My latest project - in progress

[PhopsonNY]

Just thought you might want to see my latest project.

It involved

Vibration deadening the whole car - RaamattingSound barrier - L Comping the floor surfacesRewiring the whole stereo Installing new speakers - Dynaudio 360 in front and Infinity Kappas in rear

The doors panels had to be cut to an a epoxy resin/fiberglass mould made to accomodate the Dynaudio 170 as they are 8" dia.

I ran out of time and was in a rush so I need to refinish the installation of the tweeter and midbass as well as apply vinyl to the fiberglass mould.I will also refinish the door panel fabric with leather.

I will just post one pic of the Dynaudios tonight as I am tired, but if anyone is interested, I can post more extensively on the process.

thanks for looking.
Modified by PhopsonNY at 4:47 AM 5/3/2005

[Silvia2b]

Cool looks like you'll have an excellent image what amp are you going to power the Dyn's with? Keep us updated with your pics. I'm getting ready to upgrade from my Diamond audio S600, to the new D9 Separates in my S14. The only issue is the larger size tweeter I'm probaby going to mount somewhere behind the the door panel and build a grill on the panel to cover it while still maintaining a look that appears stock.

[PhopsonNY]

The power is supplied by a JL 450/4this is 150amps into the Dynaudios and 75 into the infinity Kappas.

This is less than they are both capable of taking , but plenty more than my ears can handle.

In addition, a JL audio 10w6v2 and a jl audio 500/1 are waiting to go in the trunk to provide some added support to the lower regions.

[PoorManQ45]

Looks good, but just one problem... THe tweeter is facing the wrong way . I know it's kind of hard to get it aimed at you, but it's possible.

Nice work though.

More pictures please. Do you have any step by step?

[PhopsonNY]

I must say that when you are working alone, step by step pics are hard to do so I am sorry, this is not a comprehensive but here are some of the pics I took

Started by test fitting the mdf ring... had these made by tweeter's shop for $60... had them made for the midranges too, but did not use them

[PhopsonNY]

Had originally intended to make a fiberglass panel to fit onto the inner finish panel, but wisdom kicked in and I realized for the power involved, it would have to be fixed right to the metal of the door.

Not shown, but made sure I had clearance for the window

[PhopsonNY]

Got a location for the ring in the inner finish panel. This way, I could figure out the location for the ring and then figure out what had to be cut.

You can see the existing Audio speaker harness... had wanted to rewire all the way to the speakers, but could not figure out how to get through and I did not want to get stuck, I will probably come back and do this some day, but for now new speaker cables are spliced to this.

[PhopsonNY]

Marked the position on the back and figured out what I had to cut.

One of the clips had to come out for this to fit, but I intended to screw the rings to the metal, so door support would not be compromised. However I wanted to keep the bottom corner clip to give better support

[PhopsonNY]

This what my trusty dremmel did for me,

Messy I know, but I am no pro

With all parts in position, I hot glued the ring to the inner panel, let it dry and then took out the screws holding it to the metal frame.

[PhopsonNY]

Here is what the temporary gluing looked like from the back.

Used some extra wood bits to fill the gaps and allow the hot glue to hold.

[PhopsonNY]

This part was a pain, trying to staple the fleece to make sure it got right into the corners and allowed space for the midbass unit....

[PhopsonNY]

I decided to use epoxy resin... stronger and I may not have even needed the fiberglass reinforcing...

Ayjay etc have talked more about this, so go read their links.Be very careful here... wear lots of disposable gloves, lots of masking off of areas, lots of extra brushes and buckets. Also buy more epoxy mix than you think you need... I know it is expensive, but trust me...

Apply 2 layers in a well ventilated area and leave overnight.

I needed a beer and a rest at this point anyway.

[PhopsonNY]

Needed help from the dremel and the sander at this point to cut out the excess and make sure the driver fit.

The sh*t that came off here was scary. I would hate to think what all those tiny vapourized bits of fiberglass and epoxy would have done to my lungs
Modified by PhopsonNY at 6:07 PM 5/4/2005

[PhopsonNY]

Spray painted it black for now... will have to do the vinyl or leather cover for this in Phase III...

(... for those who wish to know... Phase II will be the subwoofer in hatch...)

[PhopsonNY]

This part was comparably easy... Not a clean fit, but I will live with it...

Just make sure the screws line up on the vinyl part

[PhopsonNY]

Mark the cirlce and cut out the hole for the driver.

Try and do both doors together so they can be as alike as possible

Did use the mdf rings I had made... would have been too big and grotesque

[PhopsonNY]

Made some built up cardboard rings for the midranges and tried to sculpt them to fit against the countours of the door panel.

This was ok as the midrange unit is sealed anyway. Worked well functionally, but not so sexy looking in the end

[PhopsonNY]

Not so good here... I will have to redo this down the road.Trying to use epoxy and fiberglass to meet final contours of door panel.The epoxy was good, but the fiberglass did not help at all...in fact, it was a pain...

this is how we learn I guess

Have no more pics of this, but let it set, sanded and cut off excess to my best ability and called it a day...

more beer, and sleep... tomorrow we RAAMAT

[PhopsonNY]

Got two rolls of raamat for the car... figured/hoped that would be enough.

First thing to do is to clean the inside of the door panels... use any domestic water based detergent cleaner first, let it dry then...get this stuff called "googone" works wonders on oils and grease, spray liberally and let it sit for a couple of minutes and then use lots of paper towels.

Used the dynamat door kit behind the midbass driver position and RAAMATED as much as I could around it,

[PhopsonNY]

A view of the inside the door.

As much as I could reach.

You can imagine this was a pain reaching through the holes in the inner metal frame.

Better than nothing

[PoorManQ45]

Looks great, I can't wait to see the finished project.

[PhopsonNY]

I did the inside of the inner metal panel as well and totally covered the inner metal face hiding all the red and all the holes you can see in this picture.

Sorry, I did not take any pictures of this tho, but I am sure you know what that looks like.

Oops almost forgot... find a place for the crossover behind the metal panel...

Covered it with a cut up Ziplock bag and left areas open for ventilation then used zipties and Velcro to hold it in place... checked countless window openings/shutting to ensure clearance
Modified by PhopsonNY at 4:50 AM 5/3/2005

[PhopsonNY]

Stripped the interior of the car and gave it a good vacuuming and cleaning with detergernt and GooGone... Now I feel like the car truly belongs to me.

Thing to remeber when stripping the car is to use lots of labelled Ziplock bags for all the clips, screws and bolts... also take pics as you go along to help with the reinstallation

Also order a replacement carpet... I forgot and will have to go back in with a new one later.

[PhopsonNY]

Found metal under spare wheel had rusted in a couple of areas.

Have to figure out why, but I get sitting water here after certain rainstorms.

[PhopsonNY]

THE RAAMAT process is a pain.... it took 3 days to get it all done and it took 2 days to get it properly set.

Carefull to punch through all the screw holes and use a marker to indicate where all the holes are... who knows what they are for and when you will need them.

I will never do this again for love or money,well actually, there are some kinds of love...

well actually, I'd probably do it for money, but I warn you... no less than $5 and a sixpack...
Modified by PhopsonNY at 7:03 PM 2/7/2007

[PhopsonNY]

Covered the hole near the wheel arch and added some deadening inside the outer panel and some sound proofing too...

See what I mean by a pain?

[PhopsonNY]

Added extra layers in the front of the car...

Most critical and hardest to get to and if I really want to I can go back and add more to the rear without too much difficulty

[PhopsonNY]

This part was fun and kind of easy... just press it into place

this took one afternoon before it ran out... concentrated on the front of the car.
Modified by PhopsonNY at 1:15 PM 5/3/2005

[PhopsonNY]

Tried to cover as much of the firewall as I could

[PoorManQ45]

Wow man, that RAAmat looks awesome back there! You should leave that stuff exposed.