dkmesa350z

iTrader: (41)

hahaha

where the new pics hiding?

sintaxeror

iTrader: (3)

UPDATE 3/28/08 Night

I don't think my respirator is doing its job.. I am HIIIIIIGHHHHHHGIGIHGHGHIGHG right now from the contact cement fumes.

Lets get started though, so sorry I have neglected you, my adoring public, for the last two days.

The UPS man left a present on my porch today..


Look how much smaller the UP6 driver is.. VERY light too compared to the MS6A driver.


DLS has the most ridiculous looking grills. Seriously. I love basketball, but I don't love basketball this much.


This ridiculous sticker also made me chuckle. I don't know any tacky people who buy DLS products...


How am I going to fit this monstrosity in the door somewhere? Seriously.. Does this REALLY need to be this big?


Anyhow, I'll get to those later this weekend... I want to get that sub box covered! Here is my work area..


Getting ready to apply the cement... I later discarded this foam brush for a real one.. foam sucks for cement.


Starting to apply to the vinyl...


Applied cement to the enclosure..


I waited 30 minutes to let that tack up, then start to apply the vinyl..


At this point I am thinking.. EASY. What could go wrong?

Stretched over some more..


Top is pretty much done.. stapled around the edges to hold the vinyl down..


Then I wet down the rest of the vinyl and side of enclosure with cement to do the side...


Got the side stretched over...


But there were some imperfections.. I had a hard time with the transition from top to side and had to pull it up a bunch of times.. the cement wadded up in places and made the surface bumpy =/


Now you guys know... I don't really do "imperfect"... So out come the staples..


Start pulling up the vinyl..


All yanked off...


Now I have to figure out how to get all this cement off... I tried acetone.. it helped a little but also started taking off the bondo. You can see here it removed darn near all the glazing putty in this spot..


It was taking forever.. and one thing that I realized during the first go around is.. Vinyl is MUCH more forgiving then most people online led me to believe. Some people even instructed me to sand all the way to 180grit or something.. trust me.. you could sand with 10 grit and not see the marks through the vinyl. So.. I just scraped off the big wads of cement and smoothed the rest over with some sand paper and didn't worry about it.

So at this point... with the cement taking some of the putty off and the gummy cement, the box is VERY rough..


This time I will do the whole thing at once... I think it will come out better.


Enclosure brushed over..


I hosed you guys a bit here.. I started stretching and didn't want to stop for pictures.. I moved to the floor to get a little more leverage.
Covered..


And another shot..


Came out darn near PERFECT.. looks GREAT. There is a little part on the side where I had to stretch a lot that kept coming up.. but I heated it up with the heat gun and held pressure to it, and it seems to be holding. I will go check on it after I make this post to make sure its staying put.

Tomorrow I will trim the vinyl and install the terminal cup... then probably get a little start on the front stage! Questions or comments?

crg914

iTrader: (5)

Question: Excluding audio components, how much money do you think you have invested in this project so far on materials (ie. fiberglass, resin, MDF, vinyl, etc.) ?

sintaxeror

iTrader: (3)

Aside from actual equipment? I think probably somewhere between $130-$160.. but as you can see I bought enough vinyl to do the job twice, I still have enough fiberglass to do this twice more... Have about a quart of resin left.. etc.. If I had to do it all over again I think it could be done around $100.

Now.. when you factor in how much time I have spent.. thats where the investment is.

dkmesa350z

iTrader: (41)

Looks great!
DLS grills crack me up

Grommit

iTrader: (3)

Where did you buy your speakers and amps? I'm looking for those same DLS speakers but don't wanna pay MSRP (if at all possible) and don't want to risk getting fakes on ebay.

Thanks!

sintaxeror

iTrader: (3)

I got them from eD. I am afraid the only way to avoid the risk of getting fakes is to pay MSRP. From what I understand, DLS sets the prices for their equipment through dealers. Now.. there is a way around to get them cheaper.. If you buy from eD you can get 15% off through the package discount.. in case you're ordering a bunch of stuff.
OR, if you dont need subs and stuff.. if you buy an amp and DLS speakers together, they have some combos that are discounted about $100.

For example... UP6 at eD are $385... Nine.2 is $220.

If you buy the combo, you get both for $475. That is a HELL of a deal.

sosojeffcc

iTrader: (20)

where the pics of the tweeters? Do they come with that silly grille too?

sintaxeror

iTrader: (3)

I didn't bother taking a picture of them..and YES.. they also come with those crazy grills. I will not be using them (the grills).

Get_Zwole

iTrader: (34)

i have dls and i actually like the grills. Mine are tucked away but i dont think they look that bad. and they are strong incase some idiot decides to kick them on the way out. oh and a superb writeup btw very appreciative love your work keep it up

iamdigital

iTrader: (44)

ahhhh that is looking sofaking good!!!! I was thinking the vinyl would ruin it but nice job. I was gonna sell my 8"s but now I think I'm gonna do it.

hiz-n-herz

iTrader: (11)

YOU TEASE!!!!!

You could not just trim the vinyl, drop in the sub and do a test-fit???

sintaxeror

iTrader: (3)

lol You are the second person to say something like that -- how come no one spoke up when they were afraid the vinyl would look back? I look forward to your build log

You pay for the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!

cbr900son

iTrader: (4)

Im addicted to this thread.

iMikie

iTrader: (2)

+1

sintaxeror

iTrader: (3)

UPDATE 2/29/08 Evening

Well guys looks like we are really hitting the home stretch in this build!
Lets get started with the pics..

Here's the enclosure today..


The surgeon makes the incision..


And then removes the sutures..


All cleaned up... I couldnt get those wrinkles out on the end there but they won't be visible anyhow..


Cut out the hole...


Quick test fit...


Taped up for drilling..


Marked the holes..


I just used a nail to center punch all the spots..


Drilled..


Got this screw and washer to squeeze the hurricane nuts into the MDF.
I was afraid of trying to get out one of the security bolts should I strip it accidentally.


SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE..


Some of them stick out a little...


Dremel made quick work of that..


Marked and drilled holes for the terminal cup..


Laid down a bead of liquid nails... Why liquid nails? Because I already have some laying around..


Screwed down..


Cleaned up..


I cut out some 2" high density foam blocks to attach to the side. The thinking here is that they will compress and allow me to squeeze the enclosure into place so it won't move around too much..


Another shot..


Sprayed them over with a little paint to make sure no green shows up after installation..


Brushed the last of the contact cement on..


Attached..


And the other side...


Now while that is drying, on to the doors!
Passenger panel removed..


Absolutely ZERO problems fitting the UP6 midrange.


Time to figure out what to do with this...


Here is the underside..


Here it is after I hacked it all up..


Why did I have to mod it so much? Because DLS actually GLUE the ridiculous tweeter grills to the tweets. WTF. Do they just assume EVERYONE will want to use their grills and not mount in stealth locations? It would have fit PERFECT if not for this... ugh. It should be noted that this is "DLS WTF #1"


So after some plastic trimming, it slides in..


I feel like this entire install is held together with plumbing straps...


I wrapped it with electrical tape to ensure that I wouldn't short any leads together..


Tweet secured..


I used some cardboard to trace the stock speaker.. the bottom isn't so I tore all those holes...


Shape traced..


Used the mounting template and my usual circle drawing method..


Drilled all the necessary holes..


Just before I finished cutting out...I remembered to test fit.. WTF.


It wasn't even close. The diameter was off by a half inch! I then turned the speaker upside down and layed it over the template, the mounting holes didn't even match up! It should be noted that this is "DLS WTF #2".

So I drew out another one with my own measurements...


Drilled the holes needed..


Nice and snug..


Cut out...


Before I go mounting things I should figure out where I am going to mount the HUGE crossovers. I put a little molding tape to test some locations..


I think it might fit here... Only place I could figure..


Couldn't hold the door panel and take a picture at the same time, so I'll just tell you that it didn't fit.

So... I removed this huge foam block from the door panel..


Test fit the crossover in its place..


Ahh..that works..


Mounted it there.. Used a BUNCH of molding tape.. I don't like drilling unnecessarily.. if this stuff is strong enough to hold on a spoiler, I'm sure it will hold this crossover into place..


Closer shot..


Get out the DMM, time to set the gain on the front stage amp..


Taped the wires to the leads..


Using a 1kHz, 0db test tone I was shooting for 20Vrms.. looks pretty close to me.


Stripped, tinned, and shrink wrapped the wires...


Connected..


The included screws with the UP6 were a little long for this baffle, which was cut from 3/4" MDF.


I'll use these instead..


Put some weather stripping down to make a seal..


And here it is installed...


Weather stripping on the woofer..


And installed..


It should be noted here that DLS did NOT include wiring terminals for the woofers... ugh. You would really think that $400 would get you some attention to detail. So I had to do the twist up/tape method which I HATE (as you may have noticed).. but I didn't want to solder directly to the terminals. This will be noted at "DLS WTF #3"...

I feel the sheer size of the crossover should be documented as "DLS WTF #4".. They used some really nice components but WOW.. It's seriously the size of a medium sized book. Try fitting a book under your door panel without modification.

I turned on the car to have a quick listen, sounded fine.. didn't really try to get a review or anything since I only had one in, no door panel, not broken in.. etc.. but I can confirm that I don't have any alternator whine or anything so that is a plus.

At this point it was 6:30 and the NCAA games were about to start so thats where I am leaving it for the day.. I didn't want to put the panel back on because I would like to make sure I like the tweeter setting before I do, and to do that I will need both doors loaded.

Also, I have decided not to immediately dremel out the factory grills.. I am going to give it a shot with the stock stuff for a couple of weeks and see how it does before I start cutting.

Questions or comments? Almost home!

sosojeffcc

iTrader: (20)

wait a minute here....no sound deadening on the doors????? (but it looks like you're trying to make anything you do completely reversible)

Enclosure looks awesome with the vinyl!

sintaxeror

iTrader: (3)

Bingo!

dkmesa350z

iTrader: (41)

The plumbing strap securing the tweeter was clever but not as much so as my erector set piece

joaquin03

iTrader: (1)

wow.... def. worth the 30 min. of skimming through!!!!