2014 Avalon Limited Build

Fuse holder mounted and the OEM batt post cover modified awaiting final connection. It should be a short 4-5” distance from the battery to the fuse.
View attachment 18006

Sail panels after the first layer of fiberglass. I will admit I will NEVER win any Installer of the Year awards. My skills are slightly above proficient when it comes to fiberglassing. I also forgot to take pics after the second layer.
View attachment 18007

Filler is currently drying…
View attachment 18008

Having admitted my lack of skills and also knowing I could’ve EASILY paid someone to do it for me, I’m actually VERY happy with how they look currently. I wish I would’ve gotten pics of the test-fitment but I’ll admit I forgot due to the happiness I felt with the look & having done it myself.

Tomorrow the build continues…
 
I didn’t update yesterday because I tweaked my back working on the car, and I just came home and crashed. It was mostly box building and figuring out other tidbits for today’s work.

Finished hooking up the power wire. Nice & short 3” from battery to fuse
View attachment 18010

Got the box built. We built it to be ported at first and then decided to go sealed. It’s a little on the larger side for sealed but the 1.5cf should give me a little more efficiency seeing as I’m only running 500w (half of RMS), and also a little more low end extension although I realize that’ll be minimal
View attachment 18011

We covered the face with the same brushed metal vinyl used on the dash kit
View attachment 18012
Test fit in the car
View attachment 18013

Decided that the best way to mount the amps and not stress the wires in the terminal plugs AND keep the gains & other controls accessible was to put them on the box. Sub mounted & grille was also attached.
View attachment 18014
And everything installed in the car
View attachment 18015

Remember that ski pass I opened up to allow more bass into the cabin? Figured out a different use for that space

View attachment 18016View attachment 18017View attachment 18018

So as of now it’s in and playing. I only have crossovers & basic TA set but it sounds WONDERFUL!!! The detail in these SI drivers is LEVELS above the PPI drivers I had in the Malibu. While sitting at idle everything blends VERY well but the midbass & sub levels will need to come up a bit but I want to wait until the suspensions break in a bit before I go nuts. But even as they are, that sub digs deep and sounds wonderful. My buddy got the first listen (to be honest he’s more of an SPL guy) and he was amazed with the sub detail and got goosebumps on one of his favorite songs. WIN! The sails are not finished cosmetically but this week’s goal was functional and it does that well.

On Sunday we’ll build the trunk trim panel and possibly add some little accents. So there’s one last update coming then it’s on to tuning.
 
Todd i tried to send you a private message. I couldn't locate you. There must be a way to block this. But anyway i just wanted to let you know that i could help you with tuning. I've become fairly knowledgeable over the past couple years. I would help teach you what i know if you want to come out to Pittsburgh for a day.
 
I appreciate it. Finding the time might be the bigger obstacle at this point. Weekends are scheduled up for me until December. Maybe after the new year if there’s time.
 
The trunk is trimmed out although I’m going to redo it. There’s a couple things I’m not quite thrilled with so I’ll hopefully get that done over the next week or 2.
View attachment 18027

I got some seat/tuning time in and have a pretty decent base tune. No EQ done yet as I don’t have a mic but after measuring speaker distances and trying a variety of crossover points I’m quite satisfied with my results. I have a good center image, relatively wide stage and tonality sounds wonderful. I mostly have the bass up front but I think I could get it a little more locked-in so I’ll be working on that next.
 
So the trim panel was kind of one of those cases where most people thought it looked fine but once I pointed out the flaws that I saw (and wasn’t happy with), you couldn’t help but see it.

Old:
View attachment 18040

In the original I could see that the two sides of the sub cutout were not symmetrical. Even though we measured multiple times before cutting, somehow the right side is 1/2-3/4” closer than the left. You can also see that there’s a gap on the right side of both amps. The guy that was helping me build it also air-nailed the trim panel on and I wanted an easier way to remove & secure the panel in case it ever had to be taken off.

New:
View attachment 18041View attachment 18042

I’ll try to get some better pics in the sunlight tomorrow but as you can see I decided to change up the cutout while I was at it. I thought I’d give this shape a try first as it’s obviously easier to cut away material than put it back & could easily revert back to the old cutout if needed. Once I had it mocked up I knew this is the look I was after. I tightened up the opening around the amps. I also installed a couple threaded inserts and the panel can now be installed/removed with 2 screws. Unfortunately I forgot to account for the thickness of the carpet so the screws I got were too short. So for right now you can see the 2 screws on either side of the sub until I can get some new, longer black screws tomorrow.

So with this portion done it’s just a matter of tuning.
 
A slight update to this.

I absolutely LOVE the way my car sounds but I also know there’s some untapped potential without a proper tune… can’t wait for one of those.

In the meantime my passenger side midbass has developed a crackle when temps drop below 30 degrees. As the system/car warms up the music to crackle ratio gradually exchanges. Since it’s JUST the midbass I have already eliminated everything before the DSP. I swapped the amp for the right side and confirmed it was NOT an amp problem. Tonight I swapped the L&R RCAs so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see what happens. The biggest issue with this particular problem is after each step of the diagnostic process I have to wait until the next morning as long as it’s below 30*. Just because the air temp is below 30 doesn’t mean the faulty component is. I pretty much have to wait until it’s cold saturated for the problem to reoccur. I’m just REALLY hoping it’s not a blown midbass. I’d much rather pay to replace RCAs than new TM65s or sending it back for warranty replacement.
 
It seems I forgot this was here. I’ve been updating this on “that other forum” but I forgot about this. As far as the midbass issues goes, it seems that a little moisture got into the magnet/coil gap & when temps dropped the moisture froze and caused noise & enough resistance to keep the coil from moving some times. After removing the moisture and adding bigger rain guards, there have been no further issues.

Everything else was going just great until I got the itch to get a 2nd SQL-12. So everything in the trunk came out and I started all over. The idea is to have the amps, DSP & distro block take the space occupied by the foam block holding the jack and accessories.
View attachment 18416
The spare will stay and be accessible by simply lifting up the amp rack.
View attachment 18417

Amp board was constructed to sit on top of the spare and hold two PDX-V9s (one for each side), the Twk & power distribution and carpeted black on the top as well as the bottom to keep the wood from squeaking on the tire with any possible movement.
View attachment 18419View attachment 18420

Then a top trim panel was made and chamfers cut
View attachment 18421
I originally covered it in black suede but I’ve since pulled it off as there’s no other suede in any part of the install and I thought it would look out of place.
View attachment 18422
Next was wire prep before installing into the car
View attachment 18423

Then came installing into the car
View attachment 18424

Next up will be sub install…
 
Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the single 12 sealed, this time around I’m going trunk baffle firing through the ski pass. So next up was making a cardboard template for the baffle. It’s 2 layers of 3/4” MDF with the trunk-side layer extending up about 3” for securing at the top.

First layer template
View attachment 18425
Second layer template
View attachment 18426

You can also see, on the sides, where my buddy cut the factory carpet to make the previous box fit. I was not happy about this. So I scored some new pieces for $60 from a part-out, cleaned em up and waited until final assembly to install them.
View attachment 18427View attachment 18428View attachment 18429

Next up was the test fit of the 2 separate layers. Then sand/test/sand repeat until I was satisfied it would be a snug fit with carpet attached.
View attachment 18430View attachment 18431

Then it was the ol’ glue & screw the 2 panels together and wait 24hrs. In the meantime I drilled holes and installed threaded inserts for mounting the baffle.
View attachment 18432
Time to cut sub holes & more test fitting. You can see here that I got real frustrated dealing with the cut-up carpet as it was fighting me every time I tried to install & remove the baffle so I taped the sh!t out of it which actually helped immensely.
View attachment 18433View attachment 18434
 
Now it was time to test fit the subs and drill the holes for mounting screws then add the t-nuts for the #10-32 mounting screws.
View attachment 18435View attachment 18436

Then the floor panel for securing the bottom of the baffle was made out of 3/4” MDF
View attachment 18437
The plan was to space that piece off the floor of the car by 1/4” so when everything is done the new false floor (made out of 1/4”) will sit flush with this piece.
View attachment 18438View attachment 18439
Corresponding holes were then drilled into the floor panel as well as the floor of the car and the panel was glued & screwed to the baffle.
View attachment 18440View attachment 18441
One last test fit to make sure all the mounting holes line up before adding carpet. At this point you can see I pulled the cut-up trim panels out in prep to install the new ones.
View attachment 18442
 
Since everything lined up and I was happy I went ahead and installed the new trim panels and added the carpet to the baffle. Since my back seats don’t fold, the cone side of the baffle can only be seen through the ski pass, and it’s a pretty minimal view, so I decided to do basic black carpet on that side and charcoal “trunk liner” carpet on the trunk side.
View attachment 18443View attachment 18444
Again, since my seats don’t fold, I knew I was going to have to mount the subs BEFORE installing the baffle in the car. I was NOT looking forward to that, as anyone familiar with these subs knows they are NOT light, and then add the weight of multiple layers/panels of 3/4” MDF. I also added a layer of painters tape to protect those beautiful motors from any woopsies.
View attachment 18445View attachment 18446
Next up… wiring. I had an idea of trying to keep the amount of visible wires to a minimum. So with the jumper wires I used black heatshrink in the middle to blend into the rubber boot and white heatshrink on the ends to blend into the basket.
View attachment 18447View attachment 18448
Mission accomplished. Next was trying to make the amp connection wires disappear as much as possible. Unfortunately I ran out of white heatshrink so these ends just got red & black but that definitely helps identifying polarity a LOT easier (added after I took the photo). What I did do, though, was wrap the rest of the wire in the matching charcoal carpet. If I find more white heatshrink I’ll add ends to those wires while leaving just a small bit of red/black at the end for clarity.
View attachment 18449View attachment 18450
Next will be rear speaker block off plates & installing the baffle into the car.
 
Thanks for the compliments.

So next up was rear speaker block-off plates. I traced the rear speakers onto some 1/4” MDF and cut em out. And it wasn’t until I was on my back struggling to figure out why things weren’t close to lining up that I realized that the mounting tabs for the factory speakers are NOT symmetrical. You can see in the first pic, especially on the left panel (it’s close but definitely not symmetrical), that the tabs are closer together on one side. Things went a LOT smoother once I realized that side faced towards the front of the car. I cut some notches into the “front side” to make identification easier, then covered them in black carpet.
View attachment 18451 View attachment 18454 View attachment 18455
Next up was heaving that heavy sumbitch of a baffle into the trunk and beating it into place with a rubber mallet for about 20mins until everything lined up and then I bolted it into place. Even without securing it into place I could move the whole car just yanking on the baffle. It’s a good thing I plan on keeping this car for a long time because this thing is going NOWHERE. It was at this point I was really hoping I hadn’t messed anything up, or forgotten something, because it’s NOT coming back out… at least not easily.
View attachment 18456
Then it was pull the tape off the subs and secure the top amp panel. For the amp trim panel I wanted something to attach it securely but be easily removable, and without magnets. I’ve tried using magnets before and I can never seem to get them level enough to “grip” firmly. I fully admit it’s user error. So this time I went with speaker grille guides. Male post side mounted in the trim panel and female socket side mounted in the amp rack. Easy peasy on & off.
View attachment 18457View attachment 18458
While on my back doing the speaker block-offs I also added an LED strip wired up to the trunk light and I had also added some LEDs to the amp rack. The amp rack lights are currently wired up to the remote wire but I’ll be changing that over to the trunk light so they’re not constantly on when they can’t be seen.
View attachment 18461View attachment 18459 View attachment 18460

So this is where I’m currently at. I have off today so today’s agenda is to make the new false floor and hopefully get it carpeted and finished. If all else fails I can hold off on the carpet but I want to get the floor built at the minimum.

Im not sure where those 2 random attachment photos came from but I can’t seem to remove them. Meh… oh well.
 
New floor time…

Started with making cardboard templates of the factory floor
View attachment 18464
Then transferred that to the car. I used tape to hold things in place while final adjustments & trimming took place. You can also see where the rear corners have an upward angle to them. The factory floor also has that angle so that’ll be 2 separate pieces but carpeted as one to allow that angle.
View attachment 18465

Then the cardboard templates were transferred to 1/4” mdf.
View attachment 18466

Even though I usually prefer symmetry, I went with staggered angles on either side mostly because of the size difference between the distro block & Twk. It’s subtle but it’s there. I tried symmetrical first and it just didn’t look right. As soon as I tried the offset angles I knew that’s what I was looking for. Then I installed the grille guides that’ll attach the panels. Male pins on the floor panel & female sockets on the amp panel.
View attachment 18467View attachment 18468
Test fit
View attachment 18469View attachment 18470
I still don’t understand why photos are upside down… they’re fine in my phone. Oh well, you get the idea. At this point I really got going and forgot to take a few progress photos. So now fast forward to a final test fit of all the floor panels in place after lots of testing & adjustments.
View attachment 18472
 
The next step was printing out an SI logo. I then determined the center of the logo as well as the panel & the logo was then cut out of 1/4” mdf and glued to the center floor panel.
View attachment 18473 View attachment 18474
A little preview shot of the trunk with all the panels in place.
View attachment 18475
Next up was carpet… amp panel first, then side panels
View attachment 18476 View attachment 18477
Now with the center cover in place. I love that subtle SI logo
View attachment 18478

I ended up adding a pull-tab to make pulling up the center panel a little easier but now… the money shot(s)
View attachment 18479 View attachment 18480

At this point it’s pretty much done. The only thing left is some fan cooling. On my 30 minute commute home from work yesterday the amps were awfully toasty. They never shut down but boy did they get hot. Admittedly the last 10-15 minutes of that were at full-boogie to see what those subs could do, but some fans will definitely give me a little peace of mind.

I always say I’ll never win any Installer Of The Year awards and this one is no different. It’s far from perfect but perfect from far, but I’m very proud and happy with the job I did. I can’t wait to get this tuned in May and see what it can be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top