joef

Even though I had been playing with car stereo's for about 15 years, life is just sometime too busy. I let a friend of mine install the system. All the speakers including sub a Focal, 5 channel Focal amp and Pioneer head unit. The install consists of fitting and re-trimming the Focal sub into the sub box in the passenger side footwell. Custom bottom half of the doors, and trunk detailing.

Just ignore the mess on the floor, didn't have much time to clean this weekend. And sorry for the poor pics, good camera's battery's are dead. Better pics to follow.

Bigpete123

wow, joef... looks fantastic. I like the door pods a lot, and I wish I had considered putting my tweeters where you put yours. although I guess I still could.

ZorroAMG

H - O - T

e320wagon'94

is that a double din headunit?

joef

It sure is! A little bit of cutting was involved.

ZedStyle

joef, can you please get some closer-up shots of the head unit in the dash?

joef

No problem. We are going to tweak that area this weekend and I'll have pics next week.

Bigpete123

Oh yeah, I didn't even notice that! Very cool. And you didn't have to relocate any buttons.

Also, can you give some insight into how you guys cut the custom trim panels in the trunk so well? Or did you use some fiberglass to get good molds of the OEM panels? In my installation, I still need to finish my trunk setup to make it presentable. I just ran out of steam.

joef

Regarding the deck, I just thought of a way (this morning) to make it look better, stay tuned for the improvement.

As for the trunk, the guy did a real nice job. There's no fibreglass, just lots of patience. In the past when I personally have done this kind of work, I would make a cardboard template of the part and then trace it onto wood.

I know what you mean about running out of steam. That's why I had someone else do things this time around.

I haven't seen any pics of you system lately. Is the interior done?

Bigpete123

yeah, the interior is pretty much done. I'm already considering redoing the rear deck, as crazy as it sounds... the way the rear speaker enclosures look, it just doesn't flow quite right... And the frickin vinyl is coming off on one of them. I dont care what anyone says, 3M spray-on contact cement doesn't work very well.

And like I said... still have to do the trunk. I found out my JL Audio 500/5 is blown, after all this time. I had previously sent it away to the east coast for repairs for this same problem, which is what cause me to decide to redo my whole system... which took like 8-10 months. When I was finally ready to reinstall the "repaired" amp, it turns out they didn't fix the problem at all.

That was just about the straw that broke the camel's back. It's been sitting in the box for like 2 months or so now... I haven't even bothered sending it in... It will probably take another 2 months for them to fix it and send it back. I'm just sick of thinking about it, and have been spending my spare time woodworking instead. Car stereos are a ton of work to do right, and it can be so frustrating...

joef

It's one of the most fun hobbies and yet can be one of the most frustrating. That's why I gave up this time around on my car and had my buddy's shop do it. That's why I haven't even finished off the wifes car. Between worrying about the family business, renovating a house, spending some time with my family (and another kid on the way) there are just not enough hours in the day.

3m stuff is ****. There is a company called Sta-put (something like that) that make a contact spray adhesive. I've found that works quite good. They have some stuff that is a little more heat friendly.

If your's redoing the rear deck, I still have the program for the pieces I made for the wifes car if you need.

RBYCC

One hell of a passenger foot massager you got there !!!!

What color is your interior?
Difficult to tell from the pix

joef

Ya, the wife doesn't complain!

The interior is brown, with black accents.

papromike

Joeff, how much would your buddy charge do to some door pockets like that??

joef

I'm not quite sure. I got the "buddy" price. Give him a call or email
www.downtownsounds.ca is where his contact info is, ask for Frank.

Bigpete123

Joe, is your spare tire accessible in this setup?

I've considered doing a false floor, but I think I'd have to put a hinge system in there just in case...

joef

It is. Just have to pop the front panel off and the one over the spare tire.

joef

So I finally got some motivation and finished my trim panel off for the double din head unit. It took a few attempts but this one is the one that stays.
Sorry for the cell phone pics.

STLe320

Damn man...that is one CLEAN install!
Congrats!

sleewell

i love it, looks really great. what model is that head unit? how do you like it so far? easy to use?

ZorroAMG

Paint the trim high gloss black...the flat finish of the trim takes away from the wood grain

Bigpete123

Joe, you're a master with veneers... afterall, you've already redone an entire 124 in birdseye maple.

You should veneer that trim piece to match! color matching would be a biatch, but if you can get it right it would look sick.

childofjuly

man.. the installation on the head unit is clean! great job! I think you should wrap the piece in vinyl! color match it to the rest of the interior.

Bigpete123

Yeah, that's a better idea than mine. Much simpler and still factory-looking.

joef

May be this winter. I went with the flat black because there are some other pieces such as the blower vents, ignition/key panel are flat black.

As for the unit, it's a Pioneer that's a couple of years old. I don't remember the model. Strictly audio/video, no nav. Works great, went with it because of the features as well as 5 volt preouts.