The rebuild of my 05 Civic

[fbi90909 0]

alright so well I've been at this since Saturday morning and well i decided i would start up my build log tonight. i have some progress already going so i feel I'm at a pacing start. i got 2 weeks to accomplish as much as i can as I'm on vacation from work. yeah, it's kind of weird to take a vacation and work on your car. lawl. i have no where to go really and i usually take vacations to get a lot of work done. like when i did my fiberglassing. took 3 weeks and wao did those days go fast! anyways. my new rebuild will consist of,

Components: Phoenix Gold RSD 6.5(new)

Comp Amp: Profile AP1040

Alternator: Iraggi 200amp(Ordering soon)

Deadener: 60sqft Elemental Designs Edead v1SE

[coobies5 43]

looks to be a good build

[todd.brust 29]

Wait! Didn't you have the glassed XXX?

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Looking like a great start.

[fbi90909 0]

Wait! Didn't you have the glassed XXX?

yep. i loved the glassing experience that it taught me which is very very usefull now. the enclosure turned out great but it had one big issue. it wasn't thick enough. it gave alot of flex after time and shifted the underside as it played. even though it was bolted down it moved ALOT. it left a 3-4" crack in my spare tire floor, and scrapped lots of patches off the trunk floor clean of paint, large patches at that.

thing is late last year i was planning on running 2 15" XXX's on 2 1500D's. only problem is my widdle honda trunk. so this month i managed to sell my second XXX motor and decided to get a sub that could handle a good 3k. the BTL. so with that said this is my new build. now i love my XXX don't get me wrong. it's just it's lacking it's upper frequencies in the enclosure it's in. the XXX will be stored away untill i figure out what to do with it. i may stick it in a friends car or hand it down to my little bro after he gets a car.

lawl i just ran off with that.

but to answer your question. Yes, i did have the glassed XXX.

[fbi90909 0]

alright so day 3.

todays progress wasn't too much but a little time consuming. i managed to get the components in today. lawl. i cut up some 3/4" MDF from an old speeka box sitting around. used some neon greed clay in between the deadening and the ring. re-run some wires into the door for the speakers and cross over. overall i think it turned out just fine.

now the positioning of the tweet is right above the 6.5. i wanted it in that area cause I'm not a fan of running tweets up high. since i wanted them to get as close to the speaker as possible i figured why not in front of it. lawl. so far it sound good. amp needs tweaking but the position feels comfortable. i have temporally set the up with the cross overs until i get the 9887 so i can switch to active.

i must say though. i feel that the setup sounds a little weird. I'm used to having 4 speakers(2front,2rear) to give me that full/surrounding feeling. right now i can feel the rear being just bare and everything coming up front. so I'm contemplating on weather or not to add rear fill set to a lower volume. i have 2 more sets of 6.5 RSDs in my closet so it's running in my mind.

blah blah here's some pics.

i don't know if you can tell but the tweeter itself is sitting on an angle that the door panel provides. the actual tweeter allows for directional positioning as it sits in it's housing cup which is a plus. i also checked for clearance before i even decided to mount the tweeter above the mid and it sits almost 3/4" above.

tomorrow i will be picking up my wood in the afternoon, just gotta wait till i can borrow a truck to pick up 2 sheets. i will then plan out all my cuts on it

in the morning I'm just going to finish removing all the carpeting out of the trunk and continue adding deadener. so far so good. so here's 2 rainbows for you folks. it appeared this afternoon. lawl.

[todd.brust 29]

Looks like a great start! When are you planning on buying the 9887 to run active? It's something I have been wanting to do, however I have no money available for it.

How do those comps sound? I was told they perform exceptionally well for the price!

And btw, if you are having any problems finding something to do with the XXX, send it over to Minnesota! I'll be more than glad to take it off your hands

[fbi90909 0]

well first off i need to get my car painted as the fender is still black primed. the new bumper is sitting in another room here. after i get the paints i can go on an order my alt which is more important that the HU. then a battery. then the HU. i may sell a set of the comps to help fund the HU but it won't be known till later on. hopefully within a month though.

as for how good these mids are i say they handle pretty well. specially how they are not set as active. the mid range is deeper and much more clear than the stocks so it's an overall improvment. as for comparing them to any other sets i can not give a crazy review as well, these are my first sets of comps.

lawl as for the XXX. i can't sell it. it's like a child you can't let go. lawl.

[Bigpete123 1]

well first off i need to get my car painted as the fender is still black primed. the new bumper is sitting in another room here. after i get the paints i can go on an order my alt which is more important that the HU. then a battery. then the HU. i may sell a set of the comps to help fund the HU but it won't be known till later on. hopefully within a month though.

as for how good these mids are i say they handle pretty well. specially how they are not set as active. the mid range is deeper and much more clear than the stocks so it's an overall improvment. as for comparing them to any other sets i can not give a crazy review as well, these are my first sets of comps.

lawl as for the XXX. i can't sell it. it's like a child you can't let go. lawl.

Forgive my ignorance (I've only done sealed and IB setups), but what is the purpose of adding those curves to the inner part of your ports? I can understand adding the curves in the visible spots, but the internal ones seem like a lot of extra work for no benefit.

Good idea putting the tweets with the speakers in the doors. I have a 3 way setup up front- tweets and 4" in the dash, 6" in the door. I don't really hear the midbass nearly as much as the highs. It also messes with the stage a bit.

And maybe I'm not a purist, but I've tried disconnecting my rear speakers and running on the fronts only. I agree totally with you- you don't feel like you're "in" the music nearly as much without some rear fill... if that makes sense... I have my rears turned way down, basically to the point where my ears can't pick them up directly (people sitting in the front would probably not realize there are speakers in the back without looking). But I definitely notice the difference when they aren't connected.

[fbi90909 0]

Forgive my ignorance (I've only done sealed and IB setups), but what is the purpose of adding those curves to the inner part of your ports? I can understand adding the curves in the visible spots, but the internal ones seem like a lot of extra work for no benefit.

Good idea putting the tweets with the speakers in the doors. I have a 3 way setup up front- tweets and 4" in the dash, 6" in the door. I don't really hear the midbass nearly as much as the highs. It also messes with the stage a bit.

And maybe I'm not a purist, but I've tried disconnecting my rear speakers and running on the fronts only. I agree totally with you- you don't feel like you're "in" the music nearly as much without some rear fill... if that makes sense... I have my rears turned way down, basically to the point where my ears can't pick them up directly (people sitting in the front would probably not realize there are speakers in the back without looking). But I definitely notice the difference when they aren't connected.

the port end being kerfed i would take it as a helper to reduuce port noise and easy air travel. truthfully. i don't know. lawl

though as you mentioned about the missing rear fill. it is pretty much exactly how i feel. i feel bare w/o having rear speakers. i will have to wait till i get my sub in to decide weather or not to put a pair in the rear.

[fbi90909 0]

alright well todays progress isn't too much again. still working on the deadener. initially i started out with stripping the rest of the trunk and vacuuming the dirt that was in there. that 3" crack the FG enclosure made allowed a chit ton of dirt in my trunk. after vacuuming i de-greased and started applying some deadener i had left over from the doors as the final layers of the V3 was drying on the rear dash and sail. i then began on adding deadener to the rear panel and sails. most of the rear panel was double layered, and the majority of the center point of the rear dash has 3 layers of deadener.

most of the visible areas of blue patches are holes where the clips all go. the blue line going all the way across is wires that will be deadened to the panel to not allow them to move freely like before.

pics!

on a side note the UPS man showed up with my BTL

when he took it off the truck he had to dolly it to my front door. he told me that the box was really heavy. i was like yep, it's about 66lbs. he then asked me what is it? i was like it's a speakers. he just shook his head and have a good one. lawl.

thankfully the sub arrived completely unharmed! wooo!

i have to say this thing is big and heavy, but i think my XXX is running up to it in the same weight. when i picked it up it didn't feel toooo heavy but i don't know. when i pushed on the cone i found it was stiff as fudge. i can barely move the cone down. lawl.

gotta give my thanks to Fi for the sub. Thanks!

pics!

a comparison of the BTL to my XXX

that's all for tonight. tomorrow is another battle with the deadening. going to try to complete the trunk. should be quicker since there are no holes for clips for panels and chit. though i think i might only have enough to do the trunk floor with 1 layer and maybe some of the trunk walls. i have to order more but it will be put on wait. i will first take care of the hard to reach areas that won't be accessible when the box is built into the trunk, then save the other areas for later that are easy access. yep.

hopefully by thursday i can start cutting wood. lawl.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Props for the Sub + Pooch shot. That is a winer pic in my book. Keep up the good work, I think I will get our civic done this year.

[Jpangkilla 0]

dude i loved how u put the tweeter in the factory speaker grille like that, ive been really thinking about where im going to mount mine. so being that i have a civic with that same little angle on the grille, i think im gonna steal ur idea, i hope thats ok

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I might have to steal that idea.

[audio-neon 34]

On a note about rear fill, if you do decide to do it, try and run the same style speakers and just run them off deck power, it should be enough for fill and not too much to notice.

[fbi90909 0]

thanks you guys for liking the position of the tweet. the more i listen to music the more i like it. lawl.

as for the idea. I'm sure i wasn't the first to think of it. maybe I'm the first to actually do it with an 05 civic? who knows! i just recall seeing a lot of people putting the tweet next to the door handle or in the provided location of the sail. or they would modify the sail. either or I'm just not too big on having tweets that high. so all in all, use it as an advantage if you need to.

so far for rear fill i do have 2 more sets of RSD's in my closet. I'll keep them there for the time being until i decide to put them in. though for the tweet location I'm going to have to think that one over and try to figure something out to keep it hidden under the grill. would look kind of weird having a full gray rear panel with 2 black/silver nipples. lawl. though they already kind of stand out on the doors. then again the doors have black already on them so it's not too much of an eye-sore.

WELL!

so yesterday i finished adding all the deadener except for the V3. i left the trunk w/o V3 because i didn't want to make a mess of it in there. so i just passed it down to a friend of what i have left of it. it's not much either only like a quart was left. which really wouldn't be much for the trunk.

the deadener was placed in areas i around the spare tire well, the braces of the trunk and the wheel wells to reduce road noise. much of the area was double layered. the wheel wheels were triple layered. after everything was placed in and the car was driving there was a significance in drop of road noise. i was quite impressed.

here's some pics.

the last of all the deadener. about 15-20sqft.

it is exactly the same on the other side of the trunk. i thought i took pictures of it but it seems that i didn't. today i worked on getting everything put back together. after everything was put back i decided on cleaning the interior some since the carpet and seats needed cleaning. i used a carpet cleaner by turtle wax called Oxy power out. worked like a charm!! i was like holy chit!, after i saw how well it took out the stains and how it left my carpet and seats. lawl. i need to use it on my computer chair.

anyways here's after everything was replaced. finally my trunk looks nice and clean like a normal car. cept for RCA's, speaker wires, the battery.

on side note on of the power converters for my CCFL halos burned out. luckily i was at a drive through and saw it in a reflection off the car in front of me when it all happened. so i turned them off which saved me from driving around with one halo. lawl

the switch took less that 15 minutes to replace luckily i had 2 more sitting around the house.

as for what cause it to burn up like that, i have no clue. i read about this happening to others before. could just be a bad converter. who knows.

i finally was given a saw this afternoon so tomorrow i will start cutting. i won't have the car with me as early in the morning I'm taking the car in to Sears to have the alignment and wheels rebalanced. i found my steering begins to vibrate after 50mph. the rims have proper hub centric rings so i can't say exactly why it's doing what it's doing. also, i checked the tire pressure today and i noticed that the PSI was at 45cold. i was like HOLY chit!. this is how they came to me from wheelsnext. so it has me thinking. the rating on the tires are 50max psi. the rating labeled on the car is 30psi. being that they are after market rims with low pros should the PSI be that high? or should i reduce the air pressure to 30psi for the cars rating? since these are my first set of rims I'm like the noob that doesn't know any better so if someone could be help full and recommend where i should set the PSI int he tires would be great. lawl.

and yes i have searched for information regarding the air pressure for after market rims but i haven't found anything that directly answers my question. anyways I'm going to take a shower.

currently listening to: 30 Seconds to mars - A beautiful lie - Saviour

[blue86f150 0]

45 Psi is way to much. I used to work at Americas Tire/ Discount tires (not sure wat they are called where you live). I would always put the tires to the recommened pressure that the manufacture puts for the car, never go off side wall # on the tire. the only time you use those #'s is when you carry heavy loads in the back a truck, or on trailer tires. IF you want, you can put the pressure to 35 psi and ull be fine, but it being at 45 psi, ur tires will wear unevenly, as in the center will become bald before the rest of the tire.

There are exceptions to the rules though:(but for your car, between 30 and 35 psi is good, just no more)

Example

One of my buddys used to own a '99 tacoma that had 35" Mud Terrain tires(ill find a pic to show yall, thing almost never got stuck, good times good times). He put 35 psi in it, and it was wearing out the center of the tire. The only reason why was cause the tires that he had were rated at 2,500 pounds per tire, the truck wasnt heavy enough to way the tires down

Just a little muddy, FYI the truck is green. Too bad he sold it, but he now has this:

Those are 40" tires, just to give some perspective, and he only runs 40 psi in those tires

Edited April 4, 2008 by blue86f150

[Adrian_D 520]

Spiffy build man

Can't wait to see how you're going to fit the box

[Adrian_D 520]

Those are 40" tires, just to give some perspective, and he only runs 40 psi in those tires

The whole steering seems a bit scary for 40" tires...

[blue86f150 0]

Those are 40" tires, just to give some perspective, and he only runs 40 psi in those tires

The whole steering seems a bit scary for 40" tires...

Its actually really sturdy. I believe they are 1" thick steel rods. On the other hand, he is a scrary driver with 40" tires

[fbi90909 0]

bah. progress has been slow for the time being but it's because i've been working on the box and setting the kerfs to harden.if you guys didn't know i am currently semi assembling the enclosure outside of the car. that way i can get all my bends settled and locked. my biggest issue is if i were to build the box whole, it would not go through my trunk opening. nor through the back seat. so well for the past few days i spent all day cutting wood. then another day setting the back/side wall kerf. then today iw orked on setting the baffle/port kerf. so far everythings lined up correctly and at the moment looks promising.

pics!

back/side kerf un atached from the bottom board sitting in a corner. it's nice and hardened so it won't bend back out.

well for the kerfing i made a nice thick filler paste of saw dust and lots of wood glue. kind of like a 50/50 mix of each in a container till it got nice and pastey and then i just spread it into the kerf notches. after the wood glue dried i applied fiberglass over the inner kerfed bends to add strenght to the cuts. that way i can reduce the risk of having the kerfs bend back out when they are waiting to be assembled in the trunk.resin was also added to the outside of the kerf bends just because. lol. tomorrow i will sand down some of the kerf bend as it's not as curved as i hoped it would be. i can feel the straight lines going down the board in the port so i'm sure with a little sanding i can have it smooth as a babies bottom.if all goes well tomorrow i could probably begin to assemble it in the trunk. woohoo!

[twisztdpunisher 0]

dang i love your install. nice clean. the box looks like it is turning out really good. i wish i could sacrafice that much room to run a 15 in my bmw 325i....

[fbi90909 0]

dang i love your install. nice clean. the box looks like it is turning out really good. i wish i could sacrafice that much room to run a 15 in my bmw 325i....

i'm used to not having any trunk space. i think i had full trunk space maybe the first 3 months that i had my car.

it then turned to this.

then this

then this

to what i'm doing now. lawl.

the box in size will be similiar to the first box posted.

funny though we have 325ix. it's a 91 though. lawl. no system for that cause i don't drive it.

[fuzzyping 0]

Looking back on your glassed enclosure, nice work. I'm enjoying the log, looking forward to seeing the finished box. Also tracking your "lawl count", currently up to 19 and counting.

-fp

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Good work on the new box and the glass.