Return of the custom audio build diary!

[TrickFlow]

sorry for the :OT: but, ive been askin and noone knows what these are for...(highlighted in the green) did you take out the threaded screws/bolts that were in there? what the heck are they for, and do they serve any purpose?

 

[Philstang]

no don't do that, they either hold the floor together or have to do with the gas tank...

 

[shootme5150]

Just an "Old School" tip for people interested in testing different positions. Back in the early 90's we used to go to junkyards and find power mirriors off older Fords and Mustangs. Then take the motor out of the mirror and mount the tweeter to it. Then just put in another power mirror switch into the center console to control the movement of each tweeter.

It worked great!

Ooooooh, I like that. I'm going to have to spread that around. I'll be dropping some Dyns in my Chrysler and I want to make damn sure those are set up right... I'll have to give that a shot

 

[04sleeper]

sorry for the :OT: but, ive been askin and noone knows what these are for...(highlighted in the green) did you take out the threaded screws/bolts that were in there? what the heck are they for, and do they serve any purpose?

There are no threaded screws/bolts in there to begin with. They are just rubber body plug grommets. They do not serve much pourpose at all. A lot of people like to run their N20 lines through there or vent their battery box like I did.

 

[04sleeper]

Ooooooh, I like that. I'm going to have to spread that around. I'll be dropping some Dyns in my Chrysler and I want to make damn sure those are set up right... I'll have to give that a shot

Glad you liked it. It's been around for quite a while but not too many people know the idea.

 

[alanw6]

Glad you liked it. It's been around for quite a while but not too many people know the idea.

::cough:: Earl Zausmer ::cough::

One of these days Kevin, you and I need to hang out!

 

[04sleeper]

::cough:: Earl Zausmer ::cough::

One of these days Kevin, you and I need to hang out!

Lol....
One day we will.

 

[alanw6]

Lol....
One day we will.

I've got several reasons to travel to the Dallas area for my business, but none of them are really pressing at the moment. I'll look you up when I head out there; it would be great to talk shop sometime.

The stereo install is now entering the "balls to the wall" final phase of assembly. Both door panels are now finished and mounted. I completely re-dyed the door panels for a perfect match with the new section. They were completely disassembled, cleaned, and dyed with SEM Medium Grey vinyl dye.

All of the clips were replaced with new ones, and the fit is perfect and as tight as the day the car was made. I'll get better daylight pics once the speaker is mounted and the grill is in place, but here is the driver's side:

My friend MIke programmed this radio switch panel and we cut it on our CNC mill tonight. While not for my car, this is for an 03 Cobra, but I have something similar planned for my car (just with cooler gear, lol).

The interior of the car will be stripped tomorrow, and it will be completely wired for final install. New carpet will replace the old, which I'm looking forward to. More pics (a lot probably) to come in the next couple days.

Alan

 

[TrickFlow]

There are no threaded screws/bolts in there to begin with. They are just rubber body plug grommets. They do not serve much pourpose at all. A lot of people like to run their N20 lines through there or vent their battery box like I did.

wait... you guys have coupes... mine is a hatch.. someone told me they were to hold down the carpet or somethin... grr.. they are in my way and i want to get rid of them. im not hijackin this thread, ima make another one.

 

[alanw6]

Wow, what a long night. Mike and I completely stripped the interior, wired the car, and replaced the carpet with the new ACC mass-back carpet. If you plan to change your carpet, spend a little more on this stuff! It's almost exactly OEM replacement, much better than the regular ACC carpet I've seen in the past. But man is it tough to cut!

Anyway, here's a couple shots of tonights work. Next up is final assembly of the back end, which should be pretty cool.

The interior stripped and the old carpet is put on the curb!

Power cable (and right speaker) is run down the driver's side of the car:

Signal cable (RCA) and left speaker is run down the passenger side:

Fresh carpet! Seats and console were put in after this pic:

 

[Philstang]

wow, carpet looks great, that is one of many things on my list...

 

[Xterminator03]

What kind of wood did you use for the trunk?

What kind of Resin did you use for the fiberglass?

 

[alanw6]

Phil, yes the carpet was needed pretty badly. 13 years of dirty/wet shoes had taken its toll.

The box/amp rack is made from 3/4" MDF.

The resin was some plain old Bondo brand polyester resin from Autozone.

 

[alanw6]

IT'S DONE!

At about 15 minutes before midnight the system played its first notes (NIN, if you're curious).

I have a few cosmetic details to work on tomorrow, but its just a few small things.

Sound quality seems like it should be really good. I will tune the car tomorrow using my RTA that I picked up from a car audio shop that closed. That should get it where I want it to be.

Finished pics come tomorrow. The entire car is being detailed in the morning, which I'm excited about in order to see just how well the old fox cleans up.

 

[04sleeper]

Congrats Alan.

Glad to see you got it done. It's looking great so far.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Aaron]

Can't wait to see the finished product.

Seriously though - NICE work. It's nicd to see an install where there was a lot of attention to detail.

 

[alanw6]

Thanks Kevin and Aaron.

I still have some small tasks to finish up, but it's pretty well wrapped up. Things left to finish by Wednesday night (before I leave for WFC 8):

Finish the CNC work on a billet volume knob for my PPI pre-amp. I lost the original one somewhere, and have a cool design for a replacement. Since PPI wanted $60 for it, I thought a one-off would suit me better anyway.

CNC a switch plate for the ashtray area. Switches are for system valet, fans (not in yet), lights (ditto), and line lock. The fans and lights are not important, and will be installed at a later date.

I need to shim the amp rack to get a good fit, and put the smoked plexiglass window over the amps. The pics below show the gap I don't like, but it will be fixed and will sit perfectly flush.

Anyway, here's some pics!

And two more of the car itself, which was detailed today and came out looking really nice!

Thanks for letting me keep this thread going, and I hope it proves to be helpful for those doing their own work (or thinking about it).

Now it's time to get in the garage and tune this thing!

Alan

 

[Ozz]

Man that looks cleaner than hell!

Killer job, Alan! Check your email, you've got pics

 

[Killerrobotjews]

Thanks Kevin and Aaron.

I still have some small tasks to finish up, but it's pretty well wrapped up. Things left to finish by Wednesday night (before I leave for WFC 8):

Finish the CNC work on a billet volume knob for my PPI pre-amp. I lost the original one somewhere, and have a cool design for a replacement. Since PPI wanted $60 for it, I thought a one-off would suit me better anyway.

CNC a switch plate for the ashtray area. Switches are for system valet, fans (not in yet), lights (ditto), and line lock. The fans and lights are not important, and will be installed at a later date.

I need to shim the amp rack to get a good fit, and put the smoked plexiglass window over the amps. The pics below show the gap I don't like, but it will be fixed and will sit perfectly flush.

Anyway, here's some pics!

And two more of the car itself, which was detailed today and came out looking really nice!

Thanks for letting me keep this thread going, and I hope it proves to be helpful for those doing their own work (or thinking about it).

Now it's time to get in the garage and tune this thing!

Alan

Nice color choice, Thats what my car was colored:

thats whats left of it

 

[90whitepony]

Awsome thrad I am wanting to do almost the same thing with a W7 and 1000/1 when I get teh drivetrain done.I got a question.How do you attatch the top portion of the speaker box to the fiberglass that is the one thing I have not been able to figure out.