# 1998 MK3 Golf Wagon!! Sound install And more



## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Here you can see the last install i did for a friend.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33766&highlight=glidn

A few issues i have to take into account.For this car i'm doing.

1. It has a MK4 dashboard, so it's already almost 30mm wider either side.
2. Mk4 dashboard, has a different shape.
3. Mk4 skin is longer in length but shorter in height, mk3 door cards is shorter in length but longer in height.
4. Maintane an OEM look about it. Still have to fit 6 1/2" mids in the door and maybe even tweeter too.

will post pictures shortly.

Idea of the system above all was to be OEM integrated as much as possible. As most speakers available here in NZ are not simply a drop in item behind factory grills. I had to go search for these speakers. Also other hurdle i had was to make this system as cost effective as possible.
But i told him i refuse to Skimp on the Radio. So radio is new and Subwoofer/s wil be new.
I think that is about all at this stage.

System Specs:
Headunit 
Pioneer P80RSII - Where not suppose to be available to NZ
CD-IB100II - Ipod Control Unit

Speakers
1x Pioneer TS-C1620's Front
1x Pioneer TS-C1625's Rear Fill

Amps

Either Be
Pioneer GM-X904 maybe x2 50 - 75Wrmsx4
or More likely 
E-Audio 480Ab - 80 - 100Wrmsx4
Alpine MRD300

Sub/s
either
RE Audio 8" maybe x2 These are DVC 4ohm
or 
Polk MM2084 maybe x2 These are SVC 4ohm
or
Polk MM2104 single - This is SVC 4ohm


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

here are the back doors done.

Stuck all the wiring down, so no shaky shaky or rattle rattle.
Will wrap wiring in Ensolite if I can get someome to ship it to NZ.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Sub box work yet to do the glassing, been so damn wet and cold have not been able to do fibreglassing.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

and finally the really hard bit, i have to make a combo front MK4ish panel and the rest with mk3 door skin, once complete it will then be housing a single or dual 6.5" speaker set and also mk4 door window switches and mirror switch, which will be able to be popped out as if it was 100% stock in usability.

as you can see, since the MK3 has a mk4 Dash board, i have virtually no room what so ever to work with, so i have had to go to strange resorts.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

and the final up date. what i originally intended to do.
Mould a Mk4 front and build it to the door









But this did not work so i had to resort into making a mould of the side of the dash and building that instead. So i have no idea how this is going to turn out. But will have to see how i go.
As you can see is how much of the door skin has already been cut away.


















And then finally The sub box is ready to be glassed.


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## riceaterslc (Sep 9, 2007)

looks great so far. how are you planning on running the gauge cluster? will you have any immobilizer problems?


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

nope all sorted running a 24v vr6 from a mk4 jetta in there.
So ECU, wiring,engine and Key all talk to each other.

But have figured out how to run IMMO3 clusters in IMMO2 cars. It's awesome get a few nice new additions.


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## semipimpedauto (May 29, 2008)

why didn't you buy a mk4


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

haha good question, firstly it's not my car.
Secondly, in NZ the only wagon spec you get here is this.
MK3 - Auto 2ltr - not even the ABA.
MK4 - auto 2ltr & auto 1800cc. No diesel option, no 1.8T option and no vr6 option.
But i'm pretty sure VW have never released a vr6 wagon other than the old B4 passat wagon.

Also the owner of this car wanted a Jazz blue MK3 Wagon. Go figure.

As pretty much everything but the body of this car being modified. He decided why not just do the stereo while he is at it.


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## SiR_Dave (Mar 21, 2008)

Tagged this one ..... Love watching your work on the Dubs


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

SIR Dave - thanks, yeah i have found the inner peace with car audio and Dubs, LOL.
Will post updated pics in

3


2

1


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## Dougie085 (May 2, 2006)

????


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## unpredictableacts (Aug 16, 2006)

pics of actual car please.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Ok so here are some updated pics for this weekend. I tried originally make moulds of the factory MK4 door skin, but alas this will not work. So i decided to do this instead. Making a mould of the dash board itself, as shown in the next few photo's. then while i was at it on saturday, i glassed the rear of the sub. Still unsure if i'll be doing dual 8" or single 10".

Dashboard moulds:

































As you can see by this above photo's i'm going to try and do the front corner of the door skin this way instead. I have no idea if this going to work but i guess i'll find out.

the start of the sub box:

























by these above photo's you can see i have glassed the rear of the sub box foor the car.
2 things here, all those black dots and line you see. It will be either single 8, dual 8 or single 10 to go in there so i have the 3 lot of lines depending on how the sub box will be built. All the dots you see is potential mounting point i'm thinking of using.
Ultimately i want the sub box mount and you shoiuld not be able to see any of the screw mounting point what so ever. So hopefully i do achieve this.

something else i have been thinking about where you see the strange kink in the glass i cannot explain, because looking at it straight on you can not see that what so ever.
I'll be Liquid nailing most likely something like a 2x4 behind where that kink is. In addition i''ll be doing that on the other side. So i can mount the rear of the sub box from the inside too. Hopefully giving additional bracing.

Now the last thing you will notice it's build into the left rear corner of the boot to hopefully give it a couple of DB's boost, in the lower frequency to make the sub really shine.









and lastly The Headunit i'm installing in the car:
Pioneer P80RSII

I still have no idea where i'll be mounting the tweeters for the front. I will try a few different places and go from there. Hopefully not on the A pillars, as the idea of this car is to have everything stealth as much as possible. Hence there will be a removable grill of some sorts for the sub/s too..


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

As requested the picture of the car.









It's the only one i currently have.

May update car photo's at a later stage too.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

wow, will have to get a better picture of the headunit.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Wow made it all the way to 5th page before updating.

Ok just a quick update. I have cut the dash moulds down and i'll be glassing them onto the factory door skin over the next day or 2. Just been having pouring rain weather. Hence the delay. Well i need to have this car completed by the 10 of July. 

Yes that is correct. I have to finish Doors, Build Speaker pods for front, Mount front speakers and Tweeters,Finish Sub Box, Wire up the system And also Tune the whole car.

Will have setup as follows.

Headunit : Pioneer P80RSII + Ipod control (CD-IB100II)
Front Speakers : Pioneer TS-C1620
Rear Speakers : Pioneer TS-C1625 - Running off of Headunit.
Amps : E-Audio 480Ab or Infinity 5350a
Subs : 2x RE8 - Sealed in approx 16 - 18ltr Box. 

Once front of sub box has been built. Will be able to find out exactly what the size of the enclosure will be.

Can anyone please give me some ideas on how they did there sub grills.
I'm trying to have one that pop's in and out. It will be kind of oval.
Any ideas and how to's would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

P.S. Will update pics in the next 2 or so days.


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## annoyingrob (Aug 24, 2007)

How does a DEH-P80RSII compare to a DEH-P880PRS?


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

Nice progress.

I like the ambitious work on the dash.

Good planning in the back sub enclosure weighing in all your options.

I suggest going with one 10" woofer with a good amount of throw.

8's can compromise extreme low frequency performance.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

annoyingrob said:


> How does a DEH-P80RSII compare to a DEH-P880PRS?


This i cannot answer to sorry, the P880PRS was never available in New Zealand. From what i gather the P880PRS was only made for the States/Canada and maybe in europe?
Cannot confim this thou.

But from What i read technically the radio's are the same specs wise and kind of even look the same. But just have a different product code for different regions in the world.



Nice progress.
I like the ambitious work on the dash.
Good planning in the back sub enclosure weighing in all your options.
I suggest going with one 10" woofer with a good amount of throw.
8's can compromise extreme low frequency performance.[/QUOTE said:


> It beginning to look like it might have to be a single 10". Main reason being my supplier i get everything from Is actually visiting/holiday the States at the moment and will not be back for at least another 2-3 Weeks. Now seeing the car has to be done in T minus 6 days i will not have the chance to get the subs from him.
> 
> as to the issue with the lower end of the Scale, These RE8's are simply amazing little subs.
> 
> ...


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Here is a quick update. I have started joining the front pieces like i explained a few post back, but at least with these photo's you have a better understanding.

Also if you look at these photo's you can see the door almost looks like it suppose to. But there is a little gap at the moment which i will glass back in again.
This is the Left Door

















The Gap For the Left Door - It almost fits like it was suppose to be there

















Now The Right door - Much the same but i'll have to space the right doors glass bit around 8-10mm as right now the big gap bothers my alot.
















The Gap for the Right door


















And finally i'm not to sure if any of you have really seen or heard of the E-Audio Amplifiers. None the less i thought i would post up some quick pics for you guys.









Cert for the power


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Ok here is abit more of an update. I have spaced the right door piece out around 10-11mm, i feel i could have gone a little bit more but this will have to do.

















Also i have started on a door pod, but will update that a little bit later. As i have not taken photo's.

I orginally intended to use as much of the standard stuff as possible. But this is what happened since then. The Right side door (Drivers door) has extra bracing and electronic gadgets in now. So the factory panel does not clip on anyway. So what i have to do now is cut pieces out of the door till the original door skin clips back in place then start sealing the door up again.

These are 2 problems i have with this. 
1. I'll have to cover up door same for both sides or it will look strange.
2. Mean there will not be a useable pocket any longer.

this really sucks.

Well if you guys have any idea's regarding the door pods post them up after i have posted the rear of the door pod.

thanks


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

ok here is another update on this car.

Here i have sanded and then done body filler twice and then could not really see where issues are in the door to be vinyled. So i did a layer of primer. Now i can really see all the imperfections and no you will too.
Noticed i have to do a little thing on the door still where the door handle clips on to.

































This is also the start of the door pods.









And here is another update finally installed and wired up the radio. I ran an 8awg power and ground wire from the car battery to the head unit.
best thing about the radio is it tells you your power supplies voltage. It a bit of a gimmick, but very handy none the less.
Installing









Power up for the first time









And now installed









Will be doing some more bog and sanding tonight, hopefully the will be ready in the next day or so.

Also i have to mould MK4 door switches and mirror switch into the mk3 door handles so will keep progress on this too. 

Will update as i go along.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

ok yet again another little update, took all these plastic bits to the plastic welders today, so to tell me they wont do it.

hmmm, so i pondered for a little while and decide bugger it i'll do it myself

So here you go some photo content.

What they looked like before i started.

















the cutting out process.

















First ever attempt at plastic welding. Here are some results.

















And been primered ready for shaping and painting.









Ok things left to do on the car.

Mount Amplifier - will take photo's of 2 possible places.
Make Door pods, and sand.
Build front half of sub box.
Clip front door skin and pods on.
Wiring for Sub/s
And tuning system.

All in all i think i'm pretty close.
Once i have posted the photo's of two possible places for the amps i would like some comments regards which position is better.

thanks


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Ok here you go these are the 2 location to choose from, i may end up mounting an amp in each location, but at this stage only require one amp to be mounted.
Firstly in the boot above the spare wheel.








side view of boot








I have not yet figured out the best way of mounting the amp there if it does indeed go there. As i cannot drill holes for mount etc. So yeah a little bit limited.

Here is the other idea i had originally been toying with from the start.
where would you ask, Under the back seat of course.

Here are some pics to explain.
Picture of seat Location









Picture of an amp as a test subject as i have not yet cut the metal out.









Like So









and finally the depth and also metal required to be cut out. 









I would also be mounting 2 fans down there venting from the behind where your legs would normally be. It would also be run off of a thermo controlled switch so if it does get hot, Fans will turn on and cool down, once cool enough they will switch off again.

I can cut those little pieces of metal but cannot make a hole from inside to outside.
So there us where i'm at.

Any thoughts ?


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

forgot to add i have done more sanding, so hopefully the doors will be done and ready this weekend.


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## mk3vr6 (Jun 7, 2008)

Hey glidn, nice work. I am "soundofav6" from www.vwwatercooled.org.au. I was following your post on the other forum... I stumbled on this post while searching for some vinyl help. 

So put lots of pic when you do your vinyl, as I will be learning.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

mk3vr6 - Haha good to see you arounf here too man,

at this stage i'm not to sure if i'm going to do the vinylling on the doors, Probably mainly as i have never worked with it before. 

But yeah will surely keep posted if i do end up doing the vinyl myself.

well also if anyone can give me suggestions on how to mount the amp in the boot that would be awesome.


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## mk3vr6 (Jun 7, 2008)

Thought you are going to mount the amp under the rear seat in the photos. Nice and stealthy I say why in boot? 

OS you plan to show it off or go very stealthy in the boot??


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

mk3vr6 said:


> Thought you are going to mount the amp under the rear seat in the photos. Nice and stealthy I say why in boot?
> 
> OS you plan to show it off or go very stealthy in the boot??


Well it will be stealthy even in boot as it will be hidden under the spare wheel plate.

But it turns out i may end up needing two amps for the system. as i'm struggling to find a 5channel amp running around 50 - 100WRMS per channel x 4 and 5th channel around 300wrms 4ohm or even 2ohm.

But yeah I know he should not have the rear speakers but for some strange reason he wants to have rear fill.


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## mk3vr6 (Jun 7, 2008)

lol.. .the 5 channel dilemma. I had that too, gave up at the end... 

So 2 amps in spare wheel well.. in that case you will need the chop out the spare wheel stem too to fit the amps.. but the the about of space in a wagon you can do a false floor ontop of the wheel well. 2 amps probably would fit in the wheel well anyways. "best of both worlds" 

I like these sort of concept.... stealthy + bling finish with maximum boot space.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

yeah that would be my kind of install, once i get some time for myself i will be doing the same kind of thing for my car.

Sorry i have not updated this in a few weeks, been super sick and then to top it off been having the worst weather the past 8 days so i have not been able to do anymore fibreglassing.

I have however cut the front door pod mounts out so will post those pics up, and will update all this again, hoping to have the car finished in the next few days. Fingers crossed, it really depends on the weather at this stage.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Ok a little update again.

My first attempt at door pods came up to be useless, will post pics of pre building.

Needles to say, went to install them and hit into his seats, so out they came,
The have since been cut up and thrown away.
What happened here, i have no idea. Somewhere some of my calculations must have been off.
Back to the drawing board.

2nd attempt at them ended up in a cold curing venture, so the layers of glass pulled apart.
So again demolished and disposed of.

Third and final attempt in progress as we speak, have decide to do the sub box face and door pods face a little bit different this time around.

Will update photo's in the next day or so.

I'm hoping like heck to have this car finished and ready for tuning this weekend.

Another update the guy does not want anything vinyl wrapped. So currently once i have done all my work, he will get the vinyling done at a later date. So hope that the idiot that wraps the doors and box does not damage anything.


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## 2007sl (Jan 31, 2008)

keep up the good work


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

2007sl said:


> keep up the good work


Thanks

I just cannot believe that i'm still not finished
Then again doing 90hr weeks monday to friday, then all my other commitments. Then also trying to finish this off.

well i have some good news. did a trial fit of the door pod frame last night, And i have around 1inch of clearance between seat and door.
Also figured a bunch of wiring was the only reason the Drivers door (right hand drive) skin did not want to fit was due to alot of cables behind it.

Will post some pics very shortly. Of where i'm at with it.

All i'm left to do now

Put on surround for door pods so that the grill can pop in and out.
Router the flush trim ring for the front speakers.
Grill ring for Sub box.
Wrap everything and resin and fibreglass.
Build amp rack under the spare wheel i have decided. Will test this theory out this afternoon.
Make indent for window switch on drivers side door pod that it's nice and flush but can still clip in and out.
Install fronts speakers and subs and tune the whole system.

As you guys have seen in very early posts i put speakers in the back doors. 
Well they are coming out and going into the front doors to give the dual 6.5 front pods. I will then replace rear speakers with factory and run them from the headunit.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

A little overdue but as promised here are some photo's.

I have no pics of first design, the where so horrible i binned them once completed.

Well here is the second attempt and Design, it would have worked out nicely, but alas is was way to heavy and also came out to far into the cabin ended up hitting the seat before the door was even closed. But as you can see these are prior to Glassing pics.

2ND Attempt at front doors - 

































3RD Attempt at Front Doors - I like this alot more
















Here you can see i'm trying to make the MK4 Golf/Jetta window buttons fit into the Drivers Side door pod too.









And the Space i will end up with once there in and mounted.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

As you can see from those photo's they look like they are are not point upwards. No granted they are not on-axis as much as i would have like mainly Due to the large magnets the speakers have. But they are angled upwards.

From the photo's they just do not appear to be.
Here are some Gen 1 and Gen 2 of the subbox design.

Gen1 - Was going to be 3 layers but again it protrudes to much into the cabin.









Gen2 - It's 2 piece design, so the grill can pop in and out of it.











Basically, i had a 3piece design that ended up being a 2 piece design, but now it's 2 piece design, but with a bit of a twist.

I'll post some more pics as i go along it will most likely become more clear.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Ok so i have finally had some time on my hands so i decided work on this car and got pretty far in all account.

Here i will show the idea of the door pods and subbox.
Then one doorpod built and subbox too.
Two other things i had no choice but to make the mounting surface of the sub box of angle.
But funnily enough i kind of really like it,
The door pod however, slightly moved so the back half of the door is little higher than the front.
But being at such an angle i think i should also give good midbass response.

Here is the doorpod - 
Damn i forgot to take photo's of before wrapping, but i still have the otherside to do i'll take some photo's.

















Here is the Sub box - The same design was taken here for the Grill from the front doorpods.

Here is the subbox wrapped with Fleece

















Here is the Subbox Resinned -
































All thats left to do now is the right door pod with the drivers door window button module pop in and out to do and the amp rack.

Once that has been done it's a tidy up and final install and tune left to do.

I'll clean-up the subbox and door pod tonight, then i can sand them both and get them ready for vinylling.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Ok so another update again, man as long as i get the time i can finally have the system done in the next few days.

As promised here are some pics of the design before wrapping,


































Then here are some pics of the Subbox clean and place in the boot but not mounted yet.

























Just enough gap for the vinyl once mounted and it should not pressure the vinyl at all either.










And of course the the doorpod cleaned and mounted to the door and checking for gaps.

















If you have a look you can see that slight gap between the doorpod and arm rest, i'm thinking i might build the door pod up to there from the rear to the front of the door pod.Also the front of the doorpod has gap between doorpod and doorskin that to will be built up and cleaned.
Also i might stick a glowing VW badge with perspex and LED's in there as the door lights
any thoughts on this idea?


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

I have also wrapped the drivers side doorpod, then Imprinted a Friends 9887 the R32 that i did actually.

Well just before i got started into glassing the other doorpod i decided to triple check everything as far as measurements go and location, shape and design are spot on. But after some measurements found the drivers side doorpod was 20mm to far back, so i have pulled the pod apart and will re do it today and glass it, So by tomorrow the opds will all be glassed.

Then i just need to add finishing putty and sand till it's smooth, then i can hopefully install all of the gear.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

another update. 
Amp rack built, will cover with material today, then give photo of finished product.
Also this is how far the doorpod and Subbox have progressed.









































Subbox
















and as you can see still some filling and sanding to do.










also the subbox is now mounted, still have finished off the correct angle for one of the bolts. Then sub box will be ready and done, for the work i need to do.
Will also mount the speaker terminal on the one side of the box. Will do that hopefully sometime today.

If you go up a few post and have a look at the door pod mounted, you will see a gap between the doorpod and armrest. This gap has been bugging me so as of last night that gap no longer exists. I have built that gap up with fibreglass. 
So hopefully today i can have the last and final bog and sanding happening,
Then i can use finishing putty. And hopefully then do the final sand and fit.

Once i get to this stage, then all that is left to do is assembly of the car and tuning.
this should be fun, this radio has 16 band parametric EQ per left and right channel. So i would have to think this is going to be a little of a headache.

But will see.


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## OnTheGreen (Jan 16, 2009)

How did this come out? Looks like a really great install.

Thanks for posting


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Thanks for the comment.

Well i finished the Sub box, built a hidden amp rack out of sight.

Got pretty much everything mounted. then the guy was a dick and refused to pay the bill.

Not only that he was suppose to test fit everything, as i came and took the car from me so i could not do final fitment myself.

So he decided to take the door pods in to get vinyled. Except the Vinyl guy used 4mm foam and then around a 2mm vinyl. So again when final fitment was made everything fitted except with extra vinyl it no longer fitted correctly.

I have some photo's of the amp rack and subbox complete. But only pics of the door pods themselfs unmounted.

If you would like some finished pics, let me know. I'll happily post them up.

Will be doing another MK3 Golf in the next few weeks so will keep you all informed.

I have also done a C220 Mercedes. The guy that use to have the R32. He wanted an extremely basic system.

So will post them up here today.

Thanks


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## vwtoby (Oct 28, 2005)

lame to hear about the customer, would love to see some finished build pics


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Nice work man. Shame it had to end badly. Good to see another kiwi on here!


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## loudrango (Feb 8, 2009)

nice work.great pic log of the build.


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

sinister-kustoms - Yeah another kiwi. Which part are you in? north or south island?

Thanks for the comments guys. Been so busy in the IT industry, i have no real installs to speak off.

Even thou my brother and myself just done a full install in his pajero. However all factory speaker mountings where used. Only custom Amp rack and sub boxes where built.

I will only have photo's of the completed install, did not have a my camera, was getting repaired in the time i needed it. Murphy's law I tell you. Lol


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

North Island dude, just north of Wellington. Look forward to seeing more of your work!


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## timbo2 (Apr 25, 2009)

go newzealand think were slowly dominating diyma!
keep up the good work man!


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

Well I'll resurect this old thread.
Why you might ask?

Well ironically, this car has now become mine. Did not purchase it from the previous owner.

The car is a 1998 VW mk3 Wagon that had a MK4 VR6 24v motor installed. I have since removed it the day I got it.
I'm currently installing a 1.8T engine in this very car.

Well this is some of the wiring I removed









This is how the wagon currently looks

















This is what the mounted and covered sub box looks like - Not yet screwed in









Here is the donor car









Once I have the new engine in and running, I will add to this build thread. Will be replacing all the Stereo equipment. From headunit to Sub.
Might possibly be replacing the sub box too. Will only look into the stereo once the long list of bits and pieces are sorted out first.


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## vwtoby (Oct 28, 2005)

any pics of the (finished) doors?
love the project!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Good stuff Hennie!


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