new build log

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:10 pm

spent all day in the garage and have the trunk lid and both front doors covered in dynamat xtreme, and what a difference! still have the stock speakers in too, but the fronts sound 100x better than the rear now. before i got almost no bass from the front and everything came from the rear, and now the rear sound like crap compared to the front. did the entire trunk lid and inside of the outer skin and the inside of the inner skin for the doors. since i was there and taking my time i saved both plastic moisture barriers and reused them as well.

doing this in stages as i am replacing everything. so far i have the new stinger battery, big 3+ done, power ran to the trunk and the dynamat. tomorrow the entire trunk gets a layer, and the rear deck and under the rear seats if i have enough left over. the new door speakers and 6x9s won't go in until i have the fiberglass box for the subs and amps done.

the last photo shows the 4 connections to the battery. one 4g to the trunk for the amps, one 4g directly to the alt, one 8g to under the passenger seat for the amp to drive the new dash speakers for the gps/bt, one 8g split between the fuse box and the starter.

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:46 pm

Looking nice. Does your trunk lid vibrate at all now during low bass notes? I threw a 1.5'x4' piece on my lid but I didn't fully cover it. I'm still getting a little vibration though. I was really surprised by how easily that stuff cuts. Did you extend the positive wire from your starter? I just threw in a reverse terminal optima, and I have to it from the front right now due to the short length of that wire.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:52 pm

there are no subs installed as i haven't built the fg box yet so i can't say for sure, but it does have a much deeper tone when you tap on it.

i followed the big 3 walk-thru that is posted on this site, but did a little variation. i ran a straight 4g wire from the battery + to the alt. i also modified the stock positive connection. i removed the clamp that goes around the battery post, but left the t connection in tact (fuse box, starter). in place of the clamp i attached a small piece of 8g (to form the t again) using the stock bolt in the t and a ring connector. i then sealed it and connected that to one of the openings on the new battery terminal. i did not upgrade the wire going from fusebox to battery and battery to starter. i didn't see a need for it as they are both 8g already.

Craz1000 · Post by **Craz1000** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:13 pm

nice one of the best dynamat jobs ive seen

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:15 pm

thanks. you can partly credit that to the amazing roller i found at home depot. it's actually used in installing laminate counter tops but it works terrific for dynamat.

Jeremy M · Post by **Jeremy M** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:12 am

looks great.
how did u get the doors completely off, i could only get the door handle cable to come off, i was afraid of breaking the other one.

also, something to think about, lowering your trunk latch 1/4 inch down, it may make your trunk harder to close but it'll make a diff.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:05 am

doors are simple. there are the various power connections to unclip, and then the 2 rods for the latch. as you look as them, one is a short piece of plastic, the other is longer. unsnap the shorter one from the rod, then spin it away and pull the rod down to unclip it. on the longer, unclip the plastic first then spin away to remove the rod.

why would i want to lower the trunk latch? it closes perfectly as it is, and now it is even a bit tighter as the dynamat is sandwiched between the weather seal and the lid itself.

jetas · Post by **jetas** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:28 pm

nineball wrote: why would i want to lower the trunk latch? it closes perfectly as it is, and now it is even a bit tighter as the dynamat is sandwiched between the weather seal and the lid itself.

It reduces the vibration. I had to do it. it cant open it with the push of a button anymore. but screw it i hardly open the trunk anyway

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:13 pm

well, i will see what happens after i have the subs installed. i really doubt i will need to do that but you never know.

SOHCKing03 · Post by **SOHCKing03** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:40 pm

Why didn't you cover up the holes in the door? I would highly suggest covering them in something like perferated sheetmetal or something along those lines and then dynamatting over it. Letting the bass escape like that is not helping your low end. The doof acts as a box for the speaker, and you don't want holes in a box. heck, you wouldn't want your sub box to have multiple holes in it cause it would kill your bass (unless you properly tune a port).

Also, when you do put in new speakers, put nonhardening modeling clay between the mdf baffle and the door (or between the speaker and the baffle, but I suggest the other).

-Brad

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:47 pm

to be honest, i just didn't feel like the extra work. this is not a competition car, it is my work car. i basically did the doors more for killing road and vibration than sealing it. between the subs and the 6x9s in a sealed box in the back i doubt i will be hurting for low frequency.

i will have a layer of dynamat between the speaker and the spacer ring, between the plate and the 1/4" spacer ring and between the plate and the door. should be enough.

the weekend is over and the dynamt is complete. i am utterly amazed at the difference in road noise after the install. it sounds almost as good as my jag does. not quite, but almost. for those of you wondering, the complete install took 16 sheets from bulk packs of dynamat (18" x 36"). enjoy the pics.

naked trunk

fully naked and cleaned trunk

dynamat is installed

this is the tool i got at home depot to install the dynamat. it is atually used for laying out laminate counter tops, but it worked perfectly for dynamat.

if all goes well, next weekend i will start building the frame for the subs and amp box. updates as they happen.

lawhon · Post by **lawhon** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:01 pm

welcome to the dynomate club! I've done all that, plus all the doors, plus pulled the interior and did the floor. O, and it only added a freak'n 60lbs to the car LOL

Themaggots · Post by **Themaggots** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:01 am

Nice job!

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Mon May 05, 2008 8:56 pm

spent half a day in the garage working, but not a lot to show for it. tried making the 6x9 mounts but they ended up looking like ass. luckily they are only for rear fill, so i can just use a bunch of duraglass and fill in the waves and low spots after sanding. forgot to take pics of that, but like i said it looks like ass right now so no need for em.

i did get the boxes for the amps built and the frame for the sub enclosure. i was going to do a set of corner mounts for the subs but changed my mind after using (wasting!) and entire roll of tape. here are a few shots to give you an idea.

now i am sorta stuck. i don't know if i am going to use those boxes for the amps or not. originally i built them to flush mount the amps and make everyhing one piece when i fg'd, but not i am thinking i may just build platforms for them and mount them on top, slightly angled into each other. building is easy, desiging is a bitch.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Wed May 07, 2008 8:04 pm

i spent about an hour trying to figure out how i would be able to wrap this and could not come up with a solution, so out came the saw. cut the boxes down into platforms matching the footprint of the amps and made mounting bases for them, then cut a base plate for the entire thing.

then did a quick fit test to see where i was at.

cut off the corners in a little wave pattern to give it a nicer look and sanded down all the outside edges.

back in the trunk. no, the rings are not mounted. they are just sitting there for looks.

and that was all for today. did a guesstimation on the airspace and came up with approx. 1.66 cf, which is practically perfect after mounting the subs. i have never ran a single chamber for 2 subs before, and still don't know if i am going to this time. i may put a divider/brace in the middle of them to seal off each chamber but i haven't decided yet.

looks like i am going to have to wrap the box first, then attach the rear amp mount and wrap over that, then the front and finish the wrap. if i mounted everything first i don't think i would be able to get to the bottom of the subs with my stapler. if all goes right i'll have more progress this weekend.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Thu May 15, 2008 5:13 pm

met a nice guy on another forum who saw my log and gave me these. he does 3d rendering in his spare time, so this will give you an idea of what it will look like when done. he got the amps mixed ups (big one goes in the back) and made the sub box a bit more rounded than it will be, but it's kewl to look at.

got the supports for the rings cut today, so tomorrow i am taking the day off of work to mount them and hopefully wrap the damn thing. if all goes well i'll have all the fg done by the end of sunday.

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Thu May 15, 2008 6:08 pm

Wow, thats pimpin. Did he use Blender to make that?

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Thu May 15, 2008 8:42 pm

autocad

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:34 pm

ended up having a full work day, so all i got accomplished was to wrap the thing tonight. i used the stuff that they make gymnastic outfits out of - super stretchy and thin, and no stretch marks. you can see how thin it is by the way you can almost see through it when the flash was used. tomorrow the glassing begins.

attached the mounting pieces to the rings with some CA glue, then brad nails

glued and brad nailed into the box

let the wrapping begin!

sub area first

amp racks mounted and wrapped

theTeejmiester · Post by **theTeejmiester** » Sat May 17, 2008 3:01 am

wow i am impressed,deff keeping an eye on this build.good job man

Moparty08 · Post by **Moparty08** » Sat May 17, 2008 6:09 am

Where did you get your dynamat? i see in stores it's wicked expensive. I'm sure you used a bulk pack or two. I've seen dynamat on ebay but not sure about it.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sat May 17, 2008 8:26 am

i got mine from car audio forums. i slowly built up this system over the winter by scouring forums on a daily basis looking for what i wanted. i know that you can get bulk packs delivered for about $117 all day long on ebay.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:11 pm

soaked the material in resin this morning. for as thin as it is this stuff sucked up a lot of resin. hopefully it will be dry later today and i can start on the fg.

Themaggots · Post by **Themaggots** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:16 pm

Looks awesome. Can't wait to see the finished product.

w0158981 · Post by **w0158981** » Sat May 17, 2008 6:28 pm

this is amazing lol i'm hooked to this topic

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:28 pm

rain sucks, and it has been raining since about 2pm. too much moisture in the air today is causing the resin to cure very slowly. on top of that none of my local shops, auto or boat, have any duraglass in stock so the build is gonna be on hold for a little until i can get some.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Tue May 20, 2008 12:15 am

rained all weekend whenever i had free time, so not much got done. i had a little time tonight and i am waiting for the duraglass to arrive, so i went back to the doors. went to home depot and got a roll of 6" x 10' roofing flashing to cover over the holes. i looked at their small selection of sheetmetal and they wanted a fortune for nothing, then this stuff came into mind. i had used it before when i made a vertical mount for my motorcycle lic plate, only i used the 5" x 7" pieces.

so i cut it into strips as needed, sheet metal screws to hold it in place. you can see the 2 lines of tape that held the roll tight in this shot.

then went back over that with part of the leftover sheet of dynamat i had. now the door is about 97% sealed with dynamat and sheetmetal, so i tossed the plastic barrier.

the funniest thing happened after this... the door panel would not go back on. the top would go in, but something was stuck in the middle of the panel. after a little exploration and thinking i found out there is a reason that giant hole is in the door - the pocket on the inside bottom of the panel sticks out into the door. so after much consideration (and swearing) out came the hammer and i beat the newly mounted aluminum and dynamt into a concave shape to allow the panel to stick into the door once again. all was right in the world.

i also installed the comp set in the passenger door, including drilling out part of the molex plug to run both sets of wires through. gonna mount the crossovers behind the kick panels as well as do the driver's side tomorrow. today was a learning process on how the molex plug works, how to mount the tweets (sail panels), where to run wires, where to mount crossovers, etc, etc, so i didn't take many pictures. i will be sure to do more tomorrow when i do the drivers side.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:18 pm

today's goal was to install the new comps in the drivers door and temporarily hook them up to the hu as the amps are not installed yet. i also used the roofing flashing to cover up the holes, dynamat over that and then beat them into the door so that the panel would go back on. here are the pics. passenger side was the same thing for those who were wondering, just reverse.

this is the passenger side already completed

first step was to take off the panel and then cut out the mounting hole for the tweet. i lined up the hole for it while it was still attached to the door. i did not have a hole saw big enough to cut it, so out came the right angle gringer and a cone bit and i cut out what i needed. it does not have to be a perfect circle as the tweet mounting cup has a nice lip that will cover everything up.

tweet mounted in the door

wound up the extra wires from the tweet and zip tied them to the inside of the panel, attached to where the power plugs go.

next up was to unplug the connector in the door that covers the wires. the best way i found was to do it as pictured. the clip has 4 pressure connectors that need to be undone. if you were looking at it straight on (actually standing outside and looking at the side of the car) the clips are at 10, 2, 7 and 5 o'clock. i undid the back side first, then was able to wiggle it out to get it removed.

here you can see 2 of the 4 pressure clips.

here is the connector out, with the rubber boot pulled back. i drilled out the first 3 of the empty row of holes on the right to run the wires through.

i manupilated the boot thing to get it as short as possible and in a straight line, and then took a long thing phillips and fished it through. this allowed me to feed the wires through the boot tunnel easily.

if you need to you can remove the bar shown in the middle here. there are 2 10mm bolts and 2 10mm nuts that hold it into place. it is not connected anywhere else and cannot fall back into the door so you are safe.

getting this thing back together is a royal pain. the boot is a bitch to get back on, and it has to go on before you try to clip it back into place. a few choice words and some grunting and eventually i got it back on.

conected the mids and tweets and then connected that to the crossovers inside. they are mounted partially behind the kick panel and partially above it. well out of the way and secure. put everything back together.

tomorrow i will run all the rca and speaker lines to the trunk for later and try to install the 6x9 in the read deck. i am also going to change my sirius from an fm modulator to the aux in on the back of the hu. between the wires on the hu and the 2 adapters (connected to the factory wires) there is a crapload of wires behind the hu. once everythig is installed i should have a lot more room back there.

just for the hell of it, here are before and after shots ( i know, opposite sides but it don't matter) of the door speakers.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Thu May 22, 2008 9:19 pm

got home just in time to receive a package today...

so the monster was fully cured and ready for some more work.

there was a bad seam where the sub portion meets the rest of the box as well as a few areas on the side of the rear amp. these get tackled today.

out came the duraglass and i laid in the first layer. this was basically just to fill out the small waves and the mentioned bad areas to get a better surface to lay the glass onto.

everything dried and i broke out the palm sander, which promptly decided it has lived long enough. since i look for any excuse i can to go shopping for tools, it was time to head to sears. got a really nice 4 in 1 palm sander. it has a mouse base, a random orbit base, a finger attachment (which really came in handy) and you can reverse the mouse to have a square end. $65 later i walked out of sears with my new toy and tons of pads ranging from 60 to 150 grit.

first layer has dried and been sanded

did not quite get every spot i wanted to though

so a second layer was added to finish filling out and smoothing

tomorrow it will get another sanding and then it's on to laying the glass. if all goes right i should have 6-7 layers on the subs and 3-4 layers around the amps done.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:09 pm

today was a great day. the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze and i had nothing to do for work, so the day was all mine. started off by sanding down the last layer of duraglass to get a smooth enough surface for glass, then laying down 2 layers of 1.5oz mat around the subs.

then i put a layer down around the amps

try as i might i did get some very small bubbles around the amp bases, but that will get sanded and refilled with the next layers. i won't be back to this until monday as i have a family picnic tomorrow and then another party to go to tomorrow night.

remember how i said this was a perfect day? it gets even better. i have been browsing for rims for the last 2 months, unable to find anything that i really liked. saw an ad on craigslist for a set of 18's in gunmetal and went out to take a look at them. not only were they gunmetal, but the lip was painted silver and is an almost dead on match for the factory color of my car. 2 of the wheels are near perfect and the other 2 have the slightest amount of curb rash, but you have to be right on top of them to see it. the only bad part on them were the plastic caps meant to look like the rivets/screws around the lip and the tires. time took it's toll on them and they mostly looked like crap and the tires are shot. i drilled out the plastic caps (all 80 of them!!!) and will head up to home depot to find some new bolts with heads that will fit to replace them. i am goin to have them painted to match the body as well.

just for the hell of it i put one next to the car. the angle of the pic makes it look like it is too big for the wheelwell, but it isn't.

on top of that, the guy who was selling them has a small body shop where he does some custom audio work as well. he bought a neon with the rims and some other stuff on it and changed it back to close to stock to be his everyday driver, so he is really familiar with neons. gave him my mopar 3ds to paint to match the car ($30) and the cd changer delete pocket. he is going to build that out to be a custom fit for my sirius radio, including making an all new angled mount so that i can actually see the face of it when installed. he is also going to do the filling and finish sanding when i get the box done and paint that to match the car as well. i have a brand new and factory painted to match mopar lip kit that he will install as well.

so much for buying a new car for work that i wasn't going to mod at all.....