Andy Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Thought I would pop a few work in progress pictures up of the boot build in my Z. Almost there now Firstly I fabricated an MDF frame to fit the components that were being fitted, mainly two Focal 11" woofers and my NOS bottle. You can also see where the amps are sitting. I then stretched fleece like material over the frame to make the flowing shapes. Stapled it in place underneath. I then needed to make sure the NOS had a secure and tight location for it to sit so I wrapped the bottle in clingfilm and foil and made a fibreglass cast of it to get the perfect shape. After a test fit..... ...the resin came out!!! This made the fleece go solid and make a solid base to work on. Added some fibreglass matting to the underside of the build to strengthen it and to leave the top, viewable layer as smooth as possible. Then the NOS cradle had to be added in. This was trimmed down to fit and then glued in place for the time being. Once in place this was glassfibred in place and I used some P40 to fill in any small gaps around it. Test fitted the woofers as well Once I was happy with the way everything was fitting together, I covered the whole thing with a sponge like lining which would give me a bit of room for movement when trimming and give the final touch a softer sponge like feel Once that was done, I started the trimming with some black leather look-a-like material. Had to do it in a few pieces as the material wouldn't stretch as much as I was hoping but still came out ok I think. Once I was happy with that, the woofers and NOS went in! I then trimmed the side panels and strut bar cover and reinstalled the lot! For the other side of the strut bar, I simply made an MDF cover for the other 3 Genesis amps and trimmed this in the same way and slotted it in! The (almost) finished project build!! Hope you've enjoyed my little presentation. Any questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Very nice. You make it look so easy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbs Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Just one question, where do you put the weekly shopping whenyou go to Tesco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Cheers Shopping either gets delivered or goes in my Corsa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbs Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Cheers Shopping either gets delivered or goes in my Corsa Sorry forgot to mention it looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev-the-Rev Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 very impressive. Where do you put the shopping though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 very impressive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuey Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 nice one andy.................. your the maaaan................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingu2 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 ah looks very smart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Very impressed:teeth: I reckon your the kind who appreciates constructive criticism. The only thing I dont like it the black leather look. Though then again I have no idea what I would have done instead! Kudos points for it being a self build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Looks like 10 minutes work.....! Nice effort mate, looking good! Trimming is an art in itself and is so easy to get it very wrong. You've done it nicely IMO. Nice choice in equipment too. Have you had it set-up properly? Fancy a set-up session and bandit entry at the EMMA event at Donny?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 mmm focal superb work andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Cheers chaps!!! Lexx - I partially agree about the colour etc of trim. I did debate it a fair while but in the end I wanted it to look fairly subtle but classy and thought the black offset the blue bottle and chrome magnets on the woofers nicely whilst also matching my new seats! H5 - I haven't got it setup just yet. Have had a couple of niggling problems such as an RCA going which needs to be replaced and the controller for my Epicenter also needs re-soldering due to a bad connection!! I'm also currently building my door builds which might take me a couple of weeks or so!!! Once it is all done though, I would really love to have a professional or someone that knows what they are doing set it up for me!! I have a certain level of control with the system as it also has an EQS in there and i'm running the whole system actively! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 The EQS is a powerful bit of kit. I had an Alpine 7998 used the EQ in that to death, and my mate had an H700 so have played with EQ's for far longer than is healthy! Do you have access to an RTA machine at all? If we can get a frequency curve in the car then we will have a good basis as a start point. I have a few CD's that can be used to set the car up, testing sound stage (height, depth and width), frequency response, sibilence, extension and so on. By no means a pro but spent a lot of time listening to a lot of cars, so am happy to help if I can. Am missing my sounds.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Sounds good mate! Thanks for the help! I can probably get my hands on an RTA. Couldn't tell you how good it will be but it would probably do as a start point!! I'm just currently debating where to mount my tweeters, either lower down in the doors, in the standard location next to the wing mirror or maybe up by the A-Pillar. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Are you using run flat tyres, as a puncture looks bad news now An awful lot of work to make sure you drown the dreadful noise that a ZED makes on its own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Quads Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Looks like some nice equiptment you got there. Should sound very nice when setup properly. What have you got in the front end? I have to agree that the leather IMO does not look right - it really lets down the build. It looks like you know how to make the builds etc from your use of fibreglass but IMO it would be worth investing a few more hours prepping the fibreglass to a really nice finish and then get someone to trim it in alcantara (or the face alicantara most will never know the different) Done properly it would make your install look awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Sounds good mate! Thanks for the help! I can probably get my hands on an RTA. Couldn't tell you how good it will be but it would probably do as a start point!! I'm just currently debating where to mount my tweeters, either lower down in the doors, in the standard location next to the wing mirror or maybe up by the A-Pillar. Any suggestions? My suggestion would be either standard location (are they in swivel mounts?) or even better at eye level mounted on the windscreen supports. Depending how far you want to go, tests can be done with them in different locations to get the best imaging and sound stage. Some work better firing straight across, some at the windscreen etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Thanks fot the input guys!! With regards to the trimming, I am starting to doubt myself now!!! Any suggestions on colours/finishes etc i think would be gratefully received! As you might tell from my reply to Lexx, I did debate it a while and came up with the black being the most suitable choice but I am prepared to listen to other ideas!! I do have a good friend who is an excellant trimmer so I could get him to do a very good job but I wanted to at least try the trimming myself first! tbh, I want as much of this car to be done by me as possible and at the moment it's only the paint job that hasn't been! As far as speakers go, I am obviously running the two Focal 11" woofers in the boot and am running 3 way Utopias up front. 6", 4" and tweeter in each door. I would love to try the tweeters in each location but due to time constraints in the next few months, I need to get these doors built as soon as possible so really need to choose a location before I can actually listen to the system! Not ideal I agree but something I have to live with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Wow brilliant Andy, Job well done When you doing mine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Thanks fot the input guys!! With regards to the trimming, I am starting to doubt myself now!!! Any suggestions on colours/finishes etc i think would be gratefully received! As you might tell from my reply to Lexx, I did debate it a while and came up with the black being the most suitable choice but I am prepared to listen to other ideas!! I do have a good friend who is an excellant trimmer so I could get him to do a very good job but I wanted to at least try the trimming myself first! tbh, I want as much of this car to be done by me as possible and at the moment it's only the paint job that hasn't been! As far as speakers go, I am obviously running the two Focal 11" woofers in the boot and am running 3 way Utopias up front. 6", 4" and tweeter in each door. I would love to try the tweeters in each location but due to time constraints in the next few months, I need to get these doors built as soon as possible so really need to choose a location before I can actually listen to the system! Not ideal I agree but something I have to live with! If you remove the current covering and use a fine surface filler all over to get a smooth hard surface, the next trick is using something like Alcantara to cover it. I would say go for a blue that matches the car. You can either get 'real' Alcantara (mine was about £90 a metre....) or you can get a copy stuff from fabric warehouses at pretty reasonable prices. The tip with either stuff is to remove the backing lining from the material before you use it. If you don't, it won't stretch and since you have flowing lines that would cause huge problems. If you have a mate who is a good trimmer, then it might also be worth him checking whether or not there needs to be a seam anywhere. Because if you get into stitching that is a whole new ball game.....!! My boot and doors for you.... (with a silly amount of £'s worth of Alcantara everywhere!!) As for set-up, it won't take too long with the tweeters. All you need to do is wire them up and put long bits of speaker wire on them and blu-tak on the back. Move them around and listen for a while and then decide where to mount them. When do you want to do it? Mounting of the speakers IMO is more important than the speaker itself. I have heard Focal Utopia's sound awful and JL TR's sound amazing - all because of the time spent setting it up. You could have spent half the money on the speakers and got a better sound, rather than just chuck them in. Having all three components in the door may well not be the best locations for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 Any suggestions on locations for them all then? I feel like i'm going to fall at the final hurdle now and screw it all up with the locations and mounting of the speakers!!! I'll look into the alcantara I think, I love the way you did your Volvo Can't hurt to have a look! Whereabouts are you based? Can pm if you prefer not to have it on an open forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Any suggestions on locations for them all then? I feel like i'm going to fall at the final hurdle now and screw it all up with the locations and mounting of the speakers!!! I'll look into the alcantara I think, I love the way you did your Volvo Can't hurt to have a look! Whereabouts are you based? Can pm if you prefer not to have it on an open forum! Careful of H5 stalking girlfriend, you will spot her a mile off, she stews rabbits for fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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