Pete's install log

[Bigpete123 1]

turned my attention to the stock dash speaker locations. Dang germans and their metric system! I had to make baffles for the speakers to fit, and that was a lot of guess-and-check:

[Bigpete123 1]

then upholstered and installed my rear speakers:

[Bigpete123 1]

Oh I forgot to show these at the beginning. I sound-deadened the interior with Damplifier Pro (~2 layers) and some foam matting.

this pic shows the trunk hinges that I had to cover and seal:

expanding foam in select places:

[Bigpete123 1]

okay, I lied. I do have a few trunk pics, but these are really old. Those boxes hanging from the rear deck were my un-elegant solution to the headrest problem.

Subwoofer baffle (keep in mind, I'm only running ~200w rms to this sucker, I'm an SQ guy)

rope caulk:

the beginnings of my amp rack (that's a gas tank behind it, btw)

[Bigpete123 1]

started work on the tweeter pods:

[Bigpete123 1]

And now we're closing the loop back to my earlier pics of my FG door pods.

Speaker rings (recessed):

The map pocket where the speakers will go. I cut a horse-shoe shaped hole where the ring will go. and I made a curved 1/4" MDF backing.

drilled a bajillion little holes to ensure a strong hold on the plastic:

dowels/pegs:

rings attached:

Fleeced (lesson learned- use a thinner material than fleece. this was a total waste of resin to get that thing soaked)

Coat of resin:

[Bigpete123 1]

This is my first true FG job (I don't count the rear speakers, those were easy). It came out hella bumpy, so I sanded the FG itself with some agressive sand paper and my belt sander. I was itching for days, but it came out pretty well.

And bondo and sanding. I think we're about caught-up to realtime now:

My goal of how they should look (pic courtesy of a british dude on a Mercedes forum- I copied his design and I'm not ashamed!)

Edited March 13, 2007 by Bigpete123

[Bigpete123 1]

And there you have it. If you're reading this and you're confused where to start, go to post #74 in this thread and start there. Thanks for looking! Comments welcome (positive or negative) as always

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

When did you say you were doing my rear deck?

[Bigpete123 1]

lol I hardly even have time to work on my own, let alone fly out to MD to work on yours!!! ha ha

[///M5 2,833]

That is going to be super sweet!

[gone_blow_it_up 0]

Wow, this is really great. I'm learning so much from all the pictures your posting. More pics ftw!

[Godsmack 361]

Terrific install!!!!

Don't let the small stuff discourage you man!!! BS happens but as you have so far proved, you can get through it!!!!

J

[Bigpete123 1]

Wow, thanks guys. This is gonna sound cheesy, but I've really learned a lot about seeing things through from this project. My "main" hobby is woodworking, which is why I have a good supply of tools. But I tend to feel more comfortable with woodworking because I can sit down, draw up a plan with clean dimensions, and know exactly what I need to do to build a quality piece of furniture.

But with car audio, it's very different. There's a ton of guess and check work involved. You don't really know what you need to do until you try it, mess up, redo it, and redo it again. I feel like cutting corners all the time because it's frustrating work. Whenever I'm working on something and I get the urge to cut a corner due to frustration, I put it down and I work on another part of the installation. That's why I many of the sub-projects within this installation are only half-finished.

Anyway, it's nice to get a positive response out of you guys cuz I know you guys are honest based on how you've also responded negatively to some other installs on the board. Nobody I know is into car audio (or audio at all, really), so when I show people my project they just think I'm nuts!! Although my interior has been taken apart for close to a year now

Anyway, the upholstery on the doors should be done before this weekend, so I'll post pics for you guys when it's done. Hopefully I'll have the door speakers installed this weekend and finish up the FG on the tweets. Then all I will need to do is hook everything up, finalize the mounting positions for my crossovers, and finish up the trunk setup. The trunk is gonna be pretty ugly-looking, but I don't really care about the trunk... it's a trunk, afterall.

Until then...

[mrray13 30]

that's looking real good!

don't skimp on the trunk though. it'll cheapen the rest of the work. and as you put it up, you've followed through on the rest of the install without cutting corners, don't cut that one. with the quality of work you've presented so far, you'll only be letting yourself down if you don't finish the trunk as nice as the rest of the install.

one other thing, using fleece might be a bit of a pain, but it's well worth it.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Big Pete is BIG PIMPIN!

[Bigpete123 1]

don't skimp on the trunk though. it'll cheapen the rest of the work. and as you put it up, you've followed through on the rest of the install without cutting corners, don't cut that one. with the quality of work you've presented so far, you'll only be letting yourself down if you don't finish the trunk as nice as the rest of the install.

I know you're right... I considered trying to apply my woodworking skills to do something classy in the trunk. And maybe that is something I will do later. The wood in my interior is a walnut burl, so I'm considering making some covers for my amps/EQ and putting some matching walnut burl veneer on it... and slapping a mercedes emblem on there. We'll see. I don't want to think of that right now because I'm so sick of this project. lol

[Bigpete123 1]

i'm sooo excited... I'm picking my upholstered door pods up in an hour and a half. I hope they turned out well! Pics later tonight!

[Bigpete123 1]

Vinyl work came out great. There are a few very minor wrinkles here and there, but it's a million times better than anything I was coming up with on my own! I'm so excited to put my door panels back on this weekend!

[Godsmack 361]

Looks awsome so far Pete..............keep us up to date.

J

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Wow very nice.

[///M5 2,833]

Beautiful!

[Bigpete123 1]

Thanks guys. I'm really starting to feel like I'm getting close to being done with this year-long project!

[mrray13 30]

those look sweet!!

and if you don't finish the trunk in a similar manner, we will hunt you down and takes all your sound quality!!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[vladd 26]

damn nice