Altima Coupe Interior Mods

[Miss_Lanaya]

Yeah I like ear drum tickling bass......I have a pretty long (highway) drive to work and even if its 7:00 in the morn....Ive got the stereo pounding. I'd say its a great way to start the day I'll wait and see when I get the car how much of a pain it will be, Im a little nervous about having it installed ....Ive thought about having somthing built so that my amp doesnt get bolted onto the back of the rear seats??maybe a small piece that fits right into the side of the trunk...then they could attach the amp and cap to that? we'll see.

[LongBeachCoupe]

I have been trying to draw up a schematic of a 12/10 inch sub, with an amp and cap bolted to the box, and having the box racheted down to the trunk somehow... so if i wanna go hit the LINKS i can bring my clubs instead of riding with them hanging out the passenger window!

[chosmo]

Here is my installation progress so far. I thought it might give you guys ideas for an install that does not affect the functionability of the car in any way (still full access to spare tire and no trunk room loss). I should be finished within a week and have the rest of my pictures up then.

Here is what the car had initially (6X9s on the rear deck-pictures later).



Here are some changes I made to my car:







The final trunk product with my Mcintosh amps and crossovers, as well as my fiberglass enclosures all mounted in the trunk.

[rjdmmfl1]

Nice setup! How much did all of that run you? Did you do it yourself or did you have it done? Also, is that dynamat or Bquiet material you used to insulate the doors with, and how much of a difference does it make in terms of road noise?

[chosmo]

I did it all myself, and I picked up most of my equipment on ebay to make my money stretch a bit further. It's a hobby of mine I guess. The sound deadening material I use is HushMat. I think this is a far superior product to dynamat or any other competitors in my experience.

I will try to break down a few prices:

Mcintosh Mc431m amplifier: 550Alpine PDX-1.600 amplifier: 250Image Dynamics subs: 140Power distribution block: 402 pair Mcintosh speakers: 500materials for fiberglass enclosures: 100-150?materials for amp rack: 80-100hushmat bulk kit: 100Eclipse AVN5500 with rear view camera and ipod adapter: 700speaker wire: 0 (free 100 ft 12 gauge stinger pack)PXA-H701 surround sound processor with RUX control unit: 380Monster power RCA's: 100power wire kits: 150

wow.....that is about $3000 ha....not sure I realized how much money I spent until now....I have accumulated a lot of these items over a fairly long period of time.

Also, some of the items I listed above are not pictured....YET....but they will be soon when I finish.


Modified by chosmo at 8:44 AM 10/15/2007

[rjdmmfl1]

Nice, thanks my man...the price sounds about right, if you're gonna do it, do it right, and you did...it would've been more if you had to get it all installed...you prob saved about $1,000 from install prices...show us the inside pics when you get a chance!!!

[chosmo]

I got a quote, from a local stereo shop, on my installation. This was just for fun, since I was planning on doing it all myself. With the enclosures and amp rack done like this, alon with all the wiring, etc. the quote was $4150. Pretty outrageous!

[shift_mikey]

Chosmo, you are quite the craftsman! Do you have any other details pictures of working with the fiberglass? How did you attach the pods to the trunk? Definitly post more pics when you can it looks fantastic!

[Serkle K]

Your final pic make the trunk seem alot bigger then it looks in the stock pix that i have seen... as far as functionality now, is it still useable? or do you not put anything in there now?

[chosmo]

still fully usable. That was my goal throughout. I just throw down a towel or something (the factory carpet if I am hauling something big and jagged) and proceed as normal. Also, if I need more space my subwoofers are easily removable, and the seats still fold down just as before. Not to mention, I only had to raise the floor 3/8".

I have the finished product coming right up. Yessssssss! See my next post.

[chosmo]

Ok! I am pretty much finished at this point and I am pretty excited about it!

It sounds INCREDIBLE.

Here is a picture summary of everything I have done.

All that remains is the possibility of upgrading some existing equipment.

Here is what I started with when I bought the car:









The first step was to remove the foam, etc from the base of the trunk and build an amp rack:







Next I layed fiberglass mat and created a base for my enclosure:





Then I mounted wooden mounting rings on this base, tightly fastened felt around the entire piece, and coated the felt with fiberglass resin. Once this was done, I did a LOT I mean A LOOOT of sanding, so that when I painted I would have a smooth finish. Once painting was completed, I lined the interior with Hushmat and carpeted the rear and bottom of the piece.





At this point, I mounted everything in my car and waited until I figured out how to disassemble my dash and doors. I was too nervous to start pulling on things, and so I waited for Crutchfield to give me some tips on this over the phone. This stand still lasted 2 months...where I was not able to wire anything....this required GREAT patience.







Finally, I began wiring, which took nearly two weeks. I dont have many pictures as wiring is not that exciting.











Here is the sound deadening and speaker mounting results. I had to create an adapter plate to install my speakers in the 6X9 slot in the rear. I am thinking about getting the XS-69 speakers from Image dynamics to replace these. Speaking of Image Dynamics....they made my current sub...and I am also thinking of upgrading to an IDQ series. They make AWESOME equipment, and these are the only mods I am still considering for my stereo at this time.













I also installed the radio at this point, and what I do not have pictured is an ipod adapter chord that I ran through the rear of the compartment below the radio. I never put anything in that compartment, and it seemed like the cleanest place to hook in my ipod (lossless compression only of course)

Also pictured here is a view from my backup camera mounted on my bumper. This appears on screen whenever the car is in reverse. Oh...and I also have navigation with this unit.

This is the finished product for my radio....there will be o











Here are some final views of the finished trunk after wiring is complete. Aside from my Mcintosh amplifier (with illuminated analog power display), perhaps the most interesting thing is my Alpine surround sound processor (looks like another head unit in my trunk). This allows me to adjust time alignment, imaging, 31 band graphic eq on all channels, dolby 5.1 surround, not to mention quickly and easily turning up, down, on, or off of any individual speaker with a click of a button. The unit also does much more, I am just learning to use it. It is a sound system control dream come true.

Im also pretty happy with my digital distribution block that shows the real time voltage and current.

[guitarmn07]

NICE MAN! but I really love those wheels!

[LongBeachCoupe]

Cho im sure ur happy ur here now... lets watch how everyone loves it!Great job, very clean... too much $$ for my blood though.. but i really dig it....

[chosmo]

Yeah thanks again for sending me the link to this forum. It really is a nice setup and I like to hear what people have to say.

I really do hope people like what i have done. It took a huge portion of my life these past several months, but I was happy to do it. Its relaxing....until something goes wrong :-)

I absolutely love this stuff, so I am happy to share what I have done, and any knowledge I have on the subject for others who would like to make audio modifications. I have studied it for a while, and since it is a big time hobby of mine I didn't mind putting a couple paychecks into it.

[rjdmmfl1]

CHO...first off, really nice whip. Your rims are the best I've seen so far on the A/CSecond, do you still have the template for the amp rack/floor? If so, could you send it to me...or better yet, would you be willing to fabricate one??? (I'd pay you obviously) In either case, I'd be extremely grateful. I'm looking for something similar and I also want to keep the functionality of my trunk!!!

Oh yes, one last thing, functionally, how much of a difference did the sound deadening material in your doors make on music quality and ride noise?

[LongBeachCoupe]

And my wheels are "industrial fans" right? lol jk...

Sound deadening material really works... its not just a hoax...If you plan on installing decent subs in the car, at a MIMIMUM they should be able to shake "loose stool" from your arse lol.. which means all the outer paneling should be shaking too... what the deadening does is absorb the vibrations so you dont hear... ratatataatatatta tatatataayatt when you are at a light...

[chosmo]

LongBeachCoupe is right, but that is not the only nice thing about sound deadening material. When lined inside the doors as you see in my install, this greatly reduces the amount of road noise the driver hears during driving. This is nice, since your music will not have to compete with your tires when you get to a reasonable speed on the highway. Furthermore, the sound deadening material inside the doors can act to create a nice seal, leaving the interior of the door to act as a sealed enclosure for your midrange driver.....thus improving the quality of the sound for your midrange. These are the primary reasons I use sound dampening material. However, there are places in your car that could benefit from Hushmat to keep from rattling under extreme bass as well.

As for your offer to pay me to build you an amp rack, it is really not necessary. The shipping would cost a lot, and honestly this was the easiest part of my install!!! Believe it or not, you already have the template that I used sitting in your car! Follow these steps:

1. purchase a sheet of 1/2" - 3/4" MDF2. remove the carpet from the floor of your trunk.3. Use the carpet as a template and trace out the shape of your new floor (may want to oversize the width of your piece by an inch or so, making it flush with the side walls of the trunk) 4. Then, divide your floor into four pieces. If you look closely, my floor is divided into 4 pieces. One rectangular piece that lifts up to reveal the spare tire. One piece on each side of the rear tire well, and one piece that covers behind the spare tire to the back seat.5. Once the four pieces are cut out you are finished with the new floor for your trunk.

Things get a little trickier now, as you need to build a support structure to hold up your new floor:

6: Remove the foam from your trunk, as well as the metal piece behind the back seat7 now, with your trunk fully gutted, cut out 3 pieces of wood to lay against the metal of your trunk. (one between the rear seat and the spare tire, and one on each side of the spare tire.8. Cut out several wooden support pieces a few inches in width, and choose the hieight of them according to how much you want your new floor to be elevated.9. Fasten the support pieces to the three pieces mentioned in step 7, and then fasten these same three pieces to the floor of the trunk.

Finally, just screw the floor you created in steps 1-5 to the top of the base your created in steps 6-9. Simply use wood screws to fasten the floor to the support structures you created in step 8.

Once you get this done, you can just go get some vinyl and wrap your new floor so that it looks pretty.

I hope this all made sense, but feel free to ask more questions. I used a $20 jigsaw to do all my cutting, and I did all the wood work in a weekend. As far as me doing it for you....I would only be willing to do it if you were local....I am in Austin TX.

Finally, thanks so much to everyone who has complimented me on my wheels and my install!!!

[chosmo]

Hi again everyone. If you like the stereo work I have done, please come rank my work at the following site.



Thanks!!!!

[rjdmmfl1]

thanks for the write up and the info chosmo...it's always nice to have new, positive additions to the forum!!!

[LinkNuc]

Fantastic job! Ok I admit the wheels aren't my taste but nonetheless, thanks for sharing the pics, now just realize not everyone wants to hear your music, but I guess they have no choice, lol! GREAT WORK!

[Kasper08]

The install is amazing but i'm just wondering why is the cd player in the trunk ? or is that not a CD player i'm a little lost ?

[AltiCoupeDriver]

I think you have the sickest A/C out there now!

[GreyZone]

what size are the wheels? love em

[bembol]

That is disgusting, amazing job!

[chosmo]

Hey thanks guys!!! Sorry it took me a little while to respond, this thread was stagnant for a while, so I haven't been checking it. I am really really glad you all think I did a good job. I put a LOT of time and money...especially time....into this, so it is SO nice to hear you think it turned out well.

To answer your questions, the wheels are 20's, and the cd player is not in the trunk. The navigation unit plays dvds, cds, and has an ipod adapter as well. What you see in the trunk is a surround sound processor that allows me to make virtually every adjustment imaginable to the sound dynamics in my vehicle (time alignment, EQ, staging, etc.).

Let me know if you have any more questions. Come check out my profile here at carstereo.com, and I would love it if you took the time to give me a good rating!

[bjwmmc]

Chosmo...

I saw in your pictures that you used the sound deadening material on the doors, but I didn't see any in the trunk. Did you add any back there to keep things from shaking or is it not a problem.

Also did your package come with tweeters already mounted or is that custom too? If it is custom how much work was that to install?

The system looks great btw, and i bet it sounds just as good if not better.

[chosmo]

Yeah I didnt use much sound deadening material in the trunk. Only inside and around my enclosures. Then, I added a little bit behind my license plate, and you really can't hear any vibrations inside or out at this point. I am not a major bass head, so I didn't feel I needed to line my trunk with sound deadening material.

The tweeters were also a custom addition. This is not much work, I just drilled a hole and inserted the flush mount that came with my tweeter. I also used some calking to seal the flush mount to my pillar. Of course, the real work came in when I had to run the speeaker wire from the tweeter to the crossover and then to my amp in the trunk.

By the way, thanks for the compliment. I hope this response was helpful!

[shortys408]

i got my katzkin seats done the other day, theres pics posted in a few threads down.

[tsorenson]

chosmo, can you tell me a little bit about your subs, I have been wanting to add at least one sub to my car stereo system. I was thinking about building a box, but after seeing your set-up, I like your idea of building the subs into the two corner holes. What size are your subs? How much cubic space do they require and does your fiberglass box provide the requirement space? I was looking at the Kicker 12L7 and they require i think 1.0 cubic space, so if your homemade box is around that size, then I might have to try and do that type of set-up.

Thanks,

Troy

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Chosmo, sweet setup. Oh, and by the way, very nice rims.