josh99ta
10+ year member
Not Quite a Noob
Here comes Josh Camp 04. Finally got some time to do the install on the daily driver.
Equipment:
Clarion DXZ835MP
Kicker ZX460 (60x2 + 240x1)
Adire Audio Koda 6.1 components
Adire Audio Shiva 12” (2.0 cubes sealed)
KnuKonceptz wiring, Second Skin and eD v1 and v3 deadening
That’s the basics of it. I’ve got 44 pics of the work from beginning to end in a few Webshots albums. I worked my butt off on it but it’s finally done and all the hard work paid off. The mission objective was to build a relatively affordable system for my daily driver car (bought everything used except for the head unit, wiring, and deadening), keep it as stealth as possible, and the parts that can be seen, to make them look factory. So without further adieu…
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/josh99ta 95 Neon Sport Parts I & II
Brief Summary:
Day 1 – Deadening, deadening, and more deadening. I ran all the wires, installed the new head unit, deadened the entire car save the rear doors (ran out of deadening) and headliner (don’t care to get that drastic), and mounted the mids, tweeters, and crossovers. Worked for a solid 15 hours on the install and it was a ROUGH day, but at least everything save the sub enclosure, amp rack, and trim pieces are done.
Day 2 – Woke up after five hours of sleep and was hurting. Got outside and taped off the spare tire well in preparation for the glassing, then started in on that. Not a lot got accomplished here, just a lot of prep work and a lot of resin. I pulled a long day, then a short day, followed by a long third day and some finishing touches on the fourth day, finishing the whole install in 72 hours. I needed a short day after such a long first day, so it was nice to take it easy after getting the glassing and mold done. I pulled the mold and that was it for day 2.
Day 3 - I flipped the mold over and glassed the joint between the glass mold of the well and the wooden frame. When the resin was cured I covered the box in undercoating and let that sit up, then secured the baffle on. I ran into my first problem here, being that I had two air leaks where the baffle mounted to the frame. I layed down some silicone on the leaks, let that set up, then mixed up some resin and covered all the seams inside the box, problem solved. With an end in sight, new hope was restored and I pressed on. I carpeted the baffle and the sub box was finished. It’s a sealed box so it doesn’t have to be precise, but we calculated it up to be roughly 2.0 cubes. I just stuffed it with 24 oz. of polyfil per Adire’s recommendations, wired the sub up and dropped it in, and I was ready to move on. I got the amp rack cut and mounted, along with the amp wired up and mounted, then I started in on the sub grill. I decided the sub could breathe just fine through carpet, and I wanted it COMPLETELY hidden, so we took that idea and ran with it. I wanted some sort of protection for when I have groceries or miscellaneous things like tools or bodies or luggage in the trunk so I decided to cover the openings with chicken wire before we carpeted. This was a great idea and worked perfectly. Got the sub grill in and then worked on the two trim pieces to flush the floor off. Got those knocked out and then it was only the amp cover left to do, but a quick check of the clock showed it was 3AM and we decided to wake up early and knock it out then out of respect for the neighbors, because everyone knows that a table saw at 3AM isn’t a nice thing to wake up to. Day 3 over, I’m exhausted, but almost done. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Day 4 – We built the amp rack. The end. LoL It only took us about an hour to knock it out and then we just fit it and cleaned up and we were done. In the pics you can see that the chicken wire covered in carpet goes well past the back of the amp rack. This extra goes down in front of the sub box and behind the rear seats to hide all the wires running up to the amp, worked out really well. So we’re done and I’m ecstatic.
Brief Review:
Overall System – I love the install; that was my biggest concern with this. I knew the equipment was up to par so I knew the sound would be good. The system proved to be very dynamic and pretty good tonally. Soundstage is nice, high, wide, and deep. Imaging is alright, no real anchored images but things are in there general places. Common run of the mill stuff with stock location systems in my experience. I may run a few competitions in MECA Stock Class SQ to see what the judges think, but this system is mainly for my own enjoyment and it certainly met the goals. I would like it to image better, but short of building some kicks or some custom door pods I don’t see it getting to where I’m used to in the Trans Am, and I don’t want to do that to the Neon. I want to keep it clean and hidden. Overall I’m real happy with how it all turned out. Here is the breakdown piece by piece…
Clarion 835MP – Did a review on this already in another thread, run a search. I had one in my Trans Am and I had to get one for the Neon too. I love this head unit, in “that” kind of way.
Kicker ZX460 – I’m impressed by this amp. It’s built like a tank and sounds like an amp. Seems to do at least its rated power if not more, because it’s pushing the Kodas and the Shiva very nicely. Easy to mount, great wire terminals (all allen head set screws), and a good look, although this amp was a little nicked up and showing it’s age. Overall I love this amp, money very well spent.
Adire Audio Koda 6.1 Components – Reviewed these as well, same old same old. Smooth yet detailed tweeters. Smooth and detailed mids with a good deal of punch. Where I have them mounted works out decently. I’m used to the Trans Am with the three ways and the kicks, so the imaging and soundstage isn’t near that, but that’s to be expected. It is however decent with a nice high soundstage and a decent center image. If I played with tweeter positioning I could probably improve upon the soundstage dramatically but I wanted them mounted there, choosing to tune and tweak around the install.
Adire Audio Shiva – I’ve heard a few Shivas before, but don’t think I’ve ever reviewed one on here. This is the biggest sealed box I’ve ever heard one in, and the best sounding IMO. It provides a rich low end with a smooth high end that blends PERFECTLY with the midbass. Never have I thrown in a system and had it blend this well. I was amazed, flat out amazed.
KnuKonceptz wiring – Wire is wire. This stuff is cheap. It has a high strand count making it very flexible and easy to work with. I like this stuff a lot.
Second Skin deadening – This is some thick stuff, and not as sticky as eDead v1 which is what I’m used to using. It is easily twice as thick though so it made it a perfect candidate for the floors. I also used it on the trunk lid to see if I have any problems with it falling as some have experienced with thick deadening, more on that in months to come. Past that, deadening is deadening and it’s doing the job very well.
eDead v1 deadening – Much thinner than the Second Skin, but this stuff is so sticky that it just makes working with it ridiculously easy. I got the doors and some of the floor with this stuff and it definantly got the job done. Great stuff for a great price.
eDead v3 deadening – Haven’t gotten my bucket yet, still waiting for that to come in. When it does I’m going to do the rear doors with it, as well as go over the floors with any that I have left. Review coming at a later date.
Conclusion:
That pretty much sums the whole deal up. Tried to keep it as short as possible but still include all the info I needed. The captions for the pictures tell a lot as well, so check those out if you want more info on the install. Any questions or comments speak up. Constructive criticism is more than welcome as well. I put a lot of work into this and I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out. Learned a little more than I knew before and ended up with a pretty good system for the daily driver. All in all it’s marked up as a success. Big thanks go out to my buddy Kermit for lending a hand when I needed, and thanks to Saleen999 (Shiva), chrisfrost82 (Kicker), and Kreklor (Kodas) as well (I think I got all the names right. I bought all this stuff months ago and just now got it all going, and everything works flawlessly). That’s about it. In closing…
[Porky Pig] That’s all folks [/Porky Pig]
Equipment:
Clarion DXZ835MP
Kicker ZX460 (60x2 + 240x1)
Adire Audio Koda 6.1 components
Adire Audio Shiva 12” (2.0 cubes sealed)
KnuKonceptz wiring, Second Skin and eD v1 and v3 deadening
That’s the basics of it. I’ve got 44 pics of the work from beginning to end in a few Webshots albums. I worked my butt off on it but it’s finally done and all the hard work paid off. The mission objective was to build a relatively affordable system for my daily driver car (bought everything used except for the head unit, wiring, and deadening), keep it as stealth as possible, and the parts that can be seen, to make them look factory. So without further adieu…
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/josh99ta 95 Neon Sport Parts I & II
Brief Summary:
Day 1 – Deadening, deadening, and more deadening. I ran all the wires, installed the new head unit, deadened the entire car save the rear doors (ran out of deadening) and headliner (don’t care to get that drastic), and mounted the mids, tweeters, and crossovers. Worked for a solid 15 hours on the install and it was a ROUGH day, but at least everything save the sub enclosure, amp rack, and trim pieces are done.
Day 2 – Woke up after five hours of sleep and was hurting. Got outside and taped off the spare tire well in preparation for the glassing, then started in on that. Not a lot got accomplished here, just a lot of prep work and a lot of resin. I pulled a long day, then a short day, followed by a long third day and some finishing touches on the fourth day, finishing the whole install in 72 hours. I needed a short day after such a long first day, so it was nice to take it easy after getting the glassing and mold done. I pulled the mold and that was it for day 2.
Day 3 - I flipped the mold over and glassed the joint between the glass mold of the well and the wooden frame. When the resin was cured I covered the box in undercoating and let that sit up, then secured the baffle on. I ran into my first problem here, being that I had two air leaks where the baffle mounted to the frame. I layed down some silicone on the leaks, let that set up, then mixed up some resin and covered all the seams inside the box, problem solved. With an end in sight, new hope was restored and I pressed on. I carpeted the baffle and the sub box was finished. It’s a sealed box so it doesn’t have to be precise, but we calculated it up to be roughly 2.0 cubes. I just stuffed it with 24 oz. of polyfil per Adire’s recommendations, wired the sub up and dropped it in, and I was ready to move on. I got the amp rack cut and mounted, along with the amp wired up and mounted, then I started in on the sub grill. I decided the sub could breathe just fine through carpet, and I wanted it COMPLETELY hidden, so we took that idea and ran with it. I wanted some sort of protection for when I have groceries or miscellaneous things like tools or bodies or luggage in the trunk so I decided to cover the openings with chicken wire before we carpeted. This was a great idea and worked perfectly. Got the sub grill in and then worked on the two trim pieces to flush the floor off. Got those knocked out and then it was only the amp cover left to do, but a quick check of the clock showed it was 3AM and we decided to wake up early and knock it out then out of respect for the neighbors, because everyone knows that a table saw at 3AM isn’t a nice thing to wake up to. Day 3 over, I’m exhausted, but almost done. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Day 4 – We built the amp rack. The end. LoL It only took us about an hour to knock it out and then we just fit it and cleaned up and we were done. In the pics you can see that the chicken wire covered in carpet goes well past the back of the amp rack. This extra goes down in front of the sub box and behind the rear seats to hide all the wires running up to the amp, worked out really well. So we’re done and I’m ecstatic.
Brief Review:
Overall System – I love the install; that was my biggest concern with this. I knew the equipment was up to par so I knew the sound would be good. The system proved to be very dynamic and pretty good tonally. Soundstage is nice, high, wide, and deep. Imaging is alright, no real anchored images but things are in there general places. Common run of the mill stuff with stock location systems in my experience. I may run a few competitions in MECA Stock Class SQ to see what the judges think, but this system is mainly for my own enjoyment and it certainly met the goals. I would like it to image better, but short of building some kicks or some custom door pods I don’t see it getting to where I’m used to in the Trans Am, and I don’t want to do that to the Neon. I want to keep it clean and hidden. Overall I’m real happy with how it all turned out. Here is the breakdown piece by piece…
Clarion 835MP – Did a review on this already in another thread, run a search. I had one in my Trans Am and I had to get one for the Neon too. I love this head unit, in “that” kind of way.
Kicker ZX460 – I’m impressed by this amp. It’s built like a tank and sounds like an amp. Seems to do at least its rated power if not more, because it’s pushing the Kodas and the Shiva very nicely. Easy to mount, great wire terminals (all allen head set screws), and a good look, although this amp was a little nicked up and showing it’s age. Overall I love this amp, money very well spent.
Adire Audio Koda 6.1 Components – Reviewed these as well, same old same old. Smooth yet detailed tweeters. Smooth and detailed mids with a good deal of punch. Where I have them mounted works out decently. I’m used to the Trans Am with the three ways and the kicks, so the imaging and soundstage isn’t near that, but that’s to be expected. It is however decent with a nice high soundstage and a decent center image. If I played with tweeter positioning I could probably improve upon the soundstage dramatically but I wanted them mounted there, choosing to tune and tweak around the install.
Adire Audio Shiva – I’ve heard a few Shivas before, but don’t think I’ve ever reviewed one on here. This is the biggest sealed box I’ve ever heard one in, and the best sounding IMO. It provides a rich low end with a smooth high end that blends PERFECTLY with the midbass. Never have I thrown in a system and had it blend this well. I was amazed, flat out amazed.
KnuKonceptz wiring – Wire is wire. This stuff is cheap. It has a high strand count making it very flexible and easy to work with. I like this stuff a lot.
Second Skin deadening – This is some thick stuff, and not as sticky as eDead v1 which is what I’m used to using. It is easily twice as thick though so it made it a perfect candidate for the floors. I also used it on the trunk lid to see if I have any problems with it falling as some have experienced with thick deadening, more on that in months to come. Past that, deadening is deadening and it’s doing the job very well.
eDead v1 deadening – Much thinner than the Second Skin, but this stuff is so sticky that it just makes working with it ridiculously easy. I got the doors and some of the floor with this stuff and it definantly got the job done. Great stuff for a great price.
eDead v3 deadening – Haven’t gotten my bucket yet, still waiting for that to come in. When it does I’m going to do the rear doors with it, as well as go over the floors with any that I have left. Review coming at a later date.
Conclusion:
That pretty much sums the whole deal up. Tried to keep it as short as possible but still include all the info I needed. The captions for the pictures tell a lot as well, so check those out if you want more info on the install. Any questions or comments speak up. Constructive criticism is more than welcome as well. I put a lot of work into this and I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out. Learned a little more than I knew before and ended up with a pretty good system for the daily driver. All in all it’s marked up as a success. Big thanks go out to my buddy Kermit for lending a hand when I needed, and thanks to Saleen999 (Shiva), chrisfrost82 (Kicker), and Kreklor (Kodas) as well (I think I got all the names right. I bought all this stuff months ago and just now got it all going, and everything works flawlessly). That’s about it. In closing…
[Porky Pig] That’s all folks [/Porky Pig]
