Little bit different build - Nissan leaf

[defiance 10+ year member]

Now, the audio system:

Here's how it was when I had my reboot. The kickpanels were rough but very functional; it sounded great. There was a kenwood MASK unit in the dash- excelon 905, I think? Great unit, and it looked really neat in the dash... But the location was crap ergonomically.

The trunk was basically just thrown together. Nothing messy, but nothing particularly well done either. eD nine.1 on two eD k16's, and a nine.2 for the front speakers. A couple of audiocontrol EQTs in there as well (I later found a blown black case EQT on ebay for cheap and swapped the case, so it's not mismatched now //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Having now decided to rebuild the whole car, while it was at the body shop I took out the old box and built a new one. Here's the sketchup I did of it initially:

I then put the box together, and it pretty much came out exactly as per design. Construction was less than 4 hours //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Well, construction up to that point. I spent a bit of extra time with finishing:

As a note, after that pic I took all the subs back out and rebuilt the mounting with T-nuts and machine screws.

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Next, the stereo. I couldn't stand it where it was ergonomically. First I tried building a center console - I built several mockups, but it just never went well with the interior. So I decided instead to alter the dash itself.

First I took one of the panels I'd made when I was working on the console, and framed it in the place I wanted it on the dash

Next, I put an old stereo in the frame (to prevent accidentally glassing in the cavity) and rough glassed it in. Yeah my garage was a wreck that day //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I used bondo-glass to then fill in some of the dips

Then another layer of normal fiberglass, followed by a pass with an angle grinder to get general shape

And finally sanding and painting

Now, however, I'm in a bit of a quandry. I had planned on using the same components I'd used before - it worked well, so why change it - but now that's not an option. eD is unfortunately dropping out of car audio, and the nine.2 is no longer available. My nine.2 developed issues related to water seepage where the equipment was stored (nothing else was impacted), and while I could have it repaired, I'd prefer to change amp brands. I don't mind subs because if I need to change subs later, I can remove these and put new a different brand in no problem... but amps can't be swapped quite so easily, since they're so aesthetically different, different wiring points, etc.etc.etc. So I threw out the nine.2, put the nine.1 in my wife's car, and now I'm looking for new amps.

My thoughts right now are, I really like the looks of the cerwin vega amps - they match the car aesthetically - and pasmag tested the 2000 and found it performed at specs and sounded great, so I'm thinking about a stroker s2000.1 and s800.4.

So that's the charger as it stands.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

I threw out the nine.2...

say wat? why not have it fixed and sell it?

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

It was seriously water damaged, and it let go it's majik smoke, so most likely cost of fixing it would be close to if not more than what it would sell for.

Incidental note, I was wronge about it being the only thing damaged... I've got a serious problem in my garage. To make matters more fun, I just finished up converting my gas tank/pump to an in-tank pump setup, which was the last holdup to starting to put stuff in the trunk. So I pulled out the box last night and found that it had serious water damage too. Only to the back piece and the back edges of the sides, though, so it's salvageable. I'll just remove the back piece, cut the last 3/4" off the sides, and make the back piece overlap (before the back piece was inset into the sides). Took me a lot of angry yelling to reach that calm conclusion, though.

I gotta figure out what's up with this water issue, though.

 

[sacsking916 5,000+ posts]

nice charger, nice box, nice glasswork, nice overall job. i like how the charger body work and engine came out.

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Ok, I think I'm about to order parts to get both systems going. I had to cut back the budget a bit so I could get both, but that'll give me something to work on until the leaf gets here.

System configs I'm running with

Charger

-Kenwood 8141u (already in place and working fine)

-2x audiocontrol EQTs (old skool! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif but already got and they work great )

-JBL GT47 multi-way crossover network - I decided against the JBL MS-8 or Alpine imprint in the charge for several reasons- already have eqts, 3-way speakers will all mount in one location, and the GT47 has image enhancement as well (though manual) - plus like I said, I had to be a bit more budget-conscious to cover both projects.

-Cerwin Vega S2000.1 sub amp (2000x1 @ 1 ohm, where it will be running)

-Cerwin Vega S800.4 4-channel amp (operating 4-channel 3-ohm. so somewhere between 4-ohm rating of 125x4 and 2-ohm rating of 200x4)

-4x Elemental Designs 13kv.3 subs (already have them in the box pictured above)

-PPI PC3.65c - for the price, given that it's a 3-way setup, got great reviews, and the crossover is specifically designed to function only between the mid-tweet in a case of using active as I'm using, can't really beat this - If it doesn't sound amazing I'll try something different in the leaf //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Leaf

-Stock head unit (reasons listed above)

-Alpine imprint H660 - It'll handle the frequency and timing adjustments similar to the MS-8, but for less than half the price. I give up a lot of user adjustment, though... but again, the MS-8 just eats too much budget //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

-JL XD700/5 - good amp, good power, minimal current draw

-PPI PC3.65c (though I won't order these until I've tried them out in the charger; that way if they **** I can change this); midbass from one pair of channels, mid-high from the other

-Infinity 6030cs running direct from the head unit rear output (though with them turned off usually by fading to the front)

-Then, for woofers, I started looking a little more closely at specs... Those eminence drivers were HEAVY... as are most 12" subs. There are a few Neodymium magnet 12s out there, but must in unusable price ranges. The one exception I found were the Dayton NS310 sub, which is WAY lighter, and with reasonable specs. Couldn't find anything at that came close to that light without being much more expensive.

As for an enclosure, I did some digging on carbon fiber for enclosures, and I don't think it'll work. Among some that have tried it, there's a lot of discussion about 'ringing' (resonances above sub-bass frequencies), and those that have fixed it did so by adding weight to the extent that it weighed as much as fiberglass. So it would look neat, but no weight advantage. So I'm just doing fiberglass in this case.

Hopefully I'll have some of the components in this week - if so, work continues on Sunday.

Unless I end up don't get these french drains finished first... I'm digging trenches for them after work every day so far this week... Looks like I should finish Friday, but we'll see.

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

No luck this weekend... A lot of parts came in, but the biggest thing I need next is the amps, which didn't come in yet. So probably this coming weekend.

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Spec's of box?? That seems like a very small port..

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Neo motors on ALL speakers. Zed Leviathan could run active fronts and sub(s). I like mine a whole lot and they use technology that while playing at lower volume they run at a lower rail voltage on the power supply so they're much more efficient when you're not driving it full tilt, and of course it's full range class D so it's about as efficient as you like at other output. Not too big a footprint for potential 1800W and a lot of crossover/flexibility options.

If you can find it, and afford it, there is a bamboo plywood (particle board?) that is supposedly very rigid and very light..... Can't cost more than carbon fiber.

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

That leviathan is a bit outside my current requirements; it approaches 100A max draw from what I've seen in tests. I know it'll usually draw less in the real world, but for this design I was looking for something under 60A max using that same (less in real world) assumption in order to miminize impact on the range.

You're right about the neo speakers - at this point every speaker I've chosen is neo magnet except the rears, and I'm thinking about just leaving the factory speakers (which are also neo magnet), since they'll be unused 95% of the time.

I'll look into the bamboo fiberboard you mentioned - haven't heard of it before - but I think I'm probably going to go with fiberglass. I'm betting I can get the enclosure solid but under 25lbs, where even cf or bamboo or other esoteric (expensive) materials would probably put me at 20. I think that's probably getting beyond the point of acceptably diminished returns //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

disturbed- yes, the port is too small according to all the "rule of thumb" guides I've seen. What I'm seeing recommends 90in^2 of port area, where this is more like 50. When I designed it I was using WinISD, and it showed port velocities not over acceptable thresholds; I later saw all the guides showing a larger requirement. When I found that, I considered rebuilding it with the port widened to most of the width of the box and raised an inch (and of course much longer). However, I've run it quite a bit on the bench, and port noise is not really noticeable at all, so I've decided to keep it as is in spite of that "on-paper" weakness. To answer your question, the box is 7 cubes tuned to 29hz.

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

I got all the stuff for the charger, but still not as productive a weekend as I'd hoped. I also just finished a huge update to the engine management system, and it's pretty complicated; I'm using a Megasquirt-3 to control a sequential injection and coil-near-plug setup. This weekend was also the "everything's together, let's start it!" weekend after that whole install, and hooray, it wouldn't start. Something up with the spark, just not completely sure what yet.

Still, when that got too frustrating I did work on the stereo some. Fixed all the water damage to the box (french drain is in around the garage now, btw) and refinished it a bit. Here's some pics of the t-nuts, resanding, and tinned 12gauge wiring inside the box. I used 8 from the amp to the box (2000w at 1ohm), 4 seperate 12gauge inside (500w at 4 ohm each).

then finally got the box in the trunk. There are some nice handy body braces in the front of the trunk for me to bolt the box too, so secure mounting should be no problem. The box got some boo-boos on its way in, so I'll need to do some minor cosmetic repair next work session. BTW, there will be an upper trim panel extending from the top corner of the box to the lip of the trunk and all they way to the sides (with channels cut for the trunk arms of course).

Kickpanels nearly done. Here they are outside the car, and the driver's side inside car with the speakers in it (nothing bolted down yet). Yes, the car is very messy right now //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Also, I just realized I never got finished pics of the head unit pod in-car. So here's that. You can also see my megasquirt in the glove box (glove box lid is off atm)

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Another somewhat clearer shot of the kickpanel (passenger side, no speakers)

Quick notes on the speakers - these are some nice looking speakers. I love the screw terminals on the midbass - and the crossover is art.

And yay amps! Kinda cool thing is they work well with the car cosmetically. I'm going to try to get the placement so that the red stripe is somewhat aligned to the trunk stripe. We'll see if that works out.

Also! I just got a VIN: my Leaf is set for delivery "week of 6/16". So one month out //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Good timing, apparently, should be plenty of time to wrap up the charger. Assuming I can get it running

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Slight update. didn't get a lot of time, but got the kickpanels in and the underhood wiring done. As always, yes the car is dirty I'm working out an issue with the cam sensor, and once that's done I'll have it moving. Then I can take it out of the garage so I'll have room to wash it properly and do a detailing.

I used all machine threaded stainless bolts and t-nuts for the mids and midbasses. Couldn't find #6 tornado nuts, which were the size used by the mids. So, I put a little construction adhesive on them to keep them in place. Works pretty well - I put them and and took them back out 2-3 times over the course of getting the kicks right, and they're still in place.

Here's the kicks in place now:

Underhood firewall:

Fuse:

Batt Terminals- the main wire and main ground visible are 0-gauge, there are 4-gauge power and ground wires going to the Alternator and engine block beside alternator as well.

And other components in the rough arrangement:

Hopefully I'll get a chance to do some amp rack/trunk trim work tonight or tomorrow. Lots going on, though. We'll see.

 

[sacsking916 5,000+ posts]

lovin this charger build man. very nice glasswork on those pods.