You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, at no cost, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!
well, after a long few weeks, i just got done with my first C6 corvett install. It was in all, an interesting car to work on, good in some sense installation wise, not so great in others.
Before i begin, i'd like to thank Leon and Eng for helping to tune the car
So here are the goals:
1. Good Sound quality
2. Classy design with a little bit of flash
3. hatch install able to be hidden out of sight.
those were the original goals...hatch usability was NOT a goal, nor was retaining the T-top storage. but i decided to added one more:
4. retain T top storage ability
equipment list:
headunit/processor: Alpine 205/701 combo
front stage: Seas Lotus reference 6.5" midbass, DLS Iridium 3" midrange, Seas reference tweeter
The alpine 205 headunit is installed int he stock location, with door chime and onstar retention:
the alpine ipod cable is ran to the center arm rest:
the Seas lotus tweeters were molded into the stock A pillar, aimed across at each other:
and here are some build up pics of hte A pillars:
the factory vinyl was stripped off (a major pita) and the rings attached
mold cloth streched and attached:
after that was dry, the inside gap was filled with resin/glass combo so its rock solid:
the pillars sanded and dampened:
and vinyled in factory matching vinly:
the midbass and mirdange reside in the factory locations in the door, i thought about trying out kick panel midrange, but there is virtually no room behind the kick and keeping hte deadpedal was a requirement.
first, the outter layer of metal is dampened:
then the front panel dampened:
then a mdf blocking baffle was cut out, the back side truck bed linered to prevent corrosion:
and seals the big opening in the back....then, while i was waiting for the UPS man to deliver more dampening, i got bored and did some drawings lol...after looking at it, i think i should keep my day job and not become a cartooniest lol
then the speaker baffles were made and sprayed on both sides:
and attachd tot he door, and new speaker wires were ran into the door:
then finally, the lotus seas midbass was mounted:
the iridium 3 midbass i built a little baffle in the stock midrange cavity, and then dampened the baffle, the dampend was painted black so it wouldnt show through the midrange grille.
and finally, the outter plastic door panel was smothered with dampening as well to prevent buzzing:
and same goes for hte other side:
and finally, two very solid doors that dont rattle or buzz at all
so...moving onto the hatch area...so here is the normal view with things hidden out of hte way, the carpet i have there is just a temp. solution, he is going to have a custom matching trunk mat made in the near future:
remove the carpet,and here is what it looks like, the entire fake floor is in factory matching binyl, with three big cutouts and tw small ones, note corvette logo on a raised vinyl platform upfront and lettering on the covers:
and here is the view of the front of the floor, with a piece of polished plexi with my logo secured on the front:
pop off all the covers, and here is what it looks like. the theme that i had in my head is that of an engine, with two banks of "cylinder heads" flanking three downdraft carb with intakes. dont take it literally, but its the general theme
one the driver side, the A3 and A2, and on the passenger side, we have the A6 and A2, both sit in their own red vinly (factory matching) racks and are at a slight angle. all the wires in sight have chrome techflex and red shrink. the ground and poewr D-blocks are at the front, and the three ID8s sit ithe middle. the amps and D blocks have plexi over them as well, and the subs have an edge lit plexi border.
the platforms that the amps sit on, have an additional layer of edge lit plexi underneath, so with the leds turned on:
I also modified and raised the rear T-top mounting points so the stop still stows with the system in place:
its tight, but it clears the hatch with about 1/8" of an inch on both sides:
IMo the car sound pretty good, Leon mentioned its one of hte better sounding sports cars he has heard...stage is very nice and high and suprisingly wide. midbass impact is one of hte strongest i have personally heard.
__________________ www.simplicityinsound.com / Senior Contributing Editor-Car Audio and Electronics
i trimmed out the stoccarpet in the back to gain as much space as possible, and then dampened the entire floor to block noise. i acutally ended up wtih an additioan 2" this way...quite a thick carpet
now one of hte biggest challenges is that the entire floor of hte vette is some kind of plastic, so nothing can be screwed into it if you want it to last...so what i did was make a bottom platform board, and attached it securely to the few metal parts in the hatch area, namely hte crossbream behind the seats and the metal behind the wheel well. and then everyhting i build can attach themselves to this piece instead of hte floor:
here is test fitting the basic design:
here is the jigsaw puzzle that is each amp rack well
vinyled in red:
and assembled, each well have their own crossflow fan pshing air over the amps and out the vent in the back
the H701 rack whcih sits in the passenger side storage pocket:
and here are the platforms the amps sit on,
with a top vinly board and a bottom plexi piece that is edge lit:
and onto the d-block racks:
and the finished product, wired up:
the subbox:
and the top fake floor and side pieces during construction:
plexi attached to the center piece and then leds secured and taped over to prevent light "leakage"
ready to be installed:
final shot of the trunk, all wired up, beofre hte floor goes on:
and here are some panels i dampened along the way:
finally, construction of the covers, whcih ar two-piece each, with a vinyl top and suede bottom, raised vinyl lettering:
the amp covers done:
the d-block covers:
and the sub grille, which is also two piece, with HD mesh secured to one and covered in grille cloth, and black suede on the other:
__________________ www.simplicityinsound.com / Senior Contributing Editor-Car Audio and Electronics
yeah for once i have the budget, the time and most importantly, the physical room to do exactly how i pictured it in my head...never realized how big the hatches are in the vette, gotta have at least twice the room of Zs
__________________ www.simplicityinsound.com / Senior Contributing Editor-Car Audio and Electronics
Your views on this thread should skyrocket as I just e-mailed this out to a bunch of my friends who are into car audio. Man this is a hot build! I'm not talking about the equipment, they of course are top notch, I just love the design of the rear hatch.
thanks guys your kind words only motivate me to try even harder
yeah the vette lends better to this kind of tweeter install, the Z i did, if i put it into the A pillar, it owuld be much closer to the listenter, the vette has a much longer and raking window/dash
__________________ www.simplicityinsound.com / Senior Contributing Editor-Car Audio and Electronics
__________________
"We will make them give us light. Now there's no more oak oppression, For they passed a noble law, And the trees are all kept equal By hatchet, axe, and saw."
2008 C6 Corvette Install for you guys :)
//Cowboys 2012 Superbowl Champs//Phoenix Suns 2012 NBA Champs
