# yes another system revamp



## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

damn typos. title should have been YET not YES....

it was a beautiful day today and luckily the things i had planned fell through so i started in on yet another system upgrade. my system was "complete" but like always i wanted to try more so i bought more stuff  the current setup:

kenwood x993
alpine spx-177r comps bi-amped passive
alpine 12" type-x, 2.5ft3 kerf-ported and tuned to 34
pdx 4.100
pdx 1.1000
kinetik hc600 in the trunk

new system will exchange the mids for a set of dynaudio mw160s and the battery will be upgraded to a die-hard platinum agm (got the biggest one they sell on a one day sale for $130 out the door). i will also throw in the pair of alpine spr-69c 6x9 speakers in the rear deck oem location. i am debating selling the type-x and getting a pair of sundown sa-8 subs or, if i can find them, a set of soundsplinter rli-i 8s, but not quite sure yet. i really wanna have some trunk space again so i will be getting some set of 8s and possibly downgrading the amp to a pdx 1.600, sub dependent. i will also be installing a jbl ms-8 


first on the list was to install a center channel speaker and i used an oem mid from a bmw.











i had to make some room under the dash and luckily the wire bundle directly in front of the defrost vents was there. it had an "L" shaped piece of plastic behind and underneath the wires, and once i had cut the middle section of it out the wire bundle could be slightly moved down to allow mounting depth.




















middle piece now removed





















it was time for the scary part, cutting the hole in the dash. i must have measured 6 times to be certain it was in the right location. i had a little wiggle room due to the mounting system but not much. traced my hole, took a deep breath and got to cutting. the end result:


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

i had to run a new speaker wire up to the dash, connected everything and reinstalled the dash. i think it came out pretty oem-looking if i do say so myself. there was a second grille under the dash grille that was just glued to the dash, and this had to be removed to install the speaker. i was no real difference in air output with it removed, so instead of hacking it up and re-gluing it i just left it out.





























while i was in there i re-routed the power line for my radar and had it come up and out of the vent. made for a much cleaner look and i don't have the cord vibrating on the dash anymore.













next up was to swap out the mids. the old:






















old next to new





















unfortunately i did not have the proper screws to mount the mids so the old one went back in for now. i'll pick up some screws later this week and install them when i get time. now i have to decide what i am going to do for subs but in the mean time i am thinking up an amp/ms-8 setup. i think i will build a wall that butts up against the rear seatback and run them across that, countersunk. i am going to do a left corner glass enclosure for whatever i decide on but that is a little way down the road for now.


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## circa40 (Jan 20, 2008)

Is that an OEM mid from a BMW?


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

yes it is


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

had a little bit of free time this evening so i made the new rings for the dyns. broke out the jasper jig and went to town. once they were cut i drilled the mounting holes for the dyns, which will use nutserts on the rear of the ring to hold the speaker to it. then i drilled the holes to mount the ring to the door and counter sunk them. doesn't look like much but after setting up the table saw, router, bits, measuring, re-cutting due to forgetting about the bit width and a few beers my spare hours were done. i'll seal them with resin which will also hold the nutserts in place and hopefully have the new mids mounted before the weekend. 

i need to buy another straight bit. mine is toast and was burning the wood in a few spots and giving me less than perfect cuts.


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## tinctorus (Oct 5, 2009)

looking at teh dash and door's I see this is for the srt-4...MAN I MISS MINE


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

naaa. just a plain sxt. it's my work car, so i bought it for the gas mileage  didn't know you sold the car. no wonder you were after all those bits for a new system. what ya got now?


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## NSTar (Feb 24, 2010)

What size is the mid for the center? I think you should go coax on the mids if it's a 3.5"... that oem one will probably not match very well. I have a low profile critical mass coax that'll go there quite well. It can hadle some power too... way over 100wrms and thumps really hard.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

NSTar said:


> What size is the mid for the center? I think you should go coax on the mids if it's a 3.5"... that oem one will probably not match very well. I have a low profile critical mass coax that'll go there quite well. It can hadle some power too... way over 100wrms and thumps really hard.


its a 2.5" mid that will play down to 400. why would i get rid of my dyns for a coax setup? i don't follow your logic at all. i am not using an amp to drive the center, it will be ran off the ms-8 internal.


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## NSTar (Feb 24, 2010)

haha.... I see. 2.5" kinda small..but anyhow, you'll find out when it's done. My 3.5" is playing down to 80 and it's still a little weak for my taste but good enough. I'm also running it off the ms8.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

more little bits of progress. got the rings and mids mounted today.

three mounting screws installed attaching the ring to the door



















mids installed.











i sold my type-x and pdx 1.1000 this week as well. i picked up a pdx 1.600 and a custom built 8" sub and both should arrive here next week. updates as they happen....


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## tinctorus (Oct 5, 2009)

nineball said:


> naaa. just a plain sxt. it's my work car, so i bought it for the gas mileage  didn't know you sold the car. no wonder you were after all those bits for a new system. what ya got now?


I wish I had sold the car 
Instead I got cut off on the highway and put it head on into a light pole at 80mph and then down into a rivine with 4 feet of water...It was a sad sad day for me

Anyways now I have a 92 hatch with a built motor running 12 second 1/4's all motor, Cant wait till I put on my 100 shot direct port and some slicks and see what itll do


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

while it was 40 outside it was nice and toasty inside the garage tonight thanks to my new torpedo heater so i finally got to some glassing. a couple weeks back i cleaned out the garage and got everything ready for winter so the lift was open for me to use. while my back is still killing me it helps a lot.





















first on the list was to give it a good cleaning.












next i cut out a base 












i have seen some builds and people have their tape absolutely perfect. every piece follows the previous one exactly. my builds are not like that. i suck at, and hate, taping. one layer down.












a layer of aluminum foil went on over that. ran out of the nice 2" tape and had to use one of my smaller rolls to finish. had to reinforce the inner corners with a couple extra layers of tape as the base was poking through them.












time to actually start laying some glass. since it was just me there are no during pics. here is the corner with 2 severely overlapping layers of 1.5oz mat. 





















i'll let it cure overnight and pull it tomorrow so i can add more layers on the bench and still walk upright tomorrow night.


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## illcrx (Nov 11, 2010)

Cool, keep going the more mat the better, I think Im going to do 10-15 layers minimum on mine! 

I love fiberglass!


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

got 2 more layers down and cured, then removed it from the trunk so my car doesn't stink like hell for work on monday. i even managed to get about 90% of the aluminum off. i'll put a few more layers on during the week and then trim it up.


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## s1monxsayz (Sep 17, 2010)

looking good.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

it has a full 12oz thickness now (1.5 x 8 layers) which will be more than enough considering it will be supported by sheet metal. i trimmed it down today and filled in the seam with a layer of duraglass. i suck at making rings so i ordered one that should be here next week, so progress will be halted until then. i have a can of undercoating laying around so i will give it a good covering with that to seal everything up.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

got 2 coats of the permatex undercoating on now. the bottle says it has some sound dampening properties, and to a certain degree i would say it's true as it is a rubberized product, but who knows for certain. it made it look nicer and sealed in the resin so the smell has been greatly reduced.


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## illcrx (Nov 11, 2010)

Well in the future, you can just get finishing resin instead of laminating resin, the finishing resin has a wax on it that seals the resin, the laminating resin allows your to add layers after it is cured. The finishing resin is for the last layer, you can get the wax from your local distributor.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

illcrx said:


> Well in the future, you can just get finishing resin instead of laminating resin, the finishing resin has a wax on it that seals the resin, the laminating resin allows your to add layers after it is cured. The finishing resin is for the last layer, you can get the wax from your local distributor.


ya i know, i've done numerous glass builds. i had a can of this on hand so i wanted to try it out.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

VERY nice work NB. Something to file in your build memory, 
a cool easy very clean (hands and such) way to do a fillet joint
like that. Mix it all up, dump it into a zip lock bag and cut the 
corner off depending on how wide you want the fillet to be. If
the surface on either side is smooth enough you can use a 
homemade tool or tongue depressor to shape it. Just a neat
easy way to tackle that kind of joint. NOT critisizng at all!!!
ALWAYS a fan of your work! Let me know when you get 3-4ft
of snow and want to come to the beach to work on my Targa.

I've been wanting to ask you how your 911 is doing? Were
you able to get your tune more to your liking? Are you still
liking the output of the Alpine PDX's or would you like more
power? I ask this because the second guessing of my Blades
have set in. So much really neat SMALL gear on the market 
now, PDX, ARC mini, ZAPCO, JL HD, you know what I'm 
talking about.... I hope you don't mind the bit of a derail.

Hope you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving!


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

great idea man. i'll use that when i fill the gap between the front and back. normally my seams are not this crazy so i just threw on a couple gloves on my hand and went to town. 

yes, i am very happy with the pdx5 in the 911. i actually have a trio of pdx amps for this build but i am debating picking up some of the mew jbl ms amps. if they are anything like the ms-8, and they should be, i am sure i will be happy with the results. 

depending on how much, if any, my work slows down i may just come down for a few days. i may be heading out of state to lend a hand in a build for a panamera next week but i won't know for certain until monday.


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## 6spdcoupe (Jan 12, 2006)

Looking like some good progress.

Where did you find the 160s ? Have any other pics of them ? Something just looks a tad bit off and I wanna ease my mind knowing you have authentic gear.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

i got them on here about a month ago or so from "foreman" and was assured they are real, so i certainly hope they are. this is the only other pic i have.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

Hey didn't you use 'Sundown' subs in the 911?

I've got a buddy of mine that has a Lexus IS that just got an MS-8. He
was dead set that the sub needed to be on the rear deck. I've not got
it in his mind to do a false floor with the amp rack closer to the seat.
So, we are looking to do a sub in the spare tire. We are going to need
something with a great deal of output, small enclosure. Choices are
pair of 8's or single 12. Orig he was only going to use an Old School
10 until to assured him it wouldn't do over 130-132bd. I've just done
too many cars like that with those old drivers to know it wouldn't get
all that much db, knowing he is wanting in the high 30's I started
leaning more to digital amps and subs like the Sundown. His price
range is going to be no more than 140 per sub. I think this will also
limit him to a 12 vs a pair of 8's, unless used. And something like
Sundown 8's one can guess it was beat up on pretty good. I mean
that is pretty much what they are made for.

So, what would you guess your db to be?

Oh, I was just yanking your chain about the beach thing. I'm hoping
to take a trip to France after Christmas until mid Jan, if plans work 
out with Sugar Momma


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## 6spdcoupe (Jan 12, 2006)

nineball said:


> i got them on here about a month ago or so from "foreman" and was assured they are real, so i certainly hope they are. this is the only other pic i have.


A good chance that they are, but something just has me scratching my head about the set. Isn't that the guy that posted awhile back asking if he had real ones or not ? I guess he got an answer of some sort ?


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> Hey didn't you use 'Sundown' subs in the 911?
> 
> So, what would you guess your db to be?
> 
> ...


yep, i was going to run a set of e8 subs originally but i was sold one good one and one blown one, and by the time i was ready to install them a few months later it was too late when i found out.

no clue what the db level would be but it's enough to make me happy  

you can't go offering beach front access in winter and then take it back. see you at the end of january.




6spdcoupe said:


> A good chance that they are, but something just has me scratching my head about the set. Isn't that the guy that posted awhile back asking if he had real ones or not ? I guess he got an answer of some sort ?



yes that was him and now you have me wondering. i think they are real. the page i found discussing it said the mounting holes on fakes were tapered and i am pretty sure these were flat in the bottom.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

finally had a little time to play in the garage. first order of business was to come up with a way to secure the enclosure in place. when i removed the carpeting i got lucky and found a pinch weld seam that i could easily secure a bolt to after drilling a hole. i tried to do it lower the first time but the curves in that area made it too far away for me to fit the bolt into the hole, so i moved up a bit and all was well.




















installed my tnuts and dowels in my ring. i used a 1/4" dowel and a 1/4" hole bit to mount the dowel to the ring. a little glue inside the hole, a couple brad nails and the rods are secure for mounting.





















played around with a a couple different mounting angles






































i'm pretty sure this will be the angle to use. 





















gotta go back to home depot tomorrow to get some glue sticks to hold the dowels in place, then i'll stretch the face.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

nice alpine PDX amp  i use the same amps. love em. so small, so powerfull.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

thanks but they are on their way out. ordered a trio of ms amps last week


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

how could you!


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

it's not that hard. you just order (and pay for) the new amps.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

lol to each there own. hey you aint to far from me.  only couple hours lol


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

yep. keeping the same equipment gets boring. if i never changed where would the fun be?


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

idk ive had my gear almost a year. i'm quite pleased  every time i bring somone new into my car i like to give them a little "tour" of what my system can do  including a nice back message.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

well it may be 28 degrees outside but thanks to my new toy it nice and toasty inside the garage.




















glued the ring in place, stretched the material, spray glued to hold it in place and sealed the edge with ca glue. mixed up a slightly hot batch of resin due to the low temps and soaked the face.




































it has a slight hint of a volcano but i tried to position the ring to avoid most of it and i think it turned out alright. i'll let it cure overnight and start laying glass tomorrow.


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## jivitup (Nov 2, 2009)

build looks awesome. I was wondering what brand of resin and mat did you use. I want to try and do some DIY fiberglassing


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## Murderrr (Nov 8, 2010)

Looks good, I need to learn to make my own boxes.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

jivitup said:


> build looks awesome. I was wondering what brand of resin and mat did you use. I want to try and do some DIY fiberglassing




Fiberglass , Epoxy , Composites, Carbon Fiber - U.S. Composites, Inc.

b440 resin
1.50z mat


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

oh ya, i almost forgot. got notice that my new trio of amps should (hopefully) arrive next week. i'll have to design and build the other side and somehow find a way to cram 3 amps and an ms-8 inside.


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## jivitup (Nov 2, 2009)

nineball said:


> Fiberglass , Epoxy , Composites, Carbon Fiber - U.S. Composites, Inc.
> 
> b440 resin
> 1.50z mat


Do you have a list of other things you used?
Sorry I'm a newb to fiberglassing.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

jivitup said:


> Do you have a list of other things you used?
> Sorry I'm a newb to fiberglassing.


i get the material at a local jo anne fabrics and the rest of the stuff i get from harbor freight or lowes - respirator, gloves, brushes, tape, stapler/staples, super glue, wood, 3m spray glue, acetone, fiberglass roller, hot glue gun/glue, brad nailer/compresor, razor blades/cutter, tarps. i think that's everything. 

head over to fiberglassforums.com and spend a few weeks reading. every question you may ever have about using glass in a car has already been asked and answered there.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

not much of an update thanks to the weather and lack of time. the face is now dried and set so i threw it in for a quick pic to get an idea of the finished product.


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## nineball (Jan 17, 2008)

3 months later and it's finally warm enough to work again. not much to look at. smoothed over the staples with some duraglass cuz i was too lay to remove them. got 4 or 5 layers down but to be honest i can't remember. i know it's not enough though


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