My attempt at an audio install

[BrantMcE]

So this weekend i have a project in mind. I'm going to attempt to improve the audio of my GT. It's been awhile since i've installed an amp and i've never set up something like the MS-8 before. I will likely be returning to this thread whenever i have a question. I will do my best to keep this post updated as i go through my setup.

The Parts:

- Fatmat Rattle Trap (50 sq ft)
- Peel & Seal (25 sq ft)
- Roller (for sound deadner application)
- Aluminum HVAC Tape (to seal edges of Peel & Seal)
- NVX 4 GA amplifier installation Kit (100% OFC)
- Extra 4 GA Wire
- JBL MS-8
- Rockford Fosgate P3D2-12 12" Subwoofer
- Rockford Fosgate R500X1D (500 watt amp with remote)
Not Pictured:
- Power distribution block
- Firewall Gasket
- EZ Cool Insulation

First up, trunk carpet removal.

So here are some updates:
Sound deadener is a PITA lol. I'm not going for 100% coverageas i do want to save some of it for the doors and roof. If anyone can suggest how to remove the headliner i'm all ears.

Some things i've noticed. The trunk lid has about a 2" pocket between the outer body metal and the part of the trunk where i was able to apply the deadener. My solution is going to be to purchase some 3M professional grade undercoating which has good reviews for sound deadening properties (as far as sprays go) and it happens to be on sale at advance autoparts. The spray will also come in handy when doing the doors as there is also a similar space between the outer skin of the door and inner.

Sponsored

 

[87IROCZOWNER69]

I'll be following this. About to order a sundown x-8 here soon

 

[Ap8823]

Sub

 

[brandonsmash]

I'm interested to see how this goes!

 

[BrantMcE]

So here are some updates:
Sound deadener is a PITA lol. I'm not going for 100% coverageas i do want to save some of it for the doors and roof. If anyone can suggest how to remove the headliner i'm all ears.

Some things i've noticed. The trunk lid has about a 2" pocket between the outer body metal and the part of the trunk where i was able to apply the deadener. My solution is going to be to purchase some 3M professional grade undercoating which has good reviews for sound deadening properties (as far as sprays go) and it happens to be on sale at advance autoparts. The spray will also come in handy when doing the doors as there is also a similar space between the outer skin of the door and inner.

Bonus:

Just because i painted them today lol

Now to figure out how to paint the manifold black.

 

[JolleyRoger]

sorry, but I know very little when it comes to the audio installs. Does the sound deadening product worth the install and is it all the same color? With a name such as deadening they should at least have black.;)

 

[stoli]

I wouldn't worry too much about the dynamat. I did a complete upgrade; all speakers, new sub, and amp and rattles aren't an issue anywhere in the car. This actually surprised me quite a bit as I was expecting some to crop up, especially 20,000 miles later.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BrantMcE]

sorry, but I know very little when it comes to the audio installs. Does the sound deadening product worth the install and is it all the same color? With a name such as deadening they should at least have black.;)

Generally sound deadener is black on the adhesive side and foil on the side facing towards the interior of the car. Color isn't very important since all that you see in my pictures will be covered by the carpet once i put it back.

I wouldn't worry too much about the dynamat. I did a complete upgrade; all speakers, new sub, and amp and rattles aren't an issue anywhere in the car. This actually surprised me quite a bit as I was expecting some to crop up, especially 20,000 miles later.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i'm not worried so much about rattles from the sound system as much as just trying to reduce both wind noise and improve the way the audio sounds. I'm not sure if it'll be worth it but since i was planning on taking apart stuff to cleanly route the wiring i figured i might as well try it. It may very well not be worth it lol.

 

[stoli]

i'm not worried so much about rattles from the sound system as much as just trying to reduce both wind noise and improve the way the audio sounds. I'm not sure if it'll be worth it but since i was planning on taking apart stuff to cleanly route the wiring i figured i might as well try it. It may very well not be worth it lol.

I've debated doing the trunk just to quiet the exhaust a little bit...but then I recovered my senses and just turned the stereo to 11.

 

[BrantMcE]

So more updates.

I decided to remove the door panel on the passenger side, since i don't need it to get into the car and if something goes wrong i've still got the driver side. I used the video by Stage 3 Motorsports.



It takes a bit of force to pull the door cover from it's clips, a set of trim panel removal tools will be handy for this. More than once i thought i was gonna break something..and at one point it appears i did.

When pulling the side of door panel closest to the hinge, be sure to pull the upper half of the door where you see the split, i pulled the lower half and it appears i may have broken the part that holds the halves together (nothing some epoxy can't fix).

Another note, a couple pairs of needle nose pliers (one preferably bent tip) will come in handy to remove the cable connecting the handle to the door opening mechanism. You'll want to first pull the cable towards the handle to unhook it from the handle itself, then using the needle nose pliers, push the flared out pieces together to push it through the opening. This part alone caused plenty of frustration for me.

Next remove the plastic cover, being careful not to completely destroy/remove the black tack. You'll want it on there to put back later. I used a blade to cut it apart as i slowly pulled it off.

I then placed the Rattle Trap between the door frame and door skin. as well as some patches on the door frame itself. I doubled up on the layers due to the fact that i couldn't use as much as i wanted to given the limited application areas. Take the plastic cover you carefully removed earlier and place back lining up the black tack. I took the roller i used to apply the sound deadener and went over the black tack to ensure it was stuck securely.

Also while i was here i measured the impedance of the door speakers to see what i was working with in terms of hooking up to the MS-8. The 6.5" door speaker appears to be 4 ohm and the 3" tweeter appears to be 8 ohm. My assumption is that the A pillar tweeter is also 8 ohm so that when wired to the amp in parallel with the door tweeter, it brings the impedance down to 4 ohms (the speaker wiring diagram shows the two are wired in parallel, thanks Heinoceros).

BONUS

I also painted my rear calipers today and put on wheel spacers. Stance pics are sure to follow lol

 

[BrantMcE]

More updates. So yesterday i ended up getting called into work so i didn't accomplish anything but today i attempted to take out the headliner and get the power wire run through to the trunk.

To get the headliner off you'll need to remove the visors, the passenger side A pillar, and pull down the overhead light assembly, and you'll probably need to loosen the driver side a pillar just to get the headliner out of between it and the frame. For visor removal i followed this video:

While i had the visors removed i went ahead and removed the airbag stickers with a heat gun, once i pulled up a small corner i used some needle nose pliers to grip it and pull while i applied some distant heat using the heat gun. Stickers came off easy. I then removed the passenger side a pillar and unplugged the harness for the speakers, as well as the harness for the wiring that goes up through the headliner to the overhead lights. While i had the a pillar out, i went ahead and measured the impedance on the tweeter. Like i had guessed it was rated at 8 ohms. I then unscrewed the phillips head screws holding each of the visor clips and loosened the driver side a pillar. The head liner should come out with some steady pulling and will have to bent slightly to get out the door.

Here's what it looks like under the headliner.

The square in the middle is, from what i can tell through some light googling, just a support for the headliner since if it weren't there it'd just be a 2" space between the liner and roof.

Also in the past i've seen people asking how to remove the roof antenna if they were say getting their roof wrapped. well i'm pretty sure this is the bolt to do just that. Although it seems like a pain in the ass to get to just to remove and put back after wrapping.

I then put up sections of rattle trap doubling up on each section of the roof itself, except the very middle where i used 3 layers due to the fact that it's in the center far away from the support pillars and most likely to flex.

i then figured since i'm taking paneling off anyway to wire the car, i might as well put some rattle trap over here...so i did that on both sides, doubling up the layers on each.

Unfortunately i didn't get to completing the project just yet as i was originally gonna put the MS-8 under my seat and splice and crimp the wires going to the amp on behind the driver side kick panel, however that plan was flawed in that the MS-8 is too large to fit under the seat without affecting the seat's movements, and i underestimated how short the available wire coming from the amp was. I went ahead and ordered the appropriate harnesses and will continue the project when they arrive. I also ordered some speaker wire as i'll need more than originally planned since i will now be placing the MS-8 in the trunk with the subwoofer amp.

Here's before and after the rattle trap in the roof.
Before:


After:

 

[87IROCZOWNER69]

Why not do the wheel wells too and reduce some road noose?

 

[BrantMcE]

Why not do the wheel wells too and reduce some road noose?

lol i actually already did the rears. it wasn't planned so i wasn't going to mention it, but earlier i had mentioned buying the 3m professional rubberized undercoating spray. Well i tried to use some on the trunk, and realized the door frame had the window there and i didn't trust myself spraying in there without getting it on the motors and window. Then i remembered reading about people spraying their wheel wells on another forum, and decided i would go ahead and try it. Unfortunately i ran out of spray after doing the rears. I still want to do the fronts but when i was on my way home from work yesterday the advance auto parts i stopped at was out of it. I'll have to try pick some up tomorrow. A note, i highly recommend wearing a respirator when using that stuff as the smell is horrendous and i can tell there are definitely tons of solvents you're breathing in when around it. Also, do it outside, not half in the garage like i was. I had to keep going out into the driveway to breathe when spraying it..

 

[whokilledkaji]

Two questions:
Did the 3M spray really reduce road noise in the rear?

Also, how easy is it to take the B-Pillars off in the rear? (Do you need to remove a lot of trim to get them off?) I have a rattle on my passenger B-pillar and want to put some foam in there...

 

[BrantMcE]

Two questions:
Did the 3M spray really reduce road noise in the rear?

Also, how easy is it to take the B-Pillars off in the rear? (Do you need to remove a lot of trim to get them off?) I have a rattle on my passenger B-pillar and want to put some foam in there...

Sadly not that I can tell, but my car is still apart with the rear seats down, so all the foam and carpeting in the trunk are still currently on the garage floor. With all the bare metal visible in the trunk and interior, I can hear every grain of dirt and sand that my tires kick up hit my car...it makes me cringe. I'm confident that putting the 3m in the front wheel wells would make a difference however I ran out before I could do that and have yet to pick up more.

As for the B pillar removal, if you mean the plastic trim between the front window and rear quarter window, I actually have removed probably everything except that. I will say that I gave it a tug to see if it just had clips holding it in and it didn't really budge so my guess is that there's a couple bolts holding it in, one of which is likely where the front seatbelt comes from. As far as removing other trim to get to the point of actually removing the B pillar trim, you'll have to remove the panel below the quarter window and I believe the panel next to the seat where the door closes. Hope that helps.

Sponsored