[shawnk]

Ok so this is my own ride which I have been working on (off and on that is) for the past year or so. Those who know me, know that I'm not one who really plans too much ahead of time when I do installs. Now sure, I will research gear, plot drivers in WinISD, Calculate current demands and so forth, but when it comes to the actual instal, you won't find me making fancy 3-D renderings or anything like that. I'm definitely more of a freestyle'ish installer who eyeballs as much as measures (for better or worse.. )

This build is is perhaps the first one for me where the priority is sound quality and reliability over everything else. You won't find a single painted fibergalss piece here, and carpet will prevail in the trunk..lol

Again, SQ was the major goal here but more along the lines of tonal balance and impressive dynamics. To be honest, I'm not heavily focussing on imaging :surprised: Now I do want a "decent" soundstage, but I'm not shooting for a "perfect" one. I have no intensions of competing or anything of the such. This build is strictly for me and my own personal desires for what I want out of a car stereo!

Gear list:

Alpine VPA-B222 OEM integration processor
Alpine DVA-5210 DVD player
Alpine PXA-H701 processor
Alpine TUA-TO20XM sat reciever
Alpine CHA-S624 6 disc changer w/optical
Alpine TME-M710 headrest monitors
Alpine F#1 tweets
Alpine F#1 5.25" midrange
Alpine F#1 7" midbass
2- JBL W12Gti-MKII (infinite baffle)
2- Phoenix Gold ZPA0.3 (restored)
2- Phoenix Gold ZPA0.5 (modified)
Phoenix Gold DD10 distribution center (customized)
Phoenix Gold Ti distribution blocks and fuse holders
Kinetik HC2000 (up front)
Kinetik HC1200 (out back)



So before we start, I first want to thank a couple buddies for their help.

Dan M. -Dan gave me some some much appreciated help with the metal fabrication that you will see later on in the thread. THANKS DAN!!

bigdwiz -BigD Thanks a bunch for your aid with the pics and general info regarding computers programs etc... THANKS BRO!!

Finally I apologize in advance for some of the poor quality pics. I am by no means a photographer, and frequently that shows..lol

Ok enough blabber. Let's see, where shall we start...

How about install loacations? First is where I do virtually ALL of my fabrication. This is at my relative's garage 8 miles away from my apartment and where I am able to store my tools. I have a whopping 12x12 area to work with. Now I'm not complaining, but it's far from an install bay.

Next up... the parking lot of my apartment.. hey you got to do what you got to do right? lol

Not pictured.. yet..kitchen table, kitchen floor, and my buddy's shop where most of the metworking was done.

 

[shawnk]

Sow how about some of the tedious stuff? Here's the removal of much of the interior for sound deadening and some wiring.

 

[shawnk]

For the door panels, I used a combination of 3M DumDum and GB Duct sealant in all of the joints/crevises along with the usual Dynamat and Jute padding for deading and reducing noise floor.

 

[audio+civic]

Subscribed

 

[shawnk]

The 5.25" mids are going in the kicks so this oem fuse box and hood release lever have to be relocated I pulled any and all slack available from the runs leading to the rear of the car, and after a few hours of agony was able to clean up the drivers kick area nicely.

Before

While we're in this area, might as well show where the dual 1ga 12v leads come through the firewall

Fuse box and lever now located higher up under the dash

And the kicks already for masking and glassing at a later date

 

[shawnk]

The runs to the trunk.... tiedowns pre-drilled and screwed every 5" or so

 

[sydmonster]

woah! good start to what reads as a large and promising project!! nice work!

 

[Fricasseekid]

Scrizzled

 

[shawnk]

Hmm where should we go next? I guess we'll stay up front and work our way back. So here is the front soundstage comprising of a 7-5-tweet, fully active 3way.

Here is the prep for the 7" F#1 (ScanSpeak) midbass. Nothing too fancy here. I simply used 3 sheets of 1/4" abs plastic all CA glued together to from a 3/4" mounting baffle which is adhered to the inner door skin with RTV black. Stainless steel screws were used to mount the driver which protude all the way through the door skin's metal. This essentially sandwiches the abs baffle and has worked well for me in the past.


Before:

 

[shawnk]

12ga midbass wiring... Got lucky on the passenger side

This is how they were mounted for the better part of the year... Sound deadening came later on

 

[shawnk]

Just recently got a chance to finally finish up sealing the inner door skin. I didn't use much CLD here, mostly CCF to create the moisture barrier instead of the nasty oem plastic sheet

 

[shawnk]

So how about some fabrication already!!?? Ok ok,let's tackle the kicks!

 

[shawnk]

Mounting baffles for the mids as well as the grill inserts and tweets (tweets will be located in the A pillars and pictured later.

I added a chamfer on the back side of the baffe so the mids would have a little breathing room

 

[shawnk]

Grizzles for the mids

No heat gun needed here! Just a nice sunny 90+ degree day and you're golden! Yes, you WILL sweat profusely, but it's worth it in the end

Foam paper...I love this stuff!

 

[ssmith100]

Great build. Great attention to detail. I'm anal retentive too so it's nice to know I'm not the only one.

Shane

 

[stef600rr]

great work!!!

tuned in for sure!

 

[edouble101]

Very nice fabrication skills. I am envious of your PG amps!

 

[goodstuff]

You've got some brass balls moving the fuse box. I would be worried I would start a fire in some unknown way.
Looks awesome so far. Like the vinyl wrap on the kicks. Very nice.

 

[Mic10is]

You've got some brass balls moving the fuse box. I would be worried I would start a fire in some unknown way.
Looks awesome so far. Like the vinyl wrap on the kicks. Very nice.

Moving a fuse panel is about as easy as it can get. far easier than fabricating many things.
Its just a matter of removing a bunch of factory wire ties and brackets and finding space to flip it up out of the way.
Ive done in on several hondas ,toyota and Mitsubishi.

 

[goodstuff]

Moving a fuse panel is about as easy as it can get. far easier than fabricating many things.
Its just a matter of removing a bunch of factory wire ties and brackets and finding space to flip it up out of the way.
Ive done in on several hondas ,toyota and Mitsubishi.

It has always seemed like a can of worms to me.