martian's 2001 buick build log

[martiandancer31]

What an awesome build. Would love to see it when everything is put together.

thanks!! I'm taking it to a competition one june 2nd so it'll at least be somewhat functional by then. Complete? Hell no. Never!!

[martiandancer31]

minor updates, just trying to get stuff back in the trunk, with much cleaner wiring this time.

[Falcons]

june second! im pumped!!!

[martiandancer31]

june second! im pumped!!!

me too, i'll be busting my balls trying to make this thing as good as possible before then.

[Falcons]

me too, i'll be busting my balls trying to make this thing as good as possible before then.

haha i might be building my box tomorrow. then i still need an amp and wiring kit. i may have my system on half power by the show, or i may not. not sure yet. gonna start working a lot more to get my funds up.

[martiandancer31]

haha i might be building my box tomorrow. then i still need an amp and wiring kit. i may have my system on half power by the show, or i may not. not sure yet. gonna start working a lot more to get my funds up.

that'd be great, what are you running?

[Falcons]

that'd be great, what are you running?

When it's all said and done a custom 15 made by spl audio to take 2k-2.5k watts, a 270amp mechman alt, either an American bass vfl 120.1 or similar amp, and Cdt comps. Most likely won't be done till next year with it but it's well worth the wait.

[martiandancer31]

When it's all said and done a custom 15 made by spl audio to take 2k-2.5k watts, a 270amp mechman alt, either an American bass vfl 120.1 or similar amp, and Cdt comps. Most likely won't be done till next year with it but it's well worth the wait.

that sounds like a pretty solid system actually. Definitely worth the wait!!

[Falcons]

that sounds like a pretty solid system actually. Definitely worth the wait!!

I know Ive never had an all around system so I'm pretty pumped!

[martiandancer31]

some work tonite, got the relays mounted up again and the first battery in. Again, i'm really making an effort to clean everything up this time around so it's going slow but that's fine.



(relays)




this ***** to get at because it's so close to the box. Can't use a socket wrench on that sucka.



the smaller relay works on the remote output of the head unit and triggers the larger relays...



that's where i left off for the night. School's busy as all heck right now and i need to pucker up and do school stuff for awhile.

[Xinspaly]

you single handedly talked me into trading my entire system for an FI BTL 18, and restarting from the ground up, building the box inside my 94 cutlass ciera (same trunk setup practically.. (crossbars and all) and after reading through ALL 12 pages.. I have some questions:

For a newbie, just how hard is that fiberglass?
Were your seats bolted to those cross bars?
If i were to build a sub in the trunk like that and seal it off pretty much, would I have to have the sub facing the front of the car? Or could i do it facing the back?
BIGGEST QUESTION: Do you still have access to your wheel well?

Thanks for the answers, and awesome freaking build man, looks great!!

[martiandancer31]

you single handedly talked me into trading my entire system for an FI BTL 18, and restarting from the ground up, building the box inside my 94 cutlass ciera (same trunk setup practically.. (crossbars and all) and after reading through ALL 12 pages.. I have some questions:

For a newbie, just how hard is that fiberglass?
Were your seats bolted to those cross bars?
If i were to build a sub in the trunk like that and seal it off pretty much, would I have to have the sub facing the front of the car? Or could i do it facing the back?
BIGGEST QUESTION: Do you still have access to your wheel well?

Thanks for the answers, and awesome freaking build man, looks great!!

ha!! That's excellent!!


To answer your questions:

fiberglass is a bi0tch. This is actually the first time I've worked with it but it's expensive, messy, and somewhat difficult. The hardest part isn't really laying the glass itself, so much as it is making molds of stuff you want to make molds of. If you do use glass i'd highly recommend you use the stuff from uscomposites as opposed to the garbage they sell at lowe's, home depot, and auto parts stores.

In my case, the seats were not bolted to the crossbars. There's two bolts on the floor of the car and four clips running along the top, and that's all that holds the back in.

If you're going to seal the trunk off, i'd highly suggest sub forward and port forward, otherwise you're just going to rattle the trunk lid around. Mine's not actually perfectly sealed, but I might fix that if I get really ambitious.

Biggest question - no. Sadly, i can't get at the strut towers in the back. Really ****** too because when I needed to change an air-assist shock in the back I actually had to cut a hole in my box

good luck on your build and post up when you get something built!!

[Falcons]

so since you put in relays are you planning to compete? haha

[martiandancer31]

so since you put in relays are you planning to compete? haha

eh, we'll see how I do at the June 2nd comp. I'm tuned at about 30 Hz so I don't really think this setup is going to throw up serious numbers, but I will probably peak lower than most people do which will be interesting.

I originally put the relays in because some friends who are chem/electrical double majors (i'm electrical/computer myself) and know a thing or two about batteries told me that my stock battery would want to rest at a lower voltage than the kinetic/shuriken, and that if I didn't isolate it could potentially shorten the lifespan of those two. But the relay's will probably come in handy at comp's too....

[Falcons]

eh, we'll see how I do at the June 2nd comp. I'm tuned at about 30 Hz so I don't really think this setup is going to throw up serious numbers, but I will probably peak lower than most people do which will be interesting.

I originally put the relays in because some friends who are chem/electrical double majors (i'm electrical/computer myself) and know a thing or two about batteries told me that my stock battery would want to rest at a lower voltage than the kinetic/shuriken, and that if I didn't isolate it could potentially shorten the lifespan of those two. But the relay's will probably come in handy at comp's too....

yeah relays definately are nice when you are mixing batteries. pretty sweet setup if you ask me