I have Started my System install

[JLBMP5]

So yesterday soon as I got home from work I am getting prepaird for a 4 day weekend and I am taking this time to start on my car audio project. I am installing infinity kappas in all 4 doors. an alpine type r 12 subwoofer in a spare tire well fiberglass enclosure. so far I have my radio mounted. part one of my box glassed and removed. soon I will be outside putting on another layer but right now I need a break from the heat. I also have most of my wires ran and my tweeter pods glued in place. When I start a new layer for the enclosure I will be wrapping the pods and glassing them as well. Since I had crapet out of the car I figured now would be the best time to vacume it and get the grass out of it that could not be removed while it was in the car. I will be powering everything with 3 soundstream amps mounted in trunk floorboard covered by a false floor. I will be adding pics as my progress continues.

Pics from day 1

Pics from day 2

Pics from day 3

Pics from two weeks later all done except for amp leveling

 

[HKPRO5]

Looks like its going to be awesome!

 

[JLBMP5]

Thanks. I will be sanding my tweeter pods tomorrow but they came out really nice. I have never worked with Fiberglass before for car audio. so I have been doing alot of trial an error. biggest error bein Im not adding enough hardner but im scared to put to much then have a big clump before I finish using. Also my DVDs suggest using coremat inbetween my fiberglass and when I tried it I couldent get that right . I feel much more confident using smaller pieces of fiberglass So it doesent really bother me that I will be doing several layers of glass for my box . Tomorrow I will update with more new pics.

 

[iamjdm]

subbin' i wanna see this lol

 

[HKPRO5]

Your box should be strong enough that you can stand on it.

As for the resin mixture. What are you using to mix it in? (i used a dixi cup) anways like it says on the can just add to the amount needed. If it doesnt dry fast enough, mix another batch with more hardener and do a coat over it. That way the resin beneath is forced to cure. (using the heat from the resin being catalyzed on the top layer)

 

[JLBMP5]

Your box should be strong enough that you can stand on it.

As for the resin mixture. What are you using to mix it in? (i used a dixi cup) anways like it says on the can just add to the amount needed. If it doesnt dry fast enough, mix another batch with more hardener and do a coat over it. That way the resin beneath is forced to cure. (using the heat from the resin being catalyzed on the top layer)

I paid the 48 cents at the car paint store for a few of their paint mixing cups. I think I have it figured out now. I am using 24 OZ of Resin and adding 7.5ML of Hardener. That gives me a 1% mix. and that usuially is enough resin to do the box a full 2 times over. Now onto my tweeter pods . I am using Fiberglass body filler to go over the Fleece wrap I did to stiffen it up alittle more and I read the can it didnt give exact measurement of how much hardner to put in just says 3 inch circle of filler then a 3 inch line of hardner. Well I still didnt add enough hardner so its just taking things longer for me to get it to cure but as far as the sub box now that I have a good mix going its moving right along. I figure by the time I am done with the box and move onto my fiberglass amp rack. I should have all the little things I did not know and can only figure out by attempting allready figured out, so it should be alot easier. plus amp rack is dealing with alot flatter surface.

 

[HKPRO5]

You should work with a smaller ammount of resin. Instead of 24 try doing it at 6oz at a time. It'll be easier to work with.

 

[JLBMP5]

I had to cut the day short and clean up my mess today. My wife wants me to take her out tonight so My progress today is. I have one Tweeter Pod prepped and ready to paint but I cant paint for shyt so I can only do my best . The other pod is sanded and ready for Bodyfiller to be applied then sand and prep it for paint as well. My box is just about done. in order for the sub to fit I had to make a 5inch box out of wood onto of the spare tire well. I have bonded 3 sides to the Fiberglass box and one side is half way done. its the side with a big gap so its gonna take more than 2 layers of fiberglass to get a good bond and have a tight box.I have the top to the box allready made and subwoofer cutout then I have another piece of MDF to go over that top that makes the subwoofer flush mounted. all of my interior is back in the car except for door panels and rear seat. I am waiting till my tweeter pods are done then I will work on all four doors at once. I allready have the wire for all for doors ran and inplace just waiting to finish those pods. Tomorrow morning when I get started I will take a few progress pics . But it doesent look like much done unless you have worked with fiberglass before and knows whats its like to wait for stuff to dry and Sanding is almost never ending. In the morning I wont have a Pic of the tops in the box because I am still sealing the box but hopefully by the end of tommorrow I will have my Box all together minus sub installed and carpeted and have the base of the amp rack started. I dont want to carpet anything till im all done just incase I have a resin spill.

 

[HKPRO5]

I feel ya.

Anyways ill be waiting for pics! good luck!!!!

 

[NateTheGreat]

If you're putting in 2 pairs of Kappa 60.9cs, then this is pretty similar to the install I've been working on for a while. I'm really interested to see how this turns out, and let me know if you have any questions (not that my install is done).

 

[JLBMP5]

If you're putting in 2 pairs of Kappa 60.9cs, then this is pretty similar to the install I've been working on for a while. I'm really interested to see how this turns out, and let me know if you have any questions (not that my install is done).

I have 680.9CS componant 5x7 Speakers for the front doors. For the rear Doors I have 63.9I . Other than the tweeters on the componant set , Both these speakers are supose to be a direct OEM replacement speaker. I have a Soundstream 440W amp for the front doors and a Soundstream 220 Watt Amp for the rear doors. My sub is going to be pushed by a 700 Watt Soundstream 1 channel amp. What have you got installed into your car now. I plan to have it all done by Monday night it all depends on the weather and how long it takes me to build the amp rack. I have 2 yards of carpet I am hoping it is enough but where I have to cut it for the box and amp rack I might not have enough so part of the carpet might have to wait a week unless I can find it locally to match what I allready have.

 

[JLBMP5]

Updated first post with 2 new pics at the bottom of the post.

 

[JLBMP5]

Todays Progress was. Sub enclosure Completed minus carpet. Tweeter pods Completed and Installed . Crossovers for my front door speakers are glued to the inside of my door panel so Im going to let that sit over night before I put in the front door speakers. Rear door speakers are installed. My amp Rack Main frame is built. I still need to put in supports for two of my amps then make the rack cover before its completed. It was dark when I started packing up my tools so like this morning I will take some pics of my progress tomorrow morning. Like I said in a previous post im not to good at painting so my tweeter pods dont look the best painted. I might pull them out at a later date and have them covered in vinyl or something stretchable. I am hoping by the end of the day tomorrow I will be all done. I am done with messing with fiberglass and sanding. everything else will be done out of MDF.

 

[msp5]

tweeter pods look real good, since i cant seem to find msp tweeter pods im going to make something like you did.Looks real good so far.

 

[JLBMP5]

tweeter pods look real good, since i cant seem to find msp tweeter pods im going to make something like you did.Looks real good so far.

The tweeter pods were pretty easy to make. I have no expierence with fiberglass this project was my first. after I glued the tweeter mount to the piller in the locating I wanted it I used a pair of pantyhose and stretched it over the pod till ther was no creases in it. then applied resin and let it dry. Next I applied fiberglass bodyfiller. When that dried I got out my sander ( My sander was a drill with a round sander on it and a dremel with a cutter on it) and I sanded the fiberglass filler to the shap I desired that took about an hour each. After that I used a 120 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and find all my improfections. was I was done with that I applied bondo body filler to all the improfections and let it dry. After it was dry I repeated my Sanding till I was satisified. Once satisified I went over both pods with some 800 grit paper to give it a smooth surface . Once done I hong them with some fishing strind and painted them and added a few coats of clear. Like I said the pods are easy to make its just alot and I mean alot of sanding. Once you think your done sanding and give the pods a good look odds are you will find an improfection and need to do even more sanding. I wish you luck on your job. Now its time for me to get outside and finish up my little project LOL.

 

[JLBMP5]

Updated first post with Pics from day 3

 

[msp5]

how did you attach the pantyhose to the triangle mirror piece

 

[JLBMP5]

how did you attach the pantyhose to the triangle mirror piece

once you stretch it around the corners the corners just held it in place for me. you could try using spray adhesive on both of my pods once I stretch the hose over the pod and stretched it around the corners it just stuck in place. I used the foot part and just put my pod inside the foot. if you keep stretching and snagging it on the corners all creases will come out and it will stay stuck to the corners of the factory sail pannel.

 

[JLBMP5]

Todays progress is . all my amps are hooked up and playing.My sub box and sides of my amp rack are carpeted. I wired up my front and read drivers side speakers wrong. they got switched up somehow when connecting to my amps. I had them labeled I guess I read them wrong so I need to move those two wires . My remote bass knob is not doing anything I can turn knob all the way up and all the way down and I get no change is sound so I gotta look into that. I need to find a thin sheet of wood to make my amp rack cover because as of now my amps are not covered hiding the wires like I want. I just need to go to lowes sometime this week and get that. the bottom half of my back seat is still out of the car. I will continue this project maybe next weekend. As of now I am very sunbaked worn out from the 4 days of doing nothing but working on my car while my wife went shopping most of the time and left me home with no car to drive I found myself wishing I had her car a few times because I needed something small like a wire connector or I ran out of fiberglass at one point.

 

[JLBMP5]

well its been two weeks of driving around with my system hooked up but not completed. I am pretty sure my sub is broke in now. So Thursday I took everything out of the trunk of my car. I dynamated everything. then I measured the inside of my box using packing peanuts. I seemed to be alot larger than recomended for a sealed enclosure so I filled the box with expanding foam . Now it measures out to be 1 cubic foot give or take alittle bit. Its sealed enclosure so it doesent need to be right on the money but it looked as if I was about a cubic ft larger than needed. Today I wrapped my entire trunk with foil and started laying fiberglass for my amp rack So I hope to have that done and dry by the end of the day so I can start on the cover for the rack tomorrow. Its nothing that I cant do while I am driving the car to work and back .I just needed it down for a full day to get the base frame to the amprack laid and glassed then soon as that dries I can pull it out of my car and finish it up whenever I would like without having to worry about my car not bein drivable. I have no pics loaded yet but I will add some soon enough elong with what I hope is a finished project. 90+ outside doesent really make me wanna do anything for long periods of time so im taking a bunch of breaks.