Audio install and other stuff over time for my Neon. (Page 1/2)
Khw APR 25, 03:57 PM
This will be kind of slow going because I'm not in a huge hurry to finish it. I'm currently working on getting the stereo installed. This is my work beater car so I'm not going to spend allot on the gear that's going to go into it, mostly using items I already have. I also plan to repaint the car. Currently I'm entertaining the idea of orange but haven't set my mind on it for sure.

Anywho, I started on the sub enclosures for the two Boston Acoustic 10.4LF subs I have. It's important that I maintain trunk space as I need room for all the tool bags I take back and forth to jobs. Plus I need to maintain the ability to put the back seats down so I can haul a couple of 2x4's and such on occasion. For this reason I decided to construct the enclosure in the trunk corners, while making them removable so I can still change the tail light bulbs. This is what I've gotten done on them over the last week or so as I had time to put towards them.






I will cover them in grey carpet once done to "match" the rest of the carpeting as closely as possible. I decided to do it that way so I can keep the use of the fold down back seats.

I plan to use the two Aura amplifiers for the system, with the 2 channel on the subs and the 4 channel for the 6.5" Sony speakers in the doors and the 6x9 Infinity speakers in the rear deck.



I plan to mount them upside down on a amp rack hanging from the rear deck in the trunk. At the same time I plan to enclose the basket of the 6x9 speakers in the rear deck to eliminate any cancellation of waves from the 180o phase shift between the rear of the 6x9's and the front of the 10" subs.

The subs I'm planning to use are the Boston Acoustic subs in these pictures.




I considered using the Lightning Audio subs as the enclosure space required for them is half that of the Boston Acoustics, but the BA subs have a 10ish DB higher sensitivity versus the LA subs and require less wattage to push them.

I bought a "cheap" media player head unit so I could plug my Ipod into it or a USB/SD card. I don't have a picture of it yet but I will try to get one. I also bought a 7 band EQ which I ended up installing under the drivers seat, since once i have it tuned I won't want anyone who happens to ride with me somewhere messing with it. I don't have a picture of that yet either, but I will try to get one.

I have ran a 4 gauge power wire from the battery to the trunk already for the 2 amps. These amps are 300 watts RMS and 320 Watts RMS, so they are not exceedingly powerful. although built rather ruggedly.



As you can see in the 2 channel amp, it uses 8 mosfets on the power supply rail and 4 transistors for each channels output. That's basically twice the components of your typical amplifier which tend to be 4 mosfets in the power supply and 2 transistors on each output channels.

It’s a work in progress so I’ll update it as I can.

[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 04-25-2013).]

Khw APR 28, 04:42 PM
I didn't get a chance to explain what I did to construct the boxes. I used fiberglass resin on the existing carpet corners in the trunk. I marked off where the box would be and then saturated the corners in the resin. Afterwards I cut the corners out. Then I put a coat of bondo on the inside of the corners where the enclosure would be assembled to them, to make them stiffer. I then attached the curved peices which were made of a section of sonotube and wood, that had been coated in fiberglass resin and cloth. I then made the templates for the top wooden bafflel, which once cut out of wood was again coated in fiberglass resin and cloth. I want these enclosures to be resistant to moisture, as I often take 6 or so 5 gallon gas cans to get deisel for the tractors. I don't want them to soak up anything that might get spilled on them or have the wood or sonotube warp or seperate from any ambient moisture that might be present in the trunk. I used liquid nails for the adhesive to bond the peices together and will put a bead of silicone around all corners internally once the enclosures are finished and ready for carpeting. I'm debating as to wether or not I want to fiberglass the outside edges of the rounded part before carpeting it. I do have some sanding that will need done on them first, but I may just seal the edges with resin rather than trying to put fiberglass cloth in with them also. They are already joined by liquid nails and screws, so I doubt seperation will be an issue. The enclosures were slightly different in volume because of the fule filler tube on the passengers side. I took some expanding foam and used it to moch up that bump in the carpet on the other side, cutting and sanding it down until the sides were as near to each other as I could get them.

I'm still debating on exactly how I want to install the amps. I like the idea of mounting them hanging from the rear deck, but I know that's not going to be "easy" to do. Easiest would be to mount them on the back of the seats. I considered leveling the floor up and mounting them in the trunk floor, but I want to keep access to my spare. The only other option I can think of is mounting one on each sub box, but I want them easily removeable in case I need to change any bulbs in the tail lights. So suspended from the rear deck ubder the 6x9s or on the back of the seats... I have all the wood I would need to suspend them along with the screws and stuff. It's make for a cleaner install as the wiring would be easier to hide that way, but then again this is just the beater car so it's not like it's going to be an eye turner right? Decisions, decisions...

In another thread there was mention of sound deadening. I've gone the rubberized undercoating or spray bedliner route before, but decided to try the rubber roofing ice sheeting stuff I've seen mentioned. Alot of people say it works really good and the only area I really need to use it on is the trunk and maybe the sheet metal on the doors. The roof and floor of the interior already has sound deadening material on it from the factory. I picked up the roll, it's 18" wide and 50' long so I should be able to cover everything I need to with some leftover. I'll probably start on this in the trunk today or during the week and get the door skins when I run the speaker wires from the amp to the front doors.

Well, off to make dessert so I can go out tot he garage and get some work done before I start in on dinner.
HoMiE_TeLeFrAgGeD MAY 01, 12:51 PM
Went with fiberglass for the boxes? 0.o Just curious - never seen fiberglass used yet. We always use MDF when we're building custom boxes at work - and all the bassworks and audio enhancer boxes we order in are made of the same in various thicknesses. 4 amps? 0.o Intewesting...will be following this thread closely...
Khw MAY 01, 08:50 PM

quote
Originally posted by HoMiE_TeLeFrAgGeD:

Went with fiberglass for the boxes? 0.o Just curious - never seen fiberglass used yet. We always use MDF when we're building custom boxes at work - and all the bassworks and audio enhancer boxes we order in are made of the same in various thicknesses. 4 amps? 0.o Intewesting...will be following this thread closely...



I've seen fiberglass used for boxes frequently although MDF is more common. I actually have a N.A.M.E. video on fiberglassing boxes from the 90's around here somewhere. It won't have 4 amps though, I'll only be using the 2 Aura amps. The Daimond Audio, one of them went into my wifes Mazda.



I got the sub enclosures done and connected up the Monster Cables ZR1 speaker wires running them under the carpet to where the amps will be.






I've decided to mount the amps on one of the seat backs. It will simplify wiring. I still plan to enclose the rear of the 6x9s though.
Khw MAY 03, 09:43 PM
I'm hoping I can take the rear seat out this weekend and get the 2 amps mounted and wired up. I'll take pics of the process if I get to work on it.
Khw MAY 05, 01:42 AM
Okay I got a few hours to work on it today. I pulled the back seat out and mounted the power distribution block under it.



After that I mounted the amplifiers to the seat back I wanted them on.



Then I reinstalled the seat back portion and started on the wiring.



After that it was more wiring. I got the RCAs in and the power connections done. I got the sub speaker wires hooked up along with the rear 6x9s hooked up. The only thing left to do is run the speaker wires for the front speakers and then make the final connection for the + at the battery.


[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 05-05-2013).]

Khw MAY 10, 01:20 AM
I've lost my evenings to work on this currently. I have to build a lemonade stand for one of my girls school functions. I'm trying to have it done by Saturday evening so I can get some time on Sunday to keep going with the install.
Khw JUN 02, 07:57 PM
Nice weather means Jack's a busy boy. Unfortunately that's busy with work being self employed. I managed to get the passenger side door and dash tweeter hooked up last weekend but haven't had time to do the drivers side. I need more hours in a day because this commuting without music sucketh...
Khw SEP 18, 01:42 AM
Yeah, still haven't got the drivers side speakers hooked up. I had to take a break from working on that as the car developed a multiple misfire problem. I think I finally have that sorted out, but then I started working on paint and haven't gotten back to the stereo. I'll try to get a pic or 2 of the paint in progress. I don't have time to do the whole car all at once, so I've been sanding down panels and masking off the rest of the car when I paint it. I've got the hood, front fenders and front bumper cover done so far. I'm going to try to shoot the roof and drivers side doors this weekend (hopefully).

Edit: Still have to put the rest of the lights back in.

[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 09-19-2013).]

Khw SEP 30, 01:28 AM
Making progress on the paint. I should have the last 2 doors and rear quarter shot next weekend. Then it will be sanding out a couple of small runs and buffing it up the following weekend. After that I will finish getting the door/dash speakers hooked up. From there I need to change the rear struts (I already bought them, I think you can see them in one of the pictures. After that a good cleaning, smog and safety inspection and then it will probably go up for sale or trade. I like the car well enough and it's not that bad for a daily driver, but there are so many other cars I'd rather have over it. Some more practical, like a first gen Saturn SW, others not quite as practical, like a first or second gen Eclipse, but such is life. I only really bought it because it was a stop gap car for a friend who got her van impounded (wives GF from high school). I bought it and had her make payments to me on it with the understanding that when she was able to get something better, I'd buy it back from her for what I sold it to her for if she paid to fix any problems that arose in the meantime and kept it in good shape otherwise.

On tot he pics!