well, after usually spending 3-4 days on a single install, I decided to challenge my self to do a Z install in a single day, this is mostly due to the fact that the customer only has one car and have to go to work. Now the main challenge is to do it with in the time frame, yet still keep it clean, tidy and professional, afterall, i refuse to let the car back tot he customer if it snot up to my own standards in terms of sound and integrity

granted though i did the kicks from the customer earlier in the week to mold it...

goals:

1. as stealth as possible
2. keep full access to spare tire
3. best SQ with in a limited budget

lets get started:

The car alraedy had a alpine headunit installed by uh...unnamed shop (cough best buy cough) lol...customer complained that hte radio recption was kinda bad and the dimmer doesnt work.

so i pulled the headunit out and this greeted me:



its not the worst i have seen but obviously no wire tires, bare ground wire, oh and the radio and dimme problem? i solved the mystery, its a problem called not-hooked-upedness lol i guess they thought the customer neednt bother wtih radio or dimmer functions

i cut it apart and redid it, extending the ground wire to ground to chasis:



front stage is a set of DLS ultiamte UP6 in suede trimmed kicks...





now, a lot of people have asked me, why does it seem like it really comes out a lot...i think many forget that the stock kicks already curves out bit, here is a shot to show that in reality, the new kicks only come out about 2" including speaker grille:



now here is omesthing i came up with to satisfy the whole stealth thing...everyhting was mounted under the strut, yet from the back and the front, nothing can be seen no subs, no amps

this is sorta a bad angle shot but oh well...





so...here is whats going on behind the scenes:

two elemental designs SQ10 supershallow mount (3" deep) 10" subs sit in a .7 cub feet sealed enclosure under the strut, the combination of the SQ10's shallow depths and small boxes requiresments (down to .3 cub feet) gives me the ability to build a very thin box:



on the front side, an alpine MRV345 4 channel amp sends 75 watts to the front speakres, and 300 to the subs, beside it are the passive xovers for the UP6:


here are the two front and rear cover panels, as you can see, they are both MDF panels, with the center cut out, heavy duty steel mesh secured, and then carpted, so they are both vented yet maintains a solid appearance:





overall, as suaulyl with the DLS/ED combo, it sounds good, and didnt break the bank at all

now i am going to rest...started at 9am...just stopped 15 mins ago, never even took a break

 

the harness doesnt look that different, just looks like you threw a couple zip tie on

 

Awesome Job B,,,,,that shallow mount display gives us Z people something else to think about. Well, maybe just me,,but that is an awesome set up.

Good job and I bet it sounds great....

 

Wow... Good job! Looks nice as always. I always wondered this, because the kick panels look like they extend out in the pics... But do most people have a problem with the kickpanels when trying to rest their foot on the dead-pedal? It looks like i'd always end up kicking it

 

could you pm me the price for the installation of a set up like this. i have two 10" and an amp but i want to budget my money and see how much it would be to install it.

 

GREAT job by the way. i like the stealth look

 

What do you use to crimp 4 gauge and 2 gauge end terminals? I have yet to find a tool to make this easy.

 

From the looks of the pictures, the dead pedal was removed.

 

a few things not sure if you can see, prolly not

1. the ground wire was just left bare before
2. the dimmer wire was not hooked up
3. the power ant wire was not hooked up

now i would say, out of the 10 or so wires that needs to bge hooked, thats a 30 percent error...pretty weird for something as simple as a headunit install imagine if the whole install had a 30 percent error rate it'd probablhy catch fire lol


onto other questions: you can kick it all you want, not sure hwat you would do to them...they are solid fiberglass, much stronger thant he stock plastic... but yeah, i usually take out the deadpedal to give the kicks more internal voume since the dead pedal cannot be reached anyway once the kicks are in, even if you mold them around the pedal...

but to be honest, having done so many pairs over the years, people get used to them really quickly, your feet just naturally adjust...believe it or not

as for cost, i tried my hardest to meet the customers budget, in the end, sans headunit, was int he low 1000 dollar range, all equipment and labor

 

are you asking fhwat one SHOULD use? or what i use? lol


one SHOULD use a 0-4 guage crimping tool...basically liikes like a vice with a big cone shaped opject, you insert the wire into the terminal , put it in there, and tape a big hammer and hit the top of hte cone, and it crimpss the terminal... there are other kinds of large crimp tools but thats the one i used to use. or you can soder


I hit the whole thing with a hammer and then appy some super glue has worked well for about 10 years lol

b

 

heyyy that's my car!

I just wanted to say that Bing's quality is excellent. Totally professional, he did everything he said he would do, didn't forget any detail, and what is the coolest thing about him, is that he really treats his customer #1. Thanks Bing for finishing ahead of schedule (He came to my work a few days before hand to get my stock moldings so he could make the kickers ahead of time).

 

Just curious, how much did it cost total? I am looking for a rough estimate of what I can get for what I've got to spend. If either of you could pm me the total cost ? I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

oh dear. . . . . well. . . a better way i found out is get a little blow torch, like the ones they use to do creme'brulees in the kitchen, heat up the connector on the wire and feed in the solder till its 'full'. works a treat. but you need to use a blow torch, lol.

Jamie

 

nice install 16psi...i need to come up there so you can hook me up...

 

hehe join the club, plenty of socal guys have come up...if you can wait 2 months taht is right now i am scheduling july

b

 

wow you must be making some good money, gj bro..i guess nothing beats quality work and good prices :>

 

Good job, B.

 

caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant wait for my install!!!!

 

hehe kiet, one more week man, then its your turn, i am still dreaming up how i wanna do it, but its gonna be a lot of work regardless lol...

i may come by next week to take some more measurements and also to grab your kicks and make it so i have soe more itme, but i do have two weeks for your car so

b

 

Great job with everything. I have been following your threads for quite some time and I've gotta say the stuff you do is pretty impressive. What you did here is basically something that I would want....simple and stealthy. Its a ashame we don't have anyone on this side that could do quality work like this...