"The Sound of Liberty"

[jfortier777]

I couldn't have put it any better myself. I did a test fit today and it fit with about 1/2" to spare. The position of the driver is dead on with what I had originally imagined. I am incredibly proud of the work so far. I am taking things slow to make sure they are done correctly.

That is one reason I am not updating today.

I did complete a bit of work but I stopped early because I need to think more about the vent plug and its mounts.

I still have a deadline of saturday afternoon for this project so if I do not complete this tomorrow than I will have failed completely, generally a failed project to me has no value at all.

The caulk requires a full day to dry too, so really I need to be done tomorrow afternoon.

If anyone has any suggestions for the vent plug I would really appreciate it.
One of my constraints for this project is that it MUST be a dual purpose enclosure. No exceptions. I am ready to give up on the bolt through mounts I prepared because I think they will just be too gaudy when the plug is not in place. (95% of the time) I like the idea of using a bolt down plug because it will undoubtably be stronger and give a better seal, but still I need to figure something out soon.


Stress and fatigue are ripping me to shreds. I have to work in 4 hours, please excuse me while I violently fall to the floor and pass out.

btw here is my schedule as it has been this week.
M-W
work 5am to 5pm
Project work 5pm to about 10pm
shower, post, sleep


*Thud*

 

[jfortier777]

98% complete!

Day 6

Heres the news, I'm done with the box and the caulk will be dry before my deadline. Hooray!

I have scrapped the vent cover mounts. I decided to avoid that approach to a vent cover. Vent cover designs will be a future project.

Onward to the pictures!

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Sizing up the vent panel and clamping it.

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As you can see here my caulking skills have increased since the project began, but I'll forget again before the next one.

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Closup of it.

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My amp quick disconnects came ups today. Let me tell you; they are nothing less than amazing!

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I had to use a lot of glue for the top panel to fill in gaps from the mounting brackets.

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30 minutes later after some elbow grease and a chisel, the box is ready to be sanded for the last time.

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Nice smooth sanded edges, loaded up to go to the free powervac to clean out the box before the final caulking.

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Caulked inside the top panel. Featured here is my solution to a proposed air leakage possibility: both sides are caulked and packed into the crevices.

Thats all for now.

Day 7 Agenda:

-Build a temporary panel for mounting the amp and bass processor to until I determine better locations for them
-Mount driver
-Tune Amp
-FIRE IT UP!

If the driver is functioning properly then there will also be a video link in my next post.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Dude! Its crazy that you are doing this much work for a box. I would never do that! I bought an MTX sledge hammer box and its good enough for me! \/

 

[jfortier777]

Dude! Its crazy that you are doing this much work for a box. I would never do that! I bought an MTX sledge hammer box and its good enough for me! \/

Ever since I got into car audio I have never been satisfied with a premade box.

In fact the box that I bought to temporarily hold my L7 was so flawed that I couldn't even bear using it.

However, I've heard the sledgehammer boxes, and with a 9500 in it, its pretty hot. But either way, I still believe that no matter what every box should be designed for the driver in question.

All that aside, the golden rule of car audio is that "The only opinion that matters is the main listener's", IE, if you are happy with it than everything is golden.

 

[jfortier777]

Finally!

Day 7 (projected completion date)

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I relocated all of my wiring to more clean and conveniant spots.

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Heres the powerhouse... JBL tried and true.

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MUD! Somehow I managed to get mud on my amp amidst my travels.

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Like a glove. A loose glove.

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Sizing up the amp panel.

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I already returned my borrowed circular saw, so I had to go old fashioned for this cut.

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Tucked away a couple of wires.

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Completed temp amp panel.

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Sits flush agaisnt the back of the seats at this angle and doesnt move at all. Amp has enough airflow in this position to cool properly.

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This is what I have the joy of seeing in my mirror.

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This is a clearer shot.


So then, moving on.

Here are the problems so far. In order of seriousness.

-Recieving high frequency (100-200Hz) interference from my HU output. (source unknown)
-potential fixes.
-rerun output cables on opposite side of vehicle to avoid contact with power cable.
-HU crossover could be toast after 5 years of heavy usage
-Beg for advice from SQliberty

-Box is slightly larger than it should be: IMO
-potential fixes
-After first problem is solved the cleaner signal may allow for enough control to manage the extra space.
-Put some blocks inside the box to take up like .5 cu/ft

Need to buy a decent SPL meter so I can get some numbers to talk with. SPL right now is low. I will be, satisfied if I can get over 140db.

 

[jfortier777]

VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8663357435310915216

 

[jfortier777]

(bump) (bump) (bump) (bump) (bump) (bump) (bump) (bump) (bump) (bump) (bump) (bump)

 

[MoladoGuy]

Good job. Looks like a nice time consuming but fun project. How are your door trim panels holding up with all the vibration?

 

[jfortier777]

LOL, not very much is holding up to the ridiculous vibes, I may have to start tucking foam behind things and at any loose panel points.

Its deffinetly somethign to hear though. Maybe I can show ya this weekend.

 

[MoladoGuy]

drool....This weekend = Toledo Jeep Plant Jeep Festival!! We still planning on heading down that way?

 

[eddiev9]

Nice work! Looks like you had a lot of fun. I like that video you put together, too.

I had a question on that quick disconnect thing. Does it ever spark when you reconnect it?

BTW, where did you get that disconnect thingy? Do they have smaller ones for speaker wires? My idea is to 'quick disconnect' my subbox when I need more cargo space. Right now I'm simply disconnecting the wires from the box and wrapping the ends with wire tape...getting a bit sticky.

 

[jfortier777]

Nope.

It will not spark either unless I do it while the amp is on.

For the speaker wires, you could probably get away with:
http://store.solar-electric.com/anpopoco15am.html

I am sure with a little searching you could probably find them on ebay or somewhere.

They make a 15A model and a 50A model, those are the two smallest.
They are rated up to 600V too at that rating so you are pretty much covered with the 15A model. (For the speakers)

But then again a set of standard quick disconnect wire conenctors would probably do just fine.

Gimme a day I'll think of soemthing better.

 

[eddiev9]

Alright! Thanks for the link!
I hope they ship APO, though. I'll have to email them.

 

[sqliberty]

Make sure the RCA cables are away from the Power wire. I ran my power wire on the drivers side and the RCA's on the passenger side. Also make sure you have a good ground connection.. If you think the box is a little big turn the woofer around so the basket is in the box. That will fill it a bit. I see alot of the SPL competitors covering the inside of the box with resin as well to get the best seal posible.

 

[jfortier777]

I am going to rerun my RCA today, I have no idea why I ran it on the same side as my power. Thats like my biggest peave when explaining to other people how to properly run cables. It probably just slipped my mind while I was hurrying to get it done back when I ran them, because until I recently checked I would have sworn I ran them on opposite sides.
I'll also be putting my LEDs on today too and my interior lights.

I had to send my lib to the dealer today so my quick removal setup got its first real world test.

I managed to turn the cargo area back to stock in 6-7 minutes.

This is a huge improvement over my last setup in my Geo Prism Lsi with a 6 cu/ft enclosure, which took about 2-3 hours each time it had to be moved/removed.

Heres another question for you though,

I have made plans for my highs and mids.

What do you think of the Kicker SS65.2's for the front
and then SSMB6's in the rear doors.
Powered by a JBL PX300.4 (123 RMSx4)

Since you are the SQ expert I'd like your input on it.

 

[sqliberty]

My rear doors are now speakerless. I put all my efforts in the fronts. The rears are really not needed unless you want it for people in the back seat. I have never heard the kickers so I can't give my opinion of them, but there are Brands out there that may be better. Diamond Audio(my favorite) Focal, Crystal. Your best bet is listening to them at a dealer if you can. All That matters in the end is what you like anyway.

 

[jfortier777]

Ain't that the truth, I intend to keep the rear speakers in because I spend quite of bit of time using my liberty as a boom box with the doors open and parked in the middle of a field, or wherever.

And I also taking into serious consideration cloning billforde's rear gate mod. For the same reasons as above, I may opt to put them on a switch though.

Anyway, first things first. I need to go get a credit card with 0% APR and a 2k limit.

LMAO

Heres another question for ya while I'm asking.
Do you have experience with portable non-termlab SPL meters? I really need to benchmark my setup before I get too terribly involved in the tweaking process.

 

[sqliberty]

The speakers in the back gate is not mine if thats what your thinking. I have a Termlab usb meter, but my buddy has one that goes up to 150 dB from splmeter.com. It's $150 bucks. He said his reads about 3 dB higher than the termlab.

 

[billforde]

Maybe your thinking of my setup (speakers on the gate)

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[jfortier777]

I have been looking at the splmeter.com one for a while and if it reads even near the termlab, than I think I can manage; especially since my laptop is out of commission at the moment.

Lol I dont know why I mixed that up lol, I am tired as hell, and all mixed up.

See corrections.