thing about the paint is that it rejects absolutely anything that invades its space, so I may have to redo it, find a way to get rid of the streaks, or cover it in a layer of something shiny. Both paint and CF have held up extremely well in driving so far.











Final result in engine bay:












So that was a fun middle of the night project. Now on to the audio stuff.

I got 4 square feet of Hushmat today and some peel-and-stick ensolite and went to town on the interior of my dashboard. Being a Monte Carlo, of course, everything in the front 2 feet of the vehicle had to be tampered with/removed, a-pillars included, to get underneath the dash. 

Even the windshield wanted in on the party. My dumb ass left a massive ~10" crack in it while trying to get to a bolt that never did come off. Because it wouldn't budge, I had to just lift the front of the dash and do what I could with the damplifier and ensolite (although it seemed to still be effective). So, windshield wasted, once again trolled hard by the bolts in this vehicle. 

Hard to see with the phone camera, but I couldn't get the entire thing in the picture and still have it be visible. =/











Moving on, I did my best to cover as much of the noisy plastic, clips and the like by damping every surface I could get to. Obviously, since I couldn't get the dash off, I couldn't get any photos of inside, but it's just about blanketed entirely with a layer of hushmat, and ensolite over it. 











Also took the front end of the dash off (closest to the windshield) with the massive vent, dampened it and put a line of ensolite across the point where the dash and the vent piece meet. I pushed it back so it's not visible, but left it up just for the (crappy quality) pic:










Finally, I went back to all of the clip holes and stuck some ensolite in there so the metal clips would quiet down. Seems to have worked like a charm.











Then I put it all back together again, I think. I always wind up with a couple extra screws... I wonder sometimes, just how in the hell do I do that.... I had a seriously bass/midbass HEAVY cd with dubstep remixes. The dash sounded miserable before with that cd because the range of low frequencies is insane, and after damping with just a few square feet, there are virtually no rattles or vibrations in there anymore. Now it's just all in the rear deck, side panels, and some in the doors still. Sigh.

Overall, I would say mission well accomplished, sans the windshield fail. All in all, a small update, but crucial to making the car sound that much better. Tune in next time to see me tackle a new head unit and bracket, hopefully without destroying something important this time.


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

i JUST now noticed you're in may retta. you ever go to the varisty meets?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Didn't know there were any. I would though.


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> Didn't know there were any. I would though.


first thursday every month at the varsity off of north avenue.


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Looks good Miller ! Keep up the good work.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks.

I'll definitely stop by some of the meets then.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Then I put it all back together again, I think. I always wind up with a couple extra screws... I wonder sometimes, just how in the hell do I do that.... I had a seriously bass/midbass HEAVY cd with dubstep remixes. The dash sounded miserable before with that cd because the range of low frequencies is insane, and after damping with just a few square feet, there are virtually no rattles or vibrations in there anymore. Now it's just all in the rear deck, side panels, and some in the doors still. Sigh.
> 
> Overall, I would say mission well accomplished, sans the windshield fail. All in all, a small update, but crucial to making the car sound that much better. Tune in next time to see me tackle a new head unit and bracket, hopefully without destroying something important this time.


I have the same thing going on :blush: I keep them all in my front cup holder. i have like 15 screws in their now...but ive done allot to my car, and allot of the screws were replaced, the speaker baffle screws were replaced with something longer. so theirs 6 right their.

i love how deadend you have yours. i sitll need to get around to deadening mine up, but i'm still working on these damned pods first. i have one done, for the most part, needs some flats fill but that wont take long, than i have the passenger side that still has the first bondo coat on it..that one's gonne take awhile, but i wont have enough time to do them till monday, than thuresday or wedsday i'll finish em up and hopefully get em flocked up.


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I'll definitely stop by some of the meets then.


awesome. if you need any help, ill come over and help out any time. out of a job right now, so all i have it time, lol.

i hear yall both on rattles, as soon as i put that id ctx in the door, all sorts of crap started moving that never did before..


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Heh, you have to deaden yours, I have to get pods on mine. 

With a 15" sub in the back and some low frequencies, rattles are going to be extremely obvious, on top of the midbass the JBL's are producing. It's still difficult to get through virtually any cd without having something rattle. And anyway, how can I fully test the drivers if there's a ton of rattles marring their efforts? I figure it's best to deaden first, if anything.

The pods are looking good though, hope they give you more success than your past attempts.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

blueatlanta said:


> awesome. if you need any help, ill come over and help out any time. out of a job right now, so all i have it time, lol.
> 
> i hear yall both on rattles, as soon as i put that id ctx in the door, all sorts of crap started moving that never did before..




Sorry to hear  On the bright side it gives you more time to do this stuff, right? ... Kind of? Ok... maybe not really.

Other than the doors, what is the worst-sounding part of your car as far as vibrations go? Side panels, rear deck, trunk, dash?


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> Sorry to hear  On the bright side it gives you more time to do this stuff, right? ... Kind of? Ok... maybe not really.
> 
> Other than the doors, what is the worst-sounding part of your car as far as vibrations go? Side panels, rear deck, trunk, dash?


I think my worst rattles were coming from panels, so I need some foam to sandwich in there, then go from there to kill each rattle as they happen.

When I had a job, I had no time for anything, because with all of the side projects and work, my friends barely saw me, however with more free time, I'm getting more of those side projects done and even sometimes have some time for friends, however I won't have money for bills eventually lol.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Foam is like the jesus of dampening. 

That's the thing with jobs. They give you the money to do this stuff but not the time. Win-lose? That's why I got a job at an auto store. Doesn't pay much, but I get to stay in the automotive world while I'm there. I had the problem of not having a job and not having money to do this stuff for a while during the school year, that's why it took me up until now to even get a head unit. So I feel your pain sir. But not having money stinks. I wish you the best in finding a job, hopefully you haven't been out for too long now.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Just a quick update for today, I had a bit of leftover peel-and-stick ensolite that I used on all of the plastic door panel clips that have been making a nuisance of themselves since day one. I simply just took out the clips, put a square of ensolite over the top of their mount and slid them back in. They don't even move anymore! So my doors are sounding even quieter. Before and after pics:

Before: 










After:











They even held up against a song with INSANE amounts of bass. If anyone wants to truly test their damping, play the track "Eye of the Tiger (Club remix 2009)" by Fast Foot. You can find it on youtube. The bass is *so* heavy, the car started making noises it's never made before; even my rear view mirror make some very audible rattling noises, something which I've never had happen before, and I play a lot of bass with that 15" sub. It's *absurd*. And an awesome song in general.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Sweet! I'm looking forward to hearing that track!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Pretty sure if I played it at full blast right now, the windshield would completely shatter.

I had a guy from ABRA come out to replace my broken windshield. Once he took off the old one, he went in his truck to grab the replacement - and it had one large crack diagonally across the whole thing. He has to install it anyway, and when he does, it cracks even more, rendering the car undriveable (legally) for a few days until I get a new-new one. Kinda funny, although a minor inconvenience. Ah well, no biggie.











And yep, those are glass shards chilling on my dash. :inquisitive:


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

that sucks, of course he payed for the one HE broke correct? the 3rd one is on the house i assume? btw thats tempered glass and it has plastic in it, it won't shatter, it'll just spider vain.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I had full insurance on it anyway, so no payment no matter what, so it's all good. Now I actually have to get around by riding my lazy ass around on a bike in the lovely Georgia heat. Forced exercise. 

Good to know it won't shatter.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

well yeah it won't shatter...lol if it was gonna, it would of from the first crack.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

idk, I never had this problem before. Since there were tiny pieces of the windshield on my dash, I had no idea if it could still break.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

I found taking that foam off the door panel much quieter, i just deadend the whole panel.

the biggest problem i had with them once i started deadening them were the grips, it was very hard to get the driver side to stop creeking, the pasenger side was easier becuase i had more surface area to deaden, but with the holes and such on the driver side it was pretty hard.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Yeah, I still have to find a way around that. But I think it's going to involve several layers of ensolite and mat... unfortunately.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

More deadening today, this time I took on the rear deck, a bit of the trunk, and my door panels before I ran out. I had 18 sq ft total (thanks to Rick at RaamAudio for the deadener). Here's what I had on my rear deck when I took everything out today:










Not much. 

After a layer and some of Raammat:










Sealed up with a layer of peel and stick ensolite:










Some of the trunk (the other half of it I couldn't get a photo of)

Before:











After:











Then I spent a couple of quality hours with the squeaky door panels.

Before:











All done:










For now. I ran out. Unfortunately I can't test out the new mat until I get a head unit back in the Monte, so for now, a review is on hold. It looks as if it's going to be very effective however.


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Nice !


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

i took the foam out, i even considered taking the foam out of the doors. but i havn't yet. but when i go in to deaden it more i might remove it too.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

What foam? The stock foam under the rear deck? Or the carpetlike mat below that?

I find taking the carpet out of the doors helped rather than hurt. A lot.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

It's looks good Ally.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks Demetrius! Figured out the buzzing in your doors yet?


----------



## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Yes. I can officially say that it's gone.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Congrats man! How'd you do it? Just stick some mat on there or what?


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

i woudln't of sealed em like that. aren't you having trouble getting your bass into the cabin like that?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Unfortunately Ray, I don't quite know yet. I have no means of powering anything in my car for another week or so at least. I deadened everything based on where I heard rattles, buzzing and vibrations from over the past few months, and the rear deck was always a bother at all sorts of frequencies. If it so happens that I'm having a hard time getting good bass from it, I'll just take some out and put it elsewhere. Won't be difficult if done right. And anyway, the sealed enclosure back there has its days numbered - I'm going to be doing some drastic changes to the sub and it's enclosure soon - so I'm sure a lot is going to change back there inevitably. I just have to wait and see.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> Congrats man! How'd you do it? Just stick some mat on there or what?




When I open my doors up, two sheets had fell. I simply replaced them and over dampened the door cards and a couple of other areas.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

So I'll post an update without having much to update audiowise.

Since May I've been planning a complete overhaul of my entire audio system - literally every driver and amp(s) will be upgraded, everything but the mids are going to a new location, nothing will look the same. I sold the amps, the sub and the new HU should be coming back to me fairly soon. The JBL C608GTI's will go, too, but not until I hear them with the rest of the new system.

Unfortunately, I haven't had any sound in the Monte for 2 months and I won't for at least one more. So no reviews on the deadening I did weeks ago until then either. Then next time I post an update it will include my all-new set with pics of everything, hopefully. 

Until that day, I'll just leave these here for anybody who cares to see what I've done to the Monte other than sound as of late, because it looks way different, and way more badass:

before:










after:

Blacked out headlights









Blacked out stock wheels (and the paint just peels off if I feel like removing it!)









Blacked out tail lights, tailpipes, debadged, black CF vinyl bowtie









Overall look:









So that's all for now, next time I post it will be with the good stuff.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Sorry you have to go so long without tunes in your car..... absence makes the heart...... you will enjoy it doubly when everything is back running again. That was my experience anyway. The pics look great!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Yeah, it's gonna cost me, but like I told strakele, I haven't been so excited to go broke since I bought the car itself!

I just hope it all gets worked out before the Atl meet. I want to go to at least one competition this season.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Yeah, sure hope you get to finish it soon. Wheels look pretty good. Thought any more about doing the red ring?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I'm not going to change anything until I've given the current look a chance to grow on me. Some said it looked great, others suggested an all-red bowtie, and you, the red outer rim. The red paint is actually 10x more difficult to remove (especially without scratching the wheel), so I have to be absolutely sure with what I do with it. I don't want to do much, if anything, permanent to the stock wheels. I could buy a removable spray paint in red, but the cost to benefit ratio is less than ideal. I'd hardly use any of it. We'll see how I feel about the look of it in a week or so maybe.


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

lookin good bro. ive been without sound for like.. 7 months, but im jusy lazy lol.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

^^

I don't think that bro is appropriate....:surprised:


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

lol, thanks Demetrius 

7 months? I hope it's not your daily driver?


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

lol yeah. daily driver.. sigh. i make up for it by beating the **** out of the systems i install. haha. err... i mean "tuning"..


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

It's been nearly three months now, but the Monte finally has audio again.  I gathered up three new amps to power the new system: two MB Quart Q4.80s and an MB Quart ONX1.1500 for the sub when it arrives. When I get a hold of some 2" midrange tweeters to go in the a-pillars, the two Q series will power their respective sides. For now, just one is powering the JBLs.

I had the amp rack installed over the weekend by Mark, and the new CD7200 showed up in time to go with it. The goal was to have the two Q series sandwiching the ONX and to be positioned just so to leave enough room to install the sub and to leave access to the spare tire. And some red LEDs to give the trunk some extra flair.

So here it is.

Amps mounted to the rack and wires ran:










Support frame:










Top cover:










Monte and Chevy emblems:










Wrapped in carpet:



















Lit from above with red LED strips:










Amps powered up:










I know, the ugly black tire well cap is hideous and I have yet to figure out how I'm going to disguise it. I'll get around to it... eventually....


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

...when I'm not busy taking beauty pics of the car and new interior. 

Just for funsies.
















































Oh yeah and the head unit and mount, all lit up pretty:




















I'm so thrilled to have audio back in the car again and have it looking (and functioning) great. Much thanks to Mark for the installation and Dave for the head unit.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Looks like ass.
















































But seriously, Mark did a good job. Can't wait to hear it once the whole system is put together and run active.


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

i never thought to run an amp rack like that, i really like how you did that. i was thinking about turning the entire floor into a false floor in my monte, but i keep changing my mind. lookin good so far, also i love the humount.com mounting kit, however, i think im going to put an eq in there in my ride.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

I agree, it looks great!!!


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

nice wish you woulfd of bout my monte dash kit i have one of thse just laying around lol did you coat that dash in the 3m stuff ?


i thought about doing that kind of amp rack but i think im just gonna hang mine bellow the rear deck


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

CF vinyl is 3M Di-Noc.

Dash kit had to be red . . .


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

WOOT! 

Glad to hear you have tunes again! I really like the trunk - fantastic job, but I expected that from Mark. I really like the pictures as well. Now I just have to get a demo  

BTW, I'll have to get you and G a copy of the mix disc I made for our Raleigh meet tomorrow.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

strakele said:


> CF vinyl is 3M Di-Noc.
> 
> Dash kit had to be red . . .


it's not a hard thing to change them out from blue to red. 


I have a new dash peice, its a bit scrached but it doesnt have the damage i did to mine...but wasn't really an upgrade, i was gonna paint it and the center console peice. hmm now i wonder if this will work for me. i completly forgot about this stuff 

what size did you order? im looking at the 48"x36" right now for 65$, that enough to cover this in one peice?


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Guess she wanted a new one?

I think 48x36 was the size we used for the dash. It was really freaking hard to do. And it doesn't cover everything. Are you trying to do the entire thing including around the guage shroud and on to the left side? If you look at some of the pictures, it actually just stops as the dash curves around. Beyond that point we were getting too many ripples in the vinyl. If you heat it and stretch it too much, the pattern stretches and looks funky too. Youll have to cut it around the holes for the HU, A/C controls, light controls, etc because of how deep the indents are. Also, make sure the piece is really clean and has no grease, fingerprint oil, cleaning stuff on it. There was some Armor-All or something on some parts when we did it, and of course the vinyl wouldn't stick at all.

She plans to re-do it at some point, so we'll see how that goes. Good luck if you decide to try it. I'd find some smaller stuff to practice on first before you risk a $65 sheet of the stuff.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

eviling said:


> it's not a hard thing to change them out from blue to red.


Or I could just buy one for the same price and have it already in the color I wanted 

If you use carbon fiber on your dash, beware, it's really a pain in the ass. I had to do it in one piece and as you can see, it didn't turn out perfectly. I'm going to redo it soon in two or three pieces and hopefully it works better. And I haven't done it on the bottom of the dash yet, I don't know how I'm gonna do that part. 

Basically, it's really difficult and really expensive if you screw it up... so do so at your own risk.


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

It's looking good ,glad I could find a replacement cd7200 they seem to be hot item right now.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks Dave. Can't tell you enough how grateful I am that you went through the effort to get a replacement. That was very kind of you. And it works perfectly now


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

bertholomey said:


> WOOT!
> 
> Glad to hear you have tunes again! I really like the trunk - fantastic job, but I expected that from Mark. I really like the pictures as well. Now I just have to get a demo
> 
> BTW, I'll have to get you and G a copy of the mix disc I made for our Raleigh meet tomorrow.




Count me in too...


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

wdemetrius1 said:


> Count me in too...


......I did. I dropped off 3 copies of the mix disc with Mark. He said he would see you all with in the next couple weeks.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Thanks Jason!!!


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

:snacks:

Hey bud....I'll hang out a bit over here......since your so lonely......you are just pitiful sounding on that other thread


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

bertholomey said:


> :snacks:
> 
> Hey bud....I'll hang out a bit over here......since your so lonely......you are just pitiful sounding on that other thread


Hah!



Now come on Ally, buy my Ushers so I can stop whoring them out on the classifieds.


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Nice job!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

So I get to start this update with mostly bad news... bad news and irony.

First, Marietta has just gotten out of a recent three-day downpour, leaving the roads incredibly slippery (you see where this is going?). On said road, I was taking a sharp turn, admittedly too fast, lost traction, and smacked the side of the barrier at 40 mph. 

see here.



















Took a bite out of my tire.










and a bit of the rim.










Fortunately, only the plastic bumper was scraped and not any metal, and for the most part it wasn't very deep. 

Disaster avoided.

...

not.

I walked out to my car today to find this.










At some point during the day, somebody backed into me in the same spot, leaving a deeper and bigger scrape than me hitting a metal barrier at near highway speeds.

I don't know how much insurance is going to cover, but it's mostly irrelevant because now I have an excuse for getting the whole car repainted soon. That, and new tires are needed.

Anyway, audiowise, I stole some leftover Techflex from Strakele and did my wires. A few of them aren't done yet, still waiting on another shipment of better-fitting material for the RCAs. But here they are. They aren't fitted together with zip ties in these pics, so excuse the mess. Ground is black, power is red, and the black with white are the speaker wires.



















That's all I have to update for now. If anyone can find a better deal on a simple sanding + repainting job than Maaco has ($600 for a 5 year warranty paint job), please let me know!


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## MyNameIsBen (Mar 12, 2010)

Damn, that really sucks! 

Thought you might be interested in a picture I have. Put this deck into my Datsun while waiting for my 99 to come...which may be forever. I removed most of the advertising on the faceplate when it was in another vehicle and today just found this, blackout screensaver. I think it looks far better this way, opposed to the original with the race car rocketship jet fighter screensaver(or whatever ).


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Very interested, thanks. How do I download it to the head unit?


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

If you had a silver monte tou could i5 donated you montes bumper cover rear


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Wow, sorry for the accidents


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## MyNameIsBen (Mar 12, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Very interested, thanks. How do I download it to the head unit?


Throw a USB stick into your computer. Make a folder named ECLIPSE and another folder inside named DISP and put the file in there. Then put it into the HU, go into the menu and find Display Data.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

eviling said:


> If you had a silver monte tou could i5 donated you montes bumper cover rear


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> I walked out to my car today to find this.




Looks like ass.


For real.


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

strakele said:


> Looks like ass.
> 
> 
> For real.


looks better than the scratches on the top of my black monte, that came from me driving under a toll gate.... dont ask.. it was in buckhead after a night bar-hopping.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Ouch man. But that kind of makes me feel better now. 

So, all three Montes on this forum are jacked up... we need to get our act together guys.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

I hope it might be all better by the 1st of Oct.....would hate to miss another opportunity to hear it :blush:


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

i gotta get around to uploading all of my recent pictures and update my build thread, i finally put a speaker back into the car, i got some wire harnesses from work, depinned them, covered em in techflex, and repinned them to make an amp bypass plug, although, i should just put the oem amp back in the car until im ready to run my rcas and wires.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

It's still missing a sub, Jason. I have no idea what the status is on the AE, either...


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

You know what could be fun for the meet.... i have an Onyx 10" sub in a 1 cu ft box that we can hook up if you can get to the terminals of the amp.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Small update: *went active!* No pictures though. It was a spur of the moment thing, camera wasn't brought out, and I just don't feel like ripping everything apart to post pictures of speaker wire. But it's active now. 

All crossover slopes are set at 24dB, lows are high passed at 63hz, tweets at 3.15khz, and now the two Q series are running their respective sides, and polarity has been reversed. I left enough wire going to the tweets so that it can be relocated to the a-pillars when the time comes. Didn't get much listening time tonight but I'm sure it'll sound at least a little better than passive. 



Jason, I'm not sure we'll be able to fit it in my trunk, the amp rack was set up to coordinate with infinite baffle specifically, so boxes are probably out of the question unless we ghetto rig it. Which really isn't out of the question, actually


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

You should certainly be able to fit a 1 cube box in the trunk still. Lord knows we have enough speaker wire to put it anywhere in like a 100ft radius of your car. You're the queen of ghetto rigging anyway...


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

strakele said:


> You're the queen of ghetto rigging anyway...


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


>


 if you had a silver monte you could donated your montes rear bumper cover to mine :laugh:


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

> if you had a silver monte you could donated your montes rear bumper cover to mine


How would that benefit me exactly?






> You're the queen of ghetto rigging anyway...


I like to call it creatively improvising.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> I like to call it creatively improvising.


I didn't say it was a bad thing necessarily


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

But you were implying it


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Not really.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I got this little guy in the mail today! The new *Acoustic Elegance SBP15-4!* Really a beautiful piece of work, and I'm sure it will sound amazing. Unfortunately I won't be able to get it in its baffle for a few weeks at least, but I'm so glad it's finally here!


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Sub looks good !


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

It is pretty nice lookin... not gonna lie.

Hopefully getting it installed won't be a nightmare.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

As it turns out... in order for the sub to be installed, the amp rack, wires and fuseholder have to be moved down a few inches, so that will require some refurbishing of the contours of the top of the cover at least. If I'm lucky, it can completely cover the tire well cap and won't be too difficult. Hopefully LED's will still be just as effective since there's not much room for them to be moved.

So basically, in order for the sub to be installed, everything that has been done in the trunk needs to up and move just a bit.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Weaksauce. At least the amp rack board won't need to be changed, I'm pretty sure.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

That sucks.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> I got this little guy in the mail today! The new *Acoustic Elegance SBP15-4!* Really a beautiful piece of work, and I'm sure it will sound amazing. Unfortunately I won't be able to get it in its baffle for a few weeks at least, but I'm so glad it's finally here!


if you need rings made let me know 



millerlyte said:


> How would that benefit me exactly?
> .


who said it was supposed to :laugh: mwhahaha

but in all seriousness, if you dont want those fog lights i'd be more than happy to take them  just saying.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

> who said it was supposed to


Me.



And I quite like my fog lights, they do help me see the road better since the headlamp housing is blacked out. Maybe you should have upgraded a trim or two if you want em so bad 


Also, strakele and I are going to take up glassing soon. I'm planning on throwing some kickpanels with 4" woofers (sooner rather than later), and no better time to learn than with something relatively small like that. Any pro tips on first time glassing would be highly valued.


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## blueatlanta (Feb 10, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> Me.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


don't use crap resin, don't use crap cloth, and don't use crap filler. ie, make an order from uscomposites and get a can of evercoat rage gold.

im a fiberglass noob myself. in fact, the first fiberglass enclosure i ever made was at the shop and i messed it up, so i would like to beef up my skills.


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## j-man (Jan 5, 2009)

Nice build log kid 

Had a blast meeting y'all at the g2g. Will be nice to see and hear your Monte in the future. I had the JBL 608s running active in the Bird and liked them a lot. They were a perfect choice for a car with headers/no mufflers considering their love of power and high output. Had the same head unit as well. Got some good stuff going on. 

Keep up the great work


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Me.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


preperation preperation preperation! always have everything you need in arms reach while glassing and have tons of patiences lol


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

I am really looking forward to hearing the car when everything is completed. I'm very excited about the AE sub - IB. I think this could very well be 'the sub' for you. I'll have several cd's set aside for the demo (real music.....not the fru fru sq....).


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

> Nice build log kid
> 
> Had a blast meeting y'all at the g2g. Will be nice to see and hear your Monte in the future. I had the JBL 608s running active in the Bird and liked them a lot. They were a perfect choice for a car with headers/no mufflers considering their love of power and high output. Had the same head unit as well. Got some good stuff going on.
> 
> Keep up the great work


Thanks, it was great meeting you too. Thanks for taking me on a joy ride with the Vette as well, that was pure awesome. 

As for the build, it's a slow work in progress... money constraints, you know. I had the 608s running active for maybe two weeks before I replaced them. They had good output mostly, but one of mine was bottoming out pretty hard towards the end and they had a tendency to distort. Even with my new mids though, still can't top the snappy midbass of the JBLs. Those things were kings.

But anyway, I replaced them with Grayson's old 7" Usher 8945a's. And I've gotta say, I'm in love with them; he's really regretting getting rid of them... I'm keeping my car locked at all times now. Those guys don't distort and it takes quite a lot of power to really get them moving while still getting a ton of punch. Here they are:

Magnet isn't exactly modest, either










They're sitting on a 1/2" baffle, covered in deadener with a pair of tweaker pads, courtesy of Drake (thanks!):




























Yesterday, I replaced the JBL tweets with new Audible Physics xsoul2's to be fitted to the pillars soonish. They're crossed at 2.5k and play all the way up, picking up from the Usher's highs at 2k. 

Super stealth









In comparison with the JBL tweets 









Still waiting on the sub baffle, probably won't be for another month or two due to tight finances, so... that's a bummer.

Since I scratched up the bumper a few weeks back, I bought a set of new performance Falken Ziex912 tires to handle better in all conditions (barring snow, naturally), so hopefully something like that won't happen again.










I was going to go with 17"s, but due to the high cost of getting new wheels too, and decreased ride quality, I decided not to I quite enjoy the quiet, smooth ride of 16s.



> I am really looking forward to hearing the car when everything is completed. I'm very excited about the AE sub - IB. I think this could very well be 'the sub' for you. I'll have several cd's set aside for the demo (real music.....not the fru fru sq....).


I think it'll have been about a year from the first time you asked to hear my car until you actually do get to...  but nonetheless, it should sound like a beast when you do. So far it looks as though it'll be ready to take on your CDs by the spring.


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

oh we're gonna have to go head to head one of these days now! monte to monte baby that's the only way to go  tehe. those mid woofers look amazing. 

I found a pair of mid's you might wanna look into, i havn't seen many run them but their VERY nice drivers. 
Tang Band W3-1878 3" Full Range Driver 264-902

ive been wanting to try em, but for 3's i think they'll play really nice and play with some power. 

here's where their put head to head with some audio physic mid's. 
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...dible-physics-ar3k-vs-tangband-w3-1878-a.html

I think they can do full range, but I'd cross those around 280-400sh they might even go lower than that, but why with such an awesome mid woofer, the 3" has some normal impdence slope, below 220sh it begins to distort, a processor might negate some of that but I'd stay above it.

oh and if your interested im taking out my pillar pods that i made last year for new speakers, so i'm replacing the pillars completly if your interested  drivers as well, some SB neo dome tweeters and scanspeak 10F's


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I've already got plans for a second mid, but I was looking at the TBs, and you're right, they are good. And thanks for the offer but I think, as it stands, I'll be trying my hand at glassing the pillars whenever time and weather permit.

I'd love to go 'head to head' with your Monte, but I'm not sure how being at near polar ends of the country would work out. Perhaps someday


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

Let me know how you like the impact of those mid woofers. they look like they have some nice impact, im trying to get out into something with more power and impact.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

So you like impact... yes, the Ushers sound really great. They can take a lot of power and it gets quite a bit to get them moving. Snare is excellent, very warm sounding. And they fit beautifully in the door. Haven't had them more than a couple days, so once everything's tuned right they should sound even better and I can offer a better, more detailed review...


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

As previous owner of them, I can say that the Ushers are probably my favorite mid/midbass that I have used. They never did anything wrong. Nice impact from the big cone, strong, low distortion motor. I loved them.

Don't know why I let them go.. might have to go steal them back from her!


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

im gonna have to try em i guess. ive been thinking about some mids to try. Ive thought about trying these - 

Peerless 830869 8" Nomex Cone HDS Woofer 264-1098


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

strakele said:


> As previous owner


_Previous owner_...mmm, yes. Probably my favorite phrase that I have used. Never sounds wrong. It just has such an *impact*; *strong* words *nothing* quite like it. I wish I used it more often...


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Troll all you want. My car sounds better.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Because yours is done. Mine isn't. Can't compare an apple to an orange and call one better. Your old drivers will be competing against you soon enough. Just ya wait.

And Ray, go try the Peerless. I haven't heard those specific ones but I've heard Grayson's Peerless SLS and they sounded good.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Yours is in a perpetual state of unfinished-ness. We'll be having the same argument months from now 

That being said, we'll probably never be DONE done, so your point is invalid.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

strakele said:


> Yours is in a perpetual state of unfinished-ness. We'll be having the same argument months from now
> 
> That being said, we'll probably never be DONE done, so your point is invalid.


Yes but there will come a time when I have a sub, a processor, tweeters in the pillars, doors deadened more, and kickpanels installed with good drivers.

That's when you can call my car a piece of crap. And I know you will, but it's whatever.


----------



## The Drake (Apr 3, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> They're sitting on a 1/2" baffle, covered in deadener with a pair of tweaker pads, courtesy of Drake (thanks!):


My pleasure, just glad someone is able to put them to good use. They were collecting dust for about 3 years, lol. Looking forward to hearing this in the spring if you are able to make the trip up again.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

strakele said:


> Troll all you want. My car sounds better.





millerlyte said:


> Because yours is done. Mine isn't. Can't compare an apple to an orange and call one better. Your old drivers will be competing against you soon enough. Just ya wait.





strakele said:


> Yours is in a perpetual state of *unfinished-ness*. We'll be having the same argument months from now
> 
> That being said, we'll probably never be DONE done, so your point is invalid.


Love that term....



millerlyte said:


> Yes but there will come a time when I have a sub, a processor, tweeters in the pillars, doors deadened more, and kickpanels installed with good drivers.
> 
> That's when you can call my car a piece of crap. And I know you will, but it's whatever.



You guys are a riot! I am looking forward to the day when Ally is in the lanes and you two are battling it out......hopefully it will be friendly competition


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Jason, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Let's just say we are both proud of our vehicles


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

bertholomey said:


> \You guys are a riot! I am looking forward to the day when Ally is in the lanes and you two are battling it out......hopefully it will be friendly competition



You should hear us in real life...



> Looking forward to hearing this in the spring if you are able to make the trip up again.


It is looking as though I will be there in the spring.  Hope to see you there and hear your car. If it sounds even half as good as it appears to, I call dibs on first listen.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

psh I'm gonna have you both begging for mercy mwahahaha

jsut finished up a drawing of my new setup. the L6's are eventuly gonna change, havn't picked drivers yet, might go with the ones you used  idk i need to do some more research.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Going back to using rear fill huh? 

And seriously, it's about time for all these new processors to get released! What is it, like 5 now? Rockford, Alpine, Mosconi, Zapco, Helix... I think more?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I can wait. Gives me ample time to get the money for one of them


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Your patience makes me impatient.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

When you're as broke as I am, you have no other option but to be patient.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

strakele said:


> Going back to using rear fill huh?
> 
> And seriously, it's about time for all these new processors to get released! What is it, like 5 now? Rockford, Alpine, Mosconi, Zapco, Helix... I think more?


yep, ms-8 really changed the game. evolution must happen. 

the .3 is the only unit i'm aware of having 10 channels of output though! the zapco unit is far off..and won't be much different, a bear bones unit that takes care of the system. dont even think they took the requests for 10 channels seriously but who knows maybe they'll have em. the .3 is gonan be a hybrid unit that supports auto tune with self tuning. the h800 does a little auto tuning as wel "imprint" the tech is called i believe.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Where did you hear that the .3 was being redone with 10 channels? All of their documentation that I've seen is still 8.

It'll be interesting to see how the auto tune compares between all 3. I've used MS-8 and Imprint. Both had their positives and negatives. Wonder how the RF version will turn out.

Now back to Ally's thread...


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

the RF will be is more attuned to our end to be honest, it's a hybrid auto tuner with i believe 3 modes, a full self tune that still can be changed, a partcial tune, and than i think a T\A tune with no EQ something along those lines. the 10 channels are confirmed from several dealers that I've met at shows who, one of them has been an RF dealer for 20 years and got a direct confirmation from a RF rep that their will be 10 channels, as well as smart phone tuning capacitys, so that you can tune it with all the current smart phones. personaly though I have windows tablet to do my tuning, it even has bluetooth. so my tablet can just link, it'll be a sluggish link, but still worth the hasle free connection if you ask me.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

strakele said:


> Now back to Ally's thread...




Yeah, Ray. Jeez :mean:


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

oh hahahaha that was supposed to go in my thread, posted it in the wrong thread sorry haha


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

While most college students are out partying and getting schwasted on a Saturday night, strakele and I partied hard with one of my first speakers. 


He had a rough day (quick video). 

Then we ripped apart the entire speaker, including the capacitor (high pass for the tweeter) and decorated my house with the yards of thin metal foil from the little guy (4.7mF cap).



















And that's our Saturday night.


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Nice !


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

how um..thrilling? lol


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

'Twas.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

'YOU CRAZY KIDS!' <in my best Grandpa Simpson voice>

This is a lot better for your health then what those other kids are doing.....

Stupid question - I always kinda wondered what they used to show excursion of drivers (or in this case - to blow it up) - I've seen those videos from Nick and Jacob tearing up subs, but I didn't know if they used music or something else to make it move like that - what did you guys do?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

We blew up an Alpine SPS-600 (rated for *80W*) and wired it to my sub amp, giving it *500W * on a 20hz 0db test tone.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Ok - that makes perfect sense - I thought it might have been a test tone - great video!


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u1R9GIdCfo&feature=youtu.be]Speaker go boom - YouTube

told you, use the [] [/] post, remove them, and it posts the video  by the way, that video was epic.  loving it


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Quick update without anything to update yet. I'm finally having some real progress on the car again!

Yesterday I went on Christmas break until early January. I left the car at Mark's (Audible Physics) to do some fancy trunk install for the *AE SBP15*. If it winds up looking anything like what we had talked about, it's going to be a very attractive (and effective) enclosure. I'm really excited for it. But it's a secret until then... 

Anyway, next update in January will be the resulting install pics, and I promise it will be cool.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

awwh man i was supposed to be the first 6th gen monte with IB sub's here


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

...... waiting to see the pics.


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Ally, send me some pics...


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I'll just leave this here.












_for now...._


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Nice Teaser! That sub looks fantastic - can't wait to hear the car


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Whats that Audible Physics logo a sticker or ???


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Very Nice!!!


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Full build pics to come soon. It looks very cool.

And yeah, that's a window decal. Not sure if Mark has any more right now.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Well, strakele beat me to it, but yes it's a decal Mark gave to me a few months ago. It's extremely durable in high pressure car washes. Good stuff.

As for the rest of the pics, Mark has em. I'm simply waiting on him to send them to me


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

*Post 1 of 4*

Time to unveil the overhaul that was 8 months in the making. This is, to date, the most drastic change my car has undergone and the modifications are essentially permanent*. Therefore, much time and planning went into this project. It is the collective brainchild of myself, strakele, and the man, the legend, Mark Brooks. 

* "permanent" is referring not to the inability to ever change what's been installed - quite the opposite, actually - but rather my consistent lack of interest in ever doing so. More on this later. You'll see why.

Also, Mark would kill my ass.


What was produced from the month-long grueling work done by Mark included the following:

Acoustic Elegance SBP15-4 subwoofer
A baffle made of 1" thick acrylic plexiglass
MB Quart Q4.80s mounted vertically on the baffle, thus visible from both sides
MB Quart 1500.1 sub amp mounted atop the rear deck, out of sight
A pair of prototype midranges nestled in the kick panels
LEDs, LEDs everywhere. Like Satan's trunk up in there.


I had a few non-negotiable features to be implemented in this project, in no particular order:


Install must be creative - no cookie-cutter setups here. Great sound _and_ great looks are of equal importance concerning the trunk install.
Kick brake must not come in contact with kick panels, yet still be fully functional (though I hate the damn thing)
Trunk space must be retained somehow (amp location was once up in the air until later)
Kicks must be non-intrusive and not call attention to themselves. Stealth, basically.
Shock towers must be accessible
 *This must look bad ass.*



Enter spoiler commentary by my partner in crime:


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Post 2 of 4

So those were her goals. She was very secretive with her ideas as she was coming up with them and I had to ask a ton of questions to even get an idea what she wanted it to look like. We knew the current install (3 amps on the floor) would have to be moved several inches to make room for the sub baffle, and that was the original plan - just move it towards the rear of the car.

However, that wouldn't leave much trunk space, and, while I thought the idea of a see-through plexi baffle was cool, I suggested putting something on the sides of the baffle around the sub so that, from the trunk, you weren't just looking through and seeing the back of the seats. We tossed around a couple ideas, but on the day the car was to be dropped off for the install, I thought of mounting the two matching Q4.80 amps to the baffle on either side of the sub, with their bottom cover removed so that, from the cabin side, you see the their guts through the plexi. Then just put the sub amp somewhere out of the way like below the rear deck.

Basically, I envisioned it looking like this:










The red glow around the sub would be from the LEDs that she loves so much. Getting all the amps off the floor gives maximum trunk space and easy access to the spare tire (and jumper cables that she keeps in there that have saved my ass no less than 3 times...)

She liked my idea, and so those were the instructions that went to Mark.




(Also yet to be determined, but I think this thick acrylic wall will be fairly resistant to small caliber gunfire. Will be testing with leftover scraps )


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Post 3 of 4 (see previous page for more information on the install's goals and plans)

Back in November, I paid a pretty penny ($160 + shipping the 30-odd lbs it weighs) for a fat sheet of acrylic plexi glass to act as the baffle for my sub. *Why plexi? It's so expensive!* Because it looks damn amazing, and I've never seen nor heard of anybody doing this before. I made sure the material would be sturdy enough and not cause any resonance or other unwanted issues in SQ. And it doesn't. 










Here the baffle is cut and sealed to the sides of the trunk. There is absolutely no foam in the car, *everything is press-fitted* to seal. Where you see sound deadening are two wood panels with three layers of mat covering both sides and slightly around the conjoining corners of them and the baffle.









Now on to kicks.

They are actually a ~4L sealed enclosure. The grills were also press-fit. They are holding a prototype driver, and that's all I'm at liberty to say. 










The sub baffle and kicks are so tightly pressed that it's possible to move the car with them. 





























Now on to the finished product.

Here she is from the outside. Beauty panel is press fit like everything else for easy access to the amps.










Cabin side beauty panels



















Shock tower accessibility remains uncompromised. Eventually there will be another beauty panel to cover this opening, whenever there’s time to do it.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

*Post 4 of 4*









Without beauty panels










Touch ups are necessary for the back of the rear beauty panel, I'll do that later.










And here, I have yet to settle on a way to cover up the top of the rear deck around the amp. Thought of carpet, or truck bedliner so far. 










Black carpet on the trunk lid will be fitted at a later date to pretty it up a bit.














































Also unrelated, things Mark left behind. Paper clip, scraps, something that looks like it was once attached to some part of the car, rusty box cutter.








]

*Mark Brooks, THANK YOU!!*

"Bad ass" doesn't quite do the install justice, both visually and audibly. Mark did an absolutely *phenomenal *job in all areas and went above and beyond with his effort. As you have seen, he does outstanding work, pulling absurdly long hours to have his projects nothing less than perfect. I know in this particular install, Mark had some parts completed, only to spend hours redoing them for a slight yet significant difference. 

He did this in the midst of his own car being out of service and in need of repairs as well. Thanks to that kind of rugged dedication to a car that wasn't even his own, I am extremely proud to be an Audible Physics team member and to have this kick ass install I never would have had otherwise. 

Thank you Mark, you're the best.



Next project, I'll be taking on the a-pillars and finally providing the xsoul 2s with a more permanent home than the top corners of my dash.


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## j-man (Jan 5, 2009)

Fantastic Ally! 

Sent from my DROIDX


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

Simply awesome!


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

Nice install
when was the work on the car finished?


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

That is Bad Ass Ally! After seeing the pics, it matches exactly the descriptions of what you were after. I am very impressed with the vision you guys had as to what would look the best and Mark's skills to execute your plans. I really like how the kicks turned out as well. In a way, it is pretty cool that you held us off at arms length to audition the Monte - this demo is going to be fantastic! I certainly have a few fru-fru sq tracks to test out the capabilities of the system


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Fantastic!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the compliments! Good to see it was a success. 



Mic10is said:


> Nice install
> when was the work on the car finished?


Thanks. It was done about a week ago. 



bertholomey said:


> That is Bad Ass Ally! After seeing the pics, it matches exactly the descriptions of what you were after. I am very impressed with the vision you guys had as to what would look the best and Mark's skills to execute your plans. I really like how the kicks turned out as well. In a way, it is pretty cool that you held us off at arms length to audition the Monte - this demo is going to be fantastic! I certainly have a few fru-fru sq tracks to test out the capabilities of the system


Thanks Jason. I knew what I wanted, but just didn't have the time, space nor tools to do it. Like I said, if not for Mark, I'd probably still have a 1.75 cu ft box and a $60 sub in the back. I'm so impressed with this. Can't wait for you to hear it! And I'm glad you approve.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

hmmmm that's funny that's how I've been planning on my build for quite some time lol that an ae sub? Looks like a 15. I have 2 18 fi ib subs but I doubt I'll fit both you look pretty right with just that 15 liol


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Yeah man I really don't know how you're going to pull that off. But if you can, all the power to you. I would be amazed. Why do you want two 18s, anyway?

Also, yes it's an AE SBP15. A true beauty.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

eviling said:


> hmmmm that's funny that's how I've been planning on my build for quite some time lol that an ae sub? Looks like a 15. I have 2 18 fi ib subs but I doubt I'll fit both you look pretty right with just that 15 liol


Maybe you'd be done with your install if you stopped switching gear every 5 seconds lol. Definitely interested to see how those 18s turn out.

Ally's build does look great though. Did the best I could with the low light pics, but they don't quite do it justice. Gotta see it in person.


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Awesome install I look forward to hearing this car one day


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks Dave! If you're ever in Atlanta, send me a PM. Also, I'll be at Freezefest next month.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Yeah man I really don't know how you're going to pull that off. But if you can, all the power to you. I would be amazed. Why do you want two 18s, anyway?
> Also, yes it's an AE SBP15. A true beauty.


I doubt i'll run them both, but i got them both in the deal so i wasn't gonna pass on it lol just in case, would you be interested in swapping out your 15 for the 18 maybe because if i dont use it, it'll be just sitting in my attic lol thats where they made it to, they were in my room, then my spare room, than ended up in my closit, now my attic lol :laugh: ****ing things are so huge, such a pain in the ass to store 


strakele said:


> Maybe you'd be done with your install if you stopped switching gear every 5 seconds lol. Definitely interested to see how those 18s turn out.
> 
> Ally's build does look great though. Did the best I could with the low light pics, but they don't quite do it justice. Gotta see it in person.


acyually although i havnt posted it, I do have ALL of the gear i need aside from some more cables and a screen, i have the housing and brackets just need the guts but everything else ive got, unless i change my processing again i'm thinking about waiting for the .3 from RF since it'st akings o damn long to get to this anyways, but i doub't the 18's will both fit, 1 wil def fit, but idk about 2. lol just a pipe dream i guess. i might be run an ms-8 acually i was thinking about running an ms-8 and not fus with anything new and just wait for next year when JBL drops thewir new piece which will be probobly the best thing since sliced bread theyve been tweaking it for soooooo long now lol


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## schmiddr2 (Aug 10, 2009)

Wow. Has come a long way and looks great. GJ.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

schmiddr2 said:


> Wow. Has come a long way and looks great. GJ.


Much appreciated sir! It's certainly a step or two up from just a square box and cheapy sub 



eviling said:


> I doubt i'll run them both, but i got them both in the deal so i wasn't gonna pass on it lol just in case, would you be interested in swapping out your 15 for the 18 maybe


:kaboom: Ray are you serious


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Much appreciated sir! It's certainly a step or two up from just a square box and cheapy sub
> 
> 
> 
> :kaboom: Ray are you serious


this fi 18 would piss all over that AE  lol i kid, the AE was acualy my first choice for subs, in fact i never planned on 18's i just found them in classafies around the time i was choosing subs. lol AE just NEVER got back to me, to this day he never got back ot either of my 5 emails, all of which were different and full of details and questions lol idk other people tel me hes quick others tell me hes a douche lol but i just ended up going with FI than i found those and blamo thats how i chose them


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

eviling said:


> acyually although i havnt posted it, I do have ALL of the gear i need aside from some more cables and a screen, i have the housing and brackets just need the guts but everything else ive got, unless i change my processing again i'm thinking about waiting for the .3 from RF since it'st akings o damn long to get to this anyways, but i doub't the 18's will both fit, 1 wil def fit, but idk about 2. lol just a pipe dream i guess. i might be run an ms-8 acually i was thinking about running an ms-8 and not fus with anything new and just wait for next year when JBL drops thewir new piece which will be probobly the best thing since sliced bread theyve been tweaking it for soooooo long now lol


So let me get this straight... you had an MS-8. Sold it for an H700. Didn't like it, still waiting on 360.3 but its not out. Switch to carputer. Still decided to use external processing. Looking at custom software. Then you wanted the Helix C, but it's not out so you wanted the Helix P. And now you're back wanting an MS-8. Amazing, lol.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

strakele said:


> So let me get this straight... you had an MS-8. Sold it for an H700. Didn't like it, still waiting on 360.3 but its not out. Switch to carputer. Still decided to use external processing. Looking at custom software. Then you wanted the Helix C, but it's not out so you wanted the Helix P. And now you're back wanting an MS-8. Amazing, lol.


wow bro stalk much :mean: you'd of had to fol.low me through 3 different sections for weeks to have gathered that but yes, that is what might happen friend and i am not ashamed to say it  but i have the sound card for the carputer sound processing, and the software cna be had for free, so i HAVE a setup...i do not think i'll keep it though is what im saying i'll probobly just test them both in mock up and see how things go but probobly gonna go external.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Hah. I browse several forums here, and have been reading all the processor threads as I was searching for my new processor as well. You post a lot, lol. And you post system diagrams a lot too. Makes it pretty easy


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

eviling said:


> in fact i never planned on 18's i just found them in classafies around the time i was choosing subs.


Sounds familiar



eviling said:


> lol AE just NEVER got back to me, to this day he never got back ot either of my 5 emails, all of which were different and full of details and questions lol idk other people tel me hes quick others tell me hes a douche lol but i just ended up going with FI than i found those and blamo thats how i chose them


Every time I hear something like this it blows my mind. In my experience, John and Acoustic Elegance are great, in quality and customer service alike. In July when I ordered mine, they got back to me right away and kept me up to date with shipment and delivery. They said it would take up to 8 weeks; it arrived exactly two months after I put the order in. This was probably because I ordered my sub shortly after its official release. People who did so at a later date are now part of a backlog.

I know they experienced a backlog in SBP15 orders. People seem to forget that this is a one-man show. That there is one guy who's responsible for carefully and precisely building YOUR subwoofer. These aren't just any subwoofers, they're hand-built very specifically for IB in a car (SBP models) and they are well renowned for dominating the field in IB. Clearly John takes pride in these. If you spam him or come at him like a full-on retard or someone who has heard it through the grapevine that he treats potential customers like trash, I wouldn't blame him for not responding. Not accusing you personally, just an example. 

Is it fair that he's apparently slow to respond and ship? No. Since the old AE IB models are gone, a lot of folks went after their successor.It's easy to be frustrated at the man when you just don't know how many orders he has to build. Take that into consideration before you order from a one-man show. If you aren't OK with waiting, find something else. It's not that hard. One man's lack of patience doesn't equal John's total failure at running a business.

Rant over... it just gets me that so many people talk about John like he doesn't give a damn when really he's just one guy with a lot of demands to meet.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Wait, the baffle and kicks have no mechanical means of fastening to the car?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

They are press-fitted, but extremely so. It was made so that the car could be returned to stock if I wanted it to, yet still be completely sealed. You'd have to use a LOT of force to make the baffle budge even a tiny bit. There are also four small screws at the very edge of the corners of the baffle, but that'll be it. I have yet to test this myself, but Mark has told me that he was able to pull the 3,800lb car with the kicks and the baffle.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

I don't know how to put this easily...but that is dangerous as **** and a dumbassed way of doing things.


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## tintbox (Oct 25, 2008)

Looks good bro. Nice install.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

thehatedguy said:


> I don't know how to put this easily...but that is dangerous as **** and a dumbassed way of doing things.



Care to elaborate at all?


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

In an accident, especially a rollover, you will find out exactly how well they are attached...and you might not like the results. A buddy of mine has permanent brain damage from a sub hitting him in back of the head.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

It'd have to break out of the baffle, break through the back seats latched to the back wall, and go through another seat to hit her. If the impact is violent enough to make that happen, I dunno how much difference a couple L brackets here and there would make...


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

Okay...just sayin'


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Both are valid points. However, if we are to be concerned with the sub in the trunk, we might as well worry about any loose item in the car, cabin or trunk. So why keep anything but your own body in a car, in case of an accident?

Sounds ridiculous, but... really. Like strakele said, if the impact were severe enough to knock the sub loose, I think it's more likely I'd be danger of getting destroyed by the crash itself rather than debris flying in just the right way.

Either way, both sides are valid. Let's just hope that never happens in the first place.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

It's a kin to you going to get new tires put on your car and instead of the guys putting lug nuts on, they tell you, "Well, we didn't put lug nuts on, but we wedged this piece of wood into the holes really, I mean really tightly."

If you can't understand why having a potential lethal projectile is a bad idea, maybe you don't need lug nuts either.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

The only way the sub could possibly make its way into the cabin in an accident is if it broke completely out of the baffle. In that case, whether the baffle is bolted to the car or not makes no difference whatsoever. The baffle itself can't fit through the opening between the trunk and the cabin. The sub can't either, unless it changes angle. And again, it would have to bust through the back seats as well.

I'm not just trying to defend my install here, I'm trying to provide legitimate answers to the concern. I don't want this to be unsafe. I'd like to know how, or if, given this information, you still feel that it is less safe than any other infinite baffle install.


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## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

Started post before Ally's above..... damn my A-D-D.... squirrel!



thehatedguy said:


> It's a kin to you going to get new tires put on your car and instead of the guys putting lug nuts on, they tell you, "Well, we didn't put lug nuts on, but we wedged this piece of wood into the holes really, I mean really tightly."
> 
> If you can't understand why having a potential lethal projectile is a bad idea, maybe you don't need lug nuts either.


With all due respect from your past audio experience Jason; and not to get into a pissing contest with you.... that analogy is quite a stretch. The baffle is clearly on the opposite side of the bulkhead that supports the rear seats. I believe the opposite assumption to your assumption could be just as valid. As the baffle is plexiglass instead of wood, it would have a higher propensity to crack or shatter in the instance of said assumed collision. If the subwoofer itself is the lethal (or brain damaging) projectile of discussion- how would a "more secure" fittment of said baffle from the backside aid in such and unlikely event. One could make as accurate of an assumption that if the baffle did break loose, it would do so toward the enclosed trunk; thus containing the aforementioned projectile- making for a safer scenario. 

I'm not trying to debate the physics and unknown variables of an unlikely scenario and what the outcome would be, but


thehatedguy said:


> dangerous as ****


 seems overly harsh to comment citing your assumptions of results in said scenario.

not to mention


thehatedguy said:


> and a dumbassed way of doing things.


is just plain rude

As far as the kicks... do you honestly think they will move in a collision with all the deadening and stock carpet covering them? 


Ally- Looks like you finally have the dream setup. Great work for one of the only gals on this site that "gets it". And by the looks of your response, these guys aren't going to get to you! Keep it up girl!

Also, I guess we now know why Mark has been MIA for the last couple weeks. :laugh:


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks Ryan. How have you been?

Also to clear things up, the kicks are attached to the car. Grills are press fit over them.

Strakele and I are going to test the scrap pieces of plexi with various impact tests including drops, hammers, and small caliber gunfire.


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## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

Edit- doh- beat again!



strakele said:


> (Also yet to be determined, but I think this thick acrylic wall will be fairly resistant to small caliber gunfire. Will be testing with leftover scraps )



And my friend... something to take with you on your future career path. Acrylic not gunfire friendly- even if accurate with the term "small caliber" (as if that is a worthy comment )..... enter GE Plastics and their development of Lexan; or for the rest of the world Polycarbonate. That sir is what you you will bet your life on in said future. 

Things are well down here... miss they folks in GA very much!


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Haha yeah, we know this stuff is nowhere near "bulletproof" polycarb stuff, but I do remember reading somewhere that this stuff starts getting bullet resistant at around 1.25" thick. Hers is 1" thick so I'm fairly sure even a .22 will penetrate, but it'll be a fun test nonetheless.

And yes, fortunately they don't make fighter jet canopies out of plexi


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Rude?

It is halfassed and a very dumb way of doing things.

To each his own I guess...but a pressure fit baffle is plain halfassed. And anyone to say otherwise shows their complete hatchetness in terms of installation ability.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Hell, why we are at it, let's just pressure fit some batteries in there too...I mean you don't need a tie down strap with the battery cables hold it tight. Right?


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## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

thehatedguy said:


> Rude?


Lol... yes absolutely. Congrats on missing the point; completely.




thehatedguy said:


> To each his own I guess...


Actually,. apparently you don't, hence the humor in your posts regarding this install.



thehatedguy said:


> but a pressure fit baffle is plain halfassed. And anyone to say otherwise shows their complete hatchetness in terms of installation ability.


Actually, getting an install to where the pressure fit is part of the benefit is far from "halfassed" as it takes much more effort to ensure a tight fit with an install than to "hatchetness" things with huge tolerances. I hope you don't laser focus on this comment and completely miss the point of my replies.



thehatedguy said:


> And anyone to say otherwise shows their complete hatchetness in terms of installation ability.


I see what you did there.... and Mark's installation ability is quite up to snuff. As is others' that may be seen as defending it.


Again- I respect your background and experience tremendously; but how do your comments help those of us that study this site in hopes of gleaning said experience, knowledge and ability you were able to attain from the years of doing installs professionally? What I fail to see is why the flame function on your keyboard has to go full bore in rude mode. But hey, this is DIY forum, so why would folks benefit from constructive criticism or suggestion vs....


thehatedguy said:


> I don't know how to put this easily...but that is dangerous as **** and a dumbassed way of doing things.


Not rude? :laugh:

How about "I don't know how to put this easily...but I would be concerned with the baffle not being fully secured in the event of a catastrophic accident."

You meant to be rude- don't insult our intelligence on that one.


And c'mon Jason:


thehatedguy said:


> Hell, why we are at it, let's just pressure fit some batteries in there too...I mean you don't need a tie down strap with the battery cables hold it tight. Right?


You are smarter than that... apples and oranges again. It is pressure fit and then secured with screws in the corners. If it were even to come loose- which is a gross assumption on your part- it can't physically make it through the opening unless at a very specific angle. How in the world does that correlate to wheels without lug nuts or batteries not being secured.

You are going off the rails because someone challenged your gross assumptions and accused you of being rude rather than constructive in your criticism..... for **** sake- that's what you hope for most of the time, hence your user name.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Ryan, how about you go take the nuts off of the tops of your shocks and struts on your car...they are pressure fitted pretty tightly between the suspension and the shock towers.

How hard would it have been to get some angle steel, pop some 1/4-20 nutserts into the car, make a frame with it and bolt the baffle to that? An hour? And how much safer, secure, and non-resonant would that have been?


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

I think Winslow was a lil rough on the responses even for him, but I do agree that personally I would never pressure fit a baffle,especially a sub baffle.

theres trim pieces around the edges, how hard is it to even pre-drill and secure it to a frame thats been secured to the car?

Bottom line Ryan, since youre and accomplished installer---Would You Do it that way?


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

To be honest, your body is really only press fit between your seat and seatbelt...put that in your pipe and smoke it


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## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

BigAl205 said:


> To be honest, your body is really only press fit between your seat and seatbelt...*put that in your pipe and smoke it*


That's why in a serious car crash, you either get saved by the airbag or just die... now you can do the same as suggested in your post. 

Kelvin


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## kenikh (Jan 17, 2011)

Dude. Maybe I'm old, but for all the forums I've belonged to (way to fcuking many), grumbling with the mods...not smart. They usually know their sh!t and...um...they wield the ban hammer.


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## j-man (Jan 5, 2009)

kenikh said:


> Dude. Maybe I'm old, but for all the forums I've belonged to (way to fcuking many), grumbling with the mods...not smart. They usually know their sh!t and...um...they wield the ban hammer.


All these folks going back and forth, knows their ****. They are just experiencing a difference of opinions  No bans coming outta this, unless Winslow decides to make an example outta me haha 

Again, looks great Ally. Can't wait to hear it. I hope my upcoming install has some of this "wow" factor! 

Sent from my DROIDX


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## kenikh (Jan 17, 2011)

j-man said:


> All these folks going back and forth, knows their ****. They are just experiencing a difference of opinions  No bans coming outta this, unless Winslow decides to make an example outta me haha
> 
> Again, looks great Ally. Can't wait to hear it. I hope my upcoming install has some of this "wow" factor!
> 
> Sent from my DROIDX


Werd


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## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

Mic10is said:


> I think *Winslow was a lil rough on the responses even for him*, but I do agree that personally I would never pressure fit a baffle,especially a sub baffle.


That's all I was saying... and the choice of analogies was a bit off.



Mic10is said:


> theres trim pieces around the edges, how hard is it to even pre-drill and secure it to a frame thats been secured to the car?
> 
> Bottom line Ryan, since youre and accomplished installer---Would You Do it that way?


No I wouldn't- especially with plexi..... nor did I actually defend it. All I was saying was that some constructive criticism would have been more in order.

If nothing else, I would have drilled though some holes for 1/4" hex bolts in an inconspicuous place and used fender washers to give as much surface area as possible. A few choice hole locations wouldn't hurt the ability to put back to stock or even raise an eyebrow at resale time. 

But I would do so for the integrity of the install and to ensure it doesn't come loose from an equipment standpoint more so than a lethal projectile; simply due to the physical constants of it becoming one. But I'm back to a hatchback- so I drive around with lethal projectiles in the back half the time anyway. :blush:



BigAl205 said:


> To be honest, your body is really only press fit between your seat and seatbelt...put that in your pipe and smoke it


And some more than others'- big buddy 



kenikh said:


> Dude. Maybe I'm old, but for all the forums I've belonged to (way to fcuking many), grumbling with the mods...not smart. *They usually know their sh!t *and...um...they wield the ban hammer.


Nah- this isn't an argument; and I have been schooled in the past with said moderators experience and sharp tongue. And, sadly, it's not just what he knows- hell he's forgotten more than I know. 

Again, not my point.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Listen, I talk on here like I would talk to you in person...but I guess it's hard for people to understand tone et al over the internet.

But I would never EVER ban someone for arguing with me...my feet get wet walking through a puddle just like everyone else's.


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## SteveH! (Nov 7, 2005)

hey gang, i talked to Mark about how he SECURED the baffle for the lumina. i realise there is some misunderstanding on this so i hope i can clear it up. the pressure fit portion of the baffle mounting is indeed strong enough to be able to move the car by pulling on the baffle. but , mark still did due dilligence to properly secure the baffle to the car with screws at various points to further ensure the safety of the installation. mark used about 10 screwstotal across the bottom and top of the back baffle. in addition to that the front baffle has additional screws securing it even more. what is the bottomline ? mark does nothing half-assed and the baffle is securely mounted. hope this helps


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Mic10is said:


> theres trim pieces around the edges, how hard is it to even pre-drill and secure it to a frame thats been secured to the car?


I'll have to take a second look because I can't quite picture every nook and cranny in my trunk, but I really don't see a fitting location without coming close to the gas tank or shock towers. 

*Also, to reiterate, because this seems to have been overlooked, there ARE - I repeat, there are screws holding the baffle in; one at each corner. I know I mentioned this earlier. My fault for not stressing properly that is isn't 100% press-sealed. *No it's not riddled with screws and it does not need to be.


That said, I'm glad Winslow brought this up. Not kissing mod ass here, but truthfully. It brings up a lot of interesting points on both sides regardless. I do think however that the analogies were stretching it. And it's hard to compare this exact situation to anything. 

In addition to all of this, I'd like to throw in a point that I have neglected to mention earlier. Mark and I discussed forgoing the use of expanding foam, because, well, it sucks and it's messy. That's fine. I am appalled at the insults thrown at Mark, especially when he's not even in this thread. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but to call this halfassed is ignorant and unnecessary. Installing an infinite baffle doesn't simply have to consist of jamming dozens of screws everywhere into the car. If that's how you do it, fine, that works too - but it isn't the only way, and this proves it. Fact is, it has been successful so far.

Time will tell if in fact this is an alternate way of doing it or if it was truly a poor idea, but unless we've somehow completely missed the point, Ryan addressed the concerns with very sound logic. This is just my opinion, but it seems like the main reason it's still an issue is out of stubbornness and a distaste for something done unconventionally. If that's not the intention, then I apologize but that is how the argument is reading in my head.

A note: I am well aware I'm the least experienced person in this thread and therefore I would not dare contest solid information coming from anyone on this page. But there are facts that seem to have been misconstrued - don't confuse the two. My mission in posting this is to clarify what's in my car, not argue with people who have been doing this for longer than I've been alive. But also, guys, let's leave insults out of it and honestly, everybody calm the damn down. I trust Mark, and so have many others (where's Demetrius?) with their installs and they are excellent. If Mark decides more screws are necessary, then so be it. But I also trust his judgment if he can pull the damn car with what he's done to it.

Edit: Steve beat me to it by a mile. Although I don't remember anything about ten screws... ah, well, time to take another look at it.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

^^ exactly. As Ally said, there are screws securing the baffle around the edges. Not big bolts or whatever. The pressure fit is secure enough to move the car, but there are some retention screws. The reason she emphasized the press fit is to show that there aren't big bolts drilled through the plexi and car, or a bunch of expanding foam and crap. The install is solid and looks clean.

Edit.. Ally beat me to it.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Whew...I was beginning to wonder about Mark cause that doesn't sound like what Mark would do (something halfassed and dangerous).

Good good good.

And the plexi pass through is pretty badassed.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

I finally got my chance to hear the Monte! I was very impressed! The car is not only visually appealing, but it is sonically appealing as well. 

Starting with the trunk, the lights were turned on and the amps lit up - wow! what a great visual affect of having the motor structure of the AE 15 flanked by the sophisticated looking MB Quart amps....and then a large empty trunk that is ready for use. 

Ally then pulled the seats down to reveal the AE cone and the 'guts' of the Quart amps - stunning! The sub has a visual affect of being suspended or levitating if you will. It is always cool to see the innards of an amp with an led glowing softly - illuminating the working parts of these fantastic amps. 

We hopped in, seat was moved back (away from the tight to the steering wheel that is necessary for Ally to drive this beast) to the listening position, and I put in my Keb' Mo', _Just Like You_. We had to tame down the sub a bit due to the heaviness of the bass in this track, and the sub was set up for 'real music', not my fru fru music. Once the sub was brought down a bit (beautiful tones by the way - there is a reason why this sub is so well loved), we bumped up the levels of the mid bass drivers just a bit which in my opinion, anchored the bass a bit more to the front of the vehicle - at least with this track. 

We moved through the Adele 19 (studio and live) and Jackie Evancho tracks - beautiful tonality with the voice, orchestra on the JE tracks and guitar / piano for the Adele tracks. The midrange and tweeters had a good level of detail and presence. We moved to several tracks from Cornelius (dynamic electronic), and the system has a lot of impact. Ally was listening for the odd rattle so she could track it down and kill it, but to me the sound deadening was exemplary - I wish my car was that rattle free. 

The system has a ton of potential - it is fantastic as it sits, but a bit more processing power than what the HU is able to provide will move this system to an entirely new level. I really like the choice of drivers, and the amps were clean and dynamic. Ally has done a wonderful job at pouring over all of the details, she has sought the information and guidance from many sources, and applied the things she has learned to piece together a fantastic car that will be a competitor. Of course she gave a nod to Grayson for the idea behind the design of the amps on the plexi  Ally is quick to point out that Mark Brooks has been such an incredible resource - fantastic drivers, installation skill, tuning help. 

Great job Ally! It was certainly worth the wait. Thank you again for allowing me the hour demo while I was in town. I certainly will want to spend more time listening - hopefully I can convince you to drive the Monte to NC for the Spring Meet.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

bertholomey said:


> (away from the tight to the steering wheel that is necessary for Ally to drive this beast)


:laugh4: 


What a lovely review Jason, thank you. I'm so glad you liked it. Hopefully even moreso once I have some real processing. The Adele CD was breathtaking in its clarity and tonality! Don't forget to get me a copy of that and Jackie Evancho so I can hear them again from the driver's side. Please 

The small adjustments we made yesterday sound great with most everything I normally listen to, especially live songs. Just... wow. The dynamics have improved tremendously. Although I did have to turn up the sub a bit more for that. I can't say I have anything more to offer, I find myself in agreement with everything you've said. The real question is whether or not the car is ready to take on the scary monsters in modex. It's no tea party in there...

And Monte and I will definitely be there for the Spring meet this time, I promise!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

OK, so, here's what went down yesterday. Quick update, but pretty significant as this has been needing to happen for a very long time now.

These babies.











Yep, here's the baffles - press fit 










*WAIT!!
...
...
...
*


Everybody calm down, there's some screws in there now. Crisis has been averted.












Whew. 






Music notes for more sound qualities (Modex, you better watch out now)












Here's the really cool part. 

So then I put them in a pair of assault rifles where the a-pillars should normally go. And they were covered in a lot of body filler to give them that smooth finish that AK-47s have. AK-47s with 2" tweeters in them, that is.









AK-47 with a 2" driver. Phat Car, anyone?


And then I put the AK-47s IN MY CAR. And they fit as if they were stock!


... Yep, press-fit.




















(Actually, I think they may be held in there with a couple of clips or something)



This is what I've got today. Sometime within the next couple of weeks they'll be wrapped nicely in a charcoal colored vinyl and grills will be installed. 

Haven't had much listening time yet, but since their relocation, the drivers sound much smoother and even fuller. And with the new processor coming shortly, they'll no doubt be even better.


*Edit:* it seems I have made a mistake. The aforementioned "AK-47s" are actually just my stock a-pillars that are so large they only_ appear_ to look like big bad assault rifles. They stretch from the bottom of the footwell, past the length of my door, and all the way _into_ the b-pillars. Sorry for any confusion. Easy mistake, right?


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Wonderful update! They sounded good when they were sitting on the dash with towels, I bet they are fantastic now. I love the wit.... Keep it up


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

It's a pretty big difference, actually. I'm very impressed with how much of an affect it had.


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

millerlyte said:


> It's a pretty big difference, actually. I'm very impressed with how much of an affect it had.



Wow, looking good ... look out MECA here comes Ally. BTW: Put some screws in that baffle.


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Looks good! Get good quality stretchy vinyl. I got some crappy stuff and ended up with these weird crack looking lines in parts of the vinyl where I had to really stretch it. Now I have to peel it back off and re-do. That All Sport 4way stuff would probably make it really easy to wrap. Also, I used "Barge" cement and it has totally held up through the fall and winter. I used hot glue on the backside where the vinyl is stretched over.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

You should of just dropped the 15 $ into a rabbiting router bit. But very nice just be careful those pillars can be a pain the ass to work with. The sanding took me like weeks lol but I worked weekends and only couple hours a day to make sure I got a good finish lol


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## tintbox (Oct 25, 2008)

Looks good. I myself would like to take a listen sometime.


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

millerlyte said:


> Yep, here's the baffles - press fit
> 
> *WAIT!!
> ...
> ...


:laugh::laugh::laugh:epper::bowdown::wacko:

OMG I am DYING laughing over here. Keep up the good work.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

All compliments are appreciated 

The problem with wrapping them is finding material that is long enough without getting too expensive... but I have a feeling the two are mutually exclusive. In that case, I'll be at Freezefest with unfinished pillars. 

Kendall and Jason - glad you two are fans of my rather dry humor. Sometimes I feel it gets lost in translation...




eviling said:


> But very nice just be careful those pillars can be a pain the ass to work with.


Thanks for the heads up, man.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

eviling said:


> But very nice just be careful those pillars can be a pain the ass to work with.


Really? ...You don't say 


But holy crap I'm glad my pillars are nothing like these monstrous atrocities in the Monte. Whoever designed them needs to be beaten mercilessly with these things. But despite their unruly size, they came out looking pretty good, and will obviously look much better when wrapped. I was most impressed with the difference a solid mount made to the sound. The X2's really smoothed out where they had been harsh before. Good stuff.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

bertholomey said:


> I finally got my chance to hear the Monte! I was very impressed! The car is not only visually appealing, but it is sonically appealing as well.
> 
> Starting with the trunk, the lights were turned on and the amps lit up - wow! what a great visual affect of having the motor structure of the AE 15 flanked by the sophisticated looking MB Quart amps....and then a large empty trunk that is ready for use.
> 
> ...


^^

Jason mostly summed up my thoughts as well. Like Jason, I to was held at bay from hearing Alley's system until everything was in place. I was very impressed with the stage of her car. Even though her mids were in the kick panels the stage was still above the dash. Very well executed considering you only have the processing from your HU. It will only get better from here on, when the processing become more robust!!!! Great car sonically and aesthetically speaking.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

I had the pleasure of hearing the Monte again on Saturday. Certainly a more refined sound then before with great balance and resolution. I only got to hear a little bit of a track with the 'daily' tune, and it was lively and dynamic. 

On the fru fru SQ tune, it was very rich and detailed. The voice is so incredibly realistic in this car. The tweets were fantastic in their new home in the pillars. The midbass was solid, and the sub was extraordinary. 

I felt the volume and dynamics were there (but I'm old), and we agreed to disagree. A very easy to enjoy system - it just so many things flawlessly. I haven't heard a lot of cars with kick mounted mid range, but this car is one of my favorites. Great job with the tuning, and I hope to not go up against you in any comps


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Time for an update!

So after SBN, I decided it's time to get started on some long overdue projects again. The real kick in the butt was having one of my drivers begin to act up on the drive home after SBN. I compiled a brief game plan to just start swapping out equipment over the next couple of months to remedy a few weaknesses of my current tune and setup: I need to bump up the size of my midrange and midbass to 6.5" and 8", respectively, probably keeping the same locations. Perhaps a renovation of the door panels will be in order too.

The new midbasses will be much more efficient than my current ~87db, 8-ohm Usher 8945A home audio drivers, which don't really like the massive size of my doors. The 6.5" drivers will be basically a drop-in replacement for the 4" mids. Press-fit, mayhaps? 

Also on the agenda is giving the dash some much needed acoustic treatment with a custom dash mat and some foam underneath the top.

Until that happens - whenever that happens - my spare energy is going to be focused on the appearance of the Monte, starting with a little something I've been meaning to do for quite some time. 

Over the next few weeks, or however long this takes, my trunk hatch is being redesigned and covered up. I think my version of this layout is a little embarrassing, but it functions as a template. So whatever.


Soo um, this is my trunk hatch. :worried: Here I have some black headliner/carpet covering the bare metal, the 6th gen Monte Carlo emblem cut out of ~1/2" MDF, and the Chevrolet logo with the border made of MDF, covered with carbon fiber vinyl and edge- or back-lit plexi in the center.









It will look better in real life... I hope


Also, while all the cool college kids were out drinkin' partyin' and doin' the sexy... I spent the weekend bathing in sawdust, sniffing paint thinner and respraying my taillights. Party hard 

My taillights were an abomination when I started. My last attempt at spraying them was botched, so I went in for a third and final shot at making them look better.

First, here's the view of the old ones. 










Not bad from ten feet away, but up close...










GAAAAHH. Looks like ass. After several hours of quality time with a can of paint thinner, I got them back to showroom-floor shiny. Only to paint them again.










I wound up using all of these bottles together, which probably wasn't a good idea, but nothing caught fire so it's alright. 









Broke some stuff and killed a lot of trees, too!

Now here's a comparison after the respray.










Major difference. I'm quite happy with it. 

Within the next week or so, I'll be investigating what may be wrong with one of my drivers and if it turns out to have gone south, I might be in the market for some temporary 7s or 6.5s. Any further updates until the future driver swap will involve my progress on the trunk hatch..


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Looks like a major painting improvement....

Nice


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> Also, while all the cool college kids were out drinkin' partyin' and doin' the sexy... I spent the weekend bathing in sawdust, sniffing paint thinner and respraying my taillights. Party hard


But hey, you always end up getting just as high off the chemicals as anyone else does at a party


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Good one.....I've lost count....Strakele 3, Ally 1 or is that the other way around?


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> Also, while all the cool college kids were out drinkin' partyin' and doin' the sexy... I spent the weekend bathing in sawdust, sniffing paint thinner and respraying my taillights. Party hard


At least your enjoyment will last more than a few hours 

Keep up the good work.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

bertholomey said:


> Good one.....I've lost count....Strakele 3, Ally 1 or is that the other way around?


You're a real bro, thanks 



BigAl205 said:


> At least your enjoyment will last more than a few hours


It might have, if it wasn't for Buzzkill Bertholomey up there..


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

I cannot approve of this thread until I have notarized verification that the tail lights were properly bolted into place.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Nope, sorry. She broke half of the bolts off so they are currently press fit.

I'm only halfway joking...


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Mostly. I broke exactly half of them, but managed to superglue two thirds of them back on successfully: one is like new, one is crooked, and one is still sitting in the trunk.

edit... Grayson beat me to it.

Jason, I'll do it for you: Strakele 4, Ally 1...


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> You're a real bro, thanks
> 
> 
> 
> It might have, if it wasn't for Buzzkill Bertholomey up there..


You can't trust a guy who misspells "Bartholomew" :laugh:


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Total identity crisis.... can't believe I have been putting that y at the end instead of a w. This is going to take a while to fix.....


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## kickinaudio (May 15, 2009)

Updates? Sweeeet.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Got me a pair of temporary-temporary 8" midbasses on Wednesday. 

Unfortunately, something's definitely wrong with not just one, but both of my Usher 8945As, so I moved quick to find a replacement. Doesn't seem like a very serious issue, but something that might take a bit of troubleshooting to resolve. Don't know what I'll do with the Ushers now. 

Here's the 8s compared to the 7" Ushers











Just for funsies, here's what is on my countertop. From right to left, all but one set of door speakers I've had in the Monte: stock, Alpine SPS-600 coaxes (the one I didn't blow up), Usher 9845A, and these 8s. Only one not shown is my old JBL C608GTIs. 










So anyway, had to re-cut a new baffle out of 1/2" MDF.










PRESS FIT! 

Then it started to rain as I set out to cut the second baffle, so now I'm seriously crunched for time.










Got them both back into the doors - no metal cutting necessary! 










Hooked them up and made sure they moved some air with literally just seconds to spare before a heavy downpour. Mission successful, and everybody lived happily ever after.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

...or not.

Door panels don't go back on. 











Y'know... it's whatever... Who needs door panels? It's probably more fuel efficient anyway.









+1 MPG!!


So far I've had about 45 min of listening time. Much to my surprise, I love them already. I can really wail on them and the impact is tight. They work really well in my big doors, so maybe they won't be the temporary-temporary drivers... maybe they'll hang around for a few months.


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

I'm requesting substantial seat time in your car come May 12th.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

are you gonna mod your door panels? 8's don't fit in our doors with out modding the door panel.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Notloudenuf said:


> I'm requesting substantial seat time in your car come May 12th.


Sure thing, but I'm warning you, the car wasn't made for tall folks...




eviling said:


> are you gonna mod your door panels? 8's don't fit in our doors with out modding the door panel.


Meh... yeah, probably. Thanks for the heads-up brah :mean:

j/k. Don't know how I would mod them yet, but changing the baffle is definitely step numero uno. Right now the part that comes flush against the fuse panel also doesn't fit. What I'll probably do is make a metal baffle, rip out the hideous stock speaker grills and replace them with something a lot more attractive, then do some upholstery on the rest of the door card.

I don't know when I'm going to find the time to accomplish all this though


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Nice update! Maybe keeping the silver sound deadener look to the doors will make it feel like you are inside a stock car.......

I'll have get in line behind Kendal for seat time unless I can sneak in there the night before


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Sure thing, but I'm warning you, the car wasn't made for tall folks...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


doesn;'t sound like it's any easier than the roughe i went by just cutting out the door panel where the speaker is and making a negative mold and a wooden ring, some fiberglass and bondo and blam you have this! - 




























than ima wrap it with some stechy vinyl that ive yet to purchase. i have this one "done" i need to finish it a little more, needs sanding and yada yada than the vinyl. also the bolt's don't work with my baffle, i havn't figuired out what ima doing, probobly just drill holes for the bolds with a 1\2" bit or something into the baffle. come to think of it,that's it, that'll work perfectly  tehe see what you can accomplish while ranting?


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Notloudenuf said:


> I'm requesting substantial seat time in your car come May 12th.


Careful you don't hit your legs on the steering wheel. Or your head on the roof. Or brush up against the uncovered door leaving raamat goo all over you


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Wow.....it is getting hard to keep up with the points


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

strakele said:


> Careful you don't hit your legs on the steering wheel. Or your head on the roof. Or brush up against the uncovered door leaving raamat goo all over you



You know all about covering yourself in deadener goo. Don't forget who does your laundry, captain crap talk.


----------



## minibox (Mar 25, 2009)

bertholomey said:


> Nice update! Maybe keeping the silver sound deadener look to the doors will make it feel like you are inside a stock car.......
> 
> I'll have get in line behind Kendal for seat time unless I can sneak in there the night before


You never replied to my pm about meeting up the day before the meet. Now I know why....


----------



## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

millerlyte said:


> You know all about covering yourself in deadener goo. Don't forget who does your laundry, captain crap talk.


Skid marks?  :biggrinflip:


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Naww dude, exposed sound deadening goo. That stuff sucks.


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> You know all about covering yourself in deadener goo. Don't forget who does your laundry, captain crap talk.


pwned:laugh:


----------



## marvnmars (Dec 30, 2011)

did you find the cause of your driver failure, door panel or happy loud knob?


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Now that my thread has once again gone to ****....





marvnmars said:


> did you find the cause of your driver failure, door panel or happy loud knob?


No idea what is wrong with the Ushers. Nothing physically appears to be wrong with them. They'll play fine at low levels, but then sound like they are bottoming out (when they're not). Apparently they both do it. I previously thought it was only one. 

On another note, I was reminded this morning that my Eclipse has a mind of its own. Every so often I'll hear the volume go up by a notch or two all on its own. Some days it wants to pop itself out of its clips repeatedly, then other days you could punch the face and it would not budge. It is a special little radio :worried:


----------



## marvnmars (Dec 30, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> Now that my thread has once again gone to ****....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


all i can say to that is some one messed with my bass....sorry,i had to
and yes, special radio for a special little person.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

I'm wondering if it's some tiny debris that got in the coil gap.


----------



## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

What is the mounting depth of the new 8" in the door and how much distance from the back of the speaker to the window when rolled down?


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

I'll probably get yelled at for answering for her, but there is a decent but of room before the magnet hits the window. We were talking about having some baffles made from 1/4 inch steel or aluminium in order to reduce how much they stick out off the door metal.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I think I have about 1" or so between the magnet and the window. 

... Which reminds me, I have yet to somewhat accurately measure just how much the 8s are jutting into the door panels.

Which also reminds me, I will not be having door panels again until I cut them properly AND cover them with vinyl. So probably not going to have them back on until early-mid summer. 

Which reminds me, I have to also figure out how to take them apart to upholster them in the first place.

Which reminds me, this is probably when Ray is going to come inform me how he takes his door panels apart and post pictures of it.


----------



## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

strakele said:


> I'll probably get yelled at for answering for her, but there is a decent but of room before the magnet hits the window. We were talking about having some baffles made from 1/4 inch steel or aluminium in order to reduce how much they stick out off the door metal.


That's interesting that you said that cause that is exactly what I did. I had baffles cut out of 1/4" steel on the laser here at work but haven't had the chance to try them out. I've had to stop work on my Monte cause working on it and my truck at the same time was getting a bit overwelming.


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## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> I think I have about 1" or so between the magnet and the window.
> 
> ... Which reminds me, I have yet to somewhat accurately measure just how much the 8s are jutting into the door panels.
> 
> ...


No door panels means you won't be coming to the Murfreesboro show this weekend, right?


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Oh no, I'll be there... I made my own special kind of door panels for that.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

nifty build.


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

strakele said:


> Careful you don't hit your legs on the steering wheel. Or your head on the roof. Or brush up against the uncovered door leaving raamat goo all over you


None of this happened. :2thumbsup:
I was one of the 3? lucky people to check out this car at our meet Saturday. Poor Ally had spent from 10 until almost 3 getting her car ready to demo. I listened with what I think was a 30 second tune on it as well. 

I really liked what you had going on. I was especially impressed with the ~$7 8" woofers you had in the doors. They were really strong and distortion free. I think you made a good (or at least a lucky) choice on those.

I did move the seat ALLLLLLLLL the way forward so my knees were hitting the dash so I could hear it the way you listen to it.  It had a good center image from either that position or the comfy position.

Thanks for the goo free, comfy, non head injuring demo.


----------



## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

I had the opportunity to get a demo in as well, and I was very impressed. There was a very good center image with great tonality and believability. The sub was well balanced, and the presentation was very pleasant. 

This car is going to be a Monster once Ally gets done with it!


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Ally, you wanna Tune my system?


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

I like where you went from the start of your build thread up until this point. Really nice work you've done Ally. Im curious- If you loved the 8945 so much, why not go with the Usher 8955 as a replacement? More low frequency extension, less distortion, more cone area- it's a win-win!

Im thinking of testing them out in my doors as well. (I currently have the old Peerless XLS 830491 drivers in there now and they are very nice, but I have some 8955's at home tempting me to test them in the doors. If you'd like to test a pair out I may be ableto work that out with you. If Bertholomey vouches for you, it's good enough for me.  A friend of his is a friend of mine.
What are the temporary, temporary drivers in there right now?

Oh and btw, If you thought the 8945 magnets were big... lol 
I believe these are close in depth to the 8945 magnet but significantly bigger in diameter. Very beefy and impressive drivers.
Dammit, just talking about them is making me want to try them out in there...


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

^^^ There's my cue to post my much-needed upgrade.

I don't have the Ushers installed anymore, nor my temporary 8s  I loved the hell out of them while I did though. The punch they deliver is quite satisfying. Jason was always quite appreciative of what I had in my old setup, though it was nothing like it is now. He'd be a great wingman, that's for sure.

Commencing massive update in 3, 2, 1...


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## marvnmars (Dec 30, 2011)

aaaannnddddd pause.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Where to begin... In early May, I nixed my Usher 8945s in favor of a pair of pro Beyma 8BR40s to live in the kick panels. That's what sparked the whole upheaval of my front stage, which included the following:


Go doorless
8" midbass in the kicks
Relocate 4" midrange to the corners of the dash

Here's what I started with:










Since parts of the project were not by any means simple for a newbie, and not something I was totally comfortable doing without some more experienced help, I turned to Mark. As usual, it came out looking great. First things first, the 4s gotta go. To make that happen, so does the whole dash.



















I never want to do this again, ever. 

Next, space for the mids was cut out using a little handheld dremel. The metal was extremely thick and hard to cut at certain angles, and it wound up taking twelve hours. Around midnight, had gone from looking like this:










Stock corner of right side of dash, from the outside


To looking like this:









Cut to fit.

Later, with baffle cut and sound treatment applied to the .75L enclosure (ideal for the 4" midranges):










They were then installed, but I forgot to take pics of them. But they're in there.

Next came cutting the back piece of the dash that covers the actual skeleton of the dash itself in which the drivers were installed in. It's a long strip separate from the rest of the main dash piece, and thankfully snaps in and out with relative ease. It was covered with thin black grill cloth for a nice fit and finish:










Like so. Eventually, the pillars will follow the same suit, but for now they're stuck with the same old carpet.

Now that there was room for the new 8s, allow me to introduce my brand-new Beyma 8BR40s:


















Ta daa.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Fortunately I took more pictures of the kicks than I did the dash. Here is what it looks like at its core:










The enclosures were built out of ¾” MDF like so:



















Covered in deadener:



















Then wrapped back up in the carpet:




















And after installing grill covers and dying the carpet darker:



















The only fallback was that I did lose function of my kick brake. Providing my brakes don’t spontaneously fail me, I think it was a worthwhile trade off.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Next up, cosmetic upgrades. I was getting really sick of the way my doors looked stock, so I bought some real vinyl and tried my hand at spicing up the doors a little.









*YAWN*



















Far from perfect, and the fact that none of the pieces were removable added to the challenge, but for now, it’s not too bad for a first try.
Next to receive some color was my engine bay. In keeping with the red-and-black, I decided to paint the strut braces, engine mounts, and plastic engine cover.

I went from this:









To this:


















I can charge my battery in style now that the power and ground clamps match the color scheme of the engine bay  

Originally,I was going to throw some pics of my trunk install. But during the build, something went terribly, terribly wrong and fried one of my amplifiers. It’s out of warranty, so I’m stuck with a back-up amplifier that no longer matches the other, and so my trunk install is put on hold indefinitely until I can afford new amplifiers.

All in all, getting to experience more complicated projects like putting speakers into the dash was a great learning experience. Not only does it sound WORLDS different from my old setup, but seeing how something like that is done has paid off so that I now know how to do it when the time comes to do a similar build in the distant future. 

As far as sound quality goes, it is by far and large the most dramatic difference I’ve heard in my car, and the best sounding it’s ever been, even with only a few hours of tuning. Without any tuning whatsoever, the stage is already above the dash.

To those who have sworn by the mantra of “once you go floor, you’ll never go door,” I completely understand now. I do have some tweaking to do as far as the kicks’ enclosures go, but thus far I am beyond impressed with the way it sounds now. Night and day doesn’t do it any justice. The stage extends much deeper and further than it used to, and songs come alive in ways I’d never before imagined. While I still have plenty of work to do on the tune, its capability to excel in mod ex has reached a whole new level.


----------



## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Very nice miller !!


----------



## pocket5s (Jan 6, 2012)

millerlyte said:


> I never want to do this again, ever.


I know exactly what you mean. When I got mine all out I had this sense of "uh, what do I do now??". At least yours is back together though. I'm hoping to have mine at least close to done by finals.


----------



## marvnmars (Dec 30, 2011)

yyyeeeaaahhhhh unpause, it looks great, the door panels look very nice, huge upgrade from the basic black. all the work to get those 4"s in the dash looks like it has paid off in abundance for you...nice work ally...if you love the kicks, you may have to rethink your fondness of a stick shift...the extra peddle leaves very little room in many cars.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

pocket5s said:


> I know exactly what you mean. When I got mine all out I had this sense of "uh, what do I do now??". At least yours is back together though. I'm hoping to have mine at least close to done by finals.


It's mostly back together. Missing a few screws and forgot a piece of the plastic vent tube 

I also somehow managed to misplace my front passenger chevrolet mat...



marvnmars said:


> yyyeeeaaahhhhh unpause, it looks great, the door panels look very nice, huge upgrade from the basic black. all the work to get those 4"s in the dash looks like it has paid off in abundance for you...nice work ally...if you love the kicks, you may have to rethink your fondness of a stick shift...the extra peddle leaves very little room in many cars.


Thanks. Yeah, that's about the only good thing about having an automatic is that I can fit some big ass speakers in the kicks. That said, there are many manual cars that can still fit smaller speakers in the kicks as well. I'll just have to find one of those next time I go vehicle shopping. Best of both worlds


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Wow, I admire all of the work you've put into this! Pulling out the dash (and gettin' it back in!) is a daunting task! Looks great, thanks for posting all of the photos here, and from the Vinny Comp as well.  So this is the setup you rocked at Vinny?

marvmars, regarding the clutch pedal, yes it can get in the way, but usually not as bad as the E-brake foot pedal. Most cars with a manual transmission move the E-brake to the center console between the seats, which obviously helps. Be glad you don't live in a country that's right-hand drive.  (I split my time between Los Angeles and Australia).


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> Next up, cosmetic upgrades. I was getting really sick of the way my doors looked stock, so I bought some real vinyl and tried my hand at spicing up the doors a little.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


*Thanks for the update Ally.........I have heard bits and pieces of your changes, but it is very cool to see the pics of the progress......now if I can only hear it.......Maybe at the NC Fall Meet. *


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

bertholomey said:


> *For a second there.....I thought Grayson had trolled your post, but then I realized that is impossible*


Obviously. I'd never post a picture that blurry 



Anyway, I'm disappointed I wasn't there to help with the big upgrade, but after looking at the pile of dash parts on the ground.. maybe it was for the best. It looks good in pictures, and I can't wait to hear it in real life.

Hey Ally, how bout some nice pics of the "updated" trunk?


----------



## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

I am super impressed! 
You are fearless when it comes to designing/tuning/installing in your car. 
I am particularly impressed with the door accents. It looks like a whole new car now!

And....yay...bigger speakers for me to put my stupid feet on...sorry in advance. :blush:


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

bbfoto said:


> Wow, I admire all of the work you've put into this! Pulling out the dash (and gettin' it back in!) is a daunting task! Looks great, thanks for posting all of the photos here, and from the Vinny Comp as well.  So this is the setup you rocked at Vinny?


Yep. This is my fourth (?) show ever, and it's the only one where I've gone into it actually tuned properly/prepared/nothing went disastrously wrong. So by default it was a success this time. The feedback I got was something I can work with and not wonder what they'd say if I'd actually finished the tune. All was well.



bertholomey said:


> *Thanks for the update Ally.........I have heard bits and pieces of your changes, but it is very cool to see the pics of the progress......now if I can only hear it.......Maybe at the NC Fall Meet. *


You haven't heard it, cause it is an entirely different sounding car. Not even comparable in the slightest. When's your next trip down to Atlanta?



strakele said:


> Obviously. I'd never post a picture that blurry
> 
> *Screw you.*
> 
> ...


4/10. Subtle. I'd tell you to try harder, but don't.



Notloudenuf said:


> I am super impressed!
> You are fearless when it comes to designing/tuning/installing in your car.
> I am particularly impressed with the door accents. It looks like a whole new car now!
> 
> *And....yay...bigger speakers for me to put my stupid feet on...sorry in advance.* :blush:


It's ok, that's what the grills are for. I can't reasonable expect normal-sized people to not brush their feet on them anymore. They're pretty big now.


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## AccordUno (Aug 7, 2009)

Talk to me about the 8BR40. How do you like them, x-over points, and what not. looking for some 8s for the kicks.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

very nice


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## audiovibe (Nov 16, 2007)

I'm diggin the new 8" in the kick! How did y'all get the factory carpet to mold to the kick so well?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

The footwell itself is very deep, so there was plenty of room to build the kick outwards and still have it fit nicely. I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out so smoothly. It's a big speaker, but it doesn't stick out like you think it would when you look at it in person. 

I plan on wrapping the grill in the same material the back of the dash is covered in, dying the carpet a darker black and seeing if I can't make them all but disappear at first glance.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

All I have to say is as nice as it is now, this car has massive amounts of potential and it will reach it..


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

very cool ally.

the only thing id say is that i would like to see the 8's flush mounted instead of surface mounted. but they turned out awesome. i really like the way the stock carpet fits them.


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## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

Press fit FTW....

She's going to change her vanity plate accordingly.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Audible Physics said:


> All I have to say is as nice as it is now, this car has massive amounts of potential and it will reach it..


I know we don't always see eye-to-eye on things, Mr. Optimist Prime, but this I can wholeheartedly agree with. Well-deserved, too. 



req said:


> very cool ally.
> 
> the only thing id say is that i would like to see the 8's flush mounted instead of surface mounted. but they turned out awesome. i really like the way the stock carpet fits them.


Uh... thanks? I guess? Never really sure with you... 



slade1274 said:


> Press fit FTW....
> 
> She's going to change her vanity plate accordingly.




My next one was going to be along the lines of ACDC's 'Back in black,' but pressfit sure would raise a lot of eyebrows :laugh:


----------



## req (Aug 4, 2007)

no srsly. i think they look great - if they were flush mounted they would look even better thats all im saying


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Well, looks like no 8955's needed then ! 
Love what you've done. The kick mounted 8's came out great. I agree that they might look better flushed, but hey, once you get the carpet and grills dyed up to match pretty close, I dont think your eye will even be drawn to them. I think it's more important to protect them from dialy use in the car than to just look pretty so your on the right track. Sometimes it's tough to do both.

The dash and pods are looking great. I don't see anything wrong with the carpet there, I think it looks just fine. You wouldnt even notice the difference with a carpet dash mat too. Not sure how you feel about them, but I actually really like the look of mine, and it cuts out glare from the dash too which is a huge bonus for me. (My eyes are really sensitive to the bright light)


----------



## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

I agree with Andy, if you could flush the grill, itd be Mo betta


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Once she has dyed the carpet darker there is plan in place to give them the all desired flash mount look.


----------



## bassfromspace (Jun 28, 2016)

Do those small drilled holes allow easy airflow to the space behind the kick?

Seems like you're lacking surface area.


----------



## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

millerlyte said:


> :


I think it's more likely "breathing" through the hinge access hole in the upper right corner of the pic. There are so many angles and shiny reflective stuff around there, I had to look a few times too.

Are those small holes in the foot rest factory, or did you drill them?

Jay


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

Looking good, Ally.


----------



## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

You are correct the holes are there to help but they vent into large opening at the right of the pic. the holes are just a little more breathing room. it works and works great. but I do want to opene them ll a little more for good measures.


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Mark/Ally-

Are these IB drivers (Im assuming by the drilled holes)? Did you take any measures to seal the enclosure to the metal or is it simply isolated with the dampening material? Looks really nice.


----------



## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

captainobvious said:


> Mark/Ally-
> 
> Are these IB drivers (Im assuming by the drilled holes)? Did you take any measures to seal the enclosure to the metal or is it simply isolated with the dampening material? Looks really nice.


The enclosure would be to small for them. We would love to have put the in a sealed enclosure, we could get a little more control out of them. Maybe a Scan AP vent would help. Something we might have to try, note to self and to Ally. But for what she paid for them the worked out great. 

This car just need some more homing in and playing around with different configs on the mid-bass We have a few ideas in mind for improvements. She has very good eye for details and have great ideas for more cosmetic improvements. Also more the a day at a time to finish things up would help us also. 

I give her a hard time and at times a really hard time, but it all out of me being a ol school guy and as she put it Mr. Optimist Prime. I just want this car to be the beast i know it can be and she a sponge for knowledge and I have Drill Sergeant approach times about somethings. I love her hands on approach. Wish my ol lady would get in the trench with me !!

With some more tuning and small changes I have no doubt she would be one to watch out for. Considering what she has and her competition she did pretty well at the Vinnys for an install that really got it first hard tune the day before and and install done a few days before also.


----------



## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Everything looks great Ally and Mark!!!


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Hah, we're on the same page Mark - I had also suggested an aperiodic vent for the midbass to avoid having to cut a gaping hole in the fender well. Once the Beymas are happier in their enclosure, they'll sound even better. With the current holes drilled they aren't really IB.

You guys gotta save some of the fun for when I get back there though! I can't wait to hear this car.. (and see big chunks of metal sawed out of it )


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Well looks like Mark beat me to it.

Those little holes in the kick are all that had me in Modex from the start. Once the Beymas are actually vented to the outside of the car and not just into the frame (whenever that ends up happening) everything should come alive a little more. Right now it does sound like there are some lower frequencies holding back the extra liveliness and sparkle, and I think the enclosure the midbass are in is contributing to that quite a bit.



Edit: looks like everybody beat me to it.


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

millerlyte said:


> Edit: looks like everybody beat me to it.


We're quick 'round here


----------



## KP (Nov 13, 2005)

:thumbsup: Good job Al!

I'm keeping an eye on you..........


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I don't think that will be necessary.

Yet


----------



## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

AcuraTLSQ said:


> :thumbsup: Good job Al!
> 
> I'm keeping an eye on you..........





millerlyte said:


> I don't think that will be necessary.
> 
> Yet


He didn't say your car... 

Cyber-Stalker :laugh:


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

slade1274 said:


> He didn't say your car...
> 
> Cyber-Stalker :laugh:


He didn't say "Ally", either


----------



## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

:lol:


----------



## KP (Nov 13, 2005)

The appropriate people already know but for the everyone else, we are in the same comp class in MECA. That is what I was referring to. .


----------



## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

True, but still damn funny.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Don't you all have your own wives/girlfriends/other to creep on? 

If not, can we redirect the circlejerk to PM? I don't mind up to a point, but I'd like to keep my thread at least with a shred of dignity at the end of the day


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> I don't mind up to a point, but I'd like to keep my thread at least with a shred of dignity at the end of the day


Lol that was lost with the very first post.


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## AccordUno (Aug 7, 2009)

Any updates on the kicks? getting some weird numbers as far as enclosure for them goes, wondering how you got around that?


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Yes, currently working on opening up the kicks quite a bit. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Yes, currently working on opening up the kicks quite a bit. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow.


id be interested in allot of detail if you could. i wanna try out to do kicks if i can, i have hybrid audio L4SE's and would LOVE to be in a free air envirment like the back of that hole.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Small but important update to the new build. The old enclosure for the Beymas was comparable to sprinting with a bag over your head, and resulted in some peaks in the 250-400hz range. To remedy that, I had to open up the kicks a wee bit more to make them truly IB. 

Originally, it was just this, the vented enclosure fitted for the 4" midranges:










One 3" hole saw and a couple of hours later, the Beymas can finally breathe:









Bad pic - this was before the edges were rounded out









the reason this one has a brownish color to it and the other doesn't is because I tried to spray it with what I thought was black. Was actually bronze. :blush:


The undercarriage is what really makes them IB - I thought it was venting through straight out the footwell by the tires, but it is actually blocked off by another layer of metal and this is where the kicks lead to I doubt I will need water protection for the speakers anytime soon. Drove in a large puddle with the speakers out and no water made it up to the kicks, so it's not a huge priority atm.









Only northern drivers can sympathize with a rusting unibody. 

Made a difference? Yes. I haven't got an RTA to measure just how much, but it's smoothed out significantly. Lost a bit of midbass, but nothing that can't be remedied with some more EQ tweaking here and there. 

Now time to finish the trunk....


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Small but important update to the new build. The old enclosure for the Beymas was comparable to sprinting with a bag over your head, and resulted in some peaks in the 250-400hz range. To remedy that, I had to open up the kicks a wee bit more to make them truly IB.
> 
> Originally, it was just this, the vented enclosure fitted for the 4" midranges:
> 
> ...


I could kiss you for these pics but could I see exactly what your doing their is their a fiberglass enclosure with the back out or just a ring mlubted on stand offs also that looks like a.5" hole how big are those mids mine are like 4.3 or 4.8 somewhere in that

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

There is no fiberglass anywhere. If you look at the previous page you'll see how the enclosure is mounted. It's just some MDF pieces.


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

millerlyte said:


> The old enclosure for the Beymas was comparable to sprinting with a bag over your head


Dafuq? :laugh: Never heard it put that way before!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Northern driver's *can* and *do* sympathize with you about the rusting unibody, but you're in Atlanta. Not really "North." LOL Were you originally from somewhere else?

Jay


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

That's awesome. I'm Provo ly gonna do the exact same thing I'm so glad somebody literly figured it out for me  tehe my L4's should do 
Very well and should easily mount and that's weird that theirs no direct path I was told their was a direct path in the potiact grand am which I believe is allot like this car perhaps they are more dif than o thought
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Good job.

but,

If there is a path to the outside for IB there is a path for moisture to come in. The Beyma have thin paper cones you best treat them at least on the back.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

JayinMI said:


> Northern driver's *can* and *do* sympathize with you about the rusting unibody, but you're in Atlanta. Not really "North." LOL Were you originally from somewhere else?
> 
> Jay


The car spent its first five years up in Minnesota. Snow and ice and salt on the roads 7 months out of the year takes its toll.



eviling said:


> Very well and should easily mount and that's weird that theirs no direct path I was told their was a direct path in the potiact grand am which I believe is allot like this car perhaps they are more dif than o thought


The Grand Ams and Monte Carlos are on a different platform.



Audible Physics said:


> Good job.
> 
> but,
> 
> If there is a path to the outside for IB there is a path for moisture to come in. The Beyma have thin paper cones you best treat them at least on the back.


Yeah, I will do some treatment soon, but for now, it's something I can put off for just a little longer while I gather up some more money.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Pretty sure the cones are treated, being PA drivers.


----------



## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

strakele said:


> Pretty sure the cones are treated, being PA drivers.


Hmmmm not to sure about that. They did not fill like it nor look like it. But i could be wrong.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I can't find anywhere where Beyma explicitly states their cones are treated. Being PA drivers I would expect they are... but regardless I will soon be looking at a way to shield the drivers from the outside climate and any debris.


----------



## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

scotchgaurd the cone in a light cone and the spider will go a long way to help prevent moisture damage that mark Speakers of.
Home/PA paper cone speakers and elements donot go well together and youd be surprised how quickly they can deteriorate


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Mic10is said:


> scotchgaurd the cone in a light cone and the spider will go a long way to help prevent moisture damage that mark Speakers of.
> Home/PA paper cone speakers and elements donot go well together and youd be surprised how quickly they can deteriorate


 
Holy broken engrish Mic ! :laugh:


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Mic10is said:


> scotchgaurd the cone in a light cone and the spider will go a long way to help prevent moisture damage that mark Speakers of.
> Home/PA paper cone speakers and elements donot go well together and youd be surprised how quickly they can deteriorate


If I didn't see the username, I'd have guessed that was a Ray post 

But it is a good idea


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Mic10is said:


> scotchgaurd the cone in a light cone and the spider will go a long way to help prevent moisture damage that mark Speakers of.
> Home/PA paper cone speakers and elements donot go well together and youd be surprised how quickly they can deteriorate


If you had a silver monte tou could i5 donated you montes bumper cover rear???


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> If you had a silver monte tou could i5 donated you montes bumper cover rear???


Ihav Noi dea wut Us guyz r tawkin bout. It Madese nse tome whenire read it a fewtim es befor e I hitsub mit riply


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

Mic10is said:


> Ihav Noi dea wut Us guyz r tawkin bout. It Madese nse tome whenire read it a fewtim es befor e I hitsub mit riply


Now this is just rude I wasn't even here. Kindly blow it out your ass.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2


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## AccordUno (Aug 7, 2009)

Okay, thanks for the reply and update. Eviling, you are mounting a 4" in your kick, this was for an 8", so your's should be a piece of cake. I have the Beymas in hand and have been doing some modeling and research, 1 cu ft sealed would give it smooth roll off around 60 hz, .5 cu ft would give it a bump around 60 - 80 hz based off WinISD. So i'm really shooting for between .5 - .75 and hoping to tame the curve with a little eq. But until they're in not sure but should be interesting. If push comes to shove, AP is in my future.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Little bitty update of things over the weekend.

In light of planning a new design for my trunk install over the summer, I had a sweet deal worked up with John at Zapco. Shortly thereafter, these babies arrived at my doorstep, a very sexy pair of brand new Zapco z150.4s. This past weekend I had the honor of being the first to use them in competition, and with the help of team Z, continued to significantly improve my scores after just a brief time spent tuning. 

Unfortunately, these darlings were just a _wee_ bit longer than my old Quarts, so an *entirely* new trunk design is in the works. Out with the original plan to swap out amps on the plexi; back to the drawing board yet again. For the time being, the twins are sitting snug as a bug on the floor of the trunk awaiting installation in their [TBD] permanent home. Hoping to have it actually finished and presentable by the end of September at the latest.

Fortunately, they're such damn sexy powerful beasts that they'll be giving Grayson a run for his money. 

See here.



















Mega thanks to John for helping me seal the deal on a pair of incredibly powerful and well-built amplifiers, and I can't wait to see what more the z's will bring with even more time fine tuning the system.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Nice!!!


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

stepping up in the world


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

I love the look of the heatsink design on those new Zapco's. Very nice clean lines, just like the old school amps of days past. Keep up the good work Ally!


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

wdemetrius1 said:


> Nice!!!


Agreed! I'm ready to hear this.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

Nice change in amplifiers. Zapco is a top notch company who has always done a great job supporting its competitors and competition organizations


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Very nice !


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## ACJohn (Jul 30, 2008)

Hi Ally, A quick hello and welcome to the Zapco family. I know you'll make us proud.
In fact, you already have. The first ever award for a new Z-Series amp. Now
we have a big hole in our facebook page waiting for our first ever Z competitor.

So....Where's the picture? 

Can't wait the see where you take this install.

John


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Power boom boom, Power boom boom, loving the new amps Lady, man the Z's are sexy, very sexy. Thanks to the guys at zapco for supporting Ally. Great young lady her and very dedicated. And she has no problem with getting in the mix on the install. Great job Ally.

And as I said many times and my favorite words. With a little more work "It's Going To Be a Beast"


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

ACJohn said:


> Hi Ally, A quick hello and welcome to the Zapco family. I know you'll make us proud.
> In fact, you already have. The first ever award for a new Z-Series amp. Now
> we have a big hole in our facebook page waiting for our first ever Z competitor.
> 
> ...


I will send some to you tomorrow. 



Audible Physics said:


> Power boom boom, Power boom boom, loving the new amps Lady, man the Z's are sexy, very sexy. Thanks to the guys at zapco for supporting Ally. Great young lady her and very dedicated. And she has no problem with getting in the mix on the install. Great job Ally.
> 
> And as I said many times and my favorite words. With a little more work "It's Going To Be a Beast"


Only needs a few tweaks here and there, and of course open the throttle a bit more on the Z gains. Not too worried about it.


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

So she opted for bigger, longer and more powerful...so many jokes, so little time 

I can't wait for us to have another GTG so I can check out your system.


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

So are you guys bringing both of your cars to the NC meet?


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## ACJohn (Jul 30, 2008)

Just stopped by to say THANK YOU, ALLY and CONGRATULATIONS.
Alabama Finals 1st place ModX .... WOW


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

BigAl205 said:


> So she opted for bigger, longer and more powerful...so many jokes, so little time


Not necessary... oh the amps? Yeah. Much more satisfying now. 



BigAl205 said:


> So are you guys bringing both of your cars to the NC meet?


Unless Gray's car breaks down again on the way, yes we will be. Can't wait. Sounds like it's going to be the best NC meet of the past year. 



ACJohn said:


> Just stopped by to say THANK YOU, ALLY and CONGRATULATIONS.
> Alabama Finals 1st place ModX .... WOW


Thanks John. Still some things to work on here and there, but it's come a long, long way this year.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> Unless Gray's car breaks down again on the way, yes we will be. Can't wait. Sounds like it's going to be the best NC meet of the past year.


At least when my car "beaks down" it fixes the problem by itself in 2 minutes and then acts like nothing ever happened like a true badass, rather than limping along, complaining the whole way.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Why don't you tell everybody what's been happening to your car over the whole summer? Wait, you don't know.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

If by happening to my car you mean it sounding better and better and scoring higher and higher, then yeah, I'll be the first to admit that.

But this thread is about your whale of a car, not mine.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I mean your engine suddenly moaning at 3500rpm. Nice try though. If you wouldn't get so butthurt at the slightest mention of your oversized box with wheels then perhaps I could keep this thread on topic. 

Go away hater.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

strakele said:


> If by happening to my car you mean it sounding better and better and scoring higher and higher, then yeah, I'll be the first to admit that.
> 
> But this thread is about your whale of a car, not mine.





millerlyte said:


> If you wouldn't get so butthurt at the slightest mention of your oversized box with wheels then perhaps I could keep this thread on topic.
> 
> Go away hater.


Classic G&A - awesome!


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## marvnmars (Dec 30, 2011)

i smell the love...oh wait it is something on my shoe....


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

If you guys want me to stop by ATL on the way, you can load your cars in the back of my Element and ride with me


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Dibs on shotgun. Grayson can have the ***** seat.


----------



## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

This is the most fun Ive ever had reading a thread. Dont think I ever laughed so much reading a build log!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

It certainly has turned out to be quite the comedic tragedy, that's for sure.


----------



## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

millerlyte said:


> )


Nice amps....you plan on displaying the guts?

Either way.....I wanna see.:laugh:

I just read through the entire build log....and you've made more dramatic changes to your car in a few short months than I've ever done to any of my vehicles and I've been installing now for about 23 years. And your system design evolved very quickly.....you went from doing things I never would have done....to right on the money.


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

You guys sound more like a brother and sister. 

Glad you guys kicked butt in Alabama, now for Finals do it again.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Yes it has been evolving at a rapid rate. What pushed me over the edge was being put into ModX. Had to seriously step it up if I wanted to have a shot in the class... so I did. Knowing the right folks has also helped, naturally  I figured, well, since I have a couple holes in the car already, why not make some more. Once my stage was up to par the weak point became my old Quarts. Really couldn't be happier with the new Zs BTW.

Not sure about the guts. They aren't cheapo MB Quarts anymore, so if something happens to them, I can think of at least a few folks who would have my head on a pitchfork. I may play around with the look and get some opinions before finalizing the install though. Which by the way is going to begin this week... 


Dave - Finals is going to be a whole different beast than AL. There's going to be at least 9 other guys with high 70s - low 80s averages that I'm up against. :blank:


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

millerlyte said:


> Dave - Finals is going to be a whole different beast than AL. There's going to be at least 9 other guys with high 70s - low 80s averages that I'm up against. :blank:


NO FEAR!


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

millerlyte said:


> Dave - Finals is going to be a whole different beast than AL. There's going to be at least 9 other guys with high 70s - low 80s averages that I'm up against. :blank:


Agreed with the post above.

Positive thinking, get Positive results

You called me Mr. What now , but look at the level your car is at now from where it started. I said it many times!!!! Great job Ally and think positive. 

Your in the toughest class in Meca in many opinion, including mine. Put your best foot forward and you will be Ok. To be in the class with some of those guys is an honor. Great thing is those guys are willing to help any and everyone to get better including their competition. That what make guys like Kirk P., Steve Cook, Steve Head and some others great for our sport.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Mr. Optimist Prime... 

I'm not being pessimistic, but I can't deny how NOT easy it's going to be. I'm up against a lot of great competition. Not saying I can't do it, but it ain't gonna be a cakewalk. I appreciate yalls support.

If only Grayson would give me such encouragement...


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

millerlyte said:


> *Mr. Optimist Prime*...
> 
> I'm not being pessimistic, but I can't deny how NOT easy it's going to be. I'm up against a lot of great competition. Not saying I can't do it, but it ain't gonna be a cakewalk. I appreciate yalls support.
> 
> If only Grayson would give me such encouragement...


Yep that was it ..:laugh:

Without a doubt I DO NOT envy you and the guys you have to face. But good thing is every point you get it will be HARD EARNED, No give me, no hand out here!!!! Hard Earn, for hard work; Hand and Hand!!!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Teaser update: trunk install is well on its way to being completed and I’ll have a big update concerning that in a few days’ time. Hopefully. Meanwhile, I’ve spent the last couple of days in rainy Atlanta weather repairing my door panels. Anyone who saw it previously will agree: it was ****ty. Vinyl: 1 Ally: 0. I didn’t really know what I was doing and had never done it before, so whatever. After a few weeks spent procrastinating, I challenged it to a rematch and won - it looks good now. This is kind of embarrassing, but here's the old vinyl:









On the embarrassment scale, these are akin to awkward baby pics. Infantile!









To be fair, this part is harder than it looks... :blush:









No excuse here...









Still getting the hang of this "DIY" thing...









Ok I actually just really suck at this.

Out with the old, on to the new! I then spent a solid hour or more sanding and picking off chunks of old glue in preparation, and somehow sliced some skin beneath my fingernail open with sandpaper…









I do not recommend using contact cement. The name is a lie









Yummy


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Tools used were somewhat primitive, yet were all that was necessary. To tuck the edges in, a simple flathead screwdriver. 









I don't suppose this is the 'pro' way of doing it, but it works

Then the borders were trimmed with a new razor blade and the ends came out seamlessly. After excess was removed, heat was applied and with a tiny screwdriver any rebellious odd ends sticking up were pushed into the crevice. Around the factory speaker grille - where at first glance this seems impossible - my dear genius of a boyfriend discovered that, probably due to me partially breaking it at some point long ago, the edges of the grille could be pried up and the ends of the vinyl could be tucked underneath, providing a seamless, near-factory-like appearance. 

Fortunately for me, the pattern on the new vinyl turned out to be nearly identical to that of my actual door panel. Didn’t even notice until it was applied!









Old on the left, new on the right. 

Seven hours later, I think I may have redeemed myself:









Almost. Forgot to trim the top left edge for the pic. 


Hopefully next update will be the finished trunk install.




In case anyone was wondering, yes – it’s all press fit.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Awesome update! Congrats on conquering the vinyl.  I have gone to battle and lost many times! 

Looks great...don't know how you didn't break a finger- or thumbnail, lol.

Oh, and next time, instead of the flathead screwdriver, try using a plastic trim panel tool, or a plastic fiberglass resin or body filler spreader (you can cut them to different widths). I've even used the end of an old toothbrush handle that I ground down or sanded into a wedge shape.  You can also wrap some electrical tape or green or blue painter's tape around the end of the screwdriver or a putty knife to protect the vinyl.

Looking forward to your trunk build.  I need some inspiration right about now for mine.


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

millerlyte said:


> In case anyone was wondering, yes – it’s all press fit.


That's all I needed to know. 

I now approve. 

For serious though, it looks really good. I hated the few times I tried working with vinyl. More power to you.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

bbfoto said:


> Awesome update! Congrats on conquering the vinyl.  I have gone to battle and lost many times!
> 
> Looks great...don't know how you didn't break a finger- or thumbnail, lol.
> 
> ...


Thanks. The panel puller would have been a great idea if I'd had one around here. Hopefully there won't be a next time (for a very long time at least), but if there is, I'll be sure to use one. It's always good to have the proper tools for projects.



Notloudenuf said:


> That's all I needed to know.
> 
> I now approve.
> 
> For serious though, it looks really good. I hated the few times I tried working with vinyl. More power to you.


Great, remind me next time I see you and I'll tell you a secret. You'll love it.

I still hate working with vinyl. It's like booze, I suppose: it doesn't really get any better, you just learn to tolerate it the more you do it. 

Trunk is about 66% completed. Will post finished pics of the whole build on Friday.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

If you dont like contact cement, I bet that means you just didnt use the right one or didnt allow it to flash long enough after applied.
Hopefully you didnt use spray glue, otherwise you'll be redoing that after a few hot days in GA heat


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I used whatever type of contact cement they sell at home depot.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> I used whatever type of contact cement they sell at home depot.


This is the stuff most of us use. I think you will see
based on the price and the fact you use a spray gun
(CHEAP GUN AT HARBOR FREIGHT) that you can do
damn near the entire car with one GAL. I highly 
recommend it. As you have found using the correct
materials goes a long way, in the end makes the 
install a joy to do.
http://www.yourautotrim.com/noname37.html


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

^ Wish they still shipped that stuff to CA! [email protected] E.P.A.  Funny thing is I found 2 spray cans of this at my local True Value Hardware about a month ago. I asked if they could reorder more but no-go.  I had never seen it in aerosol cans before, but Mic is right. Somehow my local upholsterer still gets it in 55-gal drums, and he's nice enough to hook me up when I need it.  I actually like the Petronio's Master Cement better tho'.

Ally, I really hope you don't have to do that vinyl again. I try to avoid it at all costs unless its a simple panel. Looking forward to your work on the trunk. Have fun!


----------



## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

bbfoto said:


> ^ Wish they still shipped that stuff to CA! [email protected] E.P.A.  Funny thing is I found 2 spray cans of this at my local True Value Hardware about a month ago. I asked if they could reorder more but no-go.  I had never seen it in aerosol cans before, but Mic is right. Somehow my local upholsterer still gets it in 55-gal drums, and he's nice enough to hook me up when I need it.  I actually like the Petronio's Master Cement better tho'.
> 
> Ally, I really hope you don't have to do that vinyl again. I try to avoid it at all costs unless its a simple panel. Looking forward to your work on the trunk. Have fun!


I was going to say just have someone outside Cali 
send you some. Like a board memeber. Gotta work
around the system sometime....


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

hmm i should do that with the vinyl I have out back lol i bough it awhile back but it wasnt strechy enough but i bet it'd work nice for that kinda job  looks good though. red seats? that'd look like a BAMF with some red striping on the interior on the seats.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> This is the stuff most of us use. I think you will see
> based on the price and the fact you use a spray gun
> (CHEAP GUN AT HARBOR FREIGHT) that you can do
> damn near the entire car with one GAL. I highly
> ...


I've used a (well, several) paint brush as well. It's ok for small areas, but a spray gun is better. I got a cheap one from Harbor Freight (also a good place to get plastic pry tools cheap) recommended by Bing. I believe it was a 2.1mm tip. 

Jay


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

eviling said:


> hmm i should do that with the vinyl I have out back lol i bough it awhile back but it wasnt strechy enough but i bet it'd work nice for that kinda job  looks good though. red seats? that'd look like a BAMF with some red striping on the interior on the seats.


I've been toying with the idea of dying my seats jet black. Red striping would be cool but idk how or with what I would do it.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> I've been toying with the idea of dying my seats jet black. Red striping would be cool but idk how or with what I would do it.


Don't the dale ernheart ( not sure how names spelled) edition have red in the seats? Their kinda rare though I guess and one for parts is probobly even rarer 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

The 2000 pace car editions had black and red seats. I really want those, coupled with the Dale Sr headrests.










Super expensive and hard to find though. So for now I have to make do with my own creations.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

Get the WilsonArt Contact cement at Lowes. Anything above 600 will work great and its damn near impossible to pull it off. flash time is about 20minutes tho.
I brush and spray it on, depending on how large the piece is
when brushing I let it flash much longer


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Correct if I'm wrong, but since I can't find any pricing online, I'm assuming it's expensive (for me, anyway). I do not think I will have to redo it - at least not anytime soon. If I did indeed use the old stuff incorrectly or it was just of poor quality, and I had to use a decent amount of force to pull it off - something that months in direct sweltering Georgia heat couldn't deform on its own - I highly doubt this will come off on its own in even cooler weather.

I can't really afford to spend more than $30 on some fancy pants adhesive I will only use once. There's not just one way to do vinyl right. That said, I'll gladly eat my words if you are proven to be correct.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

I think its like 28-32/gallon at lowes
you can get in quarts too

and Ive used the welwood in a red can before...if u allow it to flash off long enough , it can work decently

But like you said already, it helps to have the right tools for the job, but sometimes you make due with what you have and can afford at the time.
Its not a knock against you or anyone...I started that way too and at times still have to do that.


----------



## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

Mic10is said:


> But like you said already, it helps to have the right tools for the job, but sometimes you make due with what you have and can afford at the time.
> Its not a knock against you or anyone...I started that way too and at times still have to do that.


Good point Mic. Most of us wouldn't go buy a nail gun to put up a shelf when we already own a hammer.
A little creativity with tools goes a long way.

Lot's of ingenuity in this thread. Not many of us are as good at saying, "Ok let's do this and get it finished" as Ally is. :2thumbsup: <--- that's 2 thumbs up


----------



## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

^Well said by both.  And thanks for the tip on the WilsonArt Contact cement, Mic.

EDIT: Ouch! $104 for a Gallon at my local Lowes. As Martin Short said, "It's a Profit Organization..."


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## KP (Nov 13, 2005)

Can I have your autograph?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Notloudenuf said:


> Good point Mic. Most of us wouldn't go buy a nail gun to put up a shelf when we already own a hammer.
> A little creativity with tools goes a long way.
> 
> Lot's of ingenuity in this thread. Not many of us are as good at saying, "Ok let's do this and get it finished" as Ally is. :2thumbsup: <--- that's 2 thumbs up


This thread is more like an, "I can't find the hammer, but here's a piece of 3/4" inch MDF that's conveniently lying around" thread.


----------



## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

bbfoto said:


> ^Well said by both.  And thanks for the tip on the WilsonArt Contact cement, Mic.
> 
> EDIT: Ouch! $104 for a Gallon at my local Lowes. As Martin Short said, "It's a Profit Organization..."


were you looking at the H2O or the 600?



Mic10is said:


> Get the WilsonArt Contact cement at Lowes. Anything above 600 will work great and its damn near impossible to pull it off. flash time is about 20minutes tho.
> I brush and spray it on, depending on how large the piece is
> when brushing I let it flash much longer


When you say anything "above 600, what are you referring to? It looks like 600 is consumer grade and 500 is professional grade.....
www.wilsonartadhesives.com/products/adhesives.aspx?sp=3&p=ca


http://www.edensaw.com/MainSite/Store1/StoreProducts/ProductDetail/1411


----------



## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

If you used the glue in the red can, you will be doing it over again. I posted links to the good stuff on that other thread where you were asking about vinyl stuff.

I dunno, I love to vinyl and trim things.


----------



## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

slade1274 said:


> were you looking at the H2O or the 600?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I mean you can get 600,800 or 950 and it will all work. I know Steve Cook uses 800 or 950, but buys it by the 5gallon.

600 from Lowes has worked well for me, just slightly longer flash time than the higher ones
500 probably will work, Ive never found it anywhere to try it.


----------



## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

bbfoto said:


> ^Well said by both.  And thanks for the tip on the WilsonArt Contact cement, Mic.
> 
> EDIT: Ouch! $104 for a Gallon at my local Lowes. As Martin Short said, "It's a Profit Organization..."


I could buy u a few gallons at my Lowes and ship them to you cheaper than that, thats outrageous.

But Honestly, this hobby is addictive and most rewarding when you DIY your installs.
Noone ever plans to redoing anything, but it happens.

Having the right tools or at least better tools does make a difference.

when I started doin this stuff, I bought what tools I could at various stores, walmart, sears etc...
I got what I thought would be a nice Skill Jigsaw...I mean its a jigsaw how big of a difference can it be one to the next....
I couldnt cut a straight line to save my life. I was convinced I had serious issues bc I honestly could not make a straight line.

Then I see all these other people using mostly jigsaws for their work and it looks nothing like man. It wasnt till I went to Steve Head's house to work on my car that I used his Bosche Jigsaw, and WOW what a difference.
I could cut a straight line, and not only that It was easier and faster than anything I had.
I just didnt have $179 for a jig saw.
So I looked around and ended up finding one on ebay for like $60bucks.

worked awesome till like 2years ago....but I got a good 3years out of it and it was already used for a few years.

Same thing happened with a friend when I told him I jigsaw just about everything....it wasnt till he came here and used my PC that he felt and noticed the difference.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Mic10is said:


> I couldnt cut a straight line to save my life. I was convinced I had serious issues bc I honestly could not make a straight line.


I thought it was just me.

I had this exact same experience the other day. Mark has the same Bosch jig saw, I have some cheapy one by comparison. Mine, I can't do sharp turns or cut straight even when I take my sweet ass time. 

Using his, I can round corners quickly and smoothly and a straight line takes little effort and time. 

That said, sometimes you really just have to learn from experience only and with what you have at the time. It's all an ongoing learning experience in the end.


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## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

You know I never thought of that Mic but it makes sense. I've got a $50 Black & Decker jigsaw and can't cut a straight line or round corners for ****! I just figured it was because I'm a lousy craftsman. Never thought about investing in a high quality saw. 

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt using Tapatalk 2


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

I agree, using quality tools is #1. I ditched my craftsman saw and jigsaw. Bought some Dewalt 18v and Porter Cable tools.... 10X better.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

I've definitely noticed a difference in tools as well after using some of Chuck's. They Ryobi jig that we have can't track straight worth a damn.

Also, in return for the lovely picture Ally posted on my build of the aftermath of my trunk install, I present you all with the current state of the living room in our new apartment after her fancy vinyl project 












All of the little scraps are sticky too, so walking through the room you end up with 2 or 3 pieces of carpet and vinyl stuck to you.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

^LOL, where's all of the empty PBR cans? 

Guys, you were right...I was looking at the WilsonArt H2O contact cement, DUH! I knew that couldn't be right. Thanks for pointing it out!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Grayson I'm going to kill you when I get out of class.

Everyone see that couch? That's where he'll be sleeping tonight...


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> Grayson I'm going to kill you when I get out of class.
> 
> Everyone see that couch? That's where he'll be sleeping tonight...


You are going to get fussed at like Mark Jr. does - you shouldn't be looking at DIYMA when you are in class

So you are going to kill him, and then put him on that couch....creepy....


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

bertholomey said:


> *You are going to get fussed at like Mark Jr. does* - you shouldn't be looking at DIYMA when you are in class
> 
> So you are going to kill him, and then put him on that couch....creepy....


Now that is funny matter of fact I need to call him now and get on to him for something. I do not know what, but I know he did something. :laugh:

Ally stay off the net while in class young lady!!!!!


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

bertholomey said:


> You are going to get fussed at like Mark Jr. does - you shouldn't be looking at DIYMA when you are in class
> 
> So you are going to kill him, and then put him on that couch....creepy....



That was a good one!!!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

So now that everyone has already seen my newest trunk install, I guess it's time to post it here. *Lots of pics.* Probably going to edit these later with more thorough detail, but I'm too tired right now. 

This has been in the works since early summer and recently came together in about 50 or so hours over the past several weeks. It was a delicate task in light of really pushing to have it 100% done for Finals. In the end it took some literally last-minute backup to get the finishing touches done. Thanks to Jason (imjustjason), Kirk and Mark for your help to get this all done in time for last weekend. It really paid off.

As usual, I learned an assload of techniques in doing this that I will surely use for future builds. It also helps to be flexible when things go very wrong at the last moment.  Anyways, here is the install, which began about a month ago.









The beginning, the remnants of the temporary floor.









Took all that crap out.


*Wiring*









Removed all seats for more working space and to rip out old wires.









I know... I know. :blush:









Replaced old 4-ga power wire with 0ga.









With some help 









Replaced old RCAs running from the head unit with new Ixos Gamma.









Replaced all other RCAs with pairs of Ixos 500. Tech flexed and heat shrink tubing.









Ran all-new speaker wire through holes above the strut towers on each side of the car. These were all tech flexed and had heat shrink tubing but I don't have pics... so I guess it never happened.









Beauty panels made from 1/4" MDF to house LEDs (this comes later on).


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

*Construction*









First half of the floor, 1/2" MDF, and side panels, 3/4" MDF. The shape of the trunk is asymmetrical, so the side panels serve as a way to make it equal on both sides. 









Second floor panel with a cut-out to access the spare tire (still something I do not want to sacrifice). This makes it easy, as the amps will be mounted vertically at an angle on the panel behind it, so that access and removal of the spare tire requires nothing more than removing the panel above it.



















Because of the shaping of the OEM trunk, the panels did not originally fit together smoothly. A mix of bondo + hardener was applied to smooth out the edges and remove the gaps between the panels.


















Lots of sanding and a few coats later.


















Took the back floor panel and build the amp rack out of 3/4" MDF. 









Cut out the outline of the Monte Carlo knight's crest emblem on the top of the spare tire panel. LEDs will be mounted on the left and right tabs.









Left and right tabs to slip LEDS underneath. Bottom of the board is for the beginnings of the knight's crest. A layer of brushed aluminum vinyl was applied to the bottom to form the silver part of the crest.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Plexi was set on top of the brushed aluminum. Then, on the top of the spare tire piece, another layer of plexi was attached and the detailed image of the knight's crest was placed atop it. The layering will provide for a 3D look. Finally, a trim piece bordering the crest was attached, and here we go:


















Previously, I never got around to covering up the top of the trunk with a trim panel. This time around, one was made out of 1/4" MDF and cut to fit snugly around the amplifiers:











*Trunk lid*









The old, bare trunk lid was horrendous to look at.









A base board was cut out of 1/4" MDF that fits the shape of the trunk.









Then, a Chevy bowtie was cut and covered in red vinyl. Getting the hang of it finally 









LEDs are mounted to provide backlighting...









And finally, a vinyl sticker in the shape of a bowtie was pressed to a thin layer of plexi. The 'Monte Carlo' text is from the old first generation Monte Carlos. I think it looks better than the newer versions. 

This was all assembled the day before MECA Finals and secured with security screws. The trunk lid itself is now so heavy that it can't be left up at an angle or it will slam itself shut (even if your head is in the way...). A worthwhile tradeoff? I think so.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

A few final pics of the finished product:









6to8 fit snugly in the left side panel. Panel is easily removable for tuning purposes with bluetooth, yet still will not fall on its own, even without screws. I call it the Winslow-inspired securing method. 









Distribution block and LED switch. Eventually LEDs will backlight both side panels.


















Vinyl decal of system diagram and sponsors/teams (AP, Mosconi, Zapco) backlit by red LEDs from the plexi beauty panels. These front ones are remnants from the previous install - no need to remake them!



















So there you have it, the culmination of a few long, stressful weeks of work and doing whatever it takes to get it done on time.


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## SteveH! (Nov 7, 2005)

this photo album needs something , what is it?


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

I like the new trunk.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

OK Steve. Aftermath of Finals yesterday, while we're at it. 3rd place Modex and Most Improved. 





















Back to the trunk, probably going to end up swapping out or updating a few things. I just really wanted it to have that 'complete' look for Finals. The plexi will probably be brought out a little so the LEDs light up the perimeter of the bowtie. Red vinyl (I might be becoming obsessed with vinyl) will be added somewhere (not sure where yet) to break up the blackness of the trunk interior a bit. Rear deck will be dyed black to go with the rest of the car. But all of that later. Enjoying the look of it as it is now. Took a lot of busting ass to come together and I'm happy with it. And too tired to do much more for a little while. Need... more... sleep.... :dead:


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

Simply awesome!


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Looking good there young lady and lord knows I know what you mean about sleep.

There is some things I would like to clean up in the install to finish her off and give it a little cleaner look. It will get done. But great work all around Ally.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

It will get done when I'm no longer in a rush. As it should have been. But Finals doesn't come but once a year, so it had to be a bit hurried. Turned out well anyhow. 

I think my priority lies in fixing the stabilizers that broke first. That thing hurts coming down. Still hurts. Would not want that to happen to somebody who happens to look down into the trunk, and suddenly...


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## KP (Nov 13, 2005)

Good job Ally! Looks 10X better than my first build. Second, Third, and fourth for that matter..........


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Looks like ass. Sounds like it too. Only 3rd at finals? Pitiful.






But really, car sounds great. Congrats dear


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Wait was that an insult or compliment?


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Cause if it was the first, I do have a ban hammer


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

pretty sure he was kidding.

if he wasn't, he's probably wishing now he was because money says he has a serious black eye or two.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

That is just Classic G&A at its best.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I take back what I said before Grayson, you two should get the hatfield & mccoy... not the spouse award.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> With some help


This is my favorite shot! 

I love the changes you made to the trunk. It has a lot of your personal style in it, and the appearance is very clean. Now hopefully at the meet.... You will be able to just sit back and enjoy the compliments and give demos (instead of constantly being in the trunk futzing with stuff)


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

millerlyte said:


>


My other favorite shot.... Pride and satisfaction.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

bertholomey said:


> This is my favorite shot!
> 
> I love the changes you made to the trunk. It has a lot of your personal style in it, and the appearance is very clean. Now hopefully at the meet.... You will be able to just sit back and enjoy the compliments and give demos (instead of constantly being in the trunk futzing with stuff)


Thanks, yeah, I'd like to be able to actually demo and give demos instead of spending 6 hours fixing crap.  



bikinpunk said:


> I take back what I said before Grayson, you two should get the hatfield & mccoy... not the spouse award.


That's what I've been telling him


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## AccordUno (Aug 7, 2009)

Ally, way to go.. How did the MB work for you? BTW, way to go on the truck, keep it simple and it's doing it's job.. Congrats..


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

The midbass I thought was the weakest part of the system. Overall not too bad, but the enclosures need some tweaking. There is a lot of tactile feedback that pulls straight down to the footwells. Not an issue with the Beymas themselves, just a function of having big speakers in the kicks. I need to add more weight in that area and do a bit more tweaking with EQ as they pull down a bit on their own as well. All in due time. Might experiment with other 8" midbass as well just to experience more drivers. Maybe tens...

tl;dr I do like them thus far. They can take a beating.


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## marvnmars (Dec 30, 2011)

10's in your kicks...holly crap batman...the 8's are impressive enough, seeing you put 10's in there would be wild. my only question is if you go 10's can you go back to 8's easily? i have a jl 12w7 i could let you borrow if you want to try a 12.... congrats on you awards...that is pretty badarse to get that good that quick after just refinishing the install. big thumbs up.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

bikinpunk said:


> I take back what I said before Grayson, you two should get the hatfield & mccoy... not the spouse award.


I agree with you on that one.


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Nice trunk Miller. Looks great !!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

marvnmars said:


> 10's in your kicks...holly crap batman...the 8's are impressive enough, seeing you put 10's in there would be wild. my only question is if you go 10's can you go back to 8's easily? i have a jl 12w7 i could let you borrow if you want to try a 12.... congrats on you awards...that is pretty badarse to get that good that quick after just refinishing the install. big thumbs up.


Yes, that's the one (only?) good thing about having a big car + automatic trans + being a really small person. I have the room for 10" midbass. I don't know any manual trans that can fit a 10, so it would be nice to get it out of my system before that.  I've only begun to start browsing options, but coming by one that fits my requirements won't be easy. Not interested in 12" midbass - I DO need to be able to drive the car still - but perhaps for an up-front sub sometime in the distant future. There's room for that as well, perhaps tiptoeing the line between modex and extreme. I could revert back to 8s after 10s if I wanted to, it would just require rebuilding part of the enclosure. Not sure if I can provide enough airspace for a given 10 without further weakening the structural integrity of the car itself. If that's the case then 10s are a permanent no-go.

If I don't end up using 10s, I think I will try my hand at a pair of JL ZR800CWs though. They aren't as efficient as I would like, rated at a full 3db lower than my current Beymas, but we shall see. 


Thanks all for the kind comments.


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## pocket5s (Jan 6, 2012)

millerlyte said:


> If I don't end up using 10s, I think I will try my hand at a pair of JL ZR800CWs though. They aren't as efficient as I would like, rated at a full 3db lower than my current Beymas, but we shall see.
> .


I've heard those 8's playing down to 25hz in IB in Todd's GTi. They do _not_ disappoint. If I didn't have the 8's I do now, I'd be knocking people over to get the JL's


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Preparing for a ****storm, but the potential issue I take with others reviews of JL is that, well, on this forum you either have a raging hardon for them or you don't. I'd really like to hear them for myself. _Playing devil's advocate here_, so JL nuthuggers, keep it in your pants. Any and all personal experience with them is still valued, of course. I've got some time to decide. 

Also other mb suggestions are welcome.


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

Don't make it so tight that judges can't get in your car


...just sayin


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

A little late for that. Gonna see if I can move the seats back sometime soon as well. I am sure a few folks would appreciate it.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

I wouldn't get hung up on the sensitivity of the midbasses considering your midranges are barely 80-83 db before you equalized them.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

80-83db? Try 86 @ 1w. And I mentioned nothing of my mids, anyway. We're just discussing midbass here right now.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

The point is that losing sensitivity in the midbass doesn't matter when the speakers they are to mate with aren't real high efficiency anyway. You have plenty of power for them.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

strakele said:


> The point is that losing sensitivity in the midbass doesn't matter when the speakers they are to mate with aren't real high efficiency anyway. You have plenty of power for them.


Correct sir, I agree, but....


Just remember that efficiency is measured or is the average over the whole range of the driver. Remove the lower end it may or may not increase.

But,

That is not what was said. Winslow said not to worry when her midranges where only 80-83dbs, he kind of assumed he knew what midranges she is running. which from his statement he does not. 

As we the team know they are 86.74 1w/1m

Now if the statement was simply; just do your best to match the efficiency of the mid-bass to your mid-range or the other way around and/or much sure the power handling and power on hand can make up for the difference of the drivers in question. That would be more to the point, not pointing out her mid-range efficiency was low, Which it is not by car audio standards.

Sorry Ally, back on topic. As have dropped a line to you we have something coming for you


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Right. The Beyma is more on the side of a pro audio speaker so its higher rated efficiency comes more from higher in the frequency spectrum. In the midbass region, it's no more sensitive than most others, and may actually be less depending on some things.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Looking forward to it Mark. Keep me posted.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

There is no practical difference in sensitivity between a 4 ohm 87 db speaker and a 90 db 8 ohm driver. And your mids are 86 before you eq. All of that will drop after eqing.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

thehatedguy said:


> There is no practical difference in sensitivity between a 4 ohm 87 db speaker and a 90 db 8 ohm driver. And your mids are 86 before you eq. All of that will drop after eqing.


There is not difference as long as they are both rated at 1w/1m and not 2.83v/1m for one or the other.

As Grayson said the Beyma are not 90db in the range they are being used, they roll off a bit fast below 100hz. This is something many miss when selecting driver based on the sensitivity to match each other; the range in which the driver will be used and the sensitivity in that range. 

But I agree the entire system sensitivity will drop more then likely after eqing, not just the midrange.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

That's why I like jbl, they rate their speakers in the passband they areto be used in.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Regarding midbass - true. The point I was trying to make got carried away. I simply do not want to stretch too far one way or the other with each pair of drivers. 

Forget about the mids. They are a whole different story. Not relevant if future plans pan out which will include swapping out a few things, all I'm saying regarding that. Just speculation at the moment. Perhaps I was vague. I'm at the point now where I can focus on tweaking the little things, and it's not much to ask for a system that is all similarly efficient in the end. Everybody needs to stop overanalyzing everything I say, or let me know if I need to be more clear. The rate at which this thread goes from one topic to a debate is astounding.

tl;dr looking for a wider range of potential midbass and weighing potential pros and cons; experience, suggestions and input is welcomed. Slightly redesigning enclosures is not entirely out of the question.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

The jls are nice and are great people. Plus you get a warranty.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Don't get hung up on efficiency for midbass. Consider the effect of cabin gain here. 

If power is hard to achieve then maybe it's a concern. Otherwise, efficiency isn't a serious issue outside of compression. Which, if the driver is designed well, won't be an issue.


Outside of that, I'd ask why you want to change and what you expect to get. Of the beyma's work for you, keep on rockin 'em.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Why change midbass? Mostly just cause. Curious as to the other 8s that are out there. No real reason *yet* other than for fun. Maybe I will like something better, maybe I won't. One way to find out, and I've got a few months to pass until Freezefest.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I understand that fully. You're preaching the choir here. 

I just ask that when people want to change. Sometimes folks want to change for an expected increase in performance. Other times they want to change simply because.


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

millerlyte said:


> Why change midbass? Mostly just cause. Curious as to the other 8s that are out there. No real reason *yet* other than for fun. Maybe I will like something better, maybe I won't. One way to find out, and I've got a few months to pass until Freezefest.


Hmmm, I might know of a good 8" driver


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

bikinpunk said:


> I understand that fully. You're preaching the choir here.
> 
> I just ask that when people want to change. Sometimes folks want to change for an expected increase in performance. Other times they want to change simply because.


What do they call it here, "the bug." It's that. The overwhelming and inexplicable urge to scratch an itch that isn't there. 



DAT said:


> Hmmm, I might know of a good 8" driver


Consider me interested.


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## nucci (Mar 29, 2012)

There's some good stuff for a newbie to learn from in this thread.

God willing, I'll follow in the single SBP15 + pro audio midbass route...


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Somewhere, a while ago, Gray and I had mentioned that we were going to take my leftover sheet of 1" plexiglas that I used for my sub baffle and test how bulletproof it was, if at all. Yesterday we did just that, and wound up with some pretty surprising results. 

We used a .22-caliber revolver, I used my Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Compact and Gray used his Glock 19. We shot them all from both 30ft and 15ft. Here's what we found.


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## SteveH! (Nov 7, 2005)

Hey Laughing Boy - YouTube


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## shawnk (Jan 11, 2010)

The true definition of "bullet proof" install!!:laugh:


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

I must say, I was surprised by the results. I fully expected the .22 to at least crack the plexi. It is thick and dense, but plexi has a reputation for being fairly brittle and easy to crack. I know acrylics are used to make bullet proof glass, but these are specially treated sheets and often have several layers of other laminated compounds as well. The sheet Ally had was just your basic run of the mill plexi.

But apparently in the 1" thick range, impact resistance skyrockets. With a quick wipe of the finger, you literally could not tell anything had ever touched it where the .22 rounds impacted.

With the 9mm, the importance of having a solid backstop became very important. With nothing behind the sheet to back it up, the 9mm round cracked the narrow sheet in half. With another piece of plexi or the wood blocks behind it, the one inch sheet was able to completely stop the round. I never would have guessed it was that strong.

For reference, here is a somewhat similar test of 1.25" thick polycast acrylic that's actually designed to be bullet resistant.

The Box O' Truth #6 - Ballistic Resistant Glass Gets Tested - Page 1


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Is it plexi or lexan?


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

millerlyte said:


> sheet of 1" plexiglas that I used for my sub baffle and test how bulletproof it was, if at all. Yesterday we did just that, and wound up with some pretty surprising results.
> 
> We used a .22-caliber revolver, I used my Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Compact and Gray used his Glock 19. We shot them all from both 30ft and 15ft. Here's what we found.


I see why the plexi cracked. It wasn't press fit into the target stand.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

thehatedguy said:


> Is it plexi or lexan?


Plexi.




Notloudenuf said:


> I see why the plexi cracked. It wasn't press fit into the target stand.


Never miss an opportunity, do you


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

Cast acrylic is no where near as tough as bullet resistant polycarbonate.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

LOL. You guys are hilarious. Great choice of song, btw!


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## myhikingboots (Oct 28, 2010)

bikinpunk said:


> Great choice of song, btw!


I'm sure you had permission to use that.


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## oldturd (Oct 31, 2009)

Someone finally did some scientific testing around here. It's about time.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Somewhere, a while ago, Gray and I had mentioned that we were going to take my leftover sheet of 1" plexiglas that I used for my sub baffle and test how bulletproof it was, if at all. Yesterday we did just that, and wound up with some pretty surprising results.
> 
> We used a .22-caliber revolver, I used my Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Compact and Gray used his Glock 19. We shot them all from both 30ft and 15ft. Here's what we found.


so this is what you guys are doing down south... :laugh:


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## stryke23x (Jun 22, 2007)

Hi Ally, just stopping by your build thread to say hi. good work on the vehicle. 

I did want to comment regarding the discussion of efficiency above, the ratings of both 1w/1m efficiency and 2.83V sensitivity are actually calculated numbers based on driver parameters. They are basically accurate over any area where the response of the driver is not affected by the enclosure or baffle. It is the job of the system designer to then design the system to get the desired efficiency over the needed range. There are some limitations the designer has to work with though. 

In sealed enclosures, down at lower frequencies the system is controlled by the enclosure and the efficiency of the woofer has almost no affect on the output of the system. We can use the SBP15 in 10cf sealed (basic trunk IB) as a means of comparison. The following shows the woofer with efficiency adjusted from 85-93dB by just altering the moving mass of the driver. You can see that once you get to 30hz, there is essentially no difference in output as it is completely controlled by the woofer.










No matter what woofer you put in, or how efficient it is at first, the limitation is the enclosure. This becomes more apparent in midrange/midbass drivers where you have smaller volumes to work with. The dominance of the enclosure is pushed up higher in frequency. Often times I see people making tiny sealed midbass enclosures and expecting miracles from the driver. At this point the only way to compensate for this is with EQ and added power. There is nothing wrong with using EQ to help bring up the low end in a sealed system. It is used in subwoofers all the time in everything from pro, hifi, recording and car markets and can be very effective. The Evolution Acoustics MM7 uses this approach with 4 sealed SBP15's and it is very successful. Just be aware that the efficiency of the driver alone doesn't control the low end output. 

MMSeven | Evolution Acoustics

The other way to gain back efficiency is with a vented enclosure. Many people think of vented enclosures as boomy, slow, or not as tight as sealed enclosures, especially for midbass. In reality a properly designed vented enclosure can often be much lower distortion at any given SPL than a sealed enclosure. With low Q drivers that roll off very high, using a vented box will allow you to get the same input with as much as 1/6 the power around the tuning frequency. This keeps thermal distortions down, eddy currents low, and leads to much lower overall distortion at any given SPL. Vented enclosures also keep driver excursion way down at and around the tuning frequency. This keeps the driver operating in a more linear range, again lowering distortion. 

The only issue you should be aware of is group delay, which is the derivative of phase. In a subwoofer application, tuning at 30hz and under there is not much to worry about. The wavelength of the frequencies is long enough that any group delay isn't a real audible factor. In midbass/midrange boxes it can become more of an issue. The best idea then is to tune lower. If you look at the group delay curve, by 1/2 octave above the tuning frequency the group delay comes down to a much more reasonable level, almost the same as a sealed enclosure. The mistake people often make is tuning a midbass enclosure right at the bottom of the range where they want to cross over. Ideally you want to tune 1/3 to 1/2 octave below your crossover point. You give up a slight amount of efficiency by doing this, but pushing the peak in group delay lower is IMO worth this slight loss. In this case you can see the difference between using the TD6M in a sealed enclosure of .5cf and a vented enclosure of .5cf.










If someone was to use a sealed enclosure, the efficiency is down by 9dB at 80hz. In comparison with the vented enclosure the response is less than 3dB down at the same point. You can see how much it is the design of the system and not the driver itself that determines the end efficiency. Also this 6dB difference means 4x less amplifier power to get the same SPL level. The difference between 1W and 4W may not seem significant, but the difference between 50W and 200W, and the difference in distortion and compression definitely is. There is some increase in group delay but crossing over at 80hz there will be little effect as the 5ms group delay is far shorter than the wavelength at 80hz. 

That all said, there are some woofers that do not use realistic numbers for efficiency ratings at all. Many car companies used to give ratings WITH cabin gain included. Others will give an efficiency rating but not state whether it is a 1w/1m or 2.83V rating. I have seen dual 1ohm coil drivers with claimed efficiency of 98dB but in reality that is a 2.83V rating at 1/2ohm and the driver is more realistically 83dB 1w/1m. It is best to always put the parameters into a modelling program and let it calculate the efficiency for you. Others still will give efficiency based on measured curves, typically at the highest point of a breakup. Eminence does this for example measuring at a given frequency where the cone directivity is increasing the on axis output. This does not give a comparable number though because at other frequencies there is no way to get this actual efficiency no matter how the system is designed. In general though, the parameters of the driver will give you a very close estimate of real world efficiency for any point where the enclosure is not altering this efficiency.


----------



## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

"Thanks" button hit... 

Kelvin


----------



## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

"Thanks" button hit... 

Kelvin


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

So to start off this year's mods and changes, I finally got around to changing the gauge lights from light green to red. The whole job looked scarier than it actually was.

Stock cluster: 










So of course I had to take the dash apart for the millionth time, pulled the cluster and started to take it apart. For once Chevy actually made the job easy with simple clips holding the thing together! epper:










Pried off the needles










Removed the plastic gauge



















Applied some styrene plastic with adhesive to the white sections










Put it back together, and voila. My digital camera was out of battery so I used my inferior phone to take this. It's much brighter in person.





































Overall a fun and easy project.


Next up, I modify the kickpanels to eliminate tactile feedback and resonance.


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

I am tuned in for the new changes. 

Don't I remember you discussing some LED retrofits for your car?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I still might drop in some LED bulbs, but this was so much easier and works well. I also do not have a proper soldering kit just yet. Perhaps sometime in the near future if the styrene burns out.

Now I am on to getting enough fiberglass supplies and then I'm off to do my very first glassing job all by my big self


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Ally, 
The dash lights are nice  but, come on - waiting to see the Kick Panel upgrade


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Loving the cool pry tool you have there.


----------



## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

Can't you get those in the DIYMA store?

And you should run a screw into those because press fit can't be trusted.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I got my stainless steel dual needle puller at IKEA. Its state of the art Kürved design allows for easy leverage to make upward prying motion so easy even I could do it.


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## Neil_J (Mar 2, 2011)

I've been using a pair of Ikea coffee tables as a garage workbench for pretty much my entire build. And I think my center channel baffle started out as an Ikea cutting board.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Nothing wrong with being resourceful. In every how-to I've read on taking apart the cluster it specifically recommends using a fork over just about anything else. It just works perfectly for that purpose.


----------



## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

millerlyte said:


> I got my stainless steel dual needle puller at IKEA. Its state of the art *Kürved* design allows for easy leverage to make upward prying motion so easy even I could do it.


LMAO! Hilarious!



millerlyte said:


> Nothing wrong with being resourceful. In every how-to I've read on taking apart the cluster it specifically recommends using a fork over just about anything else. It just works perfectly for that purpose.


It really does work for a great many things.


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## Neil_J (Mar 2, 2011)

I freaking guarantee you that BMW sells a $700 tool to remove the needle on my gauge cluster. I can look it up later if you don't believe me


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

slade1274 said:


> Can't you get those in the DIYMA store?
> 
> And you should run a screw into those because press fit can't be trusted.


 
Uh oh... lol


trouble.maker.


----------



## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Neil_J said:


> I freaking guarantee you that BMW sells a $700 tool to remove the needle on my gauge cluster. I can look it up later if you don't believe me


Dude, I had a JCW and an E90 M3. I know ALL about BMW pricing on stupid ****.  Hell, I'll bet there's an ///M version that's exactly the same with the ///M logo and that costs three times as much. :laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

quality_sound said:


> Dude, I had a JCW and an E90 M3. I know ALL about BMW pricing on stupid ****.  Hell, I'll bet there's an ///M version that's exactly the same with the ///M logo and that costs three times as much. :laugh::laugh::laugh:


That's good......I pulled behind an incredible Dinan M3 earlier tonight - it is a wonder I didn't get charged to listen to it - what sweet exhaust note!


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Yeah, as soon as I finish tech school and PCS the new M3s should be out and I'm going to pick up another E90 M3.


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## marvnmars (Dec 30, 2011)

quality_sound said:


> Yeah, as soon as I finish tech school and PCS the new M3s should be out and I'm going to pick up another E90 M3.


BMW stands for bring my wallet...fyi

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Yesterday was the day. The day I fixed the kix. They say hindsight is always 20/20, and I still haven't figured out why or how the bloody hell I went so long and did so well with nothing on the kicks. Once the new 8s were dropped in, the enclosure as it sat just could not handle them and so I had to stop procrastinating and get to it.

Last year was my year to sort of 'watch and learn' how to fabricate various things. This year it's all me, and so it is with some hesitation I present my first real fiberglassing experience. So here we go. 

Day one is as follows. Most of the heavy treatments were applied in the general front half of the car where it was most critical. Day two (TBD) will consist of additional testing to see what still needs more treatment and where, accompanied by leftover supplies being used towards the back of the car and donating to Grayson's car. The downside of having your boyfriend into car audio is that we usually end up sharing our stuff with the other... 


What I used:


fiberglass
deadener
duct seal
6,000+ BB pellets
closed-cell foam that I found in the back of my seat

Here's a bit of what the kicks looked like up until yesterday (somehow I don't have a pic of the bare enclosure *and* the opened up vent, so this will have to suffice): 










Then came the fiberglass:



















Apparently getting resin on your skin is a *****, so Mark's mother kindly donated some old socks to the cause:










Resin and BBs:



















After some layers it was cut:










Then I got to work with the deadener:










You might ask yourself, why on earth does it look like _that?_ Well my friend, because I did it. All by my big self.

Currently I am in the middle of applying some more BBs and duct seal everywhere. Next step is to test how it sounds and apply more treatment accordingly. How does it sound? Did it make a difference? How much? Tune in next time to find out.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Good deal. Glad it worked out well (and you found the duct seal, I was beginning to think I was gonna have to being you some).


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I was able to find it at another Home Depot, where they actually knew what it was... I was pleasantly surprised with how well it works as a mass loader. Thanks for the suggestion.


----------



## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

I am SO hoping to get a proper demo this time......the Monte has been such a tease so many times.....


----------



## Athletestar123 (Mar 12, 2013)

DANG


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Ally-

What was the problem and what was the goal here? How were the existing kick enclosures mounted? Were they bolted to the frame? Did you need to add additional treatments because they were resonating too much?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Problem was there was too much resonance and tactile feedback. Wasn't an issue with the Beymas. Kicks were mounted as you can see in the first pic with just 3/4" MDF mounted right on top of the metal (screwed in, not press fit btw) and blanketed in some deadener and that was it. Some songs it was so bad it sounded like an angry dog barking in the kicks. The Intimid8rs were quite literally "woofers." EQ was futile. 

The tricky part is, the resonance is coming from inside the car's frame. The tunnel that runs from the holes I made to the outside of the car is a breeding ground for resonance that would then feed up straight into the un-treated floor and through the seat. And even my little hands can't reach all the way through there. Interested to see how it sounds later today.


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## shawnk (Jan 11, 2010)

If you're still having the "angry dog barking" problem after the test, I'd suggest the possibility of doing an aperiodic membrane in place of the rear vents. You could either make your own diy, or even try the affordable ScanSpeak versions.

Midbass from kicks (very small enclosures) can be very tricky to tame. I'm sure I'm not providing anything that you don't already know, but it's just a thought.


----------



## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

shawnk said:


> If you're still having the "angry dog barking" problem after the test, I'd suggest the possibility of doing an aperiodic membrane in place of the rear vents. You could either make your own diy, or even try the affordable ScanSpeak versions.
> 
> Midbass from kicks (very small enclosures) can be very tricky to tame. I'm sure I'm not providing anything that you don't already know, but it's just a thought.


I made a similar suggestion. I dont think the issue is the kick not having enough mass. I think the issue is the vent is restricted.
She may need to reconfigure the vent to allow it to vent out directly behind or beside the woofer, not channel it


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I haven't put them back in yet.  The night I finished them I was up late and had not slept at all and had class early the next day so I left without completely fitting everything back together. Since the fiberglass added a bit of thickness things don't fit together as they used to so that will take some toying with before the drivers go back in for a test. That comes in a couple hours after class.

Problem with AP is that I would have to weld metal back on to the kicks in order to fit the vents on. I have a pair of Scan vents around here somewhere. I would probably go to the ends of the earth to keep it IB, too stubborn to give up now. 

Side note I am unpleasantly surprised at how much weight I really added up front. The car feels a lot heavier in the way it accelerates now. Bummer... time to turbocharge


----------



## shawnk (Jan 11, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Problem with AP is that I would have to weld metal back on to the kicks in order to fit the vents on.


Noooo, not now that you're a FG pro! 

I understand if you want to stick with IB, and it makes sense for certain reasons. However my concern with "true" IB, specifically regarding kick panels, has always been the adverse effects of external/destructive noise (tire, motor, wind, overall ambience) on the driver itself. Again... just a thought


----------



## req (Aug 4, 2007)

cool beans ally! glad to see you getting your hands dirty. 

next you should get some old broken computer parts and practice soldering 

How to Solder


----------



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I'm bringing my woofer tester and we're going to run some sweeps on it if Ally is up to it. Then we can find out if the problem is really the enclosure itself. Based on my experience, it usually is. And when that's right, what she's done still goes a long way to taming the the tactile feedback that gets through.


----------



## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

req said:


> cool beans ally! glad to see you getting your hands dirty.
> 
> next you should get some old broken computer parts and practice soldering
> 
> How to Solder


Way ahead of you


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

shawnk said:


> Noooo, not now that you're a FG pro!
> 
> I understand if you want to stick with IB, and it makes sense for certain reasons. However my concern with "true" IB, specifically regarding kick panels, has always been the adverse effects of external/destructive noise (tire, motor, wind, overall ambience) on the driver itself. Again... just a thought


Actually, wind/road/tire noise is not that bad. Right now I have the kicks open with no speakers in them and I've been on the highway at 75mph and even then it's not terrible. When I drop the midbass back in it will be even less. It's not road noise I'm worried about at all. My car has always been good with that.



req said:


> cool beans ally! glad to see you getting your hands dirty.
> 
> next you should get some old broken computer parts and practice soldering
> 
> How to Solder


I already got soldering down.  I'm quite comfortable with it now. I recently replaced one of my stepper motors in my instrument panel and it has been a great success. The next logical step is to learn how to weld, but I think I will need to hold off on experimenting with that on my car anytime soon.


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## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

Ally,
Are you still using the Beymas or the AP Intimid8rs?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Intimid8rs. The Beymas didn't cause a fuss.


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## shawnk (Jan 11, 2010)

millerlyte said:


> Actually, wind/road/tire noise is not that bad. Right now I have the kicks open with no speakers in them and I've been on the highway at 75mph and even then it's not terrible. When I drop the midbass back in it will be even less. It's not road noise I'm worried about at all. My car has always been good with



Ok, we'll I'm sure you will figure it out. I digress


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

resin on the skin does indeed bite. it burns, it annoys, its alwyas around lol. idk i never cared much though but im used to working in my materials not with them  

i never knew what you looked like..i always thought you were older.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Nope I only turned 21 about 2 months ago. Youngin here.

So I just put everything back together and.... WOW, amazing difference. Sounds and feels totally different and I ain't even done yet, awaiting on another shipment of deadener tomorrow. Doesn't pull down anymore on my daily tune, much less my actual comp tune. I am absolutely blown away by how much of a difference it made. Can't wait to make it even quieter next week!


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

lol man your doing all the stuff i thought about doing in my monte. its kinda cool seeing all the ideas ive thought up come up with out me having to accualy try  i still am enjoying my stock bose system in my impala


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

eviling said:


> lol man your doing all the stuff i thought about doing in my monte. its kinda cool seeing all the ideas ive thought up come up with out me having to accualy try  i still am enjoying my stock bose system in my impala



Yea. But Ally can spell.


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## SteveH! (Nov 7, 2005)

millerlyte said:


> Nope I only turned 21 about 2 months ago. Youngin here.
> 
> So I just put everything back together and.... WOW, amazing difference. Sounds and feels totally different and I ain't even done yet, awaiting on another shipment of deadener tomorrow. Doesn't pull down anymore on my daily tune, much less my actual comp tune. I am absolutely blown away by how much of a difference it made. Can't wait to make it even quieter next week!


we told you so:laugh:


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

bikinpunk said:


> Yea. But Ally can spell.


:mean:


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Great work Ally. It was a long day for you. Not bad for you first glass project. Looks are not that important when no one can see it. LOL!! But did the work and learn a lot. Hats off lady.

O and the G35S came out great.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

After reading and skimming through this extensive build log I've determined that you have definately earned your stripes as a dedicated trooper. Your trials and tribulations have without a doubt made you stronger as a person. Your ability to improvise when needed and the dry sense of humor reminds me of myself. You've come a long way over the past couple years and between you, Grayson, and Mark your car is truly a work of art. As a clean looking comp car everything fits great without looking out of place. I look forward to hearing the Monte when you really get it dailed in with those new midbasses. It tripped me out when the drivers side midbass blew off the pressfit cover:laugh:Might need a couple drops of silicone to help hold them onThose Intimid8tors are BEASTS. I have faith that you'll go a long way with what you're working with and will stay humble in the process. 

You look cute in a hat and gloves


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

I was impressed with everything, especially the imaging. Everything I heard was centered and coherent...plus it had nice chest-thumping punch.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Yeah the imaging and low end was great. I just noticed an area of trouble but apparently I'm the only one that's mentioned them. I've been having a hard time describing to Ally exactly what it was. It's a "lemme think about this" kinda thing. I'll let her know via pm so I don't stir up any differing opinions here. I was seriously having a hard time describing it to her last night. I'm like Dr. House. Takes an unrelated observation to trigger my brain into locking down the problem at hand.


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

Hillbilly SQ said:


> Yeah the imaging and low end was great. I just noticed an area of trouble but apparently I'm the only one that's mentioned them. I've been having a hard time describing to Ally exactly what it was. It's a "lemme think about this" kinda thing. I'll let her know via pm so I don't stir up any differing opinions here. I was seriously having a hard time describing it to her last night. I'm like Dr. House. Takes an unrelated observation to trigger my brain into locking down the problem at hand.


Stick your finger in your left ear and it should even out


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

BigAl205 said:


> Stick your finger in your left ear and it should even out


It wasn't stage related. I don't even really pay attention to that much anymore when in someone elses vehicle. Only pay attention to tonality. Maybe I'm just used to the finesse approach?


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

We figured it out and I agree with him. It's not so much apparent in my comp tune as it is in my daily tune, which is what I demoed. 

I think I've spent a total of 5 minutes in the drivers seat since fixing the midbass lol. I don't doubt there are a couple of things that need tweaking now. Thanks for the comments guys.

One thing I will say though, which I'm sure some guys on here would be more than happy to agree with, is that my install isn't the cleanest or best looking and idgaf this time around. This car has been my "sound first, aesthetics later" getting-the-hang-of-it car and it shows. I like to call it the ten-foot car.


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> One thing I will say though, which I'm sure some guys on here would be more than happy to agree with, is that my install isn't the cleanest or best looking and idgaf this time around. This car has been my "sound first, aesthetics later" getting-the-hang-of-it car and it shows. I like to call it the ten-foot car.


At least you don't have wires running across the floorboard :blush:


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

If you guys only saw what I have under the carpets and seats...


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

We have, Erin. We have.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

It's a rats nest!


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

bikinpunk said:


> It's a rats nest!


Really ? You remind me of a guy that has everything labeled and neatly attached to the floor. Would have never guessed.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

LOL! That's hilarious man. I'm much too lazy for that.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

The rolled and zipped trailer wire under my drivers seat resembles the 50 miles of speakerwire Ally had going to her subwoofer at the beginning of this thread. My attitude is as long as it's safe and hidden who cares how it looksErin gets it


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Makin me feel better guys. Thanks, keep it up :thumbsup:


So upon further review - on my daily tune at least - it seems that the driver side kick still resonates a bit more than the right side. Whoops! Nobody told me at the meet... fortunately I just got a hefty shipment of deadener, so once the weather permits I'll be hacking the car apart and doing some touch ups again.

And indeed I do need to do a bit more EQ tweaking. On my daily tune I have the mids and highs a bit quieter than the midbass and sub, which is what I want (ACDC and heavier rock would be unbearable at high volume otherwise), yet I am still hearing some hotness in some lower frequency and somewhere around 1.5-2.5k is bright. 

Hoping to get it dialed in a bit better before the show in Lebanon this weekend and go from there. I think it's safe to say that both my daily and comp tunes are at a good 85% of where I want them to eventually be.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

I've heard a girls ears are more sensitive and pick up on odd sounds easier. I never heard the kicks resonating but my ears are also a lot more weathered than yours. I'm sure everyone else that got in your car also has some sort of hearing damage of some sorts too. They are pretty sensitive to the frequency range you say your system is hot in though and it all makes sense now. You having small hands and arms is making me jealous. I coulda used you when making a gain setting in a really tight place the other day.


----------



## D-Bass (Apr 27, 2012)

in general, women's ears are more sensitive to certain frequencies. Their hearing sharpens in certain frequencies and their hair color darkens after the birth of their first child. They are also more sensitive to certain smells like char and smoke. It all has to do with raising a child in a primitive society. They are more sensitive to the sounds of childrens voices and crying, and they are more likely to be the first to smell the beginnings of a fire. Smell being a huge part of taste, it's believed this is why women like more of the near-burnt scrapings from making scrambled eggs.


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## D-Bass (Apr 27, 2012)

I am in no way directing this to anyone, just pointing out the narrow differences about how a woman's perceptions and how her hearing may adapt after childbirth


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

D-Bass said:


> I am in no way directing this to Erin, just pointing out the narrow differences about how a woman's perceptions and how her body may adapt after childbirth


Ummm. Awkward. But if I don't state why, the confusion will surely lead to more so I won't clarify.


----------



## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Especially since Ally doesn't have kids.


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## D-Bass (Apr 27, 2012)

bikinpunk said:


> Ummm. Awkward. But if I don't state why, the confusion will surely lead to more so I won't clarify.


I guess that was a bit over the top, but i was referring to how a woman's hearing will change. I didn't mean to make it sound specific to anyone in this thread. sorry


----------



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

quality_sound said:


> Especially since Ally doesn't have kids.


Especially since Ally isn't Erin.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

This thread is getting stranger by the minute:worried:


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## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

Erin, just change the way you spell your name already- it's had a good 30 year run


----------



## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

bikinpunk said:


> Especially since Ally isn't Erin.


That too but I though everyone knew you're a guy.


----------



## D-Bass (Apr 27, 2012)

I actually didn't mean to use Erin's name, or anyone's really, and I have always had it in my head that he is of the male gender.
It's just really hard to be good at the internet when you're bored and drunk.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

If Erin were a chick I'd picture him looking like Amy Ferrafowler from the Big Bang Theory.


----------



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

slade1274 said:


> Erin, just change the way you spell your name already- it's had a good 30 year run


I'm Irish!


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Hillbilly SQ said:


> If Erin were a chick I'd picture him looking like Amy Ferrafowler from the Big Bang Theory.


Have you ever considered just not replying sometimes?


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

bikinpunk said:


> Have you ever considered just not replying sometimes?


I'm in it for the shock value


----------



## slade1274 (Mar 25, 2008)

OK, now that we've had our fun Mr. Moderator.... time to go back and clean up this circle jerk that has taken this thread WAY off the tracks.


----------



## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Looking at the second half of the thread now and I do have a suggestion on the e-brake. I've seen people completely remove it for asthetics and replace it with a hand actuator. That brake is there for a reason and should be engaged when parked on an incline. Afterall, there's only a little tooth keeping your car from rolling when in park! Plus I'd hate to see you get hurt (or killed) because your brakes went out and couldn't hit the e-brake. I've seen brakes go out so it can happen to anyone!!! Otherwise I really like the direction you've gone with the install. Some of us may be hard on you from time to time but only because we care for your safety and wellbeing.


----------



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Seriously! You guys keep me my day interesting lol.

So if a womans hearing is better, maybe they also speak in frequencies we are immune... I mean 'unable' to hear...?

This would explain alot for us fellas who never seem to hear what our wives/gf's are saying especially while distracted-like when we're playing sports, watching sports or in fact staring them stark in the eye.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Ally heard her kicks resonating when no one else did. She heard my door panels resonating when I couldn't. You can feel them vibrating but didn't know it was audible. In other words, Ally is a great tool for picking out subtle stuff that is there but hard to hear with ears that have been beat to ****. Oh, I'm holding back on giving her a hard time in a playful manner.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

You also have to remember she's 19. Her hearing is GOING to be better, female or not.

Also, a parking brake should ALWAYS be used, particularly on an automatic.


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## pocket5s (Jan 6, 2012)

quality_sound said:


> You also have to remember she's 19. Her hearing is GOING to be better, female or not.
> 
> Also, a parking brake should ALWAYS be used, particularly on an automatic.


particularly on an automatic? the only time I have ever used a parking brake on an auto is when I was jacking up the front end as an extra safety for rolling back in combo with chocks. even then I tend to forget to use it.

Now, my wife's jeep which is a manual; every single time I shut it off.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

You guys are retarded, women's senses are primarily heightened to any significance only if she's pregnant. Aside from that any noticeable difference between males and females as far as senses go is largely due to genetics and age.

Back to the topic, I don't plan on leaving the parking brake out of commission. I'm well aware that it's not as safe as it should be, and I'm working on figuring out a plan to incorporate some actuators in to making the parking brake functional again. I'm open to ideas. I have none.




quality_sound said:


> You also have to remember she's 19.


close but no dice. 

I also haven't been to many concerts in my lifetime and when I have I've pretty much always used hearing protection. Same with shooting. My hearing is about the only thing I've got going for me since I'm blind as a bat. Maybe it's compensation. Either way I've got to cherish it while I've still got it.


----------



## Neil_J (Mar 2, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> I also haven't been to many concerts in my lifetime and when I have I've pretty much always used hearing protection. Same with shooting. My hearing is about the only thing I've got going for me since I'm blind as a bat. Maybe it's compensation. Either way I've got to cherish it while I've still got it.


MECA could use your talents as a judge, and they'd pay your way to and from events. If you brought cookies to the events, I'm sure attendance would go up.


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Or maybe I would not be very popular because I could hear things that most 40 year olds can't anymore? And thus give a lot lower scores than expected... Could go either way I suppose. I'd also require a very different seating position than everybody else lol. I would like to judge at some point but at least not until I get a little more experience.


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## papasin (Jan 24, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> I'd also require a very different seating position than everybody else lol. I would like to judge at some point but at least not until I get a little more experience.


I for one would welcome a judge under 6' for a change. Every person who has judged my car is 6' or over, and while I have a tune for the taller crowd now, I have observed that the findings they make are not always the same in my seating position and tune. In a couple previous comps, I had them judge in my seating position when I did not have separate presets, but the chiropractor jokes and what not always came in . Makes me wonder if I was penalized for making them scrunch and crouch down. I also have aimed my full range drivers optimal to what I tested for my height, so would welcome your opinion if you ever make it over to the west coast since I don't get very many folks with critical ears that can comfortably sit the way I do.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> Back to the topic, I don't plan on leaving the parking brake out of commission. I'm well aware that it's not as safe as it should be, and I'm working on figuring out a plan to incorporate some actuators in to making the parking brake functional again. I'm open to ideas. I have none.





millerlyte said:


>


Maybe there is a way to turn the pedal on its side using a built up steel bracket. Horizontally mounted where the pedal would lay. Somewhere below that white plastic piece on the under side of the dash. The bracket would need to be as structurally sound as the original though, you wouldn't want it failing if you have to drastically step on it in an emergency.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

When did they start doing that?



Neil_J said:


> MECA could use your talents as a judge, and they'd pay your way to and from events.


----------



## Neil_J (Mar 2, 2011)

papasin said:


> I for one would welcome a judge under 6' for a change. Every person who has judged my car is 6' or over, and while I have a tune for the taller crowd now, I have observed that the findings they make are not always the same in my seating position and tune. In a couple previous comps, I had them judge in my seating position when I did not have separate presets, but the chiropractor jokes and what not always came in . Makes me wonder if I was penalized for making them scrunch and crouch down. I also have aimed my full range drivers optimal to what I tested for my height, so would welcome your opinion if you ever make it over to the west coast since I don't get very many folks with critical ears that can comfortably sit the way I do.


I second that. All of the judges get in my mini and already they're blocking two of the speakers with their legs and their head is touching the roof. Can't be good for my score.

Earl Zausmer used to use laser beams to align people's ear, I was thinking about doing the same but with the Microsoft Xbox kinect developer kit, but I don't have time to throw something of that magnitude together. The cool part would be, I could do a ton of spacial measurements and change the eq and t/a depending on where the head and ears are at in 3d. And it would auto-sense a passenger and adjust for two-seat. Maybe in 2-3 years I can pull something like this off, who knows.

Astronauts on the other hand, will only be selected if they are of average build; as they don't make space suits in small and large. Maybe judging should be the same way.. Lol maybe not.

I would like to see a thread about "seating" the judges in your car properly. I've never seen info on that before, and I know some of the champions have it down to an art. I would be very interested in learning or re-discovering these tricks myself.


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## pocket5s (Jan 6, 2012)

millerlyte said:


> Or maybe I would not be very popular because I could hear things that most 40 year olds can't anymore? And thus give a lot lower scores than expected... Could go either way I suppose. I'd also require a very different seating position than everybody else lol. I would like to judge at some point but at least not until I get a little more experience.


Seating you would be a lot different than say Hogan or Vinny


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## papasin (Jan 24, 2011)

Neil_J said:


> I second that. All of the judges get in my mini and already they're blocking two of the speakers with their legs and their head is touching the roof. Can't be good for my score.
> 
> Earl Zausmer used to use laser beams to align people's ear, I was thinking about doing the same but with the Microsoft Xbox kinect developer kit, but I don't have time to throw something of that magnitude together. The cool part would be, I could do a ton of spacial measurements and change the eq and t/a depending on where the head and ears are at in 3d. And it would auto-sense a passenger and adjust for two-seat. Maybe in 2-3 years I can pull something like this off, who knows.
> 
> ...


Hehe, working for NASA, I am actually well aware of the astronaut height requirements . They raised it to 6'4" as maximum and pilots specifically are selected to be on the taller side to reach all of the spacecraft's cockpit controls.

But as for "seating" the judges...last year's CA MODEX champion does have an integrated laser pointer in his car. For me, a trick I picked up from a fellow competitor is to use blue painter's tape on the b-pillar and have judges line up their ears to that. Works quite well.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

millerlyte said:


> You guys are retarded, women's senses are primarily heightened to any significance only if she's pregnant. Aside from that any noticeable difference between males and females as far as senses go is largely due to genetics and age.
> 
> Back to the topic, I don't plan on leaving the parking brake out of commission. I'm well aware that it's not as safe as it should be, and I'm working on figuring out a plan to incorporate some actuators in to making the parking brake functional again. I'm open to ideas. I have none.
> 
> ...


No, a woman's hearing is actually better up top. It was even on The Big Bang Theory. It has to be true. 

I know, I was just pointing out that you're not the 35-55 range that most of us are so you haven't completely destroyed your ears yet. lol


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

pocket5s said:


> particularly on an automatic? the only time I have ever used a parking brake on an auto is when I was jacking up the front end as an extra safety for rolling back in combo with chocks. even then I tend to forget to use it.
> 
> Now, my wife's jeep which is a manual; every single time I shut it off.


Yep. When you park an automatic I it told AT ALL then the only thing keeping it from rolling forever is the parking pin. On a manual the entire gear is engaged (if you leave it in gear) and the motor would have to turn for the car to roll. I always leave mine out of gear with the parking brake on unless on a hill. Then I engage the gear that's opposite of the direction of the hill. 

They're called parking brakes and not emergency brakes for a reason.


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## Neil_J (Mar 2, 2011)

quality_sound said:


> They're called parking brakes and not emergency brakes for a reason.


Mitch Hedberg called them "Emergency make your car smell really bad levers", or something to that effect. If you've never seen Mitch Hedberg, then you wouldn't get it :-/


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> I'd also require a very different seating position than everybody else lol.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

The parking pawl is usually relatively heavy duty. It's just a pawl or hammer like shape that engages the outer diameter of what looks like a very dull gear. If its engaged while the car is in motion it just clicks like crazy as the "teeth" kick the hammer back. Once it's locked into a tooth it's in pretty good. 

The problem comes from slippery situations. The car can be in park but if just one drive wheel loses traction the car will roll assuming it doesn't have a posi which very few FWD cars have.

I set the ebrake before letting off the main brakes when on a hill to take some of the load off the transmission. It's not necessary though. I've had to use it several times over the years to stop the car during a brake failure. I used to use it at the track to help the main brakes hold the car back when building boost at the line until it twisted the backing plate and entire brake assembly off the axle. 

The parking brake should be relatively easy and cheap to relocate. You can put it on the left side of the drivers seat Porsche style. Check out the old one to get an idea of how much cable travel is required to set the brake. You can go to a junkyard and find a lever style parking brake with about the same stroke and leverage. Since the cable goes out and under the car, there's usually plenty of cable to put the lever farther back but you will have to pull it out of its current route.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

quality_sound said:


> Yep. When you park an automatic I it told AT ALL then the only thing keeping it from rolling forever is the parking pin. On a manual the entire gear is engaged (if you leave it in gear) and the motor would have to turn for the car to roll. I always leave mine out of gear with the parking brake on unless on a hill. Then I engage the gear that's opposite of the direction of the hill.
> 
> They're called parking brakes and not emergency brakes for a reason.



On one hand, yes it helps to engage the parking brake on an auto when parked on a hill. On the other hand, the pin isn't flimsy. It will hold up under a lot of stress, which I'm not even subjecting it to. Still, though, I want the parking brake back for numerous reasons. Safety, and because I don't like permanently sacrificing functionality of the car. Rough idea was to somehow link the parking brake wire to an actuator activated by a button. How the hell to do it, I don't know 

I personally had not met anyone who left their car in gear at all when parking, up until this past weekend.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

BuickGN said:


> The parking brake should be relatively easy and cheap to relocate. You can put it on the left side of the drivers seat Porsche style. Check out the old one to get an idea of how much cable travel is required to set the brake. You can go to a junkyard and find a lever style parking brake with about the same stroke and leverage. Since the cable goes out and under the car, there's usually plenty of cable to put the lever farther back but you will have to pull it out of its current route.


Maybe I'm not envisioning this properly, but if I put it there, how am I supposed to move the seat up/down/forward/back if it's located on the seat?

I wouldn't know which type of lever to get or how to extend it to where I need it to be etc etc. Basically I have absolutely no idea how to go about doing it.

Just like usual.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

You have an alarm on your car?


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

You need something like a a Viper/DEI 530T power window module. Configure it to use one pulse to pull the accuator (when you arm the alarm), and another pulse to push it to remove the parking brake.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> Maybe I'm not envisioning this properly, but if I put it there, how am I supposed to move the seat up/down/forward/back if it's located on the seat?
> 
> I wouldn't know which type of lever to get or how to extend it to where I need it to be etc etc. Basically I have absolutely no idea how to go about doing it.
> 
> Just like usual.


Sorry, I should have clarified. On the left, next to the driver's seat attached to the frame/floor board, depending on the room available. I've only seen it in Porsches and it can be a pain because they always grabbed onto my shorts as I got out of the car but it would be a way to get the brake functional again. You can always do a lever under the dash. It wouldn't be very convenient but it would be functional and potentially out of sight.

I've seen advertisements for a solenoid activated e-brake retrofit. I guess it's better than nothing but I look at it as your last chance and there's something about physically pulling on a cable to stop the car that seems more reliable.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Lokar has a couple things too- an underdash parking brake handle kit and floor mount hand brake kit, like what Buick is talking about.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

I would actually prefer a lever over anything else. How does one go about extending the brake cable? If it's not long enough?


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

I would probably say buy an aftermarket kit and cut them to what length you need rather than extending them...or buy one from something like a Suburban and cut them since you might have the same style brake cable ends.

See what the 4WD guys are doing when they lift their vehicles. Could get some ideas from them.


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## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

thehatedguy said:


> Lokar has a couple things too- an underdash parking brake handle kit and floor mount hand brake kit, like what Buick is talking about.



Lokar: Under-the-Dash Hand Operated Emergency Brake


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

The funny thing about the e-brakes that pull straight out from under the dash is if someone with a gorilla arm sets it someone that's dainty has a hard time releasing it. Just ask my grandmaShe drove a '66 4 door Nova (the ugly Chevy II) for a couple decades. The brake I'm referring to was a common design back in the 20th century.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

So here we are again at trunk rebuild #3 or as I like to call it, the r3build. This time I did the work, with help from my assistant Lt Get-it-yourself Strakele. 

The goals this time around consist of the following:


Easily accessible spare tire (for real this time)
Little to nothing obscuring the plexi baffle
All equipment and panels easily removable yet sturdy (Winslow... you know what that means, buddy?)
Fans to cool the amps
Actually finish it, for once

I also tried my hand at a couple of new things: all panels in vinyl, and totally yet successfully BSing my way through fabricating the rear panels from scratch. I improvised the entire thing as it went, using a concoction of materials that some of the old-timey guys might scoff at and say that wasn't the right way to do it, or what have you. And to them I say, joke's on you, it worked. Na na na na boo boo.

So anyway I needed the back panels to curve at the top, and flex and bend without breaking (for removal and aesthetic purposes) and provide a relatively smooth surface for vinyl later on. I decided that chicken wire* was a logical starting point, obviously. 

* I've been informed that I can't differentiate between chicken wire and a thing that looks just like it called metal plaster lath. But it's easier to just say chicken wire.




Chicken wire acts as a frame here. 



Next I needed something, also flexible, to cover the frame. So I picked up some fleece blanket to wrap it in, naturally.



Looks like the next step is glassing. This marks my second solo attempt at it, and, predictably, it sucked. Originally I thought I was going to have to glass it in the trunk in order to retain its shape, so I spent some (wasted) time taping things up. 



Then in the middle of glassing, gravity intervened, and I quickly had to change plans and glass it on the ground, which unfortunately made for a wild first layer. 



Then after about three layers, it was time for a lot of sanding.

Then came the layers of Bondo-jelly, and more sanding. Repeat until this happened:



Now it's kind of starting to look like a thing that might be useful for something someday. Then more sanding.



Then ALL OF THE SANDING.

Et voila. A smooth panel that bends.



Also in this picture is some stuff I cut while waiting for my experiment to dry. Note the panels retained (but rebuilt) from my previous installation for the 6to8 and the D-block, and a primitive version of what is going to be the floor for the Z's.

Here's where things start to take shape. The big piece in the middle is my main floorpiece. It rests on the amp floors and fits perfectly inside the trunk. Toward the front I cut an opening to lift the piece up and off in the event of a flat tire.

Now you see it... 



Now you don't!




cont...


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Then came the amp covers. They are a three layer piece consisting of two half inch MDF boards sandwiching a half inch of frosted plexi.





But first, safety is always of the utmost importance...


So yall need to hide ya kids, hide ya wives, and hide ya husbands... 

Boards #1 and #2 (didn't get a pic of them alone so whatever this was supposed to be will have to suffice):



Plexi, half finished:



Side pieces to hold the 6to8 and D-block, respectively:



Trim pieces wrapped in old red vinyl (temporary cause it's all the red I had at the time):



And it starts to come together...



Then it was time for some LEDs! This time around I went with RGB and picked up one of these babies to make them dance. Couldn't help myself...



Had to make my own plug for the controller:



And some wiring and stuff.



And by "stuff," I mean dark chocolate fudge heart brownies and the Dark Knight soundtrack.


That, right there, is our life in a nutshell.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Then came time for vinyl.



Anyone who's seen the inside of my car knows I'm no expert at vinyl. :blush: So what better way to improve than to use _even more_ vinyl? ... right, guys? 

Fortunately, it turned out better than I was expecting. Not perfect by any means (still need some more practice on corners), but I'm making progress. 

Meanwhile, we finished the angled center pieces and hooked up the LEDs this evening, just about completing the install. The only sections that need completing have yet to be figured out. 













And just for ****s n giggles:












To be continued when I actually finish it 100%.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Did I miss the cooling fan install? Or is that still to come?


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Dang, I read "chicken wire" and thought you were gonna do something like this: 










You ain't never had no chickens, woman! Dat der is metal plaster lath. 

Looks good so far tho'.  I like dem amps.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> I also tried my hand at a couple of new things: all panels in vinyl, and totally yet successfully BSing my way through fabricating the rear panels from scratch. I improvised the entire thing as it went, using a concoction of materials that some of the old-timey guys might scoff at and say that wasn't the right way to do it, or what have you. And to them I say, joke's on you, it worked. Na na na na boo boo.
> 
> *I don't care what anyone says, the way we did this was smart *
> 
> ...


With a few more tweaks this will be looking pretty top-notch. She can be very proud, especially since she did the majority of it herself (willingly or not )


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

It does look pretty damned good. The key to corners is the right amount of heat, pressure, and pulling. I don't see much to nitpick though. It looks fine to me.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

bbfoto said:


> Dang, I read "chicken wire" and thought you were gonna do something like this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Duly noted. 

And thanks. Me too 



strakele said:


> With a few more tweaks this will be looking pretty top-notch. She can be very proud, especially since she did the majority of it herself (willingly or not )


Yeah I guess I could have used your help with sanding a little more.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

And that's why we don't make fun of our girlfriends. They take sneaky ass pics when we're not looking.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

It happens. But it goes both ways. You guys wanna see a video of Ally dancing gangnam style?


Also concrete is a huge sheet of free low grit sandpaper


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

millerlyte said:


>


LOL, That's some real "Shade Tree" installin' goin' on right der! ...without the shade unfortunately.  Use whatcha got! Who needs a power sander? At first I thought G was doing a little extra prepping for Basic or sumthin', LOL.


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## iroc2nv (May 15, 2009)

Looking good Miller


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

millerlyte said:


> Duly noted.
> 
> And thanks. Me too
> 
> ...


I thought G was going to come back with a multi-tasking theme - "I'm getting some PT in while I 'help' you with your install - doing some bear crawlin' and sandin'" 

The 'do-it-yourself' sounds like throwing someone in to the deep end and telling them to learn to swim, but we all know Ms. Ally will find a way.....then improve it......then improve it.....usually at a G2G 

That is a bit terrifying, but it looks like Ally has integrated nicely into Texas society




I really like what you have done. I think it looks fantastic, and I'm proud of your work! Question though....did I miss it, but did you get a close up of the 'emblem' that is in the center panel (over the spare).


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## papasin (Jan 24, 2011)

Nice work!


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

The dancing LEDs are awesome!

The rest of the system ain't bad neither


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

strakele said:


> It happens. But it goes both ways. You guys wanna see a video of Ally dancing gangnam style?
> 
> 
> Also concrete is a huge sheet of free low grit sandpaper


Why is that even a question???


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

bbfoto said:


> LOL, That's some real "Shade Tree" installin' goin' on right der! ...without the shade unfortunately.  Use whatcha got! Who needs a power sander? At first I thought G was doing a little extra prepping for Basic or sumthin', LOL.





bertholomey said:


> I thought G was going to come back with a multi-tasking theme - "I'm getting some PT in while I 'help' you with your install - doing some bear crawlin' and sandin'"


If you guys must know, I had a 3/4" thick speaker ring. I needed a 5/8" thick speaker ring. It's very difficult and time consuming to get good even pressure using a hand held belt sander. 

Now back to finding another way to derail the thread so I don't get blamed for it


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Sheeiit...If those LEDs won't seize you into an epileptic coma, I don't know what will.



Nice work Ally! (And nice break dancing/sanding Grayson)


-Steve


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Ally, you should be proud.


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## SteveH! (Nov 7, 2005)

The new trunk looks gorgeous y'all!


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## quietfly (Mar 23, 2011)

great job.... now where is that gungnam style video.....


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## claydo (Oct 1, 2012)

Awesome job, looks great! Love the video from the front with that 15 just floating there.......sweet!
Oh, and grayson's ghetto driveway sanding..........classic!


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Looking good there young lady. looking good.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

strakele said:


> If you guys must know, I had a 3/4" thick speaker ring. I needed a 5/8" thick speaker ring. It's very difficult and time consuming to get good even pressure using a hand held belt sander.
> 
> Now back to finding another way to derail the thread so I don't get blamed for it


I had to laugh when I saw that picture. I've done the same with brake pads (don't ask) and concrete is very effective at quickly sanding a material and doing so relatively evenly.


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

damn thats a nice setup ! :O makes me miss my monte  thats pracicly exactly what i had been trying to do setup wise in my monte. damnit when they making a new monte i would so trade in an impala if they had a new one XD what ever came of the 2013 monte carlo?


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## D-Bass (Apr 27, 2012)

nothing weird about using the metal mesh. I did that several times back in the day.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

quality_sound said:


> It does look pretty damned good. The key to corners is the right amount of heat, pressure, and pulling. I don't see much to nitpick though. It looks fine to me.


Maybe it's just the quality of the vinyl I got (ordered it from an online store called ball2ufall), but this stuff tore pretty easily. I've purchased vinyl from that place several times and haven't seen it rip so easily like that before. Some corners were nearly perfect, others were a disaster up close. It's just a matter of perfecting it. 



bertholomey said:


> I thought G was going to come back with a multi-tasking theme - "I'm getting some PT in while I 'help' you with your install - doing some bear crawlin' and sandin'"
> 
> The 'do-it-yourself' sounds like throwing someone in to the deep end and telling them to learn to swim, but we all know Ms. Ally will find a way.....then improve it......then improve it.....usually at a G2G
> 
> ...





BigAl205 said:


> The dancing LEDs are awesome!
> 
> The rest of the system ain't bad neither


Gracias. Thinking I want a better remote that wasn't made by Chinese children last week. It doesn't quite have the response time I was hoping for, but it'll do for a while. Can't be that hard to find a better quality remote than the $10 one I have now.



BuickGN said:


> I had to laugh when I saw that picture. I've done the same with brake pads (don't ask) and concrete is very effective at quickly sanding a material and doing so relatively evenly.


Could have done without that mental image 


Thanks for all the kind words gentlemen. I'd also like some more constructive criticism, though, and I know that's not hard to come by on this site. 

Also taking suggestions on online vinyl stores other than ball2ufall. Nothing in particular wrong with them but I'm thinking when I redo my vinyl next I'll want to try somewhere new.


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## shawnk (Jan 11, 2010)

I've had good luck with these guys. 

Your Auto Trim Store


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

shawnk said:


> I've had good luck with these guys.
> 
> Your Auto Trim Store


I'm glad you posted that. I forgot all about them.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

As did I. Guess I can also use them for some new headliner in the future. Thanks.


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## rockin (Sep 13, 2012)

Hope I don't have to wait until SBN 2014 to hear the Monte 3.0 install. I thought the depth and bass was really good at this last SBN in the 2.0 version. My Monte is only on install 2.0, but there have been some big changes. Yours is looking good. Bet she sounds good.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Here's the drawing I did as we were planning the design of her trunk attempting to incorporate all of her ideas:










Turned out pretty well, no?











Also here's a funny pic my dad took while we were out working:


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## bassfromspace (Jun 28, 2016)

strakele said:


> Here's the drawing I did as we were planning the design of her trunk attempting to incorporate all of her ideas:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How do you work outside in this heat?


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Slowly and miserably, sir. As evidenced in that last pic.

Flattering, Gray. Thanks babe.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

No less flattering than the one you posted of me dear 

And yeah it's hot. But at least this time the cars were under cover. All our previous installs were done without that benefit.


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## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

Nice job guys! I see you put your heart, soul and body into this update. 

Watching me get out of the trunk of my car looks like a turtle stuck on its back.


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

Looks awesome as always. Good work guys (mostly Ally, I'm sure  )

Is that a fogger I see in the sketch?


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

Just spent the morning reading through this whole thread. Pretty freakin' entertaining. Despite the massive holes in the doors, unending amounts of flimsy plastic, and deadener goo everywhere, I'm glad to have been involved in this project and I'm so glad to have a friend to share this hobby with. I think it's safe to say we've both pushed each other further than we would have gone on our own with these cars.

[/nostalgia]


I'm still impressed with that plexi standing up to 9mm rounds.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

strakele said:


> Also here's a funny pic my dad took while we were out working:


Every pic of Ally I see on here, she looks completely different every time. LOL

Jay


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

What do you expect, it's 100 degrees, I'm in the trunk of a car with a can of Goof Off and deadener everywhere. This aint no fashion show lol


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## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

Cool install, Zapco amps, the "poor man's" sanding technique, chicks in trunks and Gangnum Style videos. This is the most epic build thread EVAR!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

MacLeod said:


> Cool install, Zapco amps, the "poor man's" sanding technique, chicks in trunks and Gangnum Style videos. * This is the most epic build thread EVAR!*



lol you obviously haven't seen the first half of this thread


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## claydo (Oct 1, 2012)

But that's what makes it so good, humble beginnings!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

I missed a Gangnam Style video? WTH?!? lol

Jay


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## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

Youre doing a lot better than me! Ive been at this about a decade now but am running a pre-fab box in the trunk and my tweeters are in PVC end caps. I did texture paint them black though. Thats about all the customization Im capable of.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

MacLeod said:


> Youre doing a lot better than me! Ive been at this about a decade now but am running a pre-fab box in the trunk and my tweeters are in PVC end caps. I did texture paint them black though. Thats about all the customization Im capable of.


because sometimes simple just flat out works. I've heard your car, man. simple definitely works for you. 


Ally/Grayson, I have respect for you two working in that heat. The garage at the rental house is HOT.. no insulation at all (not in the walls, roof, or door). It's horrible. Therefore, I gave up car audio in May. I might pick it back up in late September. lol.


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## robert_wrath (Apr 24, 2011)

strakele said:


> Also here's a funny pic my dad took while we were out working:


Here's a thought: 
This would make a fabulous movie poster for the movie "The Caller" with Ally as the Co-Star along side Halle Berry.


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

robert_wrath said:


> Here's a thought:
> This would make a fabulous movie poster for the movie "The Caller" with Ally as the Co-Star along side Halle Berry.


Am I the only one thinking "Trunk Monkey"?  :laugh:


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Not anymore. lol

Jay


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

First of all, this is without a doubt the most entertaining build log I have ever seen on any forum. All joking aside though, I know professional installers who have been doing this sort of thing for years that haven't developed half the skills you have learned in order to fabricate and tune a show worthy vehicle. That process is what this hobby is all about. I am impressed with the amount of effort that has gone into this and it is something that I think you can be very proud of. The image of you with the car & trophy at finals a few pages back really sums it all up. 

My favorite aspect of the install is definitely the transparent subwoofer baffle. The first version with the guts of the Mb Quart amps exposed to the cabin was very cool, but I actually think the latest update with even more of a "floating" effect for that massive sub looks even better. Overall, the trunk is very clean and yet still functional which is something that I always like to see. Sure there are competition vehicles out there with some truly amazing fabrication done to them, but for a daily driver I think that finding that balance between performance and practicality is even more of an accomplishment.

I have really enjoyed reading about your experience so far in the world of mobile electronics, thanks for sharing it.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

Chaos said:


> First of all, this is without a doubt the most entertaining build log I have ever seen on any forum.


I seem to get that a lot. Thanks, I guess.. I try? 



Chaos said:


> All joking aside though, I know professional installers who have been doing this sort of thing for years that haven't developed half the skills you have learned in order to fabricate and tune *a show worthy vehicle*.


In a most generous sense of the phrase, sir. 



Chaos said:


> That process is what this hobby is all about. I am impressed with the amount of effort that has gone into this and it is something that I think you can be very proud of.


Funny you should say that, cause...




It's go time.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

So, if I read the results right you took 3rd in your class at Finals, so Congrats!

What are the plans for the dash?

Jay


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## claydo (Oct 1, 2012)

I'm kinda right there with ya, go time indeed......


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

claydo said:


> I'm kinda right there with ya, go time indeed......


whoop whoop! With just a few more folks on board and we can start an official No Dash November (and December, January, February...). 



JayinMI said:


> What are the plans for the dash?
> 
> Jay


Plans? Dash? What dash? 



All in due time, sir. Which pretty much means, sometime next year.


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## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> Funny you should say that, cause...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You go girl! Surprised it took you this long.  

I've thought about giving that a try myself. I've been eyeballing my dash lately not to mention trying to work up the nads to take my dash apart. 



Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk.


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

MacLeod said:


> Surprised it took you this long.


That's what she said.

What do you mean took me this long? Finals has been over for like ten days!

Also, this kind of.


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## claydo (Oct 1, 2012)

Yup, that last pic......I remember having to pick up my jaw on that one!.....lol


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## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

millerlyte said:


> That's what she said.
> 
> What do you mean took me this long? Finals has been over for like ten days!
> 
> Also, this kind of.


Holy...... 

Guess I missed that part. That's a good bit more than I'd be willing to tackle. Guess this means a girl is tougher than I am. Never gonna live this down. 

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

See? That's what I'm talking about when I say that this has been entertaining --- you seem to be practically fearless when it comes to modding the vehicle to suit your purposes, and reading the responses from "seasoned" and "more experienced" veterans collectively dropping their jaws when you post each major update strikes me as quite amusing.

Also, did Jay have it right? You took third again this year at finals? Congratulations.


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## Neil_J (Mar 2, 2011)

millerlyte said:


> whoop whoop! With just a few more folks on board and we can start an official No Dash November (and December, January, February...).


Ill gladly take my dash out in solidarity! I need to put some sound deadener back there.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

My civic dash has no space back there. It's like a woman's purse. Crammed full of stuff. I'm surprised the trunk isn't in the dash. 


Anyway... Good stuff. Looking forward to some chats about this at the meet.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Good luck if you are doing a whole dash rebuild. Tried to go down that road 3 times in my old car...the building the dash was easy, it was making the trim, radio, ac controls, and thinking of how to cover it in one piece of vinyl was the hard part. We was hard if you wanted something that didn't look like it belonged in a 89 Camaro.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

But Ally is a pretty cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything.


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## SteveH! (Nov 7, 2005)

strakele said:


> But Ally is a pretty cool GIRL and isn't afraid of anything.
> 
> 
> Also I'm pretty sure this isn't a full on dash rebuild. Just reaiming speakers and stuff, which requires the removal of the dash.


FIXED


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

strakele said:


> But Ally is a pretty cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything.
> 
> 
> Also I'm pretty sure this isn't a full on dash rebuild. Just reaiming speakers and stuff, which requires the removal of the dash.


Ummm, "guy"???


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

Wait..what?...Ally can pee standing up?


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

It's a line from elsewhere on the internet. Apparently nobody else got it. 

Now back to Ally's full on custom dash rebuild designed to capture as many essque unicorns as possible.


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## Serieus (May 27, 2011)

you guys are braver than me  good luck with the dash!


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Wow so you're doing a full dash build? Like with fiberglass and stuff?If so, that will be quite the challenge with a daily driver.


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## Neil_J (Mar 2, 2011)

strakele said:


> Now back to Ally's full on custom dash rebuild designed to capture as many essque unicorns as possible.


Those unicorns are quite elusive. There have been known sightings of them hiding underneath the dashboard. Good luck.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

I've heard that these unicorns only appear in 4th gen VW Golfs. That's why they're so hard to find! lol

Jay


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## Neil_J (Mar 2, 2011)

JayinMI said:


> I've heard that these unicorns only appear in 4th gen VW Golfs. That's why they're so hard to find! lol
> 
> Jay


Lol.. I heard a story once about a Magic Sprinter Bus that was bursting at the seams with them :laugh:


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## KP (Nov 13, 2005)

Rookies!

New dash AND converting to RWD.














That really is a TL. NOT mine, thank God.


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## highly (Jan 30, 2007)

Can I play too?


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## claydo (Oct 1, 2012)

Damn, this **** is contagious!



Uh, wow Todd, you sure hacked a lot out of there.......


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## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

I vote Todd wins. 

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

These unicorns y'all speak of, are they raised in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? The lepricahn wouldn't let me near it. He's a mean little fugger!


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## highly (Jan 30, 2007)

MacLeod said:


> I vote Todd wins.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk.


Don't be silly. I'm not winning... I've barely even started!


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## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

highly said:


> Don't be silly. I'm not winning... I've barely even started!


Ummm......ok. :shrug:


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## highly (Jan 30, 2007)

claydo said:


> Damn, this **** is contagious!
> 
> 
> 
> Uh, wow Todd, you sure hacked a lot out of there.......


Packing up the sawzall to send to Ally rite nao!


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## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

highly said:


> Packing up the sawzall to send to Ally rite nao!


You know that is just asking for trouble, sir.






But I won't object, either...


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## claydo (Oct 1, 2012)

AcuraTLSQ said:


> Rookies!
> 
> New dash AND converting to RWD.
> 
> ...


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## highly (Jan 30, 2007)

Fillet of a fenny snake
In the caldron boil and bake
Eye of newt, and toe of frog
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing
For a charm of powerful trouble
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble...
What does the Fox say?






:blush:


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