Pete's install log

[Bigpete123 1]

Hey everybody.

Some of you might have read some of my previous threads, but I thought I'd start an official one that documents my progress. First off, here are the details of the installation:

Car: 1990 Mercedes 300ce

HU: Nakamichi CD-400

Amps: JL Audio 500/5 and JL audio e2150 (rear fill)

Sub: Infinity Kappa Perfect 10vq (to be installed via infinite baffle)

Front Speakers: Focal Polyglass 3-way components

Rear Speakers: Focal Polyglass 4" 2-way components

EQ: Audio Control EQS 6-channel

Sound Deadening: 2 layers of Damplifier pro, and Second Skin's Overkill (foam pad on top of damplifier)

Other: Rockford Fosgate Omnifi (MP3 harddrive-mostly for friends).

Highlights of installation plan:

-Custom fiberglass enclosures in front doors for 6" mid-bass where the map pockets are

-Custom Fiberglass enclosures for rear speakers (stock holes are sealed for infinite baffle sub installation)

-AUX inputs/bass knob in ashtray

-Front 3-way components bi-amped off of 500/5

-Infinite Baffle sub (sealing the trunk has been a challenge)

-All cabling running under seats down factory channels

-Amps and EQ mounted in enclosed, ventilated box in trunk

Currently, I'm 90% done with sound deadening, I've run the cables, and I've mostly sealed the trunk off with caulk, damplifier, and expanding foam. I will have to make custom sealed enclosures around the headrest mechanisms, the trunk hinges, and the holes where my wiring goes through. Most of the tedious/boring work is done. But I still have a ton of work to do.

Estimated completion date: End of August (before I get married, hopefully!)

Here are some pics. Not much to look at since this is just be boring part of the project.

[///M5 2,833]

Sweet! You have the annoying part out of the way, now it is onto the fun stuff.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

good work, I need to deaden my car bad!!

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Great choice of equipment!

[Bigpete123 1]

Thanks guys. Denim, sound-deadening is not very fun! Seriously, you really have to want it! lol. I'll let you know how well it worked on my car so that you can get an idea of whether it will be worth it for your car.

I'll keep you all "posted" on my progress.

[ANeonRider 3]

I'll echo that deadening isn't fun, but sure fun when you are done.

[Eldorado 0]

x2, by far my least favourite thing to do

[mrray13 30]

nice looking project so far!!

can't wait to watch this one develop!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Thanks guys.  Denim, sound-deadening is not very fun!  Seriously, you really have to want it! lol.  I'll let you know how well it worked on my car so that you can get an idea of whether it will be worth it for your car.

I'll keep you all "posted" on my progress.

I know it is a must for my trunk, doors I should do too. But not sure if I have time or motivation to do the cabin. The car is pretty quiet at the moment.

[Bigpete123 1]

For me, most of the noise seems come through the doors and the front floors. But I figure that if I'm gonna have my interior taken apart to run all of my wires, I might as well deaden it while I'm at it. At highway speeds, I've found my car to be noisy enough that it bothers me. It's not nearly as bad as my friends' civic... but what can I say. I'm a CPA, so I'm anal!

My car used to be much more quiet until I slapped on my 18's and low profile tires. Modding your car is a deadly spiral, isn't it?!?

[dennisp 0]

yay, the least fun part is over

now on to the fun stuff.

[///M5 2,833]

How is the more fun part coming along?

[Bigpete123 1]

How is the more fun part coming along?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I typically only have time to work on my car during the weekends. It sucks, because I'm like OCD and I can't stop thinking about the project. The worst thing is that I'm going out of town this weekend

It's a good thing my fiance has a car and I can take the bus to work... cuz driving without seats is pretty tough!

I'll update you guys as soon as I make some more progress.

[Eldorado 0]

How is the more fun part coming along?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I typically only have time to work on my car during the weekends. It sucks, because I'm like OCD and I can't stop thinking about the project. The worst thing is that I'm going out of town this weekend

It's a good thing my fiance has a car and I can take the bus to work... cuz driving without seats is pretty tough!

I'll update you guys as soon as I make some more progress.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

get some milk crates

[Bigpete123 1]

I have some questions for ya'll... I have spent time on other audio forums and you guys seem by far the most knowledgeable so I hope you can help.

It seems like the only real viable solution to the problem of getting fiberglass to stick to plastic is to drill many small holes in the panel, etc etc. I have read about people using some adhesive promotion chemicals, but I have also read very mixed reviews of their success.

I keep getting a really obnoxious "Internal Server Error" message when I try to post the entire post that I just wrote, so I'm gonna try and post it in pieces. So please scroll down!

[Bigpete123 1]

sweet, that worked. Maybe my original post was just too long. moving right along...

Here's what I'm doing. I would like to install 6" Focal speakers from my 3-way setup in the lower sections of my doors where the map basket is (as close to the hinges as possible). My installation will be very similar to Denim's since we have the same car. I don't need to put crossovers or tweeters in there, and I'm only doing one speaker per door. So mine should be much more simple. Here's a picture of my door to give you an idea (i posted this pic before, but you get the idea):

Please keep following along.

[Bigpete123 1]

The speakers are quite a bit deeper than the map basket, so I need to build it out a bit. I also want it to have a factory look. More specifically, just gluing the rings in place with dowels and stretching fleece over it isn't what I want to do. I want to use a combination of hardboard and fiberglass to keep the thing pretty angular-looking. But I want to use the factory mounting locations of that map pocket (maybe will some extra screws due to added weight).

So what I want to do is cut out that panel so that only the edges are left. The black area in the pic below is the area that will be cut out:

okay, keep going!

[Bigpete123 1]

Damn it, I'm getting the error message again!!! Wtf man!? Sorry about this!

[Bigpete123 1]

After that I want to use dowels to attach some pieces of hardboard that I will cut the proper shape and size. They will stick out farther than the orginal baskets did to accomodate the speaker depth. So obviously this will cause there to be gaps between the hardboard and the plastic that I left behind when I cut the panel. Here's a very basic drawing of the enclosure:

[Bigpete123 1]

So now that I've described my plans, here's the question (sorry, that took me a while, but I want to be clear about what I'm planning):

Since fiberglass resin likes fleece, and fleece can be glued to plastic, couldn't I just use some adhesive to glue fleece material to the plastic and then use the same old fiberglass application process? In other words, the fleece would be the "middle man" between the plastic and the fiberglass. Will this work? If I didn't glue the fleece to the fabric first, I worry that there would be vibration problems between the FG and the plastic panel (once the FG breaks loose from the plastic and I understand it will).

I've done lots of research on FG. I'm confident that I'll be able to figure this out, but I DEFINITELY want any and all input/critcism/etc. I want to do this right the first time!

Thanks guys!

Peter

[Bigpete123 1]

ha ha YES! I finally got it all to work! lmao

[Eldorado 0]

Fleece glued with some epoxy and stapled on the factory panel shouldnt be a problem.

I like your idea though, might be a bit tricky getting the shape cut out though/.

[mrray13 30]

if this was me, i would just remove the pocket completely (i'm assuming for your above post that it can be unbolted from the rest of the door panel), transfer it's mounting points unto a piece of 1/4" mdf cut to the shape i want, and then proceed to build my enclosure off of that. then you have no plastic/FG issues to worry about.

or am i assuming wrong on the map pocket?

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[///M5 2,833]

/\ I'm with mmray, it is hard to get it to stick to plastic and if you glue it without staples when you put on the resin the fleece might sluff off. Cutting a piece of mdf is easy, and glass sticks to it nicely...my guess is going this route will save you a lot of time and headaches.

[Bigpete123 1]

hmm, that might be true. The main reason that I want to use some of the factory pocket is that it has curves around the edges that would be very difficult to replicate with MDF. I don't have any pictures that really show what I'm talking about. Using the fleece to "connect" the plastic edges to the hardboard will make it so that the curve will continue on. In other words, I just want to make the basket deeper without losing some of that factory look.

I got this idea from Ramos who did the work on Denim's car. Take a look here (you guys have probably seen this before):

Click Here

Ramos used hot glue to attach the fleece to the factory panel. Then he applied resin and FG to it. But are you guys saying that this method won't work? The last thing I want is for the thing to come apart.

What about if I used lots of little screws to hold the fleece on to the plastic?

Thanks for your help!!