My Build Thread

[kellen302]

I was at the Leavenworth Drive this weekend, didn't take the festy, went in my buddy's 2006 passat. It was a drive across the Cascades from Bellevue to Leavenworth, about 800 cars (all a bunch a rich kids in Beemers and tricked out VW's, and a BRAND NEW Ferrari Pinafnaienrwlrnasfj) pretty cool, way too many cars were Hellaflush or whatever they call it. The drive to Leavenworth was awesome though, about 60 miles on narrow 2 lane highway in the mountains, we were behind a brand new BMW M6 and we were chillin' at 90+... one set of warped brake rotors later....

[kellen302]

So as I'm readying myself for the BP swap, I read conflicting info on gear ratios in the G-25MR from a 90-94 Protege LX with the BP. I have read everything from a 3.62 FDR to a 3.85 , what is it actually and how much higher would cruising RPM be at say 60mph with a BP G-series compared to the stock B3 E-series (I don't have a tach). Thanks heaps bros

[kellen302]

The above question has yet to be answered, I can't find a solid answer searching (My fault probably), BUT This post is about stereo, My Kicker DS40's are making fun buzzy noises (Good deal on the Kenwood Headunit, it's pretty powerful...) SO I figure it's probably time to upgrade, I figure an underseat selfpowered sub is what I'll look into, along with 5 1/4's or 6.5's in the doors. How hard is it to do all this wiring, namely how long, because I would prefer to be working on the BP swap, not stereo. After My last fiasco wiring stereo I'm tempted to call a local shop to get a quote. But I'm cheap. As far as the sub I'm looking at the Sound Ordnance B8PT ( http://www.crutchfield.com/p_777B8PT...4#overview-tab ) But I'm lost as far as 6.5's and 5.25's. How much would a decent shop charge to install this stuff? What do people do for low modification upgrades in the rear? My search results were inconclusive.
Thanks

[kellen302]

GOT A BP DONOR!!! 1991 Protege LX, 117k miles, front end collision kinked the intake tube so it's not running. Easy fix. New speakers, chains, new shocks and struts new tires. All for 675$, delivered to my door 150miles from it''s origin and with an 80$ ferry fare. Apparently right after the guy crashed it, on the side of the road, someone asked him if he was gonna sell the engine. He hadn'e even gotten it home yet!
Pics tomorrow, it's dark now

[leapin]

Nice score!

[zoom zoom]

^ very nice!

It's not worth paying a shop to install a system, its so easy to do it yourself you should try it.

Depending on which transmission you get, the gear ratios will probably be different. My g5mr xr2 capri transmission is about a 3.85:1 fdr, I counted the ring gear teeth. I'm not sure about the hydro transmission, g25mr.

Go for those 6.5" speakers in the rear, aspire has the same size front and rear 6.5's, but I'm not entirely sure what a Festiva uses. It wouldn't be hard to get creative and make bigger speakers work. Stay away from "4-way" speakers get 2 or 3 ways, the lower number the better unless your a hippy that listens to the stereo on low volume because you want to hear the violin or something. When you crank up a 4 way speaker you blow out the tweeter and get awful static noise. Also, you want an amp if you use a sub, and you want a capacitor if you go over 600rms. A 400 RMS system will be more than enough to feel a bump and impress your friends, and you can still use the crappy wally world/scoshe wiring kits with their 8ga. Wire.

Also, when you buy an amp or a sub, IGNORE WATT RATINGS, look at the RMS/peak output. Walmart advertises a "1000w" amp, but it only actually puts out 400w RMS.

Mono blocks are best for subs, if you go with a stereo amp, get a 2 channel, 4 channels are for powering interior speakers, like those 6.5's the radio/cd player already does a fine job of powering. Your head unit/cd player needs to have rca jacks to run an amp.

[DriverOne]

The above question has yet to be answered, I can't find a solid answer searching (My fault probably), BUT This post is about stereo, My Kicker DS40's are making fun buzzy noises (Good deal on the Kenwood Headunit, it's pretty powerful...) SO I figure it's probably time to upgrade, I figure an underseat selfpowered sub is what I'll look into, along with 5 1/4's or 6.5's in the doors. How hard is it to do all this wiring, namely how long, because I would prefer to be working on the BP swap, not stereo. After My last fiasco wiring stereo I'm tempted to call a local shop to get a quote. But I'm cheap. As far as the sub I'm looking at the Sound Ordnance B8PT ( http://www.crutchfield.com/p_777B8PT...4#overview-tab ) But I'm lost as far as 6.5's and 5.25's. How much would a decent shop charge to install this stuff? What do people do for low modification upgrades in the rear? My search results were inconclusive.
Thanks

Don't worry about a shop for any of that. You'll spend more than is necessary. Wiring is easy, especially if your original connectors are already there. The wiring to the front speakers is simple. Remove your front 4" speakers from their stock locations and check the back of the speaker. You should see a + and - sign. Those are male blade connectors on the speakers. If you don't see the symbols, a 9v battery touched to both contacts will tell you which is positive. If the speaker cone moves out, the positive matches the positive terminal of the 9v. All you need to do is buy some speaker wire and some crimp on blade connectors (Radio Shack, Walmart, McParts...) that are the same size as those on the back of the speaker (take the speaker with you to get the right size blade connectors). Plug the blades in, and wrap the assembly with electrical tape. Choose a place to run the wiring behind the kick panel and through the door. You'll want to use a lot of electrical tape or a shrink tube to protect the wire as it "goes outside". Inside the door, just attach the wire to the hardware that comes with the speaker, making sure that you're certain which goes to the positive terminal.

Your subwoofer is extremely simple. I'm assuming you want to use the under-seat subwoofer. The installation kit should have ample instruction, but if not, I'll go ahead and tell you what to do. You'll have a blue switch wire that comes from the back of the stereo. Attach that (preferably through a switch of some kind in case you need to kill the bass but still want music) to the wire in the kit (probably blue) that goes to the switch on the amp. It's best to run all the wires down the side of the car the amp will be on by removing the sill trim and carpeting (via clips) You'll also run a pair of RCA cables from the SUB/REAR line-out of the head unit to the amp. Your power cable goes one way: fuse in the engine compartment. Run that cable through the firewall wherever is safe. If you have to make your own opening, it's best to run a rubber grommet over the wire, plugged into the fire wall to protect it from shorts. Run that to the amp. Your negative wire will be the shortest wire, and if you're putting the amp under a seat (as I assume you would), the rear seat bolt by the door is your best bet for an immediate ground. Just use a ring connector large enough to both pinch ALL of the ground wire and surround the seat bolt. You'll want to cut a small slit in your carpeting to make the wires pass through, by the way. I know this sounds crazy, but your best bet at mounting the amp under the seat is to use several strips of velcro. It should hold through just about anything, if you use enough of it. Just a note: If you put your subwoofer under your seat, the seat will deaden some of the sound. You might want to put a 3-sided box around it made of MDF (top, left and right side) or cut a piece to fit to the tracks... Something to keep it from massaging your bladder, and keep your seat from eating the bass.

For your rear, you can keep your stock rear speaker panels and just make an adapter panel to house larger 5.25" two-way speakers. It's simple. Take the rear speakers out (and repeat what I mentioned earlier about the connectors) and keep the screws handy - preferably right where they came from. Trace around the speaker face on a piece of thin fiberboard (1/4"), and mark for screw holes. Over top of that circle, trace the new speaker around the face, and mark for screw holes. Measure your new speaker's foam mounting area outside the surround of the cone, and inside your outer circle, draw a circle the same distance from your outer marking. Basically, you've traced both speakers and made a hole big enough for the new speakers to work, but there's more. Those screw holes made for the old speaker still need to be used. Mark from your new speaker's inner circle out to the old screw holes and around, back to the circle. Do this for each screw hole. You've just made 'tabs'. Cut your new shape out, and drill holes for all your screws. Mount the new adapter plate with the old speaker's screws, screw the new speaker into the adapter plate (if you strip it, use machine screws and nuts), and plug in using the new hardware.

You're done!

[DriverOne]

^ very nice!

It's not worth paying a shop to install a system, its so easy to do it yourself you should try it.

Yes.

Go for those 6.5" speakers in the rear, aspire has the same size front and rear 6.5's, but I'm not entirely sure what a Festiva uses. It wouldn't be hard to get creative and make bigger speakers work. Stay away from "4-way" speakers get 2 or 3 ways, the lower number the better unless your a hippy that listens to the stereo on low volume because you want to hear the violin or something. When you crank up a 4 way speaker you blow out the tweeter and get awful static noise. Also, you want an amp if you use a sub, and you want a capacitor if you go over 600rms. A 400 RMS system will be more than enough to feel a bump and impress your friends, and you can still use the crappy wally world/scoshe wiring kits with their 8ga. Wire.

The unit that he's talking about has it's own wiring kit, so he should be fine. The adapter I was talking about would work for up to 6.5 inches, but you might have to get creative.

Also, when you buy an amp or a sub, IGNORE WATT RATINGS, look at the RMS/peak output. Walmart advertises a "1000w" amp, but it only actually puts out 400w RMS.

If you buy a 400w max sub and a 400w max amp, it just means the amp won't exceed the maximum capabilities (extremely temporary, or in audible terms, that hard hit every so often)of the speaker, but if the RMS of the amp exceeds that of the speaker's RMS, you have to turn the gain on the amp down (like a volume control) to use the speaker, or you'll eventually blow the speaker. If your RMS on the speaker is higher than the amp, that's better, but it could mean that you're overdriving the amplifier to get good sound. That can overheat an amplifier quickly.

Your head unit/cd player needs to have rca jacks to run an amp.

Some amplifiers come with something called a high-level input. The use of RCAs is preferred, but in the case that you can't use that, the high gain input comes from the same connectors that your speakers connect to, in just the same manner. This is how people with stock stereos are able to upgrade their systems. There is also a unit which does that same thing for an amp which doesn't have a high-level input, which is called a high-level to low-level RCA adapter/converter.

[kellen302]

Thanks for all the stereo info, Turns out the donor Protege has 4 pimpin new speakers in it. The guy put them in 5 months ago before he binned it. YAY. The radiator however doesn't hold a drop of water. And the gas tank is bone dry. I figure once I get some gas in it. I can start it for just a few seconds to make sure it all works without roasting it. What say y'all about a short test run like that?

[kellen302]

Pictures are here...

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z424/kellen302/P6290920.jpg

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z424/kellen302/P6290919.jpg

[kellen302]

BP donor still don't run. It's got a couple gallons of gas in it now. I pulled off all of the intake tubing before the VAF. I can push the VAF flap when the key is "ON" and I can hear the fuel pump humming away. I can get the car to crank but no cough or sputter. I bought it with a small front end collision on the drivers side that killed the radiator and kinked the intake tubes. The PO said they just had it towed home and hadn't run it.
Now it's pouring down rain and I don't have a covered work area. It's got oil, doesn't hold water. I'm just a llittle puzzled on where to start.

[kellen302]

WOOOHOOO!! got it running, sounds pretty gnarly too with a rusty exhaust. There was a plug that was undone that had been under/behind the battery tray and VAF. Mere hours before I leave the country, pretty good feeling.

[DriverOne]

Good luck, Kellen!

[kellen302]

Back From NPH Honduras. A Truly AMAZING organization, little Miguel gifted me his rosary... Most of the Group was from Chicago or Bellevue area so I came across as the Hick in the sticks because I knew how to weed a garden and deal with animals, then we talked SAT scores and they were taken aback. (Anyone else enjoy throwing people for a loop with first impressions?)If anyone is looking to help out an organization that will put whatever you can donate to good use, look to NPH Orphanages. Alright, that was my little plug. I'll start cleaning/pulling the BP hopefully this week.

[kellen302]

Today I drained the AC system (don't tell the EPA), the fuel lines, and the power steering lines. There are only a couple more vac lines and wires to label and disconnect before I pull the axles and mounts and give it a yank.