Before I started putting the car back together, I thought I share these pics of my install. When I first started the project I couldn't find a lot of info and pics so I hope this is helpfull.

BTW: it's my first install so be gentle - I still have lots to learn . . .

The system includes a Clarion DRZ9255, DCZ625 changer, Next 5.500 and 2.200 amps, Arc 8D2 sub, Kove SPS mid/tweet and Seas CA18 mid/bass.

Starting up front - 1/0 guage wire was run through the firewall and up under the battery. Nice and easy - no cutting req'd.There is a little "nub" on the rubber firewall gromet that can be cut off and the wire passed through. You'll need to remove the rear part of the plastic wheel tub to get at firewall but the tub comes off pretty easy - no need to remove the tire/rim - just turn full to the left and you'll have enough room to remove the rear part of the tub - 5 screws if I remember.

It's tight, but there's enough room to run a 1/0 guage wire. I added a second 1/0 battery ground by drilling a hole through the crappy Ford battery ground terminal and screwing in an 8mm macine screw to attach the wire to. The other end attaches on the shock tower next to the original ground where Ford nicely left a couple of empty spots that will take an 8mm machine screw. The main fuse fits next to the battery.

The only problem I haven't figured out yet is how to tighten the bottom 2 "screws" on the bottom of the tub once you put it back on. It flops a bit and isn't as tight as the left one.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...ll/battery.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...l/firewall.jpg

next post - the head unit

Lookin' good so far [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumb.gif[/img]

The DRZ9255 is black with white illumination - and decent SQ. The biggest draw back is the face isn't detachable. I used the Scosche SoundKase kit - I don't like pockets. The colour isn't a perfect match with the dash but I can live with it.

The 9255 comes with a DC - DC converter which I mounted under the passenger seat on the little hump where the front of the seat bolts on to. Taking the seat out is easy - just remember to disconnect the 2 cables under it first. I ran the converter's power cables back to the amp power distribution block behind the back seat. I've read others have noise problems with this HU running the power this way - I'll re-route the wiring directly to the battery if needed. The power cable from the converter to the HU runs along the right side of the tunnel and up into the radio cavity - no problems.

The biggest headache I had mounting the HU was bending the ground/mounting strap to the right size and attaching it to the back of the HU and the steel cage at the back of the cavity. Small hands required! I ran the rca cables under the carpet - down the left side of the tunnel - across the front of the lower part of the left side back seat, up over the rear wheel well and into the trunk. The changer cable is run down the right side of the tunnel and up and over - it can be seen in the pic below under the duct tape closest to the bottom


http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...ll/drz9255.jpg

and yes - I need to tidy this up with some flex tubing !

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...all/wiring.jpg

next - speakers

remember not to run any signal wires (speaker or rca) next to the power wire or you will get that engine noise [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumb.gif[/img] looks good so far keep us posted

Probably the hardest part of the install was getting new speaker wires run into the doors. What a pain! There is a plate and connector on the body side of the tube connecting the door to the body that prevents you from just fishing the wires through the tube.

To get the wires into the door: first seperate the rubber connecting tube from the gray plate that is attached to the body - then pull the tube back into the door a bit to give yourself some room. Use a slot srew driver to press DOWN in the middle of the top of the gray plate next to the body to release the tabs and pop the plate out of the body. The plate is held in place by a tab on the top and bottom - so it takes a bit of force. The connector is attached to the plate and if you pull the plate out far enough you will see a couple of tabs that hold the connector to the plate. Lift the tabs and the connector will seperate from the plate. Now you can run the wires through the tube, through the plate and into the interior. The passenger side is "relatively" easy but you'll have to remove the amp on the driver's side (assuming you have a shaker as I did) to get at the grommet on the inside of the body where the wires will come in. I used a small flexible fish from I got from HD to ease the pain.

To reassemble - leave the connector off the plate - attach the rubber boot back on the plate and snap it back into the body. The connector doesn't seem to move around much so I don't think it'll be a problem. remount the amp. I ran three 16 ga speaker to each door this way - so there is plenty of room.

The drivers I used for mid and tweet duty is an Single Point Source Unit from Kove audio. Basically it's a tweet and mid in one unit - similar to a coax. I mounted the drivers on mdf rings that incorporate dowels so that they can be rotated and angled a little more towards the driver / passenger. I then attached whole thing to the doors with c clamps.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e95/yanun/mount.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...stall/kove.jpg

The mid/bass drivers are 7" Seas CA18RNX's which I installed in place of the "subs" using a couple of MDF rings to reduce the size of the opening. The CA18 mounting depth is 3 and a bit inches and the magnet isn't too wide, so there is no problem fitting them. The shape of the enclosure behind the driver is bizzare, so it's hard to say exactly what drivers will fit without modification.

I sound deadened the back of the door panel and the inside of the exterior door panel. I also put a couple of wooden dowels inside the enclosure, between the two sides, to try and stiffen it up a bit. I found there was too much vibration and resonances in the doors even with just the stock "subs". I replaced the stock grills with some generic ones that I'm not to happy with - but maybe some better matching paint will help.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../deadening.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...stall/seas.jpg

last post - amps

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vc4life @ April 18, 2006, 9:55 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
remember not to run any signal wires (speaker or rca) next to the power wire or you will get that engine noise [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumb.gif[/img] looks good so far keep us posted
[/b][/quote]

Thanks vc4life.

I've heard a couple of different opinions on this and I think it may have a something to do with the length and type of RCA nterconnect used. I made my own interconnects using Canare wire in an unshieled twisted pair configuration which is supposed to have pretty good noise immunity - but I figured why take a chance and have to redo it so . . .

I ran the RCAs by themselves along the center tunnel and the power and speaker wires along the door sills to hopefully prevent any problems. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif[/img]

I wanted to keep my trunk usable - so I decided on mounting the amps vertically on some mdf at the front of the trunk. I wanted to mount two amps - a Next 5.500 and 2.200 but there sure isn't much room to work with back there. The opening between the trunk and passenger compartment is only 12" high - the depth between the parcel tray and the trunk floor is only 14". Putting a 15" sub back there would be a real challenge!

To make it easier to adjust and work on the amps I mounted them on a hinged tray that folds back into the interior. I couldn't hinge the tray to open into the trunk because the sub enclosure will be mounted under the parcel tray with the port and driver firing through the existing speaker openings - the enclosure would stop the tray from folding down.

The "front" of the partition (facing the rear of the trunk) has two cutouts that the amps poke through when the tray is swung up which I'm hoping will help provide some ventilation and keep the amps cooler. I also mounted the amp power distribution on the partition and ran the power to the opposite side amp through the metal channel at the top of the pass-through. Some flex tubing and tie wraps will tidy things up here.

Small footprint amps are pretty much a must - you may be able to use bigger ones if you are happy mounting them to the rear seat backs or giving up some trunk room and use of the spare tire. There is very little floor space that isn't part of the spare tire cover.

I'm not 100% happy with the amp rack - the tray doesn't fold completely flat and I think I made a mistake using 1/4 inch mdf for the partition material. It may have been better to use thicker material to get better stiffness and less vibration. I'll use it as is for now - but I'd like to find a better solution.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...l/powering.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...ll/amprack.jpg

I hope someone finds some usefull info in all of this - I learned a lot reading other's posts and wanted to try and give something back.

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif[/img]

Make sure to post more pics of the finished job. Would love to see how it turns out once everything is cleaned up.

Boy, that makes me glad I paid someone to do mine. Nice work!!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sonicblue @ April 18, 2006, 11:12 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
The CA18 mounting depth is 3 and a bit inches and the magnet isn't too wide, so there is no problem fitting them. The shape of the enclosure behind the driver is bizzare, so it's hard to say exactly what drivers will fit without modification.
[/b][/quote]

Nice install! I had used Seas CA21RE drivers because I assumed the CA21REX's magnet was too big at 110mm, but it looks like yours have the same magnet diameter. I may try the REX since they model a little better in WinISD. How do yours sound/what are your x-over freq's?

Also, do you have a link for Kove audio?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BatNastard @ April 25, 2006, 4:39 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Nice install! I had used Seas CA21RE drivers because I assumed the CA21REX's magnet was too big at 110mm, but it looks like yours have the same magnet diameter. I may try the REX since they model a little better in WinISD. How do yours sound/what are your x-over freq's?

Also, do you have a link for Kove audio?
[/b][/quote]

Thanks for the kind words - The car is back together and the install is cleaned up. I'm going to try an Arc 8D2 mounted IB on the parcel shelf tonight and see what it sounds like.

The CA18s are mounted on a 1/2" MDF baffle which increased the available mounting depth but I still had to move the drivers a little lower (> 1/4 inch) from the center of the opening to get them to fit without the magnet hitting the slopping back part of the enclosure. CA18s are only 7" so I had room to work with to move them offcenter - CA21s at 8" might require a thicker baffle to fit centered in the opening or maybe a fancier off-center baffle? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif[/img]

The drivers haren't broken in yet but I don't think I'm going to have a problem with midbass [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen.gif[/img] . The amp driving them is rated at around 120W RMS @8ohms and I've got them crossed at 800Hz. So far - I'm impressed. The low end extension is better that I thought it would be based on what WinISD predicted (cabin gain ?) but then again I'm looking for SQ not overpowering bass. YMMV.

Funny - Kove audio used to have a site but it seems to have disappeared - sorry.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sonicblue @ April 26, 2006, 1:18 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Thanks for the kind words - The car is back together and the install is cleaned up. I'm going to try an Arc 8D2 mounted IB on the parcel shelf tonight and see what it sounds like.

The CA18s are mounted on a 1/2" MDF baffle which increased the available mounting depth but I still had to move the drivers a little lower (> 1/4 inch) from the center of the opening to get them to fit without the magnet hitting the slopping back part of the enclosure. CA18s are only 7" so I had room to work with to move them offcenter - CA21s at 8" might require a thicker baffle to fit centered in the opening or maybe a fancier off-center baffle? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif[/img]

The drivers haren't broken in yet but I don't think I'm going to have a problem with midbass [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen.gif[/img] . The amp driving them is rated at around 120W RMS @8ohms and I've got them crossed at 800Hz. So far - I'm impressed. The low end extension is better that I thought it would be based on what WinISD predicted (cabin gain ?) but then again I'm looking for SQ not overpowering bass. YMMV.

Funny - Kove audio used to have a site but it seems to have disappeared - sorry.
[/b][/quote]



Kove is no longer. Chad Kovner now is part of US Amps/RE Audio. You'll see the stuff again real soon. There are some Armageddon 12's and 15's at PartsExpress as a closeout.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Infinity @ April 26, 2006, 2:01 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Kove is no longer. Chad Kovner now is part of US Amps/RE Audio. You'll see the stuff again real soon. There are some Armageddon 12's and 15's at PartsExpress as a closeout.
[/b][/quote]

as in Resonant Engineering?

ive heard nothing but good things about their subs...havent heard one in person though

Funny, I emailed RE about the RE8s since they model out nicely in WinISD, WAY more low extension than anything else although the Q was a bit low (.61 I think). The F3 was down about 50Hz but at 40Hz it was only down another db or so. Unfortunately they boast such low sensitivity that even as DVC they may not do much with the stock rinky-dink amps (which I'm stuck with for the time being). I'm annoyed though, they haven't replied!

I want something to work reasonably well with the stock amps, and go as low as possible since I doubt I'll ever get to put a big sub in back (they say little babies dislike low frequencies). I'm trying to find my test ones CD since I believe the stock subs cross off pretty low, maybe around ~120Hz or so. But of course at some point I will get real amps again so my primary concern is matching the enclosure. If I had any way o making/buying adaptor ring I'd look at 7" drivers too. Thanks for the tip about the centering sonicblue! You're probably right about the 21REX.

Hey, Nat.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=295-376

I think those would make you quite happy. DEon't be too concerned with the 4 ohm rating. Also, check out the Aura amp buyout (looks at 4 of them [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen.gif[/img] )

Hey Aaron,
that beauty is still on my list [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img] Wifey sez "maybe for your birthday" re: Auras [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/headspin.gif[/img]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TKEUofM @ April 19, 2006, 1:44 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Make sure to post more pics of the finished job. Would love to see how it turns out once everything is cleaned up.
[/b][/quote]

Done! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/04.gif[/img] well ... almost

The Clarion DRZ9255
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...l/807e7606.jpg

The amp rack in the raised position with the rear seats folded down
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...frackfront.jpg

The rack from the trunk side. I still need to find some carpet to put on the facade and mount it on the front of the rack to hide the wires ... just haven't found any carpet yet [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif[/img]
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../frackrear.jpg

and the doors. I've decided to make some grills with mdf and speaker cloth to make it look a bit better
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...tall/fdoor.jpg

Yep - time to wash the car eh!

Nice! I love Clarion's understated designs in the age of flashing neon [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Is that the 8D2 above the amps? Too bad it won't fit in the doors!

Sorry for the post whoring but...

Aaron, the RS225 models very well but they give 92db/2.83V/1m, which is 89db/1W/1m -- the SPL isn't much better than my Seas drivers with stock amps, which was basically nil...but way above the RE8.

Holy crap, for your first install it looks pretty darn good! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumb.gif[/img]

Hey, Sonic, that looks sweet- VERY similar to what I'm about to put in. I have piles of equipment laying around my office right now- waiting on my 1/0 power wire from PartsExpress. How does that ARC D2 sound in an IB configuration? Also, what subwoofer are you going to port through the deck- the ARC [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/drool.gif[/img] ? If so, try http://www.subzoneusa.com/snake_tube.htm

It'll make it easy to get port length and mount to a 6x8 plate to seal it from the trunk. Good luck, and nice equipment.