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2014 Avalon Limited Build
The day is finally here. I literally just picked it up a few hours ago. Since I work at the dealership I got it from I went right from signing papers to the back for applying ceramic protection. One old lady owner, loaded and only 35k miles.
Attachment 17648Attachment 17649Attachment 17650Attachment 17651
For the first 2 months or so it’ll move a little slow but after the VA meet in September the Malibu will finally be retired and most of the equipment will get transferred into this car. It’s also going to be my daily driver so down time/disassembly will be minimal.
Car:
2014 Avalon with JBL/nav system
Goals:
Supreme SQ while keeping as much useable/cargo space as possible and use OEM speaker locations and minimal modifications
Equipment:
Head unit: Kenwood Excelon Reference DMX-1057XR
Processor: JL TWK88
Amps: Alpine PDX-V9 & F4
Front Stage: SI TM65mk4, SI M3 Carbon, SI M25mk2
Sub: SI… either SQL 15 or SQL 12
The decision on sub will depend on where there’s available room for it. I’m hoping for spare tire well but I’m limited on mounting depth there (I’ll measure that out in the next few days), if that doesn’t work either side of the trunk might work.
Most people will say you can’t replace the radio in the JBL/Syntesis cars and, from what I’ve read, it’s because the circuit board for the passenger airbag light is integrated into the board with the tuning knob so it can’t be transferred to the new dash kit. So after some investigation I am under the understanding that the plug for the airbag light is the same for all models of radios so I procured a non-JBL radio so I can dismantle THAT & I can keep my original radio intact.
Attachment 17652
I should be able to start accruing install parts for this over the next few weeks so this will hopefully start moving along about the end of September. I’ll update as it moves along.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
I can dig it. Nice choice.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Beautiful car Todd, I'm in for this one.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Got it tinted today
Attachment 17673
For the short term I’ve decided to transfer the PPI mids & tweets currently in the Malibu over to this one rather than getting the SI speakers right away. Definitely getting the SQL though as I’m not doing IB in this car and the PPI 15” needs a HUGE box. Until my bank account recovers (I spent a bit more than I wanted to on the car), I’m gonna be on a tighter budget. It’s been about 10-15 years since I’ve had a car payment so this will be an adjustment.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TheTodd
For the short term I’ve decided to transfer the PPI mids & tweets currently in the Malibu over to this one rather than getting the SI speakers right away.
Well that didn’t last long. SI is offering discounted products at the Sundown show this weekend at prices I can’t pass up. Ian (Naiku) is going to the show and has agreed to do me a solid and pick up my new speakers. I won’t be picking them up until the VA meet at his place but, again, I can’t pass this deal up.
I’ve decided to get the SQL-12 instead of the 15 and more than likely it’ll get ‘glassed into the right rear corner of the trunk. I’ve fiberglassed stuff before but never anything that would have to be done upside down. Does anyone have any tips on how to apply mat to this surface without it falling off?
Attachment 17725
To assure it fits properly I’d like to do the first layer IN the car and I’ll add additional layers after the first has cured and I can remove it safely. I estimate this area has about 1.3-1.5cf so I should be able to easily get the 1cf sealed I’m looking for.
In the meantime… my new remote starter has shown up. Supposedly it’s a 20-30min install. It comes with all needed T-harnesses and it’s all a matter of taking the underside of the dash off and securing the box. It even uses the OEM remotes.
Attachment 17726
That'll get installed this weekend as well as starting the sub enclosure and/or amp rack.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Got a little more done this weekend. I had some deadener left over from the Malibu so decided to use that up while I wait for more to show up.
Trunk lid before & after:
Attachment 17797Attachment 17796
Trunk floor before & after (I ran out):
Attachment 17798Attachment 17799Attachment 17800Attachment 17801
That’s it for now. I get an extra paycheck in Sept plus I’ll get the Malibu sold so once that money comes in progress should start picking up.
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Giorgio, the peanut butter box is here. Well… it’s not really the peanut butter box but today was delivery day.
Attachment 17829
I’m still waiting on power wire & the USB adapter to show up and I also have to order a few more things yet but progress should start picking up in the next few weeks.
For the next 7 out of 12 Saturdays I’ll be busy, so time will be limited (I have season tickets to PSU football), because of that I’m really contemplating taking maybe 3-4 days vacation over an away game weekend to knock this biotch out. I figure a good Th-Tu stretch at the end of the month should be enough to get the majority done. I guess we’ll see how frisky I feel until then.
See y’all in a week or so in VA. Deuces!
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Got the knob for the TWK mounted in a switch blank only to find out the shaft is off-center AFTER drilling the hole dead center in the blank. Luckily it actually fit. Who the hell designed this thing?
Attachment 17896
The plan is to mount it in the dash with the other switches. Only problem is there’s no empty slots.
Attachment 17897
The only one I’m not going to actually use is the Blind Spot Monitor switch as I plan on keeping that feature on, so I’ll do some investigating. If it’s as simple as jumping a few wires I’ll do that & remove the switch. If not, I’ll just tuck it back behind the dash and insert the knob/blank in its place.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
I also got a bit of work done on the dash kit. So the OEM dash & radio have a brushed metal finish. Ignore the greasy fingerprints.
Attachment 17898
The only problem is the only dash kit they make is a gloss black finish. Because of my OCD I couldn’t live with that so I ordered some brushed metal vinyl and wrapped the dash kit.
Attachment 17899
Now for the fun part. Like I mentioned before, I bought a non-JBL radio for the passenger airbag light. After disassembly this is what I’m after. In the top left is the circuit board for the airbag light.
Attachment 17900
In the JBL radio these 2 boards are 1 piece which makes putting it into the new dash kit extremely difficult.
Attachment 17901
So I removed the airbag light and moved it over to the new dash kit & buttoned it up for now.
Attachment 17902
I stopped short of mounting the radio but I should be able to get that done over the next few days.
Next up was the sub grille. I applied an SI sticker and painted it gunmetal grey to blend in better with the grey trunk then removed the sticker. This gave me a subtle SI logo in black. It looks a little more subtle than the pic shows. I’m guessing that’s due to the super bright LED lights in my garage.
Attachment 17903Attachment 17904
After going back & forth WAY too many times between a sealed box in the rear corner, ported behind the seat, IB through the ski pass & 4th order through either the ski pass or rear speaker openings I’ve decided on ported behind the rear seat. I’m aiming for 1.6cf tuned to 26Hz. I opted for this over sealed for the better efficiency and over 4th order for ease of build. As far as IB, I really wanted to face the sub towards the rear and I couldn’t design a way to make it look appealing to me so that was out as well.
I took some vacation days from 10/6 - 10/11 so a buddy of mine & I can knock this thing out. In the meantime I’ll be doing some more odds & ends to help accelerate the process.
Until next time…
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TheTodd
The only one I’m not going to actually use is the Blind Spot Monitor switch as I plan on keeping that feature on, so I’ll do some investigating.
can you pop it out and maybe strap it inside the fuse panel or below the dash?
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Yup. That’s the plan. There’s enough room to do that but I’m still thinking about jumping wires if I can to keep the button from being accidentally pressed (not that I think that’ll even be possible).
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Hey Todd, I have a bass knob and the controller for my minidsp and Steve mounted them in the little cubby like you have below your switch panel. Rather than making some sort of face plate to put them in, he put some little magnets on the base of each knob and matching magnets on the base of the cubby. If I need to use the cubby for storage, the knobs just move out of the way and pop back in place when needed.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
That’s not a bad idea. I put the knob in a similar cubby in the Malibu but the biggest issue I have is with the size of the “box” that’s attached to the knob. You’d really have to hack the cubby up to fit the wire & box through and I don’t want to do that.
Attachment 17941
All of that is connected together. It’s one of the only things I can say JL’s engineers didn’t think all the way through.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Got a bit more done in limited action this weekend due to Ian but luckily all I got was a lot of rain.
Under the HVAC panel, and just forward of the shifter, is a panel with a small “mood lighting” LED. So I popped it out and did a little investigating.
Attachment 17942
Popped out the LED and the gray plug/housing
Attachment 17943
Made up a small ABS panel
Attachment 17944
Hot glued that bugger in place and inserted the LED for the TWK
Attachment 17945
I’m still not sure the light won’t be too bright but I did find a bit of a solution if it’s still too much at night. I’ll just have to wait and see.
I also managed to get the drivers side sail panel mocked up before yet another downpour began. Because of the constant in/out during trial fitting, and not wanting to get wet, I decided to stop for today. Here’s what I have so far…
Attachment 17946Attachment 17948Attachment 17947
I’m not sure why the pics are sideways, I even tried rotating them and then adding them again but they still come up sideways. Anyway… if they’re not directly on axis, it’s only a few degrees off so I’m calling it on-axis. I’m going to try to get the passenger one done in the next evening or 2. Thursday we’ll start the sub box and amp rack/wiring. Yay, gettin stuff done!
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
The LED for the TWK is very bright. I used black Flex-Seal and a paint brush and painted the little light bulb. I just left a small dot of the LED exposed. That worked great to dim the bulb. Nice work Todd, Can't wait to see it some day.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Attachment 17957
Pic is sideways again… Meh, I give up. Passenger side mocked up. That is all for today. Maybe I’ll get some fabric stretched over them tomorrow depending on weather. I’m kinda tired of working in the cold & wet.
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Day 1 in the books…
The front doors in this car fairly solid with only a few small holes. I managed to apply Killmat to about 75% of the outer skin and about 50% of the inner.
Attachment 17958Attachment 17959
I was pleasantly surprised that this car, even being a ‘14, had a wire boot and not a molex connector. I didn’t get a pic of the pass side door but here’s the driver’s
Attachment 17960
and I got the TM65s mounted
Attachment 17961Attachment 17962
I ran the power wire through the firewall and down the driver’s side under the sill plate
Attachment 17963
Next was the task of getting the ski pass door removed
Attachment 17964
Easy peasy, slide the rod out
Attachment 17965
and voilà, no door
Attachment 17966
I’m still not sure why some pics are sideways. Am I doing something wrong?
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
I also pulled the rear shelf, removed the rear speakers & applied Killmat
Attachment 17967
I also finished applying the Killmat to the rest of the trunk. I failed to get finished pics as I was cruising along and forgot. I did manage, however, to take a pic of the awesome “deadening” job done by the factory
Attachment 17968
While the doors were apart I applied tesa tape to the seat memory switch as they’re known to rattle even with just the factory speakers
Attachment 17969
I also got the BSM switch zip-tied behind the dash
Attachment 17970
And mounted the Twk knob with minimal modifications.
Attachment 17973
and while things were apart I noticed this little spot above the cubby that looked perfect for the Twk LED.
Attachment 17971
So I pulled the LED out of the center piece it was in and moved it to here. It’s kinda tough to see but now I don’t have to worry about the brightness and I can just drop the cubby door to verify color/preset.
Attachment 17972
Again with the sideways pics. I give up.
So we’ll be back at it tomorrow. Stay tuned.
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Now that I got the OEM radio out you can see why you can’t just pull the airbag light out of the JBL radio. You can see through the “window” that the circuit board is all one piece
Attachment 17979
Depending on the lighting and/or angle the shade of the vinyl wrapped kit looks much different than it does in person. The camera & lighting seems to exaggerate the difference while in person it’s really not that bad. It actually matches the shade of the “leather” on the rest of the dash.
Attachment 17980Attachment 17981
But the new head unit is in and I can now confirm that using the airbag light from a non-JBL donor radio will, in fact, work.
Attachment 17982
Mids are mounted & wired
Attachment 17983
Because the SI 3” is bigger than the OEM 2” the grille had to be trimmed on the back side and also because of the larger speaker I couldn’t attach the “fast ring” to the baffle. So with a little more trimming I was able to stick it to the grille to isolate the front wave from the back.
Attachment 17984
I removed the center dash speaker and put the GPS antenna in its place.
Attachment 17985
3 sets of speaker wires, power wire & Twk cable run down the left side
Attachment 17986
3 sets of speaker wires, 1 RCA & remote run down the right
Attachment 17987
So the sub box & amp rack didn’t get built today but should happen Monday. This weekend I’ll concentrate on mounting the fuse holder in the engine compartment as well as finishing the tweeter sails. After that it’s just trunk.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Fuse holder mounted and the OEM batt post cover modified awaiting final connection. It should be a short 4-5” distance from the battery to the fuse.
Attachment 18006
Sail panels after the first layer of fiberglass. I will admit I will NEVER win any Installer of the Year awards. My skills are slightly above proficient when it comes to fiberglassing. I also forgot to take pics after the second layer.
Attachment 18007
Filler is currently drying…
Attachment 18008
Having admitted my lack of skills and also knowing I could’ve EASILY paid someone to do it for me, I’m actually VERY happy with how they look currently. I wish I would’ve gotten pics of the test-fitment but I’ll admit I forgot due to the happiness I felt with the look & having done it myself.
Tomorrow the build continues…
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I didn’t update yesterday because I tweaked my back working on the car, and I just came home and crashed. It was mostly box building and figuring out other tidbits for today’s work.
Finished hooking up the power wire. Nice & short 3” from battery to fuse
Attachment 18010
Got the box built. We built it to be ported at first and then decided to go sealed. It’s a little on the larger side for sealed but the 1.5cf should give me a little more efficiency seeing as I’m only running 500w (half of RMS), and also a little more low end extension although I realize that’ll be minimal
Attachment 18011
We covered the face with the same brushed metal vinyl used on the dash kit
Attachment 18012
Test fit in the car
Attachment 18013
Decided that the best way to mount the amps and not stress the wires in the terminal plugs AND keep the gains & other controls accessible was to put them on the box. Sub mounted & grille was also attached.
Attachment 18014
And everything installed in the car
Attachment 18015
Remember that ski pass I opened up to allow more bass into the cabin? Figured out a different use for that space
Attachment 18016Attachment 18017Attachment 18018
So as of now it’s in and playing. I only have crossovers & basic TA set but it sounds WONDERFUL!!! The detail in these SI drivers is LEVELS above the PPI drivers I had in the Malibu. While sitting at idle everything blends VERY well but the midbass & sub levels will need to come up a bit but I want to wait until the suspensions break in a bit before I go nuts. But even as they are, that sub digs deep and sounds wonderful. My buddy got the first listen (to be honest he’s more of an SPL guy) and he was amazed with the sub detail and got goosebumps on one of his favorite songs. WIN! The sails are not finished cosmetically but this week’s goal was functional and it does that well.
On Sunday we’ll build the trunk trim panel and possibly add some little accents. So there’s one last update coming then it’s on to tuning.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Todd i tried to send you a private message. I couldn't locate you. There must be a way to block this. But anyway i just wanted to let you know that i could help you with tuning. I've become fairly knowledgeable over the past couple years. I would help teach you what i know if you want to come out to Pittsburgh for a day.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
I appreciate it. Finding the time might be the bigger obstacle at this point. Weekends are scheduled up for me until December. Maybe after the new year if there’s time.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Sails are covered.
Attachment 18019Attachment 18020Attachment 18021Attachment 18022Attachment 18023
Today should be finishing out the trunk and possibly some tuning. I’m kind of a fish out of water when it comes to tuning but I’ll see what I can do… probably won’t be much.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
The trunk is trimmed out although I’m going to redo it. There’s a couple things I’m not quite thrilled with so I’ll hopefully get that done over the next week or 2.
Attachment 18027
I got some seat/tuning time in and have a pretty decent base tune. No EQ done yet as I don’t have a mic but after measuring speaker distances and trying a variety of crossover points I’m quite satisfied with my results. I have a good center image, relatively wide stage and tonality sounds wonderful. I mostly have the bass up front but I think I could get it a little more locked-in so I’ll be working on that next.
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So the trim panel was kind of one of those cases where most people thought it looked fine but once I pointed out the flaws that I saw (and wasn’t happy with), you couldn’t help but see it.
Old:
Attachment 18040
In the original I could see that the two sides of the sub cutout were not symmetrical. Even though we measured multiple times before cutting, somehow the right side is 1/2-3/4” closer than the left. You can also see that there’s a gap on the right side of both amps. The guy that was helping me build it also air-nailed the trim panel on and I wanted an easier way to remove & secure the panel in case it ever had to be taken off.
New:
Attachment 18041Attachment 18042
I’ll try to get some better pics in the sunlight tomorrow but as you can see I decided to change up the cutout while I was at it. I thought I’d give this shape a try first as it’s obviously easier to cut away material than put it back & could easily revert back to the old cutout if needed. Once I had it mocked up I knew this is the look I was after. I tightened up the opening around the amps. I also installed a couple threaded inserts and the panel can now be installed/removed with 2 screws. Unfortunately I forgot to account for the thickness of the carpet so the screws I got were too short. So for right now you can see the 2 screws on either side of the sub until I can get some new, longer black screws tomorrow.
So with this portion done it’s just a matter of tuning.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
A slight update to this.
I absolutely LOVE the way my car sounds but I also know there’s some untapped potential without a proper tune… can’t wait for one of those.
In the meantime my passenger side midbass has developed a crackle when temps drop below 30 degrees. As the system/car warms up the music to crackle ratio gradually exchanges. Since it’s JUST the midbass I have already eliminated everything before the DSP. I swapped the amp for the right side and confirmed it was NOT an amp problem. Tonight I swapped the L&R RCAs so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see what happens. The biggest issue with this particular problem is after each step of the diagnostic process I have to wait until the next morning as long as it’s below 30*. Just because the air temp is below 30 doesn’t mean the faulty component is. I pretty much have to wait until it’s cold saturated for the problem to reoccur. I’m just REALLY hoping it’s not a blown midbass. I’d much rather pay to replace RCAs than new TM65s or sending it back for warranty replacement.
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It seems I forgot this was here. I’ve been updating this on “that other forum” but I forgot about this. As far as the midbass issues goes, it seems that a little moisture got into the magnet/coil gap & when temps dropped the moisture froze and caused noise & enough resistance to keep the coil from moving some times. After removing the moisture and adding bigger rain guards, there have been no further issues.
Everything else was going just great until I got the itch to get a 2nd SQL-12. So everything in the trunk came out and I started all over. The idea is to have the amps, DSP & distro block take the space occupied by the foam block holding the jack and accessories.
Attachment 18416
The spare will stay and be accessible by simply lifting up the amp rack.
Attachment 18417
Amp board was constructed to sit on top of the spare and hold two PDX-V9s (one for each side), the Twk & power distribution and carpeted black on the top as well as the bottom to keep the wood from squeaking on the tire with any possible movement.
Attachment 18419Attachment 18420
Then a top trim panel was made and chamfers cut
Attachment 18421
I originally covered it in black suede but I’ve since pulled it off as there’s no other suede in any part of the install and I thought it would look out of place.
Attachment 18422
Next was wire prep before installing into the car
Attachment 18423
Then came installing into the car
Attachment 18424
Next up will be sub install…
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Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the single 12 sealed, this time around I’m going trunk baffle firing through the ski pass. So next up was making a cardboard template for the baffle. It’s 2 layers of 3/4” MDF with the trunk-side layer extending up about 3” for securing at the top.
First layer template
Attachment 18425
Second layer template
Attachment 18426
You can also see, on the sides, where my buddy cut the factory carpet to make the previous box fit. I was not happy about this. So I scored some new pieces for $60 from a part-out, cleaned em up and waited until final assembly to install them.
Attachment 18427Attachment 18428Attachment 18429
Next up was the test fit of the 2 separate layers. Then sand/test/sand repeat until I was satisfied it would be a snug fit with carpet attached.
Attachment 18430Attachment 18431
Then it was the ol’ glue & screw the 2 panels together and wait 24hrs. In the meantime I drilled holes and installed threaded inserts for mounting the baffle.
Attachment 18432
Time to cut sub holes & more test fitting. You can see here that I got real frustrated dealing with the cut-up carpet as it was fighting me every time I tried to install & remove the baffle so I taped the sh!t out of it which actually helped immensely.
Attachment 18433Attachment 18434
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Now it was time to test fit the subs and drill the holes for mounting screws then add the t-nuts for the #10-32 mounting screws.
Attachment 18435Attachment 18436
Then the floor panel for securing the bottom of the baffle was made out of 3/4” MDF
Attachment 18437
The plan was to space that piece off the floor of the car by 1/4” so when everything is done the new false floor (made out of 1/4”) will sit flush with this piece.
Attachment 18438Attachment 18439
Corresponding holes were then drilled into the floor panel as well as the floor of the car and the panel was glued & screwed to the baffle.
Attachment 18440Attachment 18441
One last test fit to make sure all the mounting holes line up before adding carpet. At this point you can see I pulled the cut-up trim panels out in prep to install the new ones.
Attachment 18442
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Since everything lined up and I was happy I went ahead and installed the new trim panels and added the carpet to the baffle. Since my back seats don’t fold, the cone side of the baffle can only be seen through the ski pass, and it’s a pretty minimal view, so I decided to do basic black carpet on that side and charcoal “trunk liner” carpet on the trunk side.
Attachment 18443Attachment 18444
Again, since my seats don’t fold, I knew I was going to have to mount the subs BEFORE installing the baffle in the car. I was NOT looking forward to that, as anyone familiar with these subs knows they are NOT light, and then add the weight of multiple layers/panels of 3/4” MDF. I also added a layer of painters tape to protect those beautiful motors from any woopsies.
Attachment 18445Attachment 18446
Next up… wiring. I had an idea of trying to keep the amount of visible wires to a minimum. So with the jumper wires I used black heatshrink in the middle to blend into the rubber boot and white heatshrink on the ends to blend into the basket.
Attachment 18447Attachment 18448
Mission accomplished. Next was trying to make the amp connection wires disappear as much as possible. Unfortunately I ran out of white heatshrink so these ends just got red & black but that definitely helps identifying polarity a LOT easier (added after I took the photo). What I did do, though, was wrap the rest of the wire in the matching charcoal carpet. If I find more white heatshrink I’ll add ends to those wires while leaving just a small bit of red/black at the end for clarity.
Attachment 18449Attachment 18450
Next will be rear speaker block off plates & installing the baffle into the car.
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
That's a really neat trick with the wiring - VERY good work on the entire rebuild!
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Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
Thanks for the compliments.
So next up was rear speaker block-off plates. I traced the rear speakers onto some 1/4” MDF and cut em out. And it wasn’t until I was on my back struggling to figure out why things weren’t close to lining up that I realized that the mounting tabs for the factory speakers are NOT symmetrical. You can see in the first pic, especially on the left panel (it’s close but definitely not symmetrical), that the tabs are closer together on one side. Things went a LOT smoother once I realized that side faced towards the front of the car. I cut some notches into the “front side” to make identification easier, then covered them in black carpet.
Attachment 18451 Attachment 18454 Attachment 18455
Next up was heaving that heavy sumbitch of a baffle into the trunk and beating it into place with a rubber mallet for about 20mins until everything lined up and then I bolted it into place. Even without securing it into place I could move the whole car just yanking on the baffle. It’s a good thing I plan on keeping this car for a long time because this thing is going NOWHERE. It was at this point I was really hoping I hadn’t messed anything up, or forgotten something, because it’s NOT coming back out… at least not easily.
Attachment 18456
Then it was pull the tape off the subs and secure the top amp panel. For the amp trim panel I wanted something to attach it securely but be easily removable, and without magnets. I’ve tried using magnets before and I can never seem to get them level enough to “grip” firmly. I fully admit it’s user error. So this time I went with speaker grille guides. Male post side mounted in the trim panel and female socket side mounted in the amp rack. Easy peasy on & off.
Attachment 18457Attachment 18458
While on my back doing the speaker block-offs I also added an LED strip wired up to the trunk light and I had also added some LEDs to the amp rack. The amp rack lights are currently wired up to the remote wire but I’ll be changing that over to the trunk light so they’re not constantly on when they can’t be seen.
Attachment 18461Attachment 18459 Attachment 18460
So this is where I’m currently at. I have off today so today’s agenda is to make the new false floor and hopefully get it carpeted and finished. If all else fails I can hold off on the carpet but I want to get the floor built at the minimum.
Im not sure where those 2 random attachment photos came from but I can’t seem to remove them. Meh… oh well.
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New floor time…
Started with making cardboard templates of the factory floor
Attachment 18464
Then transferred that to the car. I used tape to hold things in place while final adjustments & trimming took place. You can also see where the rear corners have an upward angle to them. The factory floor also has that angle so that’ll be 2 separate pieces but carpeted as one to allow that angle.
Attachment 18465
Then the cardboard templates were transferred to 1/4” mdf.
Attachment 18466
Even though I usually prefer symmetry, I went with staggered angles on either side mostly because of the size difference between the distro block & Twk. It’s subtle but it’s there. I tried symmetrical first and it just didn’t look right. As soon as I tried the offset angles I knew that’s what I was looking for. Then I installed the grille guides that’ll attach the panels. Male pins on the floor panel & female sockets on the amp panel.
Attachment 18467Attachment 18468
Test fit
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I still don’t understand why photos are upside down… they’re fine in my phone. Oh well, you get the idea. At this point I really got going and forgot to take a few progress photos. So now fast forward to a final test fit of all the floor panels in place after lots of testing & adjustments.
Attachment 18472
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8 Attachment(s)
Re: 2014 Avalon Limited Build
The next step was printing out an SI logo. I then determined the center of the logo as well as the panel & the logo was then cut out of 1/4” mdf and glued to the center floor panel.
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A little preview shot of the trunk with all the panels in place.
Attachment 18475
Next up was carpet… amp panel first, then side panels
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Now with the center cover in place. I love that subtle SI logo
Attachment 18478
I ended up adding a pull-tab to make pulling up the center panel a little easier but now… the money shot(s)
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At this point it’s pretty much done. The only thing left is some fan cooling. On my 30 minute commute home from work yesterday the amps were awfully toasty. They never shut down but boy did they get hot. Admittedly the last 10-15 minutes of that were at full-boogie to see what those subs could do, but some fans will definitely give me a little peace of mind.
I always say I’ll never win any Installer Of The Year awards and this one is no different. It’s far from perfect but perfect from far, but I’m very proud and happy with the job I did. I can’t wait to get this tuned in May and see what it can be.