Prefader's '91 RT
Prefader
Band Wagon
Well, it's finally warmed up and I've had time to get a few things done for fun. The wagon finally has a stereo in it! I did all of the work myself . . . I even had to learn how to use a sewing machine to make the cargo cover.
From the back with the cargo cover closed:
Cover open (yeah, I'm not finished trimming things out under the windows and around the sides of the hatch. Soon, soon). The sub is a CDT audio EF-100, the amp is a freebie a friend gave me - a U.S. Acoustics pushing out 4 channels of pure rubbish (well, no . . . but it's not fantastic):
The dashboard. I'm using a Harmon-Kardon Drive+Play to control an ipod, with an AudioControl Three.1 as a preamp. I haven't used a radio or CD player in my car in almost 3 years, and I'm not about to start:
The doors. CDT audio EF-61NEOs. Shallow mount mids and 1" silk tweeters. They're OK, not great. I'm doing a lot of EQ to get the upper midrange under control, and as far off-axis as the tweeters are, I still feel like they're trying to bore a hole in my skull sometimes:
The tweeter mount:
And finally, the mid crammed into the door. Had to cut the sheet metal and make some custom standoffs to squeeze some 6 1/2" drivers in there:
Eventually, I'm going to purchase some better amplification for the system. The mains will get bi-amped, which should remedy a lot of the issues I'm having with them.
Drove the car from Baltimore to Cincinnati to St. Louis over the last two days. I'm getting about 27 mpg, and everything seems to be holding up great!
From the back with the cargo cover closed:
Cover open (yeah, I'm not finished trimming things out under the windows and around the sides of the hatch. Soon, soon). The sub is a CDT audio EF-100, the amp is a freebie a friend gave me - a U.S. Acoustics pushing out 4 channels of pure rubbish (well, no . . . but it's not fantastic):
The dashboard. I'm using a Harmon-Kardon Drive+Play to control an ipod, with an AudioControl Three.1 as a preamp. I haven't used a radio or CD player in my car in almost 3 years, and I'm not about to start:
The doors. CDT audio EF-61NEOs. Shallow mount mids and 1" silk tweeters. They're OK, not great. I'm doing a lot of EQ to get the upper midrange under control, and as far off-axis as the tweeters are, I still feel like they're trying to bore a hole in my skull sometimes:
The tweeter mount:
And finally, the mid crammed into the door. Had to cut the sheet metal and make some custom standoffs to squeeze some 6 1/2" drivers in there:
Eventually, I'm going to purchase some better amplification for the system. The mains will get bi-amped, which should remedy a lot of the issues I'm having with them.
Drove the car from Baltimore to Cincinnati to St. Louis over the last two days. I'm getting about 27 mpg, and everything seems to be holding up great!
Comments
big thumbs up from me!!!
The enclosure is a beast. No fiberglass here . . . just 3/4" MDF and a whole lot of angles. I was really worried about getting the thing sealed, but it seems to have worked out just fine.
Here's a pic of it when I was test fitting the panels.
Edit: Maybe I should have read where it says you aren't done with it yet. My bad.
You're absolutely right. If I had been a bit more careful during the planning phase, I'd have gotten it to meet up flush with the trim around the windows. I made a cardboard mock-up of the enclosure first, and when I did it, I didn't form it around the suspension hump. When I made the front panels, I notched them for the hump and a few other obstacles, dropping them by about 1-1/2". Didn't even realize what I'd done until a fair bit into the project. Big oops there. Rather than shim everything on the bottom to raise things back up, I opted to try to cut and cover the trim that used to be there. I have to cover it because it has these big huge holes cut out of it where the rear speaker pods used to be. It's all cut, but I'm having a lot of trouble getting anything to stick to the old trim. Contact cement isn't bonding to it, and I'm at a loss for another suitable adhesive. Maybe I've found my first fiberglass project - I suppose I could just make my own trim, sans holes.
i'll say you could easily patch the gap
with the fabric you used for the enclosure...
concerning attach one thing to another...
(wood)screw glue clamp or push...
you could do a strut bar-like thing under the
carpet to keep those enclosures were they are...
yeah, i know...
UH !?! right ?
Been doing a lot of tweaking to the stereo. It appears that the stock grilles are causing a lot of problems for me, and so I'm heading out today to find some suitable gray cloth to re-do them with. Pics if that happens today!
Thanks! Thanks! I was thinking about using the carpet, but I like the way the vinyl looks kinda stock, so I might try again. I'm guessing that the contact cement just kinda soaked into the backing of the vinyl, and so that's why it didn't really bond. Actually, the panels are held in place with a few angle brackets and sheet metal screws driven right into the interior panels. Easy to get to if I need to change a bulb or something in one of the taillights, but holds things in place just fine.
glad you solved all that...