[savagebee]

Originally Posted by savagebee

Ive owned this car for over 5 years now, and have been working on the audio since i got it.
Im finally nearing completion of my first real build, and felt ike Id go ahead and post what I have at this point.

First, the equipmet
2 elemental designs 190v.2 18" subs. These are currently in a wall, and I am reworking this part in order to run them IB under a false floor, properly vented to the outside.
midbass are undecided, but Im working on a floor mounted, externally vented idea for a couple of 10 or 12" drivers
top end (800 hz +) is currently a set of id full bodied cd1ev.2 horns.
processing is an eclpse 8443 along with 2 of the cadence 1/3 octave eqs (not useing the eqs as of now, waiting until Im done before I add them in.
Amplifiers are passable right now, but an upgrade is immenent, I have an ed 9.1 (no problems here) on subs, a 9.2 on horns (also fine now) and a hifonics nemesis (serious noise floor issues here) which I want to replace with either 2 9.2s or 9.2xs for some more power available on midbass
sound deadening is a huge conglomeration of edead, second skin, raamat, and hushmat. I still need to do the front floors, and possible roof.

so onto progress
here my charging system. It consists of two iraggi alternators, a 180 and a 220. I get close to 300 amps as idle, if its cool outside.
I have 2 runs of 1/0 going to the rear, not because I need it for my current power demands, but because Im tired of replacing wiring, I figured this way it will never be an issue again




The runs to the back are external, run along the frame rail, supported every 6 inches by plumbers strapping and is covered in techflex. Its been this way for months, with no issues so far, but Im keeping an eye on it. I have some solid conduit I can use if I start seeing signs of wear.
I never have voltage below 14 when running, no matter what Im playing, including 0db test tones at full tilt.

heres the horns Ive been working with. I bought them for a hell of a deal, but the catch was they had been sitting in a shop unprotected for years, so I completely disassembled and cleaned them before using them.







Here are the horns, being test fit.
They arent quite to the outside, but without losing my e brake its the best I can manage yet



that stage height and width was awesome, even without processing, but I had some harshness. I have not had the horns in for over a month, as I ave been working on making a baffle in order to completely couple them with the dash, and making a bottom cover, so my floor mounted midbass wont be trapped by the horn bodies and the bottom of the dash.
Ive got the front baffle built, but it still needs some fine tuning, hopeflly next month Ill get that done up.

Thats most of it for now, but Ill show some of the plans I have

Originally Posted by savagebee

here is where the subs are now, and where the spare tire is is where the subs will be mounted IB. They will be directly vented to the outside, with some gortex or some other air permeable, but waterproof material to block water and condensation.
The amps will also be back here, covered by a false floor. At most Ill have to elevate the false floor by two inches, possibly none at all.




Heres my custom made rcas and speaker cables. I will have 6 channels of the hand made ones I made, and 6 channels of speaker cable. Im going to oleave the 3 rca sets in place that I have been using, just in case I decie to add more processing or amps. I figure this way, unless I go optical or balanced I wont have to remove my inerior after Im done, I can just swap equipment.

rcas and speaker cables
these are nueritk ends (nys something or other, with gepco 61801ez cable)
the heat shrink is color coded, red for highs, yellow on mids, and blue for subs
white is passenger side, black is driver, and the red and black at the ends of the speaker cables is for polarity








thats the extent of what Ive done so far, next will probably be reinstalling the horns, then IB subs, then new midbass.

Originally Posted by savagebee

okay, so I made some progress today while my kid was sleeping. Basically I ran my custom rcas and cleaned up my existing wiring







The power and ground wires are still a mess. I will clean them up once I permanently mount the amps under the floor

next up is going to be mounting the horns properly, probably not for a bit, due to me needing to make a ton of Christmas gifts

[joeybutts]

yowzers! Some intense work here and alot of new concepts for me.....I dig.

[alexlindeman]

Long time no see.

Its good to see you back.

Have you tried firing the subwoofers rearward?

[Wolvatron]

I've always wanted to try horns. I remember the first time I heard them!

Looks good, dude! Keep us updated.

[savagebee]

Originally Posted by alexlindeman

Long time no see.

Its good to see you back.

Have you tried firing the subwoofers rearward?

yeah, I have been on DIYMA for a while, figured Id post here as well

Ive done it, and it sounded better, but I had this in there already when I trie an experiment, so i just left it for now.

Hopefully Ill buy a couple extra sheets of birch when I make my Christmas presents (cutting boards/trivets/coasters) and use that to cut a bunch of ring and get the sub mounted IB.

I may jut use one of the 19os, but since I have the both, and the room to do it Ill probably do so.

[alexlindeman]

How are you going to do IB in the wagon?

[savagebee]

theres a floor that I built into the back that Im going to modify. The car came with a rear facing third row of seats, and there is a corresponding footwell in the rear, it hangs down level with the gas tank, but slightly behind. Im going to cut a big ass hole there, and put down a layer or two of thin gortex or tyvek in order to keep it breathable, but water tight, The subs will be mounted on a false floor, but below the level of the actual flooring. Then Ill put some rigid metal meshing over it, and lay down some carpet.

2 18"s in a wagon with no cargo space lost

I should have enough room on the sub floor to mount my amps and eqs as well, so nothing will be showing

Hopefully.
I finally got my japer jigs and a few sheets of mdf yesterday. Hopefully Ill be able to get something started this week or the next. Then ill move back to the front stage

[savagebee]

Ive been working on the venting for the IB substage today. I originally planned on using 2 6" pvc tubes about 6 inches long. Im concerned that this may not be enough, now that Ive cut the holes. The subs have 22 mm xmax, and Illbe running less than 600wrms per sub. Does anyone know why two 6" x 6" round vents wouldnt work?

[joeybutts]

I know that Chris had designed a HT subwoofer using 6" port with an 18" at about 8ish cubes......

[savagebee]

well Im going to try it this way, I shouldnt have any chuffing, since the manifold area will b just large enough to accomodate the woofers

[savagebee]

so I had around ten hours today. My kids at my parents, my wife was at work, and Im on vacation. So what do I do? Bust my ass all day.

Heres a section of the venting I cut... Think I have enough deadener here?


I used my 4" holesaw to drill a "pilot hole" of sorts, then enlarged it with my sawzall.




Heres the basic mounting system I used. I later "filled in the blanks" with some scrap and then covered it with a layer of 3/4" MDF



Heres a view from underneath, the pvc was later trimmed down and painted black to blend in better


This is the result of killing a sheet of cardboard and burning up my jigsaw blade.
Fits like a glove now



I tried to use spray paint from underneath to shadow where the holes were, I was really proud of this insight, until i cur the hole and they were too big. I used some more expanding foam and shaved it down. Its water tight, but ugly.




I bought these grills at Lowes, thinking I was pretty smart. They had a big red label that said "22.5" I start working with them and realize something isnt quite right. Theyre really only about 17" across, I guess the 22.5" was the size grill they fit. Back to the drawing board on this I guess



Heres the manifold for the subs, its a very tight fit.



Heres the bottom of the amp rack, I will be putting the equipment on there tommorrow, I have an hour and a half drive to pick up my kid, so tunes are needed

[savagebee]

The subs were a very tight fit on the manifold. They actually over hang the edges. I flushmounted them, and will be sourcing a grill soon hopefully.







Im going to build a beauty panel that covers the back. I have about .8" between the tailgate and sub enclosure. Almost like I planned it or something.



Heres the basic idea of how Im going to lay the amp rack out. I stll need to build plexi covers for the ID cd1ev.2 crossovers and the cadence eqs.


And heres a pic of the car



So tommorrow Im going to mount the subs and waterproof the manifold/enclosure with some latex paint, mount the subs with some t nuts, and get the amp rack back in and running. The amp rack cover and grills may not be ready tommorrow, but hopefully Ill have music for the trip. Any suggestions are welcome, this is a "by the seat of the pants" type of install, probably why it took all day and I didnt finish

[savagebee]

well the equipment rack and sub went in today. I had to seal the second sub cutout, but it was easy as I hadnt dumped off my scrap yet.




Heres where I ended up makin my own ground distribution block







I ended up spending about an hour chasing leaks, when I secured the mounting baffle to the sides apparently my measuring was off, and I ended up pulling about a 1/4" gap in the side of the baffle without a sub mounted. Nothing some "great stuff" couldnt take care of. Now Im off to lowes to see about returning the two small grills I bought and getting one thats slightly larger.

I havent done any tuning besides gain setting for the new two ohm load, but I didnt lose much, if any output, and have a much better low end now.

Hopefully tommorrow Ill get the covers done and be able to carpet it all soon

[Hawmps]

I did a similar alternator setup in my van, '74 Chevy. I have two 190 amp alternators with 1/0 running from each into the cab and I had the batteries in the back under the bed. The 2nd alt is mounted where the smog pump used to be, right below the factory alternator location. I had one set up for the main vehicle power, and the other ran the stereo and refridgerator off a dedicated deep cycle. I could run the refridgerator all day and not have to worry about starting the engine becasue of the separate systems. I have the interior gutted right now though. One day I'll have the time to redo it all.

[savagebee]

yeah, its really nice never having to worry about low voltage.

I got a grill made up today, and will hopefully get the false foor done tommorrow.

[LDW3RD]

Awesome looking build so far keep at it.:beer:

[Ben Milne]

Love the ground block

[savagebee]

Originally Posted by Ben Milne

Love the ground block

I was pretty proud of that lol
I had an old buss bar in my tool box, and didnt have a ground block, so I made one


The false floor is finished, Ill post pics later tonight or tomorrow.

Ive been working on some storage boxes for the sides of the car

[alexlindeman]

So I have to ask, hows the outside bass?

[savagebee]

well, its pretty ridiculous, but not as bad as I thought it'd be lol

Its still louder inside than out, but the low frequencies are insane in the car.