Lewis7789 2002 Protege5 build thread (tons of pics)

Status
Not open for further replies.
I'm pretty sure you could even use your stock piping and just weld the muffler on if you're just going for something that sounds a little different than stock. I know the muffler has the one exhaust hanger already welded to it so it should be a quick job at a muffler shop.
 
Well I might be able to take off the hanger from the stock muffler and weld it on the Greddy muffler lol
 
Mixing stainless and mild steel is never a good thing. I highly doubt it would last the winter.
 
Well I meant with the GReddy muffler already having the correct location of the hanger welded you should be good to go. But I didn't think about mixing steels. Good call, Cres.

Regardless, I'll hang on to it for ya. If you want it, it will be here.
 
Well I pulled the front Alpine Type-R speakers from the P5 since it no longer has a stereo (the Alpine head unit is going in the Milly) and put the first one in the Milly and it sounds like grabage. No low end and really thin. So I switched the two wires because I've heard if they are wired backwards they will sound like poo, but they still sound the same. I'm using the factory Milly headunit right now since my wiring harness won't be in until tomorrow for the Alpine HU. When I set the factory headunit to the front speakers and pan left to right the factory speakers sounds much better. There aren't any tears or rips in the Alipne speakers and they are about 2 years old. Did I fry something? I checked the audio thread here on 247 but there's not much info in there and I'm a total newb with car stereos. I've replaced headunits and factory speakers before but this ones got me baffled.

speaker1.jpg


speaker2.jpg
 
I think the problem is that it takes a lot more power to drive those Alpines than the stockers. I wouldn't worry about it until you get the replacement HU installed. That's probably why it sounds better if you have it 100% on one speaker, all the power is driving it, and it will sound better.
 
Check and ensure that the speakers are connected in the right phase, that is + to + terminal and - to - terminal. Check from the headunit straight to the speakers. You can first try switching the phase of one of the speakers and see if it makes a difference, if it does then there is your culprit..
 
is the GReddy muffler made of stainless or what? I might be able to get some piping to match up the exhaust
 
Check and ensure that the speakers are connected in the right phase, that is + to + terminal and - to - terminal. Check from the headunit straight to the speakers. You can first try switching the phase of one of the speakers and see if it makes a difference, if it does then there is your culprit..

An easy test is to put on some music with punchy bass and watch the speaker cone, if it moves out towards you then you're good. This method is not 100% foolproof but in a pinch (or if you're too lazy to look up the wire colors) it works.
 
An easy test is to put on some music with punchy bass and watch the speaker cone, if it moves out towards you then you're good. This method is not 100% foolproof but in a pinch (or if you're too lazy to look up the wire colors) it works.
A 9-volt battery does the same thing without you having to crank up the volume. But then again if you don't know which wire is +/- then this doesn't help lol
 
I think it's a phase issue from the head unit connections that is why I suggested you switch the wires on one of the speakers. Once you test after the switch and it works then you know what to do. THe other tests the guys suggested will further allow you to establish the correct polarity of the wires for the speakers, as CheeseHelmet said, and you cna make your final connections but this is not fool proof as some music bass tends to change polarity. Newsboy86 method is to check the speaker connection polarity and this is effective as well.
 
Thanks for all the help, fellas. My buddy said the Alpines are being underpowered from the factory headunit so when I swap in the Alpine unit, they should sound and perfrom well once again.

And I forgot about the 9v battery phase trick. I used to do that when I would borrow a bass amp when playing my upright bass with the pickup. It would sound like crap when the speaker and bass were in phase.

I'll check everything tomorrow and will hopefully have her sounding good once again. I'm excited to put the Alpine 10" sub and Pioneer amp in the trunk too. Still saving for the bloody motor though... heh-heh
 
Thanks for all the help, fellas. My buddy said the Alpines are being underpowered from the factory headunit so when I swap in the Alpine unit, they should sound and perfrom well once again.

The Type-R's require more juice to run them, since they're competition grade, or at least the sub is (I'd assume the other speakers are from the same line of quality). It takes something like at least 2-300 watts to even start driving the sub. You'll see when you play with the volume or bass boost, it will be sort of muted, and then you'll go one more on the volume and it's like it turns on then.
 
so i'm assuming that you're completely stripping the protege of all weight related things? or all of the interior?
 
Audio post about my Milly;Well, I got the Alpine headunit installed into the Milly and the 5x7 Alpine speakers still sounded like poo. I got the sub/amp all hooked up and that is pretty weak too. I'm not too thrilled... I don't know car stereos so Phen came out and double checked all my wiring and such before I buttoned up anything.

My old setup in my P5 had the same head unit, Alpine speakers and an Infinity 200watt powered sub and it all sounded lovely. I had the sub settings in the HU set at 9/15 and the gain about 3/4 up on the sub amp. I generally listen to funk/jazz so I wanted some more low end frequencies at lower volume and that set up was perfect.

The new setup in the Milly is the same HU, stock front speakers (since the Alpine sound really thin and no low end) and a Pioneer 700 bridged amp with an Alpine Type-R 10" sub in a big ported box. I've got the sub control on the HU turned all the way up to 15/15 and the gain maxed out on the amp and it's barely noticeable in the music. Unless you really crank up the music then you can hear/feel it a bit. But I was hoping for more low frequencies at low volume (I don't really blast music). I double checked the polarity on the sub and everything should be hooked up correctly.

So should I ask one of my friend to try their sub enclosure? Maybe the amp is underpowered for the sub? Again, I'm not looking to rattle license plates but my silly little Infinity had more bass that this huge beast in my trunk. What gives?
 
Kevin, to answer your question, I'm not going to strip much more from the P6. It's already pretty loud in the cabin and I've already had a completely gutted EG Civic and that was crazy loud in the cabin.

Though I am going to sell the Mitsu Evo8 Recaros and buy some fixed back Corbeau's this winter. If anyone local-ish is interested in the Recaro's let me know I'm asking $450 for both with brackets.
 
I want those seats. I also want to have a 40 hour work week to go with them. Our hours have been cut until further notice and a lay-off from Thanksgiving til after the first of the year is also rumored. No money = no seats.
 
How much shipped to Hawaii? =)


Also you should check out second skin. You can strip your car out and coat it with that stuff.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back