Build Log of My Own Car :) 2010 LGT - Mosconi, Morel, Arc and More

hey guys,

 

finally got around to doing the build in my own car this is a direct copy and paste from my log over on diymobileaudio.com. cheers.

 

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To be honest, if you asked me about when my own car was going to be done a coupla months ago, i would have given you a pained expression and uttered something along the lines of "who knows" or "uh probably never".

 

Work was getting to be really busy and it seems i can never find enough time to work on it, add that to the fact that i really tried to push myself in terms of design restrictions it really did feel like biting off more than i can chew.

 

I got the front midbasses and wiring done late last year, and then it just sat there for the next year...until about 2 weeks ago.

 

With a brief lull in the schedule, i was able to make decent progress on the trunk, and with our open house event scheduled for the following weekend, i decided to just push through and finish it once and for all...eventually, other than some small details that still needs to be taken care of, the car was completed friday late afternoon before the meet.

 

let us first take a look at the goals that made this a pretty difficult project:

 

1. obtain a decent level of sound quality utilizing oem locations (i have had non stock locations for virtually all my previous cars, but i feel that out here, having a nice sounding stock location vehicle may be a better selling tool, not to mention if someone wanted to sample a non-stock location vehicle, they can listen to Joey's truck )

 

2. obtain a decent amount of low freq output and extension (this meant a pretty big sub amp and two relatively powerful subs)

 

3. keep a 100 percent hidden appearance in the trunk with NOTHING outside of the spare tire well. (this presented quite a challenge as you will see later)

 

4. Focus on ease of adjustability and maintainence

 

5. Showcase various aspects and ability of our shop

 

6. maintain a permanent android presence in the vehicle while maintaining a audiophile quality cd headunit (this meant either an android headunit or a tablet mount, read more later)

 

 

so...thats about it...some of you may remember my previous subaru legacy wagon. at the time, i really felt like that was squeezing 10lbs of stuff into a 5 lb bag, but this time around, i was trying to jam almost twice amount of equipment into virtually the same space:

 

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/build-logs-project-install-gallery/40722-abbreviated-install-log-my-own-car.html

 

so, lets get started with it all.

 

first, some quick shots of the car, which is pretty much stock except for tint and clear bra. it has full bolt ons to stage 2, and honestly, isnt really much slower, if at all, than my old legacy with turbo/fuel/meth

 

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moving to some quick underhood shots. I swapped the stock battery with a XSpower D2400 battery, pretty much the biggest thing that will fit, i also redid the wiring using a set of JL audio battery terminals, beefed up the ground, and the stinger 0 gauge fuse holder is located on a metal bracket welded to my tie down brace by joey. all the wires are organized and loomed with heatshrink termination:

 

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some quick pics of the fuse mounting bracket joey came up with:

 

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and a final shot of the engine bay, about the only thing visible is the racerX TMIC and charge pipe

 

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Moving on to the signal source. This took a lot of thinking and searching on my part. Unlike my previous car, which featured a plethora of mechanical guages, i wanted to use an android device to run OBDII based apps like dashcommand or torque. I also knew i wanted this android unit to be permenantly mounted to my car...so basically, the choices were between doing a tablet mount and a android headunit. In addition, i knew i wanted to run a SQ specific headunit, which turned out to be once again, a Denford 8250.

 

each had its advantages and downsides. the tablet idea, while cool, would mean i have to loose my dash storage pocket to house the Denford, it would also be slightly quirky if i wanted to have rear view camera and steering wheel controls capability. An android headunit, like those commonly found online, did everything i want, but virtually all of them are unknowns when it came to reliability and sonic performance. While i do have my SQ deck for cds, i still wanted me other source to sound good when demoing digital media.

 

The answer came to me while visiting the AAMP of american booth at the 2014 CES. Intraphex, a company i have known and worked with before, is in the final stages of developing a unit called the prodigy pro that can plug into various environments, be it oem or aftermarket, and transform a otherwise benign touchscreen into a fully independent android device.

 

After some discussions at CES and realizing that it can work with any pioneer unit with a NAV port, i decided on a 7500 indash flipout unit to pair up with my Denford. I know flipouts are pretty much like dinosaurs and in a year or two, no one will be making them anymore, but for what i wanted to accomplish, it is exactly the right unit for the job. No extra cutting or molding, easy integration of rear view camera and steering wheel controls, all the reliablity and sonic output of a pioneer, but all the advantageous and capabilities of an android piece.

 

now, i want to MAKE SURE you guys understand that this is still very much in BETA TESTING, there are still bugs to be worked out to please dont ask me on the specifics of the unit or jump the guy on hyping or bashing what it can do. once i get the finalized software and get to play with it for sometime, i will post a very formal review with all the info. for now, i can only say its definitely on the right track.

 

so anyway, here is the resting view of the two units, stacked together in a metra dash kit...a big odd looking i know, but it is what it is and yes, i know the dash kit isnt fitting 100 percent correctly, but since i may have to take the unit a few more times to update it, i figure i will wait till the last time to properly space it:

 

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here the pioneer opened up in normal pioneer view:

 

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i also installed a low profile backup camera into the trunk lid:

 

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and with a push of the Mode (nav) button on the 7500, the unit switches over to the android side. I want to make sure to let you know that it is NOT AT ALL tethered to my phone, and it does indeed have full touch screen capability. its basically mimicing the pioneer nav so all of those functions are working.

 

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sample apps running:

 

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here are some quick pics of the headunit install, which basically consists of stacking the two units and a heap load of wiring...but most of the wiring was covered in tesa tape, courtesy of our friend and my personal install hero Jeremy Katz (formerly of advanced audio designs in MA)...so that made it easier to organize things:

 

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here is is the area behind the dash where everything plugs into everything else:

 

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here is the intraphex prodigy pro piece that turns my pioneer flipout into an independent android device...again, more info and review to come later.

 

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here are a few pics of the rear view camera install...first, i took off the trim panel above the license plate, drilled a hole and secured the camera:

 

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then the trim piece was secured back onto the trunk lid, the point of entry for the cable sealed up, and then the cable was lead down, the video and power/ground wires connected to my own twisted primary wire, and passed into the car via the stock conduit:

 

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i also took this opportunity to sound proof my trunk lid with a combination of blackhole tile and CLD damper, while the backside of the lid trim received full foam coverage:

 

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backup front, the only other visible modification to the front is the bass knob next to the coin tray behind the shifter, and the usb port infront of the shifter:

 

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moving onto the doors. unlike the headunit, the front stage choice was set a long time ago...i wanted to run the morel elate mw6 midbass paired with the supremo piccolo tweeter. this combo is one of my favorite two way combinations and always seems to sound pretty good.

 

First, i sound proofed the outter door skin with about 20 blackhole tiles per door:

 

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then the inner metal skin was covered fully wtih focal BAM XXXL composite damper:

 

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new connection 12 gauge speaker wires were run into the doors:

 

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a set of spacer baffles was fabricated and coated with truck bedliner:

 

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and bolted to the door using stock mounting points:

 

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then the Elate MW6 was wired up and installed:

 

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then i applied some FAST rings to midbass to form a seal against the door grille opening:

 

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and finally, the outter door skin was smothered with blackhole CLD damper to kill resonance:

 

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the same procedure was repeated on the passenger side:

 

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Moving onto the supremo piccolo tweeter, which went into the stock top the dash location firing up. I make sure the tweeter fit correctly there, i fabricated a pair of mounting adapters out of 1/4" acrylic, tap and threaded the mounting holes, so the tweeter can be mounted from the bottom side to clear the stock grille:

 

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the adapters were painted black:

 

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and the piccolo secured in place and ready to be wired up:

 

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and finally the two tweeters were secured in place, and done.

 

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Moving onto the wiring...here is the pile of twisted primary wire for all my rca and video cable need:

 

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and here are pictures of the two bundles as it travels from the front of the car into the trunk, bundled, secured via zipties every 3-4 inches:

 

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i also took out the stock amp and soldered the input and output together for the rear sepeakers and hooked em up to the pioneer flipout.

 

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the final thing i did in the cabin was to remove the stock subwoofer and fully sound proof the rear deck with focal bam XXL:

 

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Moving into the main attraction and the most headache inducing part of the build. From very early i knew in order to acheive the sonic performance i wanted, i needed a pretty decent amount of gear, i also knew that i didnt want to raise the floor at all or flow out from the spare tire well into other parts of the trunk or car, in addition, i wanted to add little extra touches to set of the build. In the end, all three factors was working against the physical limitations of the spare tire well. while the well itself is quite large, it shrink rapidly once i started cramming stuff into it.

 

several times during the last year or even during this build i wanted to give up and just put some amps on the bottom of the rear deck or under the seat, but in the end, decided to just keep forging ahead.

 

so lets take a look at the final result. this is my normal everyday view, as you can see, the stock cargo mat fits exactly like before for a 100 percent OEM, fully usable trunk:

 

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remove the rubber cargo mat and you see the previous center floor panel has been replaced with a new floor, with what looks like two cutouts towards the back:

 

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pop off the press fit center grille and here is what you see. two mosconi zero amps is trimmed in a white vinyl border. the zero 4 on the right powers the midbass with 210 watts rms and the piccolos with 100 watts, while the zero 3 on the right is bridged powering the subs with 1850 watts rms. Simple and clean. You may notice the two amps have slightly different finishes...the zero 4 i have had for over a year and in that time, it got quite dirty and messy, so it was cleaned with acetone, which ended up putting a shine on it, the zero3 is brand new...i will find sometime to equalize their finish some time.

 

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so at this point, you are probably wondering where the rest of the install is, including the subs. well, press a switch on the right side of the trunk, and the entire amp rack assembly motorize up to reveal a well and separate enclosure/rack under neath. towards the back is a pair of arc audio Black series 10" subwoovers, they reside in a sealed enclosure of roughly 1.5 cubic foot, while upfront, two separate windows trim around a mosconi 6to8V8 dsp, and a connection dual power/ground distribution block. all the surfaces has been trimmed out in white vinyl, with the exception of the top layer of the well, which is done in black vinyl:

 

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using a remote controller, i can turn on the RGB led strip and light up the inner edge of the plexi layer with any color i want:

 

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three more shots of the raised amp rack from further back:

 

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of course, that lighting is best viewed in a dark garage or at night, so here is that view from various angles:

 

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and finally, here is a quick little video showing the movement and the lighting of the amp rack. joey came up with the idea to raise the front portion of the rack first so when it starts tiling, the trim panel clears the floor, it worked out great!

 

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVyE0bab-Vk]Trunk Demo[/ame]

 

some if you may wonder how the bass gets out from under all those layers. Well, i am always a believe in that bass finds a way, and there are still quite a few openings around to let the air out as you will see in the build log. while i have no doubt that i will probably loose a bit of output and airmovement with it down, i can also tell you definitively that with everything buttoned up and the cargo mat in place, i easily have more than enough bass when driving around...so much so that most of the time, i have the bass towards the lower end of the knob adjustment. Hard to believe perhaps, but with my previous wagon, i consistently scored higher on bass with the super thick and heavy rubber mat over my fake floor than with it wide open...and that seemed like a fully sealed situation as well.

so onto build pics of all this mess.

 

first, the entire spare tire well was sound proofed, taped off, and 7 layers of fiberglass laid down:

 

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then i fabricated the stepped top baffle with the center gap to leave room for the actuator:

 

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the well portion of the box was trimmed to match the top baffle:

 

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and the entire shaped sound proofed with CLD, and test fitted into the well:

 

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then the two pieces were mated together, forming what can only be described as a ghetto mellinium falcon enclosure

 

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the two mounting holes for two subs were then cut out:

 

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then, i went ahead and painted the parts that may be visible through the opening for the actuator rod black, so no shiny surfaces can be seen:

 

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here you will notice that the floor of the spare tire well was cut, and a new cubby has been welded in place. joey fabricated that out of metal so the actuator can sit low enough to clear the top amp rack.

 

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here is the view from under the car, as you can see, it is still higher than the exahust system right front of it, and the entire bottom of the well has been undercoated:

 

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moving back to the enclosure. all the spacers were installed along wtih threaded inserts to secure the top layers, and then the back half was wrapped in black vinyl, while the front portion was painted with truck bedliner:

 

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the DSP, distribution block, and four barrier strips were then secured:

 

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and the entire structure droped back into the car and secured. it is then wired up as much as possible:

 

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the entire enclosure is held down by the bolt at the spare tire well retainer:

 

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next comes the various layers before and after upholstery.

 

first, the bottom layer, which wraps around the main white trim panel and to which all the top layers bolt to, is wrapped in vinyl after threaded inserts were installed:

 

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here are the various pieces that make up the well.

 

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first the bottom two layers, which is a 1/4" plexi that has been counted, and a piece of 1/8" MDF painted black acting as a light blocker:

 

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the RGB led strip was then secured to the plexi layer, and the 1/8" black mdf bonded to the top of it:

 

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http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing178.jpg

 

before anything else, i fabricated three spacer platforms and bolted them to the car at three locations via thread inerts to properly support and orient the top fake floor:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing179.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing180.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing181.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing182.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing183.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing184.jpg

 

then its time to prep and install the metal actuator brackets. Joey fabricated these pieces out of steel. here is the main brace which holds the atuator and bolts to the car at three points. the bottom portion in the small cubby he made at the bottom of the spare tire well:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing185.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing186.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing187.jpg

 

i then coated the piece with truck bedliner:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing188.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing189.jpg

 

and then bolted it in place. here you can see the piece in the car with the actuator resting in the gap between the front of the enclosure:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing190.jpg

 

here is the metal rack for the amp that will pivot up and down, before and after painting with truck bedliner:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing191.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing192.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing193.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing194.jpg

the maintain a consistent finish when the amp rack is tilted up, the bottom side of the two mosconi amps were also coated with truck bedliner:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing195.jpg

 

and here are the two amps bolted to the rack:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing196.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing197.jpg

 

and here is the amp rack portion bolted to the support brace. you can also get a good idea at the two bundles from the front of the car and how they entire the rack/well area:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing198.jpg

 

here are the side well walls and the top layer before and after vinyl. to clear the two wiring bundles, portions of the wall stack had to be trimmed quite thin, pretty hair raising stuff to vinyl them fearing they would snap, but got it done in the end:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing199.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing200.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing201.jpg

 

and here is a shot of those layers bolted in place:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing202.jpg

 

and here is the main cosmetic trim panel around the subs, dsp and dblock before and after vinyl:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing203.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing204.jpg

 

here is the top floor front portion, i removed the foam spacers from the stock carpet floor panel and transplanted them onto my new panel to provide the right amount of support and orientation. i then wrapped the panel in trunk liner:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing205.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing206.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing207.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing208.jpg

 

here is the main fake floor back portion, before and after back filling, and front vent, and after carpeting:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing209.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing210.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing211.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing212.jpg

here are thet two pieces that make up the cover panel above the amps that sits flush with the rest of the fake floor when the amp rack is down. it is a 1/2" top layer wrapped in carpet, and a 1.8" bottom layer done in black vinyl, so it is finished on both sides. four metal rods secured at the four corners act as dowels to locate and secure the finish piece to the amp rack:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing213.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing214.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing215.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing216.jpg

 

here is the small press fit white trim border layer before and after carpeting:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing217.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing218.jpg

 

and here is the breathable top grille before and after carpeting:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing219.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing220.jpg

 

after all that was done, all the carpeted pieces were dyed to be slightly darker to better match the oem trunk carpet:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing221.jpg

 

 

and finally, three shops of the wiring on the amp rack showing termination and routing:

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing222.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing223.jpg

 

http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/bing/bing224.jpg

 

 

so whew...thats it...cosmetically and functionally, i am super happy wtih the outcome, i never dreamed i can fit so much into that amount of space and the end product came out almost exactly how i envisioned it. but to be honest, i am not sure if i will want to attempt the same thing again.

 

sonically, though i only still just have a 45 minute tune on it, i am pretty pleased as well.

 

initial impressions is that the center is quite good, width is okay, and depth to be ears is really good. height is also pretty good though there are some slightly rainbowing, i think a dash mat can help with a lot of those things.

 

tonally its very powerful and comfortable. nothing stands out too much, the midbass is extremely powerful and anchor pretty much everything upfront. there are some resonances here and there in the car that i have to deal with. the midrange is quite nice and the highs has good detail, justmaybe a few more little peaks i have to contend with. The subbass is very impressive with these blacks. i would say i may have to turn down below 30hz as it seems right now, sub 30hz is louder than 30-60hz...it blends well, and can really get down and boogie when i get a bassy song...

 

so far, very pleased and i hope it will get better with some real tune time on it...for a stock location car it should be pretty darn good.

 

okay, now back to your regularly scheduled program.

 

Cheers,

 

Bing

Bing- Amazing work!! You need to do something like this in my Prius...

Bing- Amazing work!! You need to do something like this in my Prius...

 

newer gen prius is among my favorite cars to work on have done 6 or so...this would have been far easier to achieve in a prius than a LGT to be honest haha

So, I figure this took you one afternoon a couple hundred bucks to do?

haha i wish i could have paid myself 100 bucks to do it instead i just got a strained back and a lot of cuts and bumps lol

Nice build. How will the mosconi handle the subs pounding on it all the time just curious ?

Should be fine..but we will see

Wow this is amazing.

What is the volume of the box you built using the spare tire well space ?

originally it was built for a different set of subs...around 1.6cubic ft or so net.

Holy shit.... this is some seriously good craftsmanship.... hats off to your attention to detail!!!

thanks...had a little time to tune it some more the other day, still going strong, no issues what so ever with the amp mounting.

 

WOW... amazing job!