PAGE 1: Getting Started
PAGE 2: Sound Deadening / New System
PAGE 3: Painting the interior trim
Page 4: Headlight disassembly

Page 5: Latest Updates! - kick install, trunk install, new wiring, new gear, etc.

I have just started to redo my whole system and layout.

First, I needed to get some new front speakers. I decided on Alpine SPX-177R. I looked at Diamond Audio, Focal, and MB Quart. While I heard some amazing Focal speakers, they were twice as much as I wanted to spend. The Type-X series is pretty slick and I'm looking forward to getting them installed. I am still deciding what to do about speaker placement. I am thinking that I may fabricate some new door mounts and keep the speakers out of the factory locations and instead in a sealed enclosure. I am willing to trade my door pocket for some better sound.

I removed my glove box in order to gain better access. I'm mounting the crossovers here so I have easy access from the front, while retaining the ability to keep them hidden and locked up.

The rest of the system will consist of a pair of Xtant 403A amplifiers. I will have six channels, two of them independent sub amplifiers. I will be using one VEGA 124 sub mounted in the rear drivers side of the trunk. The other sub channel will run Aura Bass Shakers on the front seats. This will give me that rumble we all desire, without having to crank up the bass to an unmusical level. As you can see from my other cars, i'm not afraid to be loud. My regal was painful - for about two weeks... then i got used to it. I want to be clean, clear, and more musical than any system i've ran before.

Of course, you need a good front end if you plan on doing anything. I'm combining the new technology of Alpine with the old school audiophile quality of Alpine. Enter the ERA-G320. I bought this back in 1998 (i think) from a local dealer. I sold it to my brother-in-law in 2000. He ran it until 2003. Since it has been sitting, waiting, begging... for another day to shine. My Alpine CDA-9851 will feed it via Ai-NET, so none of the internal amplification or preamp in the 9851 will touch my signal. My plan is to mount the G320 faceplate in my sunglasses holder location. I put it there in my brother-in-law's 1996 Caddy SLS. It was a trick location - the unit comes with 20' of cable. I'm thinking about locating the brain for the G320 in the rear of the car, but i'll need a longer Ai-NET cable and aux input cable (since the G320 takes up the Ai-NET space at the Alpine, I need to connect into the jack on the brain. The G320 provides another Ai-NET input.

The rear speakers will be the Massive 6.5" components i used to have in the front that feature a carbon fiber woofer and 1" silk tweeter.

I am also sound deadening my trunk and re-designing the layout. First I needed to strip everything down to metal. I will be coating the entire trunk floor, sides, lid, read deck, and front doors. I picked up 50 sq. ft. and I may pick up 50 more and do the floor and roof.

I decided on using Fatmat in lieu of Dynamat due to cost. No reason to buy the name when it is hidden anyway. The Fatmat installs just like Dynamat. It is very very sticky and I am not worried about it coming off anytime soon. A couple more weekends and I'll be ready to start fabricating the trunk layout.

More sound deadening progress. We removed the trunk lid so we could get into it easier. it also made accessing the trunk easier. I haven't deadened the bottom of the trunk yet, and I'm going to wait until later. I am building a false floor out of 3/4" plywood, so i'm not sure it would make any difference. also, the steel there is pretty thick with factory deadening pads. i am more concerned about the thin steel at this point. I used spray deadening on the rest of the metal in the trunk to help it a bit more.

***5/27/07*** I have finally finished my front doors. Next i'll mount the tweeters and wire up the crossovers in the glove box. then i'll get the head unit and eq mounts made and wired up. I'd like to start listening to the Type-X and begin tuning the crossover and eq. I'll be removing the seats to install the bass shakers, and i'll just pull the carpet to get it shampooed and cleaned. I'll run all of the necessary wires then. I was hoping to get more fatmat so I could do the floor and roof. Not sure if that will happen. I need to determine were to mount the eq display and brain. I'd like to stick the brain in the rear close to the amps, but then i'll need a longer AiNet cable. I don't have a lot of room up front for it behind the dash. I'll have to get creative. I'm still a couple weeks away from doing up the trunk. I haven't decided what to do yet. So many possibilities...

Anyway, here's what I got done this Saturday afternoon. I'm only showing the driver's side but I did both and have the door skins back on. Overall, I spent about four hours on it. I could have been working faster, but I was doing some brainstorming on the rest of the work too.

I started by removing the factory plastic covering. I used it as a template for my polyfill piece. I decided to put something in to replace the plastic, but didn't want to use more fatmat to cover the openings. I wanted to deaden the metal, but was hoping to have more sound absorption.
You can get polyfill in most stores as pillow stuffing. Most commonly used in speaker boxes as it breaks up the wave and helps absorb standing waves. I used clear silicone to secure it to the metal. It should help the door since there are so many openings. Also, it's easy to cut if access in the door is needed, easy to remove, cheap to replace if need be.
I also placed a piece behind the speaker to break up the wave behind it. This has become a popular practice by using special pads, but this will work much better. There is fatmat on the metal behind it for additional deadening of the outer skin.
In order to deal with the depth of the Type-X mids, I used the factory mounting ring and factory depth extender. I used 1/2" adhesive foam on the back of the adapter for a tight seal. I put on two layers of fatmat around the speaker opening. I also use the factory adhesive foam on the speaker basket between it and the adapter. So basically I don't expect any rattles coming from the doors.

I also stuffed polyfill in the trunk lid gaps. i didn't want to fill them with anything permanant in case i need to get to those wires again. it was nice being able to completely remove all of them during deadening, plus you gotta have access to the lights!

What is an install of this complexity without replacing the speaker wire to the doors? I mean, with this investment and the car apart I would be a fool to leave it stock. I was reluctant, but once I figured out where the wiring from the door went it took me less than five minutes to unplug the harness, remove the rubber wireway from the door and the car, and feed the new speaker wire in. It was actually the easiest I have ever done.
The harness came out of the hole in the car easily. I had plenty of room to get my hands in there and feed it back in. The passenger side was a bit more difficult, but only by a couple more minutes. I used the wire supplied with the Type-X components. It had gold plated connectors that were sized perfectly (of course) for the mids. I will need to extend the driver's side by soldering on some additional length, but the other speakers will have plenty of wire.
All Done!

I also just mounted my ERA-G320 display in the former sunglasses holder. I just need to trim up my carpet and some dried glue - i took that pic ten minutes after i got everything secured. the display is held with a pair of screws from the back into the factory locations.

June 25, 2007

Got my Alpine Type-X crossovers installed in my glove box.
I soldered ring terminals on the ends of the wire to ensure nothing will come lose!

With the crossovers mounted here I have complete access to all of the settings - there are tweeter level and phase adjustment settings on these x-overs. Note that i don't have them wired yet - i do have all the screws :) When i'm done you'll just barely see the speaker wire (that white tape is my label)

With the covers installed i still have lower storage available. I kinda wish the covers weren't the off silver and i've debated painting them, but then i'd have to mask off the Alpine on top. I'll leave them as is for now.

**update 8/5/07**

finally got my interior all back together. this finalized all of the wires running from the front to the rear all in split loom.
Driver's Side: 4awg power, 16awg remote, 4 conductor LED control wiring, left and right bass shaker speaker wire.
Center: 2 sets of RCA's, Ai-NET cable, left and right speaker wire from HU (in case i have to remove amps for a bit).
Passenger Side: four sets of Monster 14awg speaker wire for bi-amping front comps.

Honda left a 1" passage way on both sides to get under the seat mount humps! hooray honda!

Well, i've started my own amp configuration and i'll like it for both convenience and performance. After a layer of deadening I filled the gap between the body and wheel well with thick strips of foam. I replaced my pillow top couch cushions and am using the foam in here to take up space while being removable.

I can fit my Alpine ERA-G320 brain behind the preamp section of the amps. the right side of the rack has a cap and fused distribution.

at the ERA-G320 brain and amps i have Monster 1000i and 950i interconnects. My amp mount is complete and i currently have both amps mounted and working.

the result of all my interior installed: