New custom stereo install!!! Check it out!

[ZEXCougar]

I have been working long and hard on this... It has taken about 2 and 1/2 weeks from start to finish - but I have been doing it at my leisure in my free time. It isn't quite finished yet, but there is only one more board to build. What still needs to be done is this:

1) Build a board that goes in front where the open boards are now. The board will go down to the floor, and will meet up with the board that the nitrous is mounted in.

2) Mount lights inside the ZEX and N2O windows, and in the sub and amp window. There will be blue neons inside the windows with the carvings. They will be mounted behind the carved board so that when lit, you will see an illuminated "ZEX" and N2O." There will also be blue neons inside the sub and amp window.

That's it! I'm almost done! Woohoooo!!!!!! Anyways, here are the pics....

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Stereo%201%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Stereo%202%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Stereo%203%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Stereo%204%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Stereo%205%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Stereo%206%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Stereo%207%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Stereo%208%2EJPG

[Ness1216]

Looks really really sweet. Good job!

[Lukydogg]

Nothing like a nice clean trunk with all the goods displayed from inside! Good job!

[chadds]

I like that a lot. Looks very clean! I'd much rather have a nice clean look like yours than a bunch of flashy looking fiberglass enclosures.

[Nitrik]

Looks really nice and clean, lights should add a nice touch. Good job man!

Now, what do you have planned for the trunk?

[ZEXCougar]

Originally posted by: Nitrik
Looks really nice and clean, lights should add a nice touch. Good job man!

Now, what do you have planned for the trunk?

I have been tossing around a few ideas... If I do anything to the trunk, it will be this:

Make a board that sits about 2" in front of the current back board. Carve a big cougar head into it and plexiglass behind it. Add a blue neon so the cougar head glows. Then build out the sides and put a window in each one. Through the windows, you will be able to see the battery on one side, and two crossovers on the other side. This would be lit in blue neon as well.

That is if I end up doing anything to it... I kind of like the trunk the way it is for now. I just built a new floor for it, and have it split into 3 sections and hinged so I can get to my spare if needed. It's kind of nice to have the storage back there, so I think I may leave it. I'll decide on that later though. I think that the fact that I am simply sick of working on it after 3 weeks is making a huge impact on me wanting to start on the trunk!

[LostRacer]

Very nice. How big is the enclosure for your L5?

[ZEXCougar]

Originally posted by: LostRacer
Very nice. How big is the enclosure for your L5?

I made it .3 cubic feet larger than the box it came in from Kicker. It is a total of 2.3 cu ft. I wanted it to be a bit larger to give me some more bass, but not too large to effect sound quality. It actually turned out pretty nice. It sounds great!

[ND4SPD]

cleanest trunk i've ever seen custom_images/emoticons/shocked.gif :)

[VHull03]

looks really great. i just think itd be hard to not have a backseat, but i guess youd get used to it. only thing... is there as much difference in real life with the colors of the carpet you have and the stock trunk carpet as shown in the last pic? cuz i can definitely tell a difference between the "seat back"/floor compared to the sides.

[ZEXCougar]

There is a little bit of a difference, but not as much as the picture shows. I think it shows up really different in the picture because I was using a halogen lamp as well as the flash on the camera to light it. When viewing under normal circumstances, you can't really tell that it is different. The texture of the carpet is a little different, but the color is pretty close. And, as for the back seats being gone... In the 4 years I have owned my car, I think I have had a third passenger maybe 2 times - so I won't miss the seats being gone! They are usually used for storage - but now that I have moved the sub, battery, and amp out of the trunk I can just use that for storage. Maybe this will help me to keep a cleaner car too... Usually, my front area is spotless, but the back seats are filled with junk! By the way, the battery is now located out of sight inside the box. (Not in the speaker enclosure, but on the other side behind the amp rack.) I am planning to put the top on a hinge so I can get to it just in case of an emergency if it dies and I need a jump.

[megail]

looks really good.

[crazyoldcougar]

that is one very tight looking set up....i am not really a big fan of the wood and carpet look, but yours is very VERY nice...i dont think i could part with my rear seats right now...especially if you look at my post in the GTA chapter but aside from that...i have to give you some crazy :thumbsup: for your set up...

it also looks very seemless which is always nice to see as well....

[tad]

what is with the piece that is in the middle of the plexi over the sub and amp?

i'm usually not a fan of the carpetted look.. but that looks really clean

[ZEXCougar]

Originally posted by: tad
what is with the piece that is in the middle of the plexi over the sub and amp?

i'm usually not a fan of the carpetted look.. but that looks really clean

The rear piece is actually two boards that are pieced together to match the contour of the sides. I had to build it that way so that it would match the lines of the car. If it was one piece, it wouldn't have followed the lines of the interior. If that makes any sense... I outlined the boards in this picture so it's easier to see how it is set up. The board in the middle hides the area where the two pieces of plexi-glass meet.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/car%20picture%2Ejpg

[slomoe]

looks very clean, me likey!

i hope you didnt use MDF where it wasnt needed right? hehe

[ZEXCougar]

Originally posted by: slomoe
looks very clean, me likey!

i hope you didnt use MDF where it wasnt needed right? hehe

The speaker enclosure is made from 3/4" MDF, and the reamaining areas are made from 1/2" plywood. It is a heavy beast of a setup! All in all, I would say the boards by themselves without the sub, amp, and nitrous weigh about 40 pounds. But if you consider that I no longer have the rear seats - I am probably only adding 40 pounds to the stock weight of the car including the sub, amp, and bottle. So the car is 40 pounds heavier... It doesn't make any kind of a noticable difference in performance at all... I may lose a tenth of a second at the 1/4 mile - but who cares! The very few times that I would ever go to a track, I can take it out if I want. It is suprisingly easy to remove if you know how it goes together... But impossible to remove if you don't. I built it like that just in case someone happens to like the system enough to try and take it!

[jlcamp7]

Very nice setup! I like your choice of sub also, because I have the same. I have heard some people say they don't like how muddy the solobarics sound, but I totally disagree, because it isn't really the sub that creates the tightness as much as it is the enclosure and all I can say it mine hits hard because of building the right enclosure. I am sure yours does also. Great job man. I would give anything to have my whole trunk empty!:hitit:

[slomoe]

Originally posted by: ZEXCougar

Originally posted by: slomoe
looks very clean, me likey!

i hope you didnt use MDF where it wasnt needed right? hehe

The speaker enclosure is made from 3/4" MDF, and the reamaining areas are made from 1/2" plywood. It is a heavy beast of a setup! All in all, I would say the boards by themselves without the sub, amp, and nitrous weigh about 40 pounds. But if you consider that I no longer have the rear seats - I am probably only adding 40 pounds to the stock weight of the car including the sub, amp, and bottle. So the car is 40 pounds heavier... It doesn't make any kind of a noticable difference in performance at all... I may lose a tenth of a second at the 1/4 mile - but who cares! The very few times that I would ever go to a track, I can take it out if I want. It is suprisingly easy to remove if you know how it goes together... But impossible to remove if you don't. I built it like that just in case someone happens to like the system enough to try and take it!


Thats good lol.. i have seen a couple people on here build everything out of 3/4 MDF even though its not holding in any pressure. That would weigh a ton..

[Crispy]

very clean and very sweet... great job!

[Rikenbomb]

That looks real nice. Awesome job. Another :thumbsup: for the DIY'er.

[JAMallott]

im with everyone else. if didnt consistantly need my rear seats, they would be out, and something like that would be in!

[DNNYBOY33]

Nice job.

[Iceotron]

that looks great, and i've been considering doing the same thing. My only question is how are u anchoring down the zex bottle??

[ZEXCougar]

Originally posted by: Iceotron
that looks great, and i've been considering doing the same thing. My only question is how are u anchoring down the zex bottle??

It is kind of hard to tell by the pictures that I posted before, but there is a hole cut that the bottle rests in. You can only see about 3/4 of the bottle in the front, and 1/2 of the bottle in the back. (I angled it like that for both looks and performance.) The rest is below the board that it is mounted on. I initially had the idea of putting magnets under it to hold it in place, but after I test fitted it - I came to the conclusion that I don't need them. It is such a tight fit that the bottle doesn't move at all. It doesn't even rotate when I open the valve. Here are a few pictures of how it is set up...

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Mounted%20Bottle%201%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Mounted%20Bottle%202%2EJPG

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Mounted%20Bottle%203%2EJPG

[Iceotron]

well, Like I said I LOVE the way it all looks and flows. However, any tech inspection at a track will fail you for safety. If you plan on running at fest then you MUST have the proper mounting rings.

[ZEXCougar]

I doubt that I will be able to run at fest anyways... I have the whole bottle mounting issue, plus I don't have a blowdown relief tube, plus I don't have a cutoff switch for my relocated battery. I could easily solve the mounting issue. All I would have to do is bring along my bottle mounts and bolt them in the trunk. The holes are still there from when I had it mounted before I did the custom install. All I would have to do is remove the false floor I built and it would reveal the holes. But the other issues will probably stop me from running. I'm not going to buy a blowdown tube just for one track day... And I am definitely not drilling any holes in my car for a battery cutoff switch on the outside! It kinda sucks because I was looking forward to participating in the 1/4 mile event... But these issues wont allow me to.

[Blackedoutcat]

As for a blowdown tube, use a piece of heater hose and run it to the outside of the car for inspection! Take out the hose when you are not needing it! If you don't have a hole, use the ones in the back of the car that have those annoying flaps that vent to the outside of the car and make noise every single solitary time your subs hit