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Sometime i loo at the cars that we work on with regularity, and realize that there seems to be some peculiarity with the selection. Namely, there are a lot of very popular platforms that we hardly ever see...cars such as civics, camrys, audis, are few and far in between. The Honda fit, is just such an example..this spacious econohatch runs amok here in norcal, yet we have never ever worked on one before.
So it was actually quite exciting for me to book a new, 3rd generation Fit for a full on SQ build.
The customer had a previous system installed and he was looking for more, so he gathered up some very high end gear and brought it all to us for the build. Everything other than the Mosconi mini controller was supplied by the customer.
goals:
1. achieve a high level of sound quality utilizing customer supplied equipment
2. integrate the midrange and rather large tweeter into the A pillar window
3. integrate the Mosconi AMAS HD BT streaming device and the Mosconi controller into the interior
4. maintain a fully stealth and usable hatch area capable of supporting a lot of weight that the customer will be loading on a daily basis due to work
lets get started...first up the car. I kinda dig the third generation fit, kinda sporty looking in a futuristic way, a bit more smooth than the 2nd gen and less boring than the first:
the previous isntall was completed removed other than some speaker wires and of course the original sound proofing. I performed most of the build while Jesse did the mosconi dsp controller mount.
speaking of which, here is the mosconi RC-mini integrated into the pocket behind the shifter. Jesse has really gotten good at doing small detailed fab work like this, and he did imo a great job with this one as well. it puts the controls and preset changing at the finger tips of the customer:
a coupla build pics of the controller mount, which is 100 percent acrylic. it consists of a top plate that is meticulously sanded, backfilled and shaped to fit the opening, and several pieces of acrylic tabs that are bonded together, they interlock into each other with bolts and inturn bolts into the mosconi controller. the top was painted black to match the interior:
this piece was then secured to the car using more little bolts, and then the entire console was put back into the car:
For the front stage, the customer supplied me with a full 3 way set of Audison Thesis component set...naturally, the only place to mount them was the A pillar windows. At first, this seemed like plenty of space, but after taking the pillars off, i realized that with the sheer size of the Thesis tweeter, and the fact that the top of the pillar protrudes out more than the bottom, there was basically only one way to do the speakers that still allow the pods to go into the drivers side dash. (due to the protruding driver side dash AC vents). this isnt the most ideal angle to me, but i was confident i can tune around it. so this is what i ended up with.
the 3" thesis mid is back and at the top corner of the window, with the oversized tweeter towards the front of the car and aimed more back. each is recessed and flush mounted, showcasing the trade mark audison grille. the pod itself is finished in graphite vinyl to match the dash, and the out side surface is also vinyled as you will see in later pics so you dont see any raw fiberglass from the outside of the car.
if you look at the driver side dash vents, you will see what i mean about doing it this way to ensure that the pods can still fit into the windows and it can all go back into the car...even with this it was quite a struggle
here are some build pods. first, the areas of the window were tapped off and 3 layers of fiberglass laid down:
when they cured, they were popped out, trimmed, and some CLD damper were laid on the inside:
then, after literally spending an hour trying to figure out how i can arrange the drivers and still be able to get them into the window, i aimed and secured the mounting rings:
then mold cloth was pulled, resin applied, allowed to cure, and then a milkshake of filler and resin was poured into the pods to reinforce them from the inside:
then a few layers of filler and sanding got them to be smooth and ready for upholstery:
an d finally, they were wrapped in graphite/black vinyl. the backside of the pods were also smoothed out and wrapped in the same vinyl to present a clean surface from the outside of the car:
these were then secured to the factory a pillar with 6-32 machine screws and nuts:
the Thesis mid was then secured, while the tweeter will need to go on after to allow wire routing:
moving onto the Thesis midbass located in the stock lower door location. the door had already been sound proofed from the earlier installation:
we basically added a layer of metra ballstic foam barrier to the entire door to separate the plastic from the CLD:
and then also covered the door card with more CLD damper:
the same procedure was done to the passenger side:
and that completes the front stage.
next are a series of pics that show the new wiring bundle as it travesl down the sides of the to the rear, ziptied and secured every few inches:
So it was actually quite exciting for me to book a new, 3rd generation Fit for a full on SQ build.
The customer had a previous system installed and he was looking for more, so he gathered up some very high end gear and brought it all to us for the build. Everything other than the Mosconi mini controller was supplied by the customer.
goals:
1. achieve a high level of sound quality utilizing customer supplied equipment
2. integrate the midrange and rather large tweeter into the A pillar window
3. integrate the Mosconi AMAS HD BT streaming device and the Mosconi controller into the interior
4. maintain a fully stealth and usable hatch area capable of supporting a lot of weight that the customer will be loading on a daily basis due to work
lets get started...first up the car. I kinda dig the third generation fit, kinda sporty looking in a futuristic way, a bit more smooth than the 2nd gen and less boring than the first:
the previous isntall was completed removed other than some speaker wires and of course the original sound proofing. I performed most of the build while Jesse did the mosconi dsp controller mount.
speaking of which, here is the mosconi RC-mini integrated into the pocket behind the shifter. Jesse has really gotten good at doing small detailed fab work like this, and he did imo a great job with this one as well. it puts the controls and preset changing at the finger tips of the customer:
a coupla build pics of the controller mount, which is 100 percent acrylic. it consists of a top plate that is meticulously sanded, backfilled and shaped to fit the opening, and several pieces of acrylic tabs that are bonded together, they interlock into each other with bolts and inturn bolts into the mosconi controller. the top was painted black to match the interior:
this piece was then secured to the car using more little bolts, and then the entire console was put back into the car:
For the front stage, the customer supplied me with a full 3 way set of Audison Thesis component set...naturally, the only place to mount them was the A pillar windows. At first, this seemed like plenty of space, but after taking the pillars off, i realized that with the sheer size of the Thesis tweeter, and the fact that the top of the pillar protrudes out more than the bottom, there was basically only one way to do the speakers that still allow the pods to go into the drivers side dash. (due to the protruding driver side dash AC vents). this isnt the most ideal angle to me, but i was confident i can tune around it. so this is what i ended up with.
the 3" thesis mid is back and at the top corner of the window, with the oversized tweeter towards the front of the car and aimed more back. each is recessed and flush mounted, showcasing the trade mark audison grille. the pod itself is finished in graphite vinyl to match the dash, and the out side surface is also vinyled as you will see in later pics so you dont see any raw fiberglass from the outside of the car.
if you look at the driver side dash vents, you will see what i mean about doing it this way to ensure that the pods can still fit into the windows and it can all go back into the car...even with this it was quite a struggle
here are some build pods. first, the areas of the window were tapped off and 3 layers of fiberglass laid down:
when they cured, they were popped out, trimmed, and some CLD damper were laid on the inside:
then, after literally spending an hour trying to figure out how i can arrange the drivers and still be able to get them into the window, i aimed and secured the mounting rings:
then mold cloth was pulled, resin applied, allowed to cure, and then a milkshake of filler and resin was poured into the pods to reinforce them from the inside:
then a few layers of filler and sanding got them to be smooth and ready for upholstery:
an d finally, they were wrapped in graphite/black vinyl. the backside of the pods were also smoothed out and wrapped in the same vinyl to present a clean surface from the outside of the car:
these were then secured to the factory a pillar with 6-32 machine screws and nuts:
the Thesis mid was then secured, while the tweeter will need to go on after to allow wire routing:
moving onto the Thesis midbass located in the stock lower door location. the door had already been sound proofed from the earlier installation:
we basically added a layer of metra ballstic foam barrier to the entire door to separate the plastic from the CLD:
and then also covered the door card with more CLD damper:
the same procedure was done to the passenger side:
and that completes the front stage.
next are a series of pics that show the new wiring bundle as it travesl down the sides of the to the rear, ziptied and secured every few inches: