bahaha great- always be prepared boyscout -

 

I finally got tired of the Rotora's sitting in the garage. I was waiting on the Donz Columbo's to install everything at once but I spoke with Derrick yesterday and it will be another month. I installed the everything myself. I know absolutely nothing about brakes but I was pretty good with Lego's and Lincoln logs as a kid so I gave it a shot. Turned out exactly like I imagined. I must say the car looks ten times better with the caliper paint. I could only do two at a time since I did the work in my garage so now Im waiting on a second G2 caliper kit before I do the rear.

 

Thought I would post a pic of these. I was going to install them yesterday but my friend couldnt make it. Thank you Carson.

 

Thought I would post a pic of the old vs. the new tails. Looks much better now! The car is a litle dirty and a stupid bird pooped on my car though.

 

Following KID_LEXUS's recommendation I ordered the basic color camera on Ebay. I pulled out the lock and replaced it with the camera, Im just glad the lock isnt off-center like my old ES300. I used a AC/DC block from my storage bins. There are two wires coming out of the block of which at first I had no idea which one was power or ground. It turns out the wire with the white striped wire is the hot wire. I didnt find out the hard way though, I simply busted it open and by following the circuit I figured it out. I knew it was the hot wire because the trace ran through a capacitor and they only run on the hot side. I had a small condensation issue that was easily fixed with some pipe tape.

 

This is a great thread...gettin to see everything come together in one place, and with pics is very cool. I'll PM you a quick Q about the camera you used

Also, are you the one waiting on black Donz Columbos or is that someone else? If so, they will look great on your car, trust me. Just make sure you lower your ride if you havent already.

 

When I wired up the touchscreen Alpine I lost the sub, not anymore. Since I am still running the four 4" stock speakers I will only use the rear channels on the amp to drive the stock sub, for now. Eventually, I will replace the mids + highs along with adding a subwoofer + amp. Then the 300/4 amp will be put on mids and highs. But right now Im not really worried about the sound as much as I am about 20" Donz Columbo's and something to rid the monster truck effect.

Pictured:

JL Audio 300/4 Amp
0-gauge kit SWKH0
250A fuse GANL250PT
Termination boots SWX12Y
0-gauge fuse holder SEANLFHPT
20ft Video cable SVX20( Will replace RCA I currently have running to reverse camera. )
4-gauge distribution block SDB2PT( Will actually merge power wires under the hood to 4-gauge for battery terminal. )
0-gauge distribution block STEE0PT( Will actually centralize grounding points for entire trunk with 0-gauge to chasis. )

10ft of 0-gauge ground wire.
6ft of 4-gauge ground wire.
6ft of 4-gauge power wire.
10ft of 12-gauge speaker wire.

 

Thanks Eric, I really appreciate the kind words. I am in fact waiting on the black 20" Donz Columbo's. Its abeen about 2-3 weeks since Derrick said the wheels will be in. Which reminds me, I should check on them.

 

Lex, is there a reason you went with MTX subs instead of Orion subs, since you already have Orion amps?

I had Orion subs and amps in my Audi, and they sounded great.

 

Keep in mind that the system visual on the first page was on my old ES300. But, there was no particular reason I went with the MTX over the Orion. Not to mention Orion is slowly falling off, you will now find that Orion amps are labeled by their peak wattage along with no longer have mil-spec circuit boards. The only sub I would have considered from Orion would have been the HCCA and I just didnt have $200 to invest in the correct box for it. The Orion XTR Pro just wasnt powerful enough for the single sub configuration I was going for. I have a small obsession with single sub configurations and tweaking them with alternators and line drivers just so I can make fun of the systems with four twelves when I out-hit them. No on has ever guessed that I only had one fifteen in the car after listening to it. They only finally believe me when I pop the trunk. Looking back I wish I would have done a few things differently like mix-and-matching hardware, maybe now I wouldnt be re-doing my new car proper. Although I did just spend over $200 for wires....again, which I did do properly on the first system.

 

everything looks great so far....you didn't waste anytime!

 

I finally found time to put the rear Rotora's and caliper paint with the "L" decals. Because I know next to nothing about brakes other than when I did the front, I also followed a guide for the LS400 on the rear because someone said they were similar. That was certainly true for the fronts but not for the rear. I discovered on the rear there are no 14mm bolts necessary to remove the caliper. Although before I found this out I loosed a 14mm bolt only to be met with brake fluid. So just remove the 17mm bolts and you are good.

 

PRICELESS!!!

 

Hi. You have done a lot of mods to the car. It looks great. You are running a lot of electoric gear and I was wondering what type of battery are you using. Is it an Optima Yellow Top? If so, what model is it: D31A or D31T. If it is not an Yellow Top, what type of battery are you using and what is the amps? The reason I am asking is that I had to change the alternator in my car and the mechanic says I should also change the battery to one that has more amps (1000 amps). I have a 800watt system in the car and when the headlights are one and wipers go, the sound will kick out. he thinks if I have a lrger battery in combination with the new alternator, it won't kick out at idle. If it is a battery issue, I would liek to know what type you are using. Thanks.

 

Well, the 0-guage amp kit and extra platinum goodies have been installed. I ordered this amp first so I can re-connect the rear sub that I lost when I wired up the Alpine touch screen. 4 guage wire is pushing this amp and the sub is bridged but with the gain as low as it will go. I temporarily mounted the amp on the back wall although I reinforced the mount with a board that I installed after pulling out the back of the seat. In the not so distant future, I will remove the bottom plate of the amp and flip it so I can expose the circuitry. I am at a loss on what to do with the future of my subwoofer setup.

I have had a system in my car since I was fifteen and I dont know if I want one anymore. There are two basic options I am looking at.

(1) I think I might replace the stock 10" with a single 12" in a box that is bolted to the bottom of the back deck and firing through the stock hole. This can eliminate getting another amp because I can wire the two JL XR650-CSi component sets down to two ohm stereo off of the front channels. If I do this I just spent $300 on 0-guage wiring and accessories for almost NO reason. Approximately $800 or so to do it right. or

(2) Rip off DaveGS4's design and invert a 13w7(he has a 10w7 though). Either way I want full access to the trunk while eliminating "trunk bass", which means either side of the woofer will be connected with the cabin. The JL XR650-CSi components would have their own amp but the 13w7 isnt cheap and neither is the JL 1000/1 amp. Approximately $1800 or so to do it right.

Hmm...what big lips I have. lol