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Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
I reassembled the rear of the car including the seats, rear deck, etc. I also installed the speakers in the rear deck so they're ready to be connected to the amp.
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Pretty happy with the results. It's much better than I expected.
Next update will be doing the front doors once the speaker adapters arrive.
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Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
Sound deadening the floor and front seat area:
So instead of doing the front doors I decided to take the car completely apart and pull out the carpet. I have new black carpet going in there.
Here's some before pictures it was pretty nasty under there:
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Once I took the carpet out the first thing that I realized is that I needed to rerun all of the wiring to the trunk. It would have been much easier to run the wire along the floor instead of trying to fit it underneath all of the trim pieces. So I'm going to buy some more test tape wrap the wires up entirely and do exactly that before I put the new carpet in.
Here are the pictures after I completed the sound deadening:
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I didn't cover every single surface completely but I think I got enough to significantly reduce noise from every surface.
I'm also going to cover it with a layer of CCF because I have a lot of it and I'm unable to use it inside the doors because of panel tolerances. It may or may not help but it certainly can't hurt.
If anyone has any suggestions before I replace the carpet I would really appreciate it.
Heck I would even appreciate any suggestions on how to cut the carpet to fit inside the car correctly. My current plan is to wing it and go with the flow.
Lewis King
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Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
Finishing the passenger side door:
Today my door adapters finally arrived so instead of putting the carpet in like I was supposed to I decided to sound deaden and mount the speakers into the passenger side door.
Here's some pictures of the Hertz mid bass compared to the factory one that came out of the door:
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I can tell that they're going to make a huge difference in the quality and the loudness of the front stage.
This time I remembered to add sound deadening to the inside sheet metal as well as the actual door frame. I didn't cover the entire door as I did with the passengers. What I actually did this time was I made sure to address any flat areas without any bends that would create vibration.
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I also remembered to add sound deadening around the mounting point for the speaker adapter and the speaker gaskets to prevent unnecessary noise.
When I put the door back together and found that everything fit perfectly with no issue I was pretty stoked. It's kind of nice to see a 6 month plan begin to coalesce into the final product and have it come out super close to what your original vision was.
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Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
Completing wiring and the driver side door:
I completed the sound deadening on the driver side door and the component set fit perfectly on that side as well
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I also ran RCA cables beneath the center console to the back of the car as well
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Once I was done I realized that I messed up pretty badly because I did not label the RCA jacks at all. But it took me 2 hours to run down as neatly as I did and to make them fit perfectly beneath the console so I'm definitely not going to undo that to figure out which one is which.
I am however very open to options as to how I can sort them out without having to redo everything over again. Right now I'm going with plug one into the receiver and test them for signal one by one.
Any better ideas?
Lewis King
Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
So with the little deductive reasoning I was able to figure all of them out by only testing two out of the total. Once I thought about it it only took 5 minutes.
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Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
Mocking up kick panels for the 3 and 1/2 coaxials:
Today I figured out another thing that had stumped me for a couple of weeks. I couldn't figure out how to mock up the kick panel pods for the three and a half inch speakers that I have from Hertz.
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In the pictures I have two different angles marked up but I'm honestly not sure which one would be the best or how to figure that out. Because once I do the fiberglass it's going to be permanent.
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That's what it'll look like once the speaker is inside the pod. Then I'll cover it with a metal grill to protect from shoes.
So I guess I'm going to have to give it a few more days so I can figure that out but at least I have the problem solved.
Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
A quick update:
I'm still working on a build I'm just kind of in this in between state where I'm deciding which way is going to be the best way to go next. I've done some cosmetics upgrades that are completely independent of the sound system.
The next big steps that I need to take are to fiberglass the kick panels for the three and a half speakers, figure out the amp rack, build the box, and a thousand little things that go into those that I'm forgetting.
I won't lie. I feel like I've reached a brick wall in the system design and I'm having a difficult time figuring out how to get around it. But that's part of the learning process.
I've been asking questions about other parts of the system, getting input from others. But today I realized that it's just a delay tactic so that I can justify not facing the real problems that I've run into.
The biggest issue is the amp rack. Because it has to be mounted vertically behind the subwoofer box so that when I open the trunk of the car is the first thing that I see. There isn't enough room in the trunk behind the box to mount everything horizontally.
It's going to have a false bottom so that the wiring can be run below it to the battery and the box.
Instead of being a single piece of wood it has to be a box measuring 30" wide x 16" tall x 4-5" deep. The plan is to secure it to the spare tire cover with bolts to keep it in place since there's not a way to bolt it directly to the back of the subwoofer box. It's always become a real problem.
But once I get it figured out I'll give you a guys an update on the progress and continue on to the finish.
Lewis King
Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
So I have bipolar disorder and I've missed 4 of the last 6 weeks of work from either being manic or depressive. Which has caused me to go through my savings to the point where I'm going to have to put this build on hold. Because of the financial situation I'm in I'm guessing it's going to take me until December or so until I'm able to recover to the point where I'm able to justify working on the build again.
To the site administrators please do not close his thread. As soon as I am able to I will continue and complete the build.
Thank You,
Lewis King
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Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
Update:
I realized that even though I couldn't complete the installation of the sound system, there are other things that I can work on. I managed to complete the installation of the carpet and roof liner as well.
First I sound deadened the entire roof. Here's a few pics:Attachment 17809Attachment 17810
Here's the finished product once I replaced the roof liner:
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The finished carpet:
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I began to paint the panels for the center console as well.
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I still need to paint the actual center console the panel below the steering wheel and the glove compartment. Once I'm done with those I should be able to put the car back together completely, minus the sound system, for the first time since I began the project.
I originally was pretty upset because of the way that things went, but setbacks don't necessarily mean defeat unless you let them. I should be able to post pictures of the completed car within the next week.
It does feel really good to be still making progress despite the situation. I think that I enjoy the process I'm working on the build and that it's much more therapeutic than I originally assumed it would be.
Lewis King
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Re: 1st build log ever. 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE
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Test fitting. I have some touching up to do but man I did not realize how much work I put in until I actually put everything back together it took a real look at it.
I'm not getting big headed or anything but I'm pretty damn happy with myself right now.
Lewis King