TheTodd’s 2008 Malibu (re)build thread

[TheTodd]

I got a little more progress made over the last week. They’re beginning to take shape...



I have to coach my kid’s baseball team in a tournament next weekend so the previously mentioned glass/detail weekend will be 4/3. Until then I’ll make some slow progress on getting the new head unit in. The only dash kits available for my car are black or silver. Unfortunately my dash is more gray. I managed to find paint that’s a VERY close match when I put my current unit in so I ordered the black kit from Crutchfield along with the deck and did a little paint work. It probably won’t even be visible with the floating 10” display but I’ll know so it got painted anyway.



Hopefully I can get some wiring done this week and with some luck get it in before too long. It’s really not helping much that I’m revamping the install in my Corvette too. Ugh! Too much stuff to do and so little time.

[TheTodd]

Aaaand.....

.
It’s IN!! All I can say is WOW! It’s a BIG improvement over my previous Excelon. I don’t know whether it’s the difference in Excelon to Excelon Reference or the 3 or 4 year difference in production but sonically it’s on a whole new level. I had a few apprehensions with dropping $1200 but it was WELL worth it. Now I just need to get the new pillars done. The other plus would be the load time of my USB drive. I have about 3000 songs or so and the 395 would take about 30-45 seconds to start playing at turn on and this thing loads & plays almost instantly.

[TheTodd]

Beautiful weather today so I got some work done. I had been running the OEM woofers in the doors before because the PPI drivers were a tad too deep and were hitting the window. After some more careful measurements and some new, taller mounting brackets I could make them fit especially if I used a couple layers of Kilmat to help seal & space them. So I started the attack...



I tore the crap out of my hands as you can see the blood all over the speaker bracket. While I was in there I put a layer of Kilmat on the exterior door skin even though they never really seemed to need it. The inside got done as well as the inside surface of the door panel.



Of course it can’t ALL go smoothly... apparently the PPI drivers are THAT much bigger than the OEMs that the long-ass trunk release button won’t go all the way back in the door panel.



So now the search is on for a new switch that’ll actually fit. The search is also on for some new amps... I managed to find some Series VIiI Hifonics amps that I’ve always wanted and after hearing one in my Corvette I’m trying to find a few more to put in this car. So far I have a Gemini (50x4) and next week I’m picking up a Thor (400x1 bridged for the sub). So now I’m on the hunt for either an Odin (75x2) or another Thor (125x2) for the woofers. This should get interesting. Until next time...

[TheTodd]

I got the first layer of fiberglass done today, then decided to work on my corvette a bit while that dried. Then, while in the middle of THAT, our washer broke so today’s activities came to a halt so I can buy a new washer. A pic of what I got done... aka not much:

[TheTodd]

Another small update... My new trunk release button came. It was oddly difficult to find a momentary switch with the dimensions to fit and NOT be chrome. So chrome it is. It’s not hideous but I’m not thrilled with it... but it DOES work so there’s that.



Now the dilemma on what to cover the pillars with... the same headliner material as my previous ones or maybe a dark brown suede... 🤔

[TheTodd]

More glass and some sealing/deadening today.



Now it’s just a waiting game until everything is dry then it’s on to finishing & upholstery and install. I see light at the end of the tunnel.

[TheTodd]

All done and in...



They’re a HUGE improvement sonically over the last ones. Cosmetically, well, I’m not going to win any installer of the year awards but I’m ok with how they look. It bothers my OCD a bit that they’re not symmetrical but these were the angles that sounded best and they’re really not THAT different. Now it just needs a good thorough tuning session and she’ll be all done.

[Stycker]

I think they look great. Nice job.

[TheTodd]

I’m baaaaack. I’ve been casually window shopping for some new amps lately. Not that I NEED new ones but if anyone else understands this particular situation it would be you guys. So I was looking at possibly some JL XDs… a 600/6 for the fronts and a 600/1 for the sub or possibly the Alpine 6ch R series with their matching mono. Then I started thinking about a set of JL HDs (900/5 & 600/4) but even used they’re bringing some crazy money. The difficult part of my setup is that the sub is D2 and with it being IB I didn’t want much more than about 500w. I have about 450 on it now and it’s perfect, so finding an amp to do 450-500 @ 4ohms is somewhat limited. Luckily Ian (naiku) just managed to get some new SI amps and I quite literally pounced on his dual Alpine setup. So we struck a deal and I now have what I think are perfect amps for a very reasonable price. I will run the PDX-F4 at 100x4 to the mids & tweeters and the PDX-V9 will run 200x2 & 500x1 to the sub. My current setup is roughly 140x6 to the fronts and 450 to the sub so powerwise it’s not too far off but I’m betting on the quality of the Alpines to be better than the current Soundstreams.

Also when I originally installed this setup I (shamefully) cheaped out and used CCA power & ground wire. Even though it’s going to be a MAJOR pain (the firewall is a HUGE hassle to navigate in this car) I decided it was in my best interest to also redo that with new OFC wire. So… while I was spending money I figured I’d get a new distro block and a crap load of flex loom as well.

Pic for fun…


So as soon as temps get a little warmer I’ll get started rebuilding a new amp rack. I also can’t decide on whether I want to wait until after Jason’s meet or not. I want the new stuff in but I REALLY want to get some input on my current setup to see if I’m on the right track being that I tuned it myself completely by ear. I think I’m close.

I also have a buddy of mine trying to see if he can get me a TWQ-88 from JL. He used to work there so he’s trying to see if he can score me a deal. If he can that’ll be one more thing to add in so I don’t want to go building things and then have to redo things for THAT. So it’ll be a little bit yet before any progress is made but I thought I’d provide the update as I’m kinda excited for some new toys.

[naiku]

Not that I NEED new ones but if anyone else understands this particular situation it would be you guys.

Yes. Haha. I did not need new amps, but here we are!! Have fun running new power wire, as I said when I dropped the amps off, I hated every second of doing that in the Volvo, if you have some spare time before Jason's meet and want to get together, shoot me a text, but also, get the new stuff installed :-D