First off, thanks to all who make this forum such a wealth of information! It was invaluable in my quest to upgrade the stock system in my

 

Nice write up. Hopefully I'll be able to put a new system in my car soon.

 

I'm guessing you had just stock stuff in there before? If not, what did you have and do you think it was worth the money for the upgrade. I've got polks in my car and am looking to take the next step up when the economy starts to turn around.

 

Looks great, thanks for the PM with the link. Now that I am *suppose* to be getting a refund for my Volks that never came in, I am hoping to get my clutch replaced and the components ordered in the next 2 weeks.

Question, did you do any modifications to let the HU sit deeper in the bay? I installed mine the other day and it has a big/thick face since it is a single DIN dvd player, and I can't make the door close with the FP on.

Get us some pics of where you installed the amp.

 

Crackerballer, you called me out on the amp It's not yet mounted but will be going in the trunk on a custom vertical shelf on the left (way left of the spare tire well). I've seen others mount it there and I need the room in the side wheel wells for golf clubs...

As for the HU, I was really worried about that too. I used the existing stock brackets from the OEM HU and mounted them right to the Alpine. No customization necessary for me. The select button does hit slightly if you close the door from the top/middle like you normally would. That's because the catch requires you to push the door beyond the actual at-rest point (hopefully that makes sense). If you close the door from the top/left or top/right it's all good. Now I just have to train myself to do that...

-e

 

I had the stock stuff. Imagine... I can now hear the system with top down. Novel concept.

I've not heard the Polks. I know they are pretty popular since they're a drop-in fit. I have to say I'm really happy w/ the low-end from the Focals. I didn't think I'd be able to shake the mirrors w/ six-and-a-halfs... Only thing I'm not 100% happy with so far are the tweets, but that's my fault. I rushed the brackets and need to go back and make some minor adjustments. These TNK53 Focals will SCREAM so I had to do some tweaking on the crossovers to salt to my taste.

-e

 

Good shit E. I am trying to find a place to put this big @ss JBl amp I have. It is a nice piece and for the price I got it, I need to make it work somewhere. Also, where did you get your wire lube, and what did you use to connect your power wire for the amp to the battery? Aftermarket terminal connector?

If those focals put out good bass, I may have to look into getting them. Just have to find someone to make me some custom MDF spacers and help my dynomat my doors.

 

Crackerballer, I like the idea of keeping the amp off the bottom of the trunk, but that's just me.

Wire lube can be found at Lowes or Home Depot. Unfortunately I had to buy the Costco-sized bottle since that's all they sell it in. A small tube would've worked, but oh well.

Here's the battery terminal. You can see the short amp loop coming off the positive terminal of the battery. Yeah, the fuse has to be pushed aside if I take out the battery. It's one nut to remove, so no big deal (wiring in/out of fuse can stay in tact).


Close-up of the custom fuse mount. I just drilled a few holes in a strip of aluminum. a second nut on top of the stock battery clamp nut locks it into place (this is the nut under the fuse). At some point I'll paint it - yeah right... if it ain't done yet, it's probably not gonna be for a looong time.


-e

 

Nice and clean installation.
I've had my crossover installed in the exact same spot as yours but others recommended not putting it there due to possible moisture damage and difficult access to the crossovers.

How do you like the Alpine?

Dan

 

Alpine is great! I love starting the car and getting music. My only complaint is the sun glare off the screen. Since the window sits on the right of the face I find myself having to lean way over in bright light to see it. Folding up the door slightly helps a little as most of the glare seems to come from the back side of the door itself (too glossy). Oh yeah, and the iPod doesn't charge w/ the car off. The OEM iPod cable did (at least I think it was OEM, it was on the car when I bought it).

I wondered about the moisture there, too. I'm probably going to cover up the top "slits" so water can't creep in from above. Although, I wonder if since I haven't Dynamatted yet and the plastic "cup" that's molded into the large plastic water barrier is still present, maybe it's not as big a deal (at least I hope not)...

-e