my newest projekt **Stereo build**

[A4_2.8tuner]

**i started this last week and have been taking pictures of the progress along the way. here is a breakdown of my progress**

Yesterday i started the build on my trunk for my stereo setup. I decided i to start a thread to walk you guys through the process so that anyone else who might be interested in doing something similar could have some insight.

to start off, this is similar to how i will build my setup


yesterday just began phase 1 of the entire build. i decided to build the box that will house the subs, and then build everything around that.


i started off by stripping out the trunk of all of the carpeting. you can see my current amp i have in there, which powers all of my speakers. this amp will stay, but will be mounted down in the spare tire well, so it will not be seen.


a few days prior i took some measurements, so yesterday i was able to just trace it out on the wood and start cutting


i then began assembly of the box



here you can see the box fit in the trunk. perfect fit.


after i test fit the box, i laid the plexiglass on top, and drilled the holes to mount the plexi


i then cut the holes for the subs, and began spackling the inside of the box. the box will be textured much like the wall of an inside of a house, and painted white.



i also drilled 5 holes in the top of the box, which will be for 5 LED lights. the lights will light the inside of the box.

the plan tonight is to finish painting the inside of the box, and hopefully begin part of the false floor, which will have the amplifier and capacitor flush mounted into it.

the stereo setup consists of 2x 10" Kicker CVR subwoofers, Kicker 750.1 amplifier, and a Capacitor.

the entire setup will be finished with dark blue suede which should set it off nicely, matching the exterior of my car.


hopefully more updates tonight

[A4_2.8tuner]

here are some updates from tonight. *sorry the lighting is not the greatest*

this picture shows the 5 LED's mounted at the top of the box


this picture shows the inside of the box with the LED's mounted (notice box is now spackled and painted white)


Since i do not want to display the sony xplod amp that i have powering my main speakers in the car, i am mounting it in the spare tire well, so it will be hidden. here is a picture of it mounted



i then made a piece to go across the floor of the trunk that the capacitor and Kicker amp are mounted too (the amp and capacitor will obviously be covered with a beauty board)



here is a picture of the progress altogether so far



not sure if i will be able to work on it anymore this weekend as i have a car show to go to, but next week i should have more progress =)

[A4_2.8tuner]

*quick update*

i'm working on this after i get off work at 8:30 every night i can, for a few hours each night.

tonight i had enough time to cut both side panels, and smooth/sand one of them. I am pleased with how the panels fits. seems to be pretty flush and flow with the trunk well

here is a picture of the progress



tomorrow night i will sand/smooth the other panel.

[A4_2.8tuner]

here are tonights updates!!

i got both side panels cut/shaped and fit


i then cut the beauty board to sit in front of the box


i then took a few measurements and then cut the hole out of the beauty board to display the box


i am VERY happy with how this is coming along. the fitment on everything is top notch, and this is my first time doing something like this. =)

[djwimbo]

Looks good. I wish I had the motivation to do that. A little bit of extra time makes everything look soo much nicer.

What subs are you running?

[Kyle H]

Sony Xplod amp and you're using a cap? Why so much fab work without research into the components?


for doing the work though.

[A4_2.8tuner]

Sony Xplod amp and you're using a cap? Why so much fab work without research into the components?

the xplod amp is only running my door/rear speakers. obviously its not a flashy amp, which is why its buried in the spare tire well. that amp will probably be upgraded later down the road, but for now it works just fine.

i'm running a kicker 750.1 mono amp with 2 12" kicker CVR DVC subs @2ohm. the amps will be powered in sequence which is why i'm going to run a cap.

i did do quite a bit of research before purchasing my setup (aside from the xplod amp which i got from a friend). the subs and amplifier i purchased will work perfect for what i want, and everything is built to spec. i know there is alot of speculation out there about capacitors and whether they help out or not. I figure that the cap should help out the amplifiers, which is why i purchased it, and in all honesty, even if i dont ENTIRELY need it or it doesnt really do much, at least it adds to the look of the trunk, which is another reason for building the trunk. :P obviously i'm not doing this half assed.

[Eurotuned_A4]

gonna be a nice set up brian. you gonna suede up the trunk too?

[A4_2.8tuner]

gonna be a nice set up brian. you gonna suede up the trunk too?

oh yeah. forgot to mention. everything will be covered in dark blue suede, which will nicely match the exterior of the car

[JaVa]

cap wont do anything :( i can get into details if your interested. make sure you do the big 3. what power wire you running to the trunk?

[Insomniac]

Looks good! I really want to do this at some point. A full suede trunk is sick, but I wonder how my snowboarding gear would treat it :(

[biketsai]

Did you go missing? Lol, haven't seen posts from you in a while.

[A4_2.8tuner]

Did you go missing? Lol, haven't seen posts from you in a while.

yeah it seemed like it huh? lol. nah i've just had alot going on. i have been working alot and then after work, working on the car for shows/such, and havent had much time to hangout on the forums...plus having a GF now takes time away too.

i'll try to get on here more often now and keep you guys updated on whats goin on.

[A4_2.8tuner]

here is the progress as of saturday. I have already cut the hole in the false floor for the amplifier, and tonight i will cut the hole for the capacitor. after that, all i have left to do is wrap the pieces in suede, and add a little more paint to the inside of the box.

the only issue i'm forseeing is that since i have made the turns on the beauty boards so drastic, that it might be difficult to wrap the suede around them, whereas if i had made more gradual turns, it'd be easier. so hopefully i can make it work. if not, i may have to recut those pieces, which wouldnt be too difficult since i could trace them :P

[djwimbo]

Lookin good. It's a step in the right direction.
I want to see it when it's done.

[onemoremile]

Coming along nicely. You'll need a gasket between the plexi and the rest of the box. Plexi is flexible and the lack of a perfect seal will effect the tuning and performance of the enclosure. A rubber gasket (10 speed inner tube) or thin layer of RTV sealant will do the trick. This area will be covered by the beauty panel anyway. I always sprayed black around the outside inch of plexi so the sealant couldn't be seen even with the panel off.

Plexi shouldn't be used for such large unsupported spans. The product to use there is .5 - .75" thick polycarbonate like Tuffak. This stuff is much more rigid

Caps aren't needed unless you are running extremely low resistance like 1 ohm. Even then they are debatable. Your amps have more than enough capacitance inside them to get to the maximum of their potential.

[A4_2.8tuner]

thanks for the advice bro. i will be running the amp at 2ohm, and i figure i might as well hook up the capacitor since i already have it...

after test fitting a few of the pieces, i didn't like the way the false floor sat, so i ran to home depot this morning and got another piece of wood to cut, which i can cut to fit better now that i have a better idea. the new piece is also 1/4 inch rather than 1/2 inch so that will reduce the weight a small amount as well.

[fred2ka4]

Like onemoremile stated, the box you are building is to big to be unsupported and you need to have some braces in there as the box will flex especially with the plexi. I went through this same issue a while back when I was building my Sentra and I had plexi on the front and back. It had to be sealed and braced but if you use your imagination you can come up with some cool brace designs. Here was mine and I hope this helps.

[A4_2.8tuner]

so i've finished the fabrication and wrapping all of the panels in suede. overall i'm very happy with the outcome. it turned out exactly how i wanted. all i have left to do is paint under the amplifier, white; cover the amp in plexi; and wire the entire system...oh and put the subs in :D

[Stampy]

Looks good man. Think of how much you saved in labor by doing it yourself.

[djwimbo]

Looks good man. Think of how much you saved in labor by doing it yourself.

too damn much. Enough to buy the amp and subs.

Looks good though. Now all your friends can get drunk and leave you messages in the suede from the texture.

[LowSantorin]

whered you get that suede?

[317ssayzarc]

curious as to how much that whole setup weighs...