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2013 2SS 1LE Build Log
Hey Guys, I'm cross posting on here from diymobileaudio.com. I'm a huge audio fanatic, and from the looks of it, probably a bit more fanatical than most on here.
As the build is in progress I'll be posting pics and explanations as I go along... feel free to ask questions. My interests in musical reproduction is all about life like concert quality sound. I’m not a huge spl fan unless the performance calls for it. I’m not a huge “gentle and docile” fan unless the music calls for it. What I've found in my experience with car audio is that it’s really dang hard to create a system that can have huge dynamics and great tonality, staging, etc. Almost always, these two are at combat with each other. The products I have chosen for this build I believe will get me exactly what I am looking for - both great dynamics, killer impact and good staging and tonality. A couple shots of the car for good measure: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps275c4865.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps16325496.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps90582292.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psd9116b07.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps778f4570.jpg (oh my, how did she get in here... woops... ;) ) So, let’s do a quick rundown of what’s going in... :) Headunit - Factory Deck (completely integrated touch screen) Processor - Audison BitOne (ole faithful for me ) Speakers: Tweets - ID Mini Horn Bodies mated to BMS 4552nd Neo Compression Drivers Midrange - Audax PR170MO Midbass - JBL 2206h (hoping to do them ported) Subs - 2 -AE SBP15 (running IB ) Amps: Mosconi A Class - Horns Mosconi AS 200.4 - Midbasses bridged Mosconi AS 200.4 - Subs (bridged) and Mids Wiring: Streetwires D-Blocks/Fuse holders Knu Concepts Fleks cable OFC power Wires Stinger Twisted speaker wires Knu Concepts Krystal rca Interconnects Deadening: Sound deadener Showdown: ⅛” Closed Cell Foam ⅛: Mass Loaded Vinyl CLD Tiles 3M Thinsulate Butyl Rope -this should be pretty fantastic :) |
So you're just using the MyLink head unit?
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Prior to getting this car, I thought for sure I was done with this hobby... that lasted all of about 3 weeks, but it was enough time for me to donate my build supplies and misc materials that I had in the garage to other people that could benefit. After driving this car for approximately 1 hour, I decided that the factory Boston system wasn't going to cut it. That meant I also need to reacquire all the stuffs that I need to complete the install.
Over the last couple of weeks, all of my gear has been coming in. One of the more exciting (to me) things I was looking forward to was all the deadening supplies I ordered from Don at SDS. (quick note about Don: he’s super helpful, straight shooter, and if you tell him what you are looking for and expecting, he’ll get you all the right stuff - great customer service from this guy!) Why was I looking forward to it? Well, this car is loud. Some of it is on purpose (the exhaust is heavenly), the other is because the factory saw it fit to not treat the car at all. Which I suppose is fine, as the car is supposed to be “fast” and we don’t need to unnecessarily weigh it down. However, when I want to, I want to cruise in silence. I want to car to be tomb like. And from the factory, it’s waay too noisy. Today, we commenced the start of this build, focusing first on the quieting of the car. For half the day, I was able to remove all necessary interior trim (minus the carpet - have to do that tomorrow), drop the headliner, and get started on getting the car quiet. ( I will say, working on Chevy interiors is a breeze compared to BMW's... wow!) For the headliner, Don recommended 25% coverage with the cld Tiles, and then to treat the entire roof with 3M Thinsulate. The roof at 25% coverage: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psb38a1166.jpg and a quick video... this is the first time I heeded the 25% coverage rule. I always thought that you have to cover everything, and this is simply not true, and it also makes for a very expensive waste of money. The video is with 4 tiles on one side of the roof, and then nothing on the other. I was quite surprised at how much just a few tiles can do: (click to play) http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6d578f71.jpg Now from the factory, the headliner did some with something... seemed like a stiff batting (like the material used in quilts or pillows). I’m not certain it really did anything, but here’s a quick comparo with the Thinsulate and the factory solution. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9125173c.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9679b039.jpg And finally, I got the roof completely covered with the 3M material. Looks so purty ;) http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps91fe7b30.jpg Since I'm not doing anything with the A-Pillars, I threw in a few squares of CLD, and also included some Thinsulate and put them back in the car as well: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psdb93bcc0.jpg And one final video after I got the headliner back up and buttoned everything up: (click to play) http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psd3a8efc9.jpg I'm quite impressed with the results. All told, time spent actually deadening and laying down the Thinsulate was probably about 30 -45 minutes... it took me as much time just to button up the headliner once it was done. And the results that come from just a quick bit of work.. Like I said, I'm surprised. I hope when it comes to driving, that this translates into real world value. |
While the headliner was down, I took the opportunity to run my DRC wire - give you guys a sneak peak as to where the remote is going to be installed:
http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psa577f9bf.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps724b01c0.jpg I also got to take a peak at the rear quarter panels, which is where I was planning on building some enclosures for the JBL midbasses. While I’m happy to finally confirm there should be enough room, I’m nervous about the complexity of the build out of these boxes. I will be doing some trimming of the sheet metal to open up the cavity, to give me more mounting depth as well as usable volume. There should be plenty of space when we are done, and the hope is that this will all allow the factory panel to be reinstalled and back in place as intended from the factory, just with a modified section for a grill. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7577dff7.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psaae2f966.jpg Lastly, (and this will take some time) but I started to strip down the AS200.4’s paint. The A-Class is a brushed aluminum. The silver looking paint wasn’t matching, nor is it of any good quality. Here’s a few amp guts for you guys: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps211ca1ba.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psdb38322d.jpg Getting prepped for removing the finish: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1723a0dd.jpg And the start of the process: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8e848d15.jpg |
k, guys... not much to show for all the work I did today. the only thing I got out of this was a sore ass back
This weekend's work came with a hard stop. I needed to be able to drive the car tomorrow, so I was really feeling the pressure with the deadening that I was doing. The goal for the weekend was to get the roof and pillars done, as well as run the DRC wire, and USB cable for the Bitone, reroute some wiring to make way for the horns on both kickpanels, and lastly, to deaden the floor... all needing to be buttoned up and capable of driving by tomorrow. I started early this morning, and didn't finish until 9 tonight. After freaking out about the carpet, I finally had everything squared away to get started with the deadening. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1620d66b.jpg I first rerouted the wires on both sides of the kickpanels... this is how they come: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps06247aec.jpg moving them up and out of the way enables me to get the horns really wide, and pushed back pretty far as well... http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...pseadcc43d.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps330d14a4.jpg I was thinking about trimming this piece as well, to get the horns wider, but the recess, and the small diameter of the neo compression drivers allows me to get the horn mouth (vertical portion) almost flat with the body of the car, just aft of the kick panel recess. I'm looking forward to getting these hung. Now, because of the time crunch I didn't really take any shots except for two progress shots... It ain't pretty as it is mid progress, but when each side was finally completed, I do believe I'll hear some noticeable results. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psacc07de2.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psc19cf6b9.jpg Carpet, front seats and center console are now back in the car, and I took the car for a spin tonight. It feels good to drive it again. Last shot is where I put the usb for the bitone. It replaces a factory 12v outlet, so that made this pretty darn easy. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psf49e5b5d.jpg |
Next up, I needed to figure out a way to take advantage of all this extra airspace. What I settled on was card board templates, that I would use to form a fiberglass mold. In using cardboard, I ensured that I wasn't butting up my fiberglass mold right against other panels, which then allows me the ability to insulate the enclosure with some foam... i'll probably use some extra 1/8" ccf I have, that way if the box ever does come into contact with another panel, resonances will not be something I'll be worried about...
First, the templates of the exterior wall: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps52269a09.jpg and then taped in: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7a0e5a6a.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps86b54742.jpg then I started applying cardboard walls, with tape to make the form for my mold: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps869da720.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps282db582.jpg before pulling them out, I used a sharpie on the outside of the boxes to determine where i should cut the molds to bring them flush to the interior metal parts. once this was done, I carefully pulled them out and reinforced them from the outside: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps26f18e18.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psff2219d0.jpg |
after getting all my supplies together for the fiberglassing, I started to tear into it.
http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps243532e9.jpg and then after a few layers of chop mat, I laid them out in the sun to cure: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7222bede.jpg I'll more than likely use some wood bracing to increase the structural strength of the glass. I know there are a lot of flat areas, but I wanted to maximize the amount of airspace that I was able to get ... I wasn't sure if I'd be able to hit my volume goal... (later you'll see this will be more than attainable :) ) while those were curing, I turned my attention to the rear quarter panel plastics... I needed to make an opening for the midbasses, and I also wanted to see what type of internal airspace I would be working with. I taped off the panels following the stock contours of the panel and used my dremel to cut it out. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psf84680d8.jpg once done, i sized it up against the 12" speaker, just to see what i'd be working with as far as available speaker mounting, and whether or not it'd be playing into the plastic at all... it looks like i made the opening just right. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psdacce529.jpg one last thing to do, and that was to install the plastic to look at internal volume ... i'm happy to say I think I have more than enough... :) http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psfdd2d236.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...pse6b3c302.jpg the next few pictures I took as a "panaramic" type shot, (mostly for my conceptualization of how i'm going to finish this) and it goes all around the interior like a circle... http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps39535759.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psf9c04983.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psc28274ec.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6edc388f.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2ce84288.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps688eda5f.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps36974fdb.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps14f6d464.jpg |
and at this point, we are all caught up... i'm in my afternoon break period now, but will get started in a bit and will post as I go along. cheers :)
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Definitely going to be following your build. I'm not much of an audiophile, but damn those rear speakers look good.
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back in the early 90's, a lot of the sound off competitors were using High Efficiency drivers, including Horn Loaded Compression Drivers. This is what I'll be using in my build... speakers specifically designed for Live Sound, Outdoor events, concerts, etc.... they do really well in a car, and reproduce music very easily and efficiently. Picture going to a live concert... the kick drum... not the low bass, but the snare hit, the tom hits, and the kick drum... it hits you in the chest... hard. my goal is to reproduce that feeling in the car... and it can't be done with just subs... hence, why Ill be using 12" midbass drivers. :) |
Alright guys, time to wrap it up for the night :)
The passenger side quarter panel cured first, so I trimmed it up, tore off the cardboard (the stuff that I could), and then test fitted... looks pretty good. I need to hit it with a few more layers, but will do that after it's joined with the rest of the box. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8d3b869d.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psf373a82d.jpg I trimmed up the passenger plastic panel, and then inserted in the car for a test fit.... http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps339971f2.jpg tomorrow, I'll spend some time masking both areas, and then starting on the rest of the mold. |
This last portion is the one that I'm most proud of for some reason... I think it will look dope when it's all finished, and I took my time to make sure the pieces were all fitting right and working together the way they were supposed to.
I turned my attention to the "Central Command" panel, which is the over head unit. This contains the over head light, a mic for voicecommand and phone calls, home link garage buttons, and some stupid light that tells me whether or not the passenger side airbag is on... (as a side note, i don't even know why the law requires this... it's not like I care... I'm in the drivers side. Tell me if mine isn't working, you know.....) Anyway... here is the unit with the light assembly already taken out: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps378ce8cf.jpg after removing the airbag module and masking the unit and the DRC... http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psf74f1c4f.jpg http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psf849ca32.jpg after trimming a bit carefully, I think this is the angle I'm going to go with. I was wanting to angle it towards the driver some, but I think this works, and is symmetrical as well... http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psd4f1cd12.jpg I used one of the factory mounts that come with the DRC, and attached it with CA glue. quick note about CA Glue: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE?????? I've never used this stuff... it's soooooooo much easier than using hot glue... geeezzzzuuuusssss ;) ok, so enough about that... http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psa5af2348.jpg i'm going to be molding all this in with some body filler, and the mounting flange wasn't helping, so i trimmed that off so i can have a nice easy transition with the slopes ... http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...psb6ca95e6.jpg and then framed out the rest of the remote with abs sheeting... very easy stuff to work with, again... another first for me. :) http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps32653843.jpg this all required careful work since I was messing with an area where some factory clips were at, and I didn't want to lose those. very tight tolerances... http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps42bf010b.jpg and one shot before I start with the body filler: http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ps964aa8e3.jpg |
First of all, Welcome To :sm1:
Build looks awesome. I didn't have the guts to....well.......gut my rear panels like that, but you went for it in the biggest way. Looking at your amps, you're going to have incredible head room. You might be surprised at what you find around here..... Man...... I want those amps. I'm still toying with the idea of replacing my amps with two Mosconi AS200.4's and a Mosconi Zero 1. Then I'll probably replace my fronts with Focal Utopia Be No7 Active or 165 KRX3 Power. The Utopias sounded a little harsh to my ears, so I'm thinking I want the KRX3's. I may just leave my T1692's in the rear as my wife believes that my son needs to hear music, and not booming bass. I actually like my subs, so I'll probably keep them. I love my 3Sixty.3 - it has been perfect for when I like to be juvenile and crank the bass up. Usually I turn it up and have a laugh, and then return it to normalcy. On the other hand, I may just keep my Rockford stuff. A lot of people talk terrible of Rockford these days, but the more listening time I get in my car (not a daily driver), the more I really like the way it sounds. I would definitely be easier and cheaper to just leave it as it is. I really should do one of these build threads some day. Good luck with the stock head. I spent a couple hundred bucks and probably 30+ hours of troubleshooting just trying to keep it in my build. With those Mosconis being class A/B, I'll be waiting to hear if you get the speaker pop/click/thump. |
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