bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

He'll just drive down to where you are with wires hanging out of his car everywhere and kidnap you until the job's finished.

Hameed

Wow, Jerry - you have all the answers for this!!!!! I will compile all your feedback, tips and guidance together as I am doing this project and will setup a thread specifically for this and maybe get you to sticky it so that the next person with a GS that wants to go through it, all the answers will be right here!

1. I will order the sub box from the link you posted. That is just awesome! Question about mounting this box. I read on another thread - I think it was a post that RMMGS4 replied to about replacing the rear parcel shelf with an MDF board. Not sure how easy that is. What did you do in your car to overcome this limitation (the thin rear shelf)?

2. Thanks for posting the pics of the baffles for the door speakers - it makes it so much less intimidating now that I have seen what you did.

- Where can I buy that MDF board?
- Is this a Home Depot type item?
- What is its thickness?
- What tool do I need to get to make those circular cutouts?


3. Thanks for posting the pic of how the amps are mounted on the back of the rear seat. I was thinking about this all last night and it hit me this morning that - that is the perfectly logical place to install them. Then I read your comments and my thoughts were confirmed.

- I am guessing I can also mount the crossovers there as well.

Hameed

Yes, I finally gave in and decided to do it myself. There was no way I could afford to pay a professional to do this and the components are just gathering dust sitting in my garage, so I decided to take the less comfortable route and do the install myself.

With Jerry's help, I am pretty confident now that I can do it! Thanks again Jerry!

Regarding the sound insulation - yes I will be doing that as well. I didn't bother asking questions about that on this thread as I have already figured out how to do it. I also bought a ton of sound deadening a while back - so I had no questions there either.
That just might happen......................

Smitty

iTrader: (1)

Has anyone been able to hook their pioneer aftermarket headunit to their factory 6 disc changer?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Of course Hameed I've not done this but to hang a sub with box the rear shelf will definitely have to be beefier. You can use more MDF (medium density fiberboard, by the way - it's used to make a lot of cabinetry that doesn't have a stained finish, say in a laundry room or bathroom or garage), cut to the shape of the existing shelf. The only challenge is mounting it rigidly so it can't move but no doubt this has been solved by many before now!

> - Where can I buy that MDF board?
> - Is this a Home Depot type item?

Yes.

> - What is its thickness?

3/4" - 1"

> What tool do I need to get to make those circular cutouts?

That be a jigsaw Bob. I've got a Black & Decker one.

When you take that back gray matting out of the trunk you'll see the metal structure of the car with this thin white gauze type stuff. My guess is you'd mount another board (could be plywood) to self-tapping screws or machine screws with bolts through the metal car frame to hold that rigidly and then mount the amp to the board.

Hameed

Thanks Paul!

I will head down to Home Depot tonight and buy the mdf board and a jig saw!

Jerry, I found this sub enclosure - http://www.cardomain.com/item/OBCGZ31810 which I think will be fine for the Focal Utopia 27WX even though it is an 11 inch sub. The box is for a 10 inch sub, but on the sound domain website, they recommend a 10 inch sub box - http://www.cardomain.com/item/FOC27WX?sku=FOC27WX

Looking at the sub box, how would it mounted to the rear parcel shelf? Would I need to build some sort of brace to attach to this box and then attach the brace to the shelf?

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Whoa Hameed. You're going fast here.
First off, sub box. That's a great sub box. It's ported. You could also use sealed, would be a bit smaller.
Next, rear deck - deck is flimsy - no need to use board if you have a box. You can just mount the box on the raised part of the back of the trunk. It won't be that much different, and would be much much easier. Then you could face the sub UP, or REAR, depending on how you like the sound. I'll post some pics of what I did, but I don't recommend it. I put a lot of design work into getting mine to come out right, but it doesn't look it. You need to allow clearances for the sub excursion (movement of cone) if you mount to deck. Don't need to worry about it otherwise.

3/4" MDF board if you are going to make an underside board for the rear deck, or 3/4 plywood. You then must drill holes in the deck and put 1/4" or 3/8" bolts/nuts thru there, with big washers on BOTH sides of the board/deck combination, so nothing pulls through.

For the door baffles you use 1/2" MDF or the 3/4". Yes, a Jigsaw is the tool. BTW, Home Depot has MDF 2'x4' Project boards that are perfect for this purpose.

Jerry

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

What the?......

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

This is my woof box that I hung from the rear deck. The thing weighs 60 lbs +. It needed the massive support brackets. I do NOT recommend doing this. It is SO much easier not to hang it and just let it sit under the stock hole.
I built the box with the lips to keep the woofer from hitting the deck.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Bolted in....you lose some access to the amps. But they can't be stolen either.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

this part is easy!

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

You can separate the rear (back) part of the trunk liner with a utility knife. It then 1) makes a nice template to be able to shape the MDF amp board, and 2) you can cover the board with some adhesive and re-attach the carpet liner - before you mount the amps to it. Tricky tricky, eh? Looks factory when done.
What you see here is the BACK of it, with the carpet liner sticking out underneath.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Here's the back of the amp rack - this is what's behind the seats - can't see any of it, so no real need to be neat. THIS is where you would mount crossovers. You'll never need to touch them.
Note the braces that Paul was referring to. They are behind the rear seat.

Hameed

Yes! This is so much fun!

I spent about two hours last night -
- swapped out the HU/HVAC metal brackets with the plastic brackets that came with the dash kit
- installed the navigation system into the dash (and the HVAC) and it just looks so awesome - very OEM looking. The dash kit matches the face of the HVAC 100%. I can't believe how close the match is to my black dash. This is exactly what I have always wanted a nav to look like in my car. Thanks to Lexis11 for hooking me up with the Nav system and the dash kit!
- removed the gauge cluster
- stopped by an audio shop and bought 3 sets of RCA cables, 4 gauge AMP install kit, another RCA cable for the rear view camera

Objectives for today:
1. Connect all wiring for the Navigation system other than the connections to the speakers - so the following:
- Speed sensor wire
- parking brake wire
- power and ground ofcourse
- grounding the spare port on the harness - this is the mod that allows you to change destinations while driving
- gps antenna
- rear view camera

Take the car out and test the nav. If I can get the nav working properly today, I will have achieved a major milestone. Ofcourse I won't hear any voice guidance as I will not have hooked up the speakers at this point. I just want to make sure the navigation system and rear view camera work properly.

All this wiring should not take more than 2 - 3 hours tops and most of that time would be spent on the install of the rear-view camera and the gps antenna as wires have to be run to the rear of the car and the camera needs to be installed in the trunk keyhole.

2. Place order for sub box

3. Stop by Home Depot and buy the MDF boards and Jigsaw and then cut the boards. By this time I will probably need a break and will continue tomorrow.

I like the idea of mounting the sub box on that raised part of the trunk, however it would mean having to lose the rear STB. I wonder if I should do that just to make this subwoofer install easier? Is the tradeoff better?

Your design definitely looks like a lot of work was put into it.

Just puttiing the sub box on the floor of the trunk would probably save me a lot of time as I would not need to strengthen the rear parcel shelf. What are your recommendations for attaching the sub box in this location? I think the gas tank is under that spot is it not?

Awesome! Jerry, I can't tell you enough how much your posts have made this seemingly impossible project for me to be not so impossible anymore.

If you don't mind, can you please pm me with your number. I won't bug you too much, I am just still very nervous about the amp wiring stuff. I think perhaps some 20 mins or so of your time will clear up my questions tomorrow when I attempt to tackle the amp and speaker wiring.

Thanks for posting all those pics of your install. It puts everything into perspective and gives the whole project so much more clarity!

I didn't realize I would be able to install the crossovers on the side of the board that is facing the rear seats. I was under the impression that there is no space there for that.

My goal is to try to finish the majority of the work by the end of next weekend or the weekend after, then take the car to a local audio shop and get the system tuned (if that is needed).

Hameed

I just placed my order for the sub box and at the end of the order they had this very cool free gift where you could choose upto 4 magazine subscriptions for 1 full year for only $2.00 each.

So I selected the following magazines - Time ($77.00 for 56 issues), Popular Mechanics ($24.00 for 12 issues), Car & Driver ($22.00 for 12 issues) and Fast Company ($24.00 for 10 issues).

Anyway I get to the final page to key in my cc info to pay a total of $8.00 only for these magazines that would normally cost $147.00 and to my dismay find out this offer is only available to US residents!