My Lancer OZ build Log ess queue

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

I started this install a while back and got side tracked somewhere along the way. Here is is from the beginning. I have picked up where I left off and am back at it again...

Well, the time has come to stop gawking at everyone elses installations, and start one myself. Hopefully this install will help others with the same vehicle to obtain the info they need to do a quality install, learning from my mistakes I will try to map out a plan of attack, and a schedule to hopefully keep things steadily moving on track. I guess I will start off with a little about the vehicle for the install and some of my ideas. The car is a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ edition. The dash and footwells have about average space for speaker locations. The stock door locations have a plastic adapter, but can fit most 6.5" speakers with a baffle. The overall road noise and sound penetration in this vehicle I would say is a little more muted than the avergae compact car which is great. That being said, I'm going to dampen the rig anyway as its still not good enough for my liking.

Here are a few pics and measurements so that you can get a visual refernece point for what I'm working with. (Just ignore the dirty and tattered floormats, they will also be replaced shortly.

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Click to read more...

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

PREPARATION

Phase 1: Vibration and acoustic dampening. I will be applying a couple layers of Fatmat, followed by 2 different layers of closed cell foam. I may lay down a layer of liquid deadener on top of the fatmat if I can find a reasonable deal on some. Floors, wheel wells, doors and trunk will all be treated.

Phase 2: Wiring. I plan on running 1/0 gauge power wiring from the battery back to the trunk. Will also be running 16gauge and 12g wiring for speakers, 2 sets of 4-channel RCA's, Remote wire, ground wire, etc. 1/0g pos and neg will terminate to a metered distribution block sending 4g power and ground to each of two amplifiers. All wiring will be techflexed, labeled and heat shrink tubing applied where applicable. The "Big 3" will also be performed along with new battery terminals.

FABRICATION

Phase 3: Custom kickpanels will be built to house the midranges and tweeters. Time will be spent listening to different aiming positions before final molds are made. Finish should look factory and will be finished either vinyl wrapped, or texture coated and sprayed.

Phase 4: Door panels will be massaged to allow 8" drivers. Drivers will be mounted to the door and the plastic door trim will be modified to allow proper space, protection and provide a clean factory look. Doors will be strengthened if needed.

Phase 5: Subwoofer enclosure and amp rack will be fabricated for the trunk. I'll update this phase once I'm decided on the path I'd like to take with it.

Phase 6: Install drivers, clean and put finishing touches on fabrication. Compile install documentation.

TUNING

Phase 6: Adjust crossover points, slopes. Run RTA and adjust equalization. Perform listening tests to put the final touch on it.

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

you need to vacumm

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

So 17 hours and a backache later, I have completed Phase 1 and got about halfway through Phase 2. Pics to follow with a description. To get the interior out in this vehicle, you have to start with the center console. There are two screws inside of the armrest console (lift up the lid, they are in the bottom). Remove them, then the console can be lifted out (there are also clips at the front end of the console, so pull it upward and they will pop out.

Next you need to remove the pocket holder located below the hvac controls. There are two screws under the top of it, and clips that will pop out once you pull it forward.

Next you need to remove the forward section of the console. pull out the ash tray, remove the shifter knob, remove the trim panels on the side of the console section by unscrewing and popping out clips. You'll need to also unscrew one of the screws inside of the ash tray area that holds the center console in place. There are also 2 more screws at the end of the console closest to the emergency brake. Once those are removed, you can start to lift it out. you'll have to unplug 4 connectors once you can reach them. 1 is right next to the screws next to the e-brake, the other 3 are the ones connected to the cigarette lighter. Theres also a light connector that illuminates the ash tray that can be twisted and pulled out.

After doing this you should now have access to the 4 seat bolts. Unscrew them and remove each seat. Note that there is one connector at the front base of the drivers seat to be unclipped.

Remove the dead pedal by popping out the hole cover in the center of it, and unscrewing the bolt. Also unscrew the plastic screw at the top of the dead pedal, remove it.

Remove the door sill trims (front and rear) by pulling them straight up. The clips will pop out. Also remove the center pillar covers (pull one side at a time). The cenetr pillar cover removal requires you to unbolt the bottom strap of the seatbelt. Quick and easy.

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

Remove the rear seat starting with the bottom. Pull it straight up and the clips will pop out. Next remove the two side rear seat pieces by removing one screw for each at the base of the piece. They hook on to a rail at the top, so just push them upward afetr removing the screw and they will come out easily. Remove the seat backs by unscrewing the bolts that hold the seats to the mounting plates. Remove.

Pull out the carpet. Not much to mention here. Once your in there you'll figure out how to pull it out. I found it easier to unclip it from the side holders, and then pull the back and front up to the center and over the ebrake/shifter. fold it up and pull it out of the car.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

you need to vacumm

LOL, no sh!t man...

I was a victim of working out of my car at the time so it was always a friggin disgrace...

 

[douglas.leejr 10+ year member]

Oz edition = ****, should got a real Lancer, not one with 14" wheels, LOL!

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

So thats where all of my change went

The trunk is also pretty easy. Unscrew the panels and pull them forward to pop them out. The side trim pieces have connectors that you need to push the center pin inward for them to pop out. Remove the carpet, tire wood cover, and tire.

Now your ready to clean and prep the areas for sound deadener!

I layed in the fatmat and rolled in on. This stuff has a very good adhesive. Better than the extreme I put in the doors/trunk lid a few years ago, and its also more flexible so it makes for an easier application.

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

Oz edition = ****, should got a real Lancer, not one with 14" wheels, LOL!

Mommy doesnt buy cars for me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

And I did actually have some sick 18" wheels on her for a while but they got ripped off, so I said F it...

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

Next I decided to put in a closed cell foam barrier on top of the fatmat. 3/8" thick neoprene. I figured this would add a little something extra for noise blocking. Got the trunk and the floors of the car done. I will be doing the doors on another day. It was just too much to try and get done in the god awful heat. Plus its very easy to get at the doors when I want to, and I knew I was going to need to do some more modification for the doors, so they will be another project coming up soon.

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

]

With most of the deadening done (doors will be done later as mentioned above), I moved on to Phase 2. Thsi involved running new power, remote, speaker, and signal cables. All cables were techflexed labeled and shrink wrapped at the ends. Since they have not been terminated yet, they will be cleaned up when I get to that point.

1/0 guage run from the battery to the trunk, a new remote wire run, (2) 4 channel RCA's for a total of 8 channels, and 12gauge & 16gauge speaker wire run. The 12 gauge will be for the midbasses, while the 16gauge will be for the mids and tweeters.

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

]

Although I didnt get pictures of it (DOH! ) I did use cable ties and the square adhesive backed mounts to secure the wires. Power wires went down the passenger side door channel. Speaker wires went down the passenger side center column. Signal wires went down the drivers side center column. Cables were secures appx every 6-8 inches.

Also, the old wiring seen in the earlier pictures was removed. The 4gauge power wire may be reused for the "big 3" that will be done hopefully this week. Copper is getting expensive //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Next up on tap will be the remainder of phase 2. I need to get the Big 3 done. After that, I will begin work on fiberglassing some kickpanel enclosures for the mids and tweets. Once that is complete, I will begin working on deadening and sealing the doors and constructing the baffles for the midbasses.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

I did get started applying the fiberglass resin and mat today, and inbetween coats I was working on doing the "Big 3".

For those that don't know, it entails running 3 new wires for your electrical/charging system to maximize available voltage. The runs I got done today were:

(1)Battery neg to chassis ground. I found a good CLOSE spot and wire brushed the paint away and cleaned. Nice good connection. The wire was 4gauge, techflexed, and heat shrink wrapped.

(2) Engine block to chassis ground. Found a good spot on a mount directly bolted to the engine and ran it to the same psot as above.

(3) Alternator positive to Battery positive. The cable was run and connected to the alternator post. Unfortunately that involved jacking up the car and getting to the underside of the alternator, where that post is actually accessible. It is techflexed, heatshrink wrapped and run to the battery, but NOT connected yet. I need to pick up another inline fuse to conect before the battery. I HAD one yesterday but it somehow took a walk on me...bummer.

Heres some pics of the fiberglassing I got done today. Pulled the molds otu and will work on them when I get some time.

Thanks for looking.

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

So I went on vacation last week and I had to make a push to at least get SOME kind of tunes in the car. I installed an amp, wired up the existing Diamond Audio components, installed the DRZ9255, wired up the distro blocks, etc.

I've gotta say, the 9255 is an incredible unit. The time alignment is fantastic, and the output quality on this deck is just as good if not better than the old RFX-8250 I had. Difference is, the 8250 had 8v balanced outs which was great, but it also didnt have ANY of the extremely powerful processing that the DRZ9255 has.

Anywho, the system sounds FAR better even with the old Diamonds still installed.

Oh, and I also installed a new battery as it was desperately needed.

Heres a few quick pics.

The new Kinetic KHC-1400. Far superior to my old stock battery.

And the new head unit. Clarion DRZ-9255...sweetness...

I'm awaiting baffles that are being made by Mr Marv, and then i'll continue work on getting the new Hybrid Audio speakers mounted, aimed and then fiberglass/finish the kicks.

After that its on to the trunk..

 

[captainobvious! 10+ year member]

It was a LOOONG weekend.

To start off, I picked up the holesaw and went to town cutting holes to vent kickpanel enclusres into the framerails. I also Built the kickpods, which stil need some finishing work. I havent decided yet if Im going to keep the tweet down low, or just seal the baffle hole for the tweets and mount them on the A-pillars. I'll decide once I get some listening in.