Dave's audio install & sound deadning

[dave45090]

I have dabbled in custom stereo installations for 15 years. Nothing major but I know my way around intstalling stereos. I love music......I am known for my interest of all types of music. I pride myself being knowledegable in various genres. You get the point.

I have become very fond of my little red wagon. The mod bug bit me and left a permanent scar. Sooooo I decided it was time to upgrade my stereo. I started in November studying many different installs posted on the boards and the opinions of our ever so intellegent members. After much research I decided I wanted a false floor to house one 10" subwoofer, sound deaden front to back and 6.5" compents. So for Christmas I treated myself w/.....

Alpine CDA-9856 head unit w/ ipod cable
Polk MMC6500 components
Polk C400.4 amp
Rockford Fostgate P210S4 stage 2 subwoofer
B-Quiet Extreme sound deadning material (50 sq. feet)
Synthetic carpet padding (100 sq. feet)

I took two days off work.....basically a 4 day weekend to get as much completed as possible. Let me make a point that I happily married w/ two children. Luckily my wife is very understanding and puts up w/ this crap. This still didn't stop the fact that during that 4 days I would have to help at home some. Enjoy my journey and we will see the final product within a few days.

 

[dave45090]

Day one:

Rip the car apart and carefully place each item in a labeled bag. I used Kroger brand heavy duty freezer bags. They have a nice little white area to write on. I ended up w/ 36 bags. I also took pictures of areas I felt might be difficult to re-assemble. Damn all those little platic pull plugs!

Let me note that I had never installed dynomat or any other deadning product. I may have missed some spots or put it where it did not belong. I went in blindfolded but was happy w/ the way it turned out. I probably could have used 10-20 more sq. feet.

Example of pictures to help re-assemble

Bare car

s*** everywhere......I was more organized than this pictures makes out.

Carpet

Starting to install b-quiet

Even put some behind the liscense plate.....I don't know if this does anything. I decided what the hell.

Moved to the hatch....I probably did this wrong but.....ehhhh

That's when the drama set in w/ mom and the kids. Day one over. I felt good about my progress. It was just me and by now my back was hurting a little.

Random picture of car as I was going in for the night.

 

[dave45090]

Day two:

Got up early. The synthetic carpet padding was very easy compared to the b-quiet. It's like working a puzzle. Get a good pair of heavy duty scissors. I got lucky......I wen't to the carpet place down the street from my work and gave me the material for free. All 130 square feet of it. The guy in the back said that it had been sitting there for a year......he said that I was doing him a favor. I didn't argue w/ him.

My little helper my youngest son.

Getting close. This stuff goes in quick. I used altspace's pictures for a guide. Thanks Josh! http://altspace.com/p5/quite/

I started running wires. I forgot to take pictues until I got to the doors. I wanted good pictures of the frustrating stuff. I figure if I take the time to run the wires throught the factory bracket - I wanted proof. This was tedious but not hard. You just have to be patient. Here's the how to link.....http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90091&highlight=remove+door+panels

That afternoon I started putting the car back together. This was actually alot easier then I thought it was going to be. I cleaned the carpet really good. Before any piece wen't back into the car I cleaned it also. After I finished the car looked and smelled brand new. It only took me 3 hours to put everything back in. I attribute that to being very organized and labeling every piece.

 

[dave45090]

Day three:

I work for a conveyor distributing company. We engineer, install and manufacture conveyor. We have a large fabrication facility including a hi-difintion plasma burn table. That means I can literally burn out and fabricate just about anything I might need while modding this little money trap.....within reason. We have this nice little rule that after hours (if you don't abuse it) you can use scrap steel and the operating equipment. I am close to the shop manager, he helps me out. That being said along the way w/ this project I had to fabricate all sorts of brackets and what not. Here is an example.....

I found T-Stars template, drew it up in AutoCad and the shop manager burned it out. I used 14 ga. galvanized so that I wouldn't have to paint and it won't rust.

In go the speakers. Perfect fit. Oh yeah.....I like the looks to the polk momo speakers.

I mounted the tweeters in the door. Now I know that many of you might dissapprove of this. This is where I wanted them so I wen't for it. I had to cut the back of the tweeter cup, as it was too deep and hit inside the door. It fits flush at the top but there is a small gap at the bottom. It looks good though IMO. I would like some feedback on the tweeters....what do you think? I will post more pictures of them soon.

I hot glued the tweeter cup to the door in the back. You can see the back where they meet it is caked on. It is very sturdy and a good tight fit. I am very happy how well it turned out.

That's all I got done on day three as other things came up.

 

[dave45090]

Day four:

Ok.....hears the deal. When I set out to do this project the one thing I knew I wanted to do was build a false floor. I love the idea of being able to keep all of my trunk space along w/ a nice clean look. Not having a spare tire is not so hot. Hey......it's a give and take situation. I used chuyler's build for inspiration. I really couldn't find any others on this site but I found an accord build that helped a little. While fiberglass does not scare me I had to make a decision that I just don't have the time to do it right. After some measuring and layout I found that I could build a regular box and only raise the original height of the floor by a few inches. Not too bad IMO. The top of the sub is actually going to be 1/2" below the top of the floor. I kept the cut out of the floor so that I can carpet it and use as a cover when I need to put alot of stuff back there.......golf clubs.....whatever. The amp will have a box that you will see in the pictures. It will be covered by 3/8" lexan and have 6 beautiful socket head cap screws holding it in place. The top of the lexan is also 1/2" below the top of the floor so that I can put a top on it as well. The idea is that if both covers were on you would never know that there is anything in the back. I am not done yet as you can see. The radio is installed and the wires are run to the back. The components are in and wired. I have everything cut and built. Everything fits, I just need a few hours to finish wiring, carpeting and actual floor install. I should be finished this weekend. On w/ the pictures.

The floor cut out. I used the original carpet as a guide and trimed another 3/4" or so of each side so it would fit.

My other little helper. She loves working in the garage w/ me.

Give me a break......it was trash day.

The general idea.

The box that will go under the floor in the spare tire well. It ain't pretty but it is sealed very good. I put 10 gazillon screws in it.

The amp rack. I painted it black b/c it will be carpeted as well as the floor. I knew that it might be hard to hit ever corner just perfect and this will keep anything from showing.

So that's it. this is where I am as of now. Like I said I should finish this weekend and will post good pictures. BTW if you haven't seen this - http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118918&highlight=chuyler - it's a nice read. I mentioned it above. Chris is a very nice and knowledgable guy who helped me tremedously. When I had questions he answered them within a matter of minutes. Thanks Chris. (thumb)

Dave.

 

[dave45090]

Day five:

To be continued. Duhn duhn duhn.

 

[Kansei]

*subscribes*

 

[meinp5]

subbin.

 

[CTt3P5]

subbin to see the install and the finished product.

 

[2003protege]

subbin

 

[Dpwhitehead1]

subbin for final.

 

[whitemp5seattle]

sweeeeet......subscribin!

 

[dave45090]

Oopps.

 

[jadonP5]

very cool good job so far

 

[dave45090]

If anyone likes the speaker adapters, I can make them pretty damn cheap. They work great. Also your speakers won't stick out very much due to the material thickness being much thinner than plastic or wood. Just thought I would offer. I'm not really looking to make a dollar.

 

[joker1977]

bump, waiting for the final product.

 

[shaggyhair]

looks really good. can't wait for spring so i can get out in my garage again.

 

[Bala]

Great job man! Sub for finished product ...

 

[2003protege]

looks really good. can't wait for spring so i can get out in my garage again.

Amen to that, and I'm down in Oklahoma even. Great documentation. You do realize the mod bug is transmitted through posts like these right *as I cry looking at my two rolls of eDead sitting in corner*

 

[kudakev615]

damn man, thats a very time consuming project you took on. props on the progress. id love to do something like this but after working on other ppls cars all day, the last thing i want to do it something of nature to my own car. id love to hear how it sounds when its all completed. keep up the good work dave