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I have two main vices in life (other than sex, money & power). That's Music and computers. So - This car can be a nice meld of the the two. I've lucked out so far, most parts are coming in pretty cheaply.
Next day, Jorge and I (okay, mostly Jorge) install the new equipment. Getting the head in was fairly easy, and the wiring wasn't too bad. The second biggest problem we had was a screw that just would NOT come out, eventually, 3 people (#3 was my dad), 5 screwdrivers and alot of WD-40, we got it out. Then the whole console between the heating controls and the hand brake lever came right out. The biggest problem was trying to run the signal & remote lines to the trunk, between the handbrake back seat, a distance of about 6 inches... between the handbrake cables... under a very tight carpet... up a bend in the body. Ultimatly - we used a hanger and pliers and alot of patience; unfortunatly, we damaged one of the connectors on the signal cable but after I yanked out a 20 year old tape deck with program monitors, we confirmed all was good. *PHEW* Although unconventional, I'm going to drive the sub- using the FRONT outputs, instead of the rear channel. I want to do this because it allows me to balance between the sub- & tweets and the new rear speakers, this way, a forward fade will up the sub and front tweets, and a rear fade will just give more to the new JVC's. The sound imaging is nice with the new speakers in the back, they seems like there just infront of the driver, which is cool, cuz the speakers are in the back window (double reflection I guess.) I'm going to try and mount the tweets on the dash, in either corner. This doesn't took too difficult on the passenger side as the glove compartment underneath will give nice access to the wiring. The driver's side might be more interesting - we'll see. One thing we picked-up with the new antenna (it's so cute!) was an antenna-amplifier, I figured it'd up my recepetion of X FM and 89.1 (Ottawa U I think - AWESOME techno at night)... so we disassemble the console AGAIN, put it in... turn it on... IT MAKES THE SIGNAL WORSE!!! So that's going back to Walmart... yay! I get $15 back. And a short, funny thing: Jorge and I went to Home Depot a week before I bought the head, and I picked up a 8x'12' sheet of MDF to build the sub-box for $20, for some reason, the 2'x4' sheets were $12. We had them do some of the rough cuts we needed (that was funny too - the guy managed to send two pieces of the stuff flying!), figuring a 3'x4' sheet would fit in the car... boy were we wrong. After a quick bite at Harveys we took my purchase out to the car... and couldn't load the big sheet! So we tried all kinds of things, sideways, in the doors to the back seat... couldn't get it in... and we couldn't use the roof because there's a sun-roof and I don't have a rack or tie downs. Ultimatly, we put the seats all the way back, fully reclined and took the head rests off, we slid the sheet in over them, then folded the seats forward, flipped the sheet over to the back, and slid it down. At the time, we found this very amusing... cuz it was about 30 minutes after we had started trying.
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Sub Pre-Installation: After class, Dave and I head to Jorge's - he's ready to test the sub's box! We get there and he's got it hooked up to his amp and it doesn't sound too bad, there's a bit of ruffling as the box isn't perfectly sealed - but it's pretty good nonetheless. So - I guess I better buy an amp for it eh? Off to Future Shop, I get a Sony Xplod for $189... all the while Jorge is there drooling at a 15" Mtx. Next I need to buy power cables, fuse, grill........................................................ And the whole time the salesman is hitting on me and I'm just kinda playing along cuz I'm starting to get broke... hoping for a nice discount... but I drew the line at giving my address and phone number... (for billing purposes I'm sure...) Dave and Jorge of course are in the back room splitting their sides, thinking that I'm completely clueless and haven't caught on. What they forget is: *I* was the one who had to keep a straight face and try and hurry up and get out of there... When we did finally - I think I exploded into laughter in the parking lot... i could have DIED I was so embarassed... I'm _NEVER_ going back in that store. Did you know I have nice eyes? I'm obviously very hot. Jorge is intimidating. Bob is weird. Dave is quiet. ANYWAYS - we make it back and realize a few things: No clip or clamp to connect to the battery; no ground line, no daylight to work by. So we at least test the stuff by hanging the cord off the side of the car and running it between the trunk and hood - thumpage! YAY! Jorge offers to tape the 4 gauge 12V line to the side of car so I can have music... I think otherwise as it is Halloween night - and that's not slick enough for me anyways! I take off to work. |
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Sub Installation: (Next day) Between classes - I fly out to Jorge's and we run the 12V line, install the fuse and checkout the now sealed box. He's also got the tweets for the dash. I zip back to school for a quick appointment and fly back out to Jorge's... traffic is starting to get heavy. Back a Jorge's, he's got the terminal plugs mounted on the box and we test on his stereo again - all's good :) I head out to get food and the missing parts... more luck with the former and not the latter. Jorge goes to a friend's and gets a few feet of ground wire and the necessary clips / spades. Again - we're rusing under the clock and the quickly setting sun... Everythings almost done except the fuse lines are loose cuz we don't have the right allan (or was it hex) key to tighten them. Jorge's dad comes home with a few, but none fit just right, so he does the best he can and I take off again for school for class - with bass :) After class - Dave and I spend literally 2 hours just sitting in the car listening to music - it's COMPLETELY AWESOME!!!
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To do:
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What I've got / done:
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I picked up the head and speakers at Bleeker Stereo & TV on Merivale. I'm not sure of how their prices compare, but they're pretty good salesmen ('cept for that tall curly haired dude - I think he's 'Ted'). Nonetheless - Jack - came down to the car in pouring rain and helped me figure out what size the speakers are. There were baffles... the one's that were in there were 4 1/2"s, whereas the mounts took 6 1/2"s.
