Little bit different build - Nissan leaf

[Robert 2001 10+ year member]

Nice

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Yep, it's coming along! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif I think I'll have the framework for the amp rack done this weekend. The general plan is to have the components all mounted to the rack frame with #10 (or #8 for components where the holes are too small) machine thread bolts and t-nuts, with spacers underneath to bring the surface heights up to the same. Then just run wiring over the wood, then finish it with a trim panel that sits flush with the tops of all the components, so the end result is a clean surface with the tops of the components visible and flush.

That has the additional benefit that I can make everything functional before I have to spend an eternity sanding that trim piece //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

So, with that all in mind it's possible that I'll get it functioning this weeked, then finish the trim panel later.

Oh! Also, I just got word that my leaf delivery schedule moved up, I'm now scheduled for the 9th! Just a couple weeks to finish the charger //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Well, I made some progress... Here's the main piece and the back piece.

The back of the trunk slants up toward the latch at a steep angle, so the crossover will mount on that part while the main board mounts in the floor itself.

In order to get the flush mount, the surfaces of all the components have to be at the same height, so I "stilted" the crossovers and fuses to get them to the exact 2-1/8" height of the amps.

Also, you'll note what's missing from this pic: the fuse blocks have no input power wires. I had thought my main fuse had two 0-gauge connections, so I'd run the 0-gauge wire to it, then take a 4-gauge from the other connector to the other block. Unfortunately, I was wrong, each block only has one input (one a 4 and one a 0). So, I need another distribution block - one with two 0-gauge connections and a 4-gauge connection.

Which, as luck would have it, is a far-from-common configuration. Nobody local has one, so I get to order, and the amp rack hangs in limbo. Joy //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

The white box is a home phone wire connector; the remote gain for the sub amp and the image adjustment knob for the crossover both use 6-wire telephone cable; this gives me a quick-disconnect to remove the amp rack without tearing up all the wire routing to dig the telephone wires out. In fact, most of the wires will be that way; the ground wires will all bolt to a common point to the left of the rack, the input RCAs connect via barrel connectors in the same general area, the main power wire will connect to the single block (the one i'm missing) just to the left of the rack, and both sides have a rack of screw terminals for speaker wire connections. Connecting/Disconnecting all the wires for this should be a 5-minute job.

Oh, also of note, the extra bundle of wires going off either end is to connect to the EQT's, which will be mounted vertically on either side.

 

[SPLAudioHz 10+ year member]

Very nice, tuned in to this one

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Alright, didn't want to hold the whole thing waiting a couple weeks for an ordered distribution block to come in, so I found a ground one with dual 0-gauge terminals plus metal on the screw, then ring terminal'd the 4-gauge wire and mounted it to the mounting screw for the block. Made sure the screws didn't come out the other side of the amp rack. Worked like a charm. Isn't as well covered as a dedicated power distribution block, but since this whole rack will have a cover over it, that shouldn't be an issue.

So, I just finished putting it all in place. I still have to make the vertical braces for the EQTs, but for a quick test I connected them and tested it - .... let's just say so far it meets my expectations //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I love these ppi 3-way components. I saw another thread where someone was saying they're a little weak on the midbass; I found the midbass to be pretty amazing. Maybe it's because I have the midbass on dedicated amp channels? Incidentally, huge props to PPI for designing the crossovers to work that way (push-button to switch them from full 3-way duty to mid-tweet duty- basically the button changes the midrange from bandpass to high-pass). Anyway, at moderate volume (low enough that nothing's rattling yet), without any real tuning other than spot-guessing on the crossover points, it's one of the best bass-up-front illusions I've heard in a car that didn't have a sub up-front //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif - And I gotta attribute that to the midbasses.

The rest of the setup sounds excellent as well, considering that I've hardly touched any adjustments yet.

So here's the amp rack in-car. You can see the distribution block on the left... not very nice like this, but once I get it covered it'll be good.

Also, here's another pic of it, but with the stripe in the pic as well, just to show how nicely they mesh. I didn't choose these amps just for the aesthetics, but they're a NICE bonus //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Now I just have to build the EQT braces, then put together the trim panel for the trunk. My thoughts on the trim panel are to go for angles rather than curves, and to put an angled slope down to the port. That should all be pretty easy (if a bit time consuming), except for dealing with the fuse blocks... They're about an inch in front of the port on each side, so I'll have to flare that slope to the side just after the blocks to be sure the port isn't covered. That might be a pain, but doable.

That one will probably be post-leaf, though - I just ordered the leaf stuff, and it's supposed to be here in about a week! Though I probably won't be able to pick it up until the following saturday.

 

[SPLAudioHz 10+ year member]

it is getting serious //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Been a while, and will still be a couple weeks before I can do more. It's been 100+ with crazy humidity here for weeks now, and I decided to shift focus. Instead of working on the cars, I'm working on the garage so that I can STAND to work on the cars //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

When I bought the house the garage just had completely unfinished interior - as in studs and exterior siding and that's pretty much it. I've got all the electrical stripped out and redone (it was metal conduit mounted to the outside of the studs, now it's all run inside the walls). I've upgraded from two 4' flourescent light fixtures hanging to 8 recessed ceiling fixtures. I've got about half the walls insulated, and about a third drywalled. The garage door is insulated, and I've got a radiant barrier on the garage attic rafters. At this point I still have to finish the wall insulation and drywall, put in the attic ladder, install an attic exhaust fan, install ceiling drywall (that's going to be fun), then blow in insulation in the attic.

So I still have a couple weeks at the pace I've been going before I can get back to REAL work, but I should be able to keep it under 80 at that point (got a nice big A/C+heat pump), which means I should be able to get a LOT more done then without killing myself //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Anyway, the leaf is in, and it's an awesome car so far. I've got about 500 miles on it in the just over 2 weeks I've had it. Here's the quick external view. Of course the wheels are going to be replaced. Haven't quite decided what yet, but it'll likely be some variation of a black 5-spoke (thin) design with polished lip. Probably 17". Maybe 18, but the weight difference is significant with anything larger.

Here's where the sub box and amps will sit. I believe I can fit the 3 12's in the space without going above the divider behind the rear seats. There's actually a lot of airspace in that location.

For reference, here's the factory control unit (audio, nav, climate controls, etc). The UI is about as humdrum as it gets, but I can't come up with any way to replace it without doing some kind of complete rebuild of the climate control, which I just don't think is going to work out. The actual buttons for the climate control are below the unit, so it almost looks like it would work without it - but when you interact with the climate control the settings show up on the screen, and when you disconnect the screen they no longer function. Also, there are all kinds of control functions (like automatic headlight controls, charging timers, etc) that are controlled there as well.

And of course for the smartasses at the start of the thread:

 

[LaserRed38 10+ year member]

May I suggest...........

05 06 Nissan Altima SE-R 18" Wheel Set FORGED 18x8 OEM | eBay

The Leaf has a 5x114 bolt pattern, very common size. I would go with an OEM Nissan wheel to make your own Leaf Spec-V!

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Already got wheels on the way, actually. I pick up advanti denaro b2's (18x8) mid-late next week. Advanti Wheels - Advanti - Denaro B2 Black)

Meanwhile, last of the components are in, just gotta finish up the garage. A/C is installed, wall drywall/insulation is finished, and last night I did about a third of the ceiling drywall. so, if all goes well, I'll finish up the ceiling by end of week, the blow-in insulation should be a 1-2 hour job, then I should be able to start work in a bearable environment (should be able to hold temps 80 or lower; much better than the 100-110 it is right now...) *HOPEFULLY* this weekend. **** to have had to hold off this long; all the equipment keeps yelling "PUT ME IN YOUR CAR NOW DAMMIT!", and I keep having to say, "Sorry equipment, I don't wanna die of heat exhaustion. You'll have to wait just a little while longer." LOL

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

Accursed billing system conversion at work is KILLING my free time... I'll probably be working all weekend //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

But the garage is finished! Right now I can go in the garage after work and it'll be 80-ish, while it's still 100+ outside! Not super-comfortable, but a **HUGE** improvement //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

So, I set aside a few hours to get things done in the Leaf tonight. I got main power wire run, I got the head unit wiring done (used a pair of aftermarket/factory harnesses to make a super-short tail I can cut into so I can access wires at the HU without altering factory wiring), installed the rear coaxes (a pair of polk 2.77 ohm coaxials with an external crossover) and installed the midbass in the front doors (basically just made quickie MDF baffles in the factory locations, nothing special.

None of that is really pic-worth...

But then I decided to put a few more hours in and put together the skeleton of the trunk:

So hooray for progress!

Now I gotta get up in about 4 hours and get ready for work, and with conversion starting in less than 24 hours, it'll probably be a week before more progress //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Oh well. I'll post more when I can get to it.

 

[connersdad19 10+ year member]

in for this one....nice choice of rims...

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

New update. Started on the speaker pods. First pulled the a-pillar trim:

then made some speaker mounts:

Then taped up the trim and figured out my speaker mounting position:

then layered on the bottom glass:

flip panels, top glass:

finally put in the speaker mounts and glass the gaps:

and here's the rough shaped panel:

And removing the tape, no damage to the stock panel //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Obviously far from finished. I need to get an angle grinder after them to cut the panels into the shape I want, then rough sand, then body filler, then smooth sand, prime, perfect sand, prime again, then paint. Then they can go in //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

how do you like the daytons?

 

[defiance 10+ year member]

I've liked the other dayton speakers I've used quite a bit, so I'm taking a bit of a leap of faith on these. Haven't heard them yet. They look great, and with the neo magnets and the basked construction they're really light, so that's good.

One last quick update btw, finished up the shaping. Next comes the finish work.

An another cool bit is now I got the box finished, I can check the weight - total weight of everything gained is around 65lbs. That sounds like quite a bit, but for a sub box, 3 12" subs, component set, crossovers, speaker pods, power wire, amp, etc.etc.etc. it's a really lightweight setup actually. And I've lost nearly that much in the past few months, so it's like nothing was added //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

shoot me a pm after you play with em a bit