2006 Lincoln LS build (Alpine, DC, Rockford Fosgate, KnuKonceptz and Kinetik)

[DanielSavage]

I started a build in my friend's '06 Lincoln LS over a month ago, but had to take 4 weeks off due to him working for Ingram Barge Co. The guy works 28 days on the barge, then he's home for 28 days. Yesterday was the first of those 28 days at home, so this build is off & runnin' again.

There's a thread for this build over at caraudio.com as well, but I started it before we really knew what was going to happen with the LS. My friend originally wanted to upgrade his amps and install a pair of RF T152S comps in the front doors, but I talked him into a complete overhaul. So, what started as a small project that consisted of a Clarion VRX585USB, some Profile amps, a pair of 12" Kicker CVR's and some Kenwood 6x8" plates turned into the following;

hu: Alpine IVA-W505 with Sirius upgrade

comps: Rockford Fosgate T152S 2x

multi channel: DC Audio PAI-120.4

mono: DC Audio PAI-1000.1

sub: DC Audio Level 4 15" (dual 2)

Let's get started with a pic of the LS. I thought I should post pics of some of the entry level stuff that was once in this vehicle too.

The ride;

This pic was taken over a month ago. The vehicle has long since been cleaned up.

Clarion VRX585USB

This dvd player is no longer in the vehicle. If you're interested in buying one of these, change your mind. They suck.

The stock front doors (They're both the same, so I only took pics of one)

Notice the 6x8" Kenwood plate. These speakers sound much better than you probably think.

The Profile amps;

Can you believe he actually paid someone to install these? The guy didn't even attempt to clean up the wiring. What a joke. This is why so many car audio shops have a bad reputation.

When I saw this, I immediately started talking about purchasing new amplifiers. I kept on and on with it until I convinced my friend to buy these.

DC PAI-1000.1;

and the DC PAI-120.4;

[Bills]

do you have your amps yet?>

Bills

[DanielSavage]

Now onto some of the work that I've already finished.

The front driver's side after one layer of Dynamat Xtreme;

Passenger's side (front);

Driver's side (rear);

Passenger's side (rear);

I'm nowhere near as meticulous with sound deadening as some people. I can get the job done, though.

Front door pods/baffles (exterior);

and now the interior;

These suckers were U-G-L-Y. I used the factory pods & attached a .75" mdf baffle to convert the 6x8" opening to accept a 5.25" midbass. Then I sealed the gap between the factory pod and the new baffle with silicone and covered the entire thing with Dynamat Xtreme inside & out. After screwing the pods back into place, I used Dynamat Xtreme to seal the crack between the pods and the door's metal bracing.

I repeated the process for the rear doors as well. Feel free to make jokes, but they're rock SOLID. They're not so ugly anymore either, but you'll get a look at that a little later.

[DanielSavage]

do you have your amps yet?>

Bills

I couldn't say. I don't remember ever doing business with you.

EDIT: If you're trying to sell me some amps, I don't need any. Sorry...

[DanielSavage]

More pics.

Here's where I ran into the first snag. Wiring up the doors was a total PITA. The factory boots are stuffed full of wiring, and both of the boots in the front of the vehicle were covered with fuse boxes or various electrical components. I really, REALLY tried to get two runs of speaker wire through the boots, but it just wasn't happening. I had to make a compromise, but it turned out alright.

Compromise #1;

It's not so bad. I just punched a hole on the side of the factory boot, ran the wire, applied some thick electrical tape, cleaned it up with some looming and secured things with a few zip ties. I was forced to repeat this process on all 4 doors, but I'm no longer concerned with it. It's barely noticeable, it doesn't pinch and it doesn't obstruct the doors in any way.

At this point I can't stop thinking about those ugly a$$ pods. It was eating at me, so I had to do something to clean them up. My friend's girlfriend suggested painting them, but after a few coats of primer I realized that paint would be no better. So, I did this;

The not so ugly door pods;

rear doors (they're both the same, so only 1 pic);

They're not only strong, but decent looking as well (The area that's covered in primer on the rear door has since been carpeted). I didn't take pics of the carpeting, but I will the next time I work on the vehicle. And yes, that is the tweeter's wiring coming out of the baffle in the 3rd pic. My friend, who is a total noob, did that while I was grabbing a bottle of Gatorade. I made him remove the pod and seal the hole with silicone and a piece of Dynamat. It's all good.

Time to run into another snag. After test fitting the front door panels, I noticed that the speakers wouldn't have enough clearance. Same problem with the rear doors. Another compromise was made.

Compromise #2 (Before);

and after;

I had to repeat this process on all four doors as well. It put the Dremel through a good workout for sure.

[DanielSavage]

And onto flush mounting the tweeters. We installed a tweeter in each of the 4 doors, but the rears will only be used when there are passengers back there. I wanted to do kick panels, but my friend doesn't like them. I went on and on about the futility of rear speakers in such a modest system, but he was having none of it. It's his vehicle and he wanted speakers in every door, so every door got speakers.

Front doors (they're both the same, so only 1 pic).

and the rears;

I like Rockford Fosgate, I really do, but the design of the flush mount housing for these components is ridiculous. The tweeters are placed into the flush mount housings from the factory, and it's nearly impossible to remove them. If you're not extra careful, you could easily damage your tweeters. It was frustrating and I was mad, but I got over it.

Right about now my friend discovered that mounting a double din dvd player in the LS wasn't impossible.

He spent some money on this;

and this;

I had a Clarion VRX585USB of my own, but it took a dump. My friend gave me his Clarion and it took a dump as well. That's why I said the unit is junk.

At this point we were running out of Dynamat and my friend was only 2 days away from leaving for a 28 stint on a river barge. We got a little more work done before he left, but there wasn't enough Dynamat to amount to a hill of beans.

Deck lid (1 layer of Dynamat Xtreme);

We were completely out of Dynamat at this point and didn't have time to order more before my friend had to leave for work, so we moved on to running/hiding wiring and installing Luxury Liner Pro under the vehicle's carpeting. That was a very hot, long and frustrating day. Mosquitos were swarming like crazy and every single screw and bolt in the LS was a total PITA. I'm not known as a man of patience, so I quickly became angry. I was far too furious to document that part of the install with pics, but I'm sure you've all seen luxury liner and wires before.

After the Luxury Liner Pro "incident", I was more than ready to take a break from this project. Nothing else was accomplished until today. That's when I received this.

moofer;

DC Audio Level 4 15". I'm impressed with the build quality and can't wait to hear it.

As of now I have more than enough Dynamat Xtreme to finish the deadening and plenty of mdf to build the enclosure and get a little creative. You'll see those pics as progress is made.

You're now caught up with my little Lincoln LS project. I hope you guys don't flame my work too much. I wasn't trying to win any awards here, but noone wants their work to be sh*t on.

[DanielSavage]

Sorry for using the ninja edit technique in this thread. This stuff happened well over a month ago, and I didn't remember the exact order of how this work went down. I'm all done with the "additions" now.

[mhart]

very nice, more pics please.

[Bacy2k]

thats a nice LS. I did the same thing with my flush mount tweets, front doors and back. And those rubber boots are no joke! lol, try running a run of twisted positive/negative 12 gauge in a case through the front doors, probably one of the hardest things ive done with mine... and the back doors? not even an option to run that 12 gauge through there lol, i did the same thing... i dont know why you were so stuck on those speaker pods, nobodys going to see them. but so far, good work man, cant wait to see how the rest of this falls into place

oh yeah, and i forgot, that was the same headunit i was looking to get lol, but i was waiting for alpine to get it right with the nav first lol, and i got a bezel for it for like $15, just sitting here not being used lol, so hope your friend didnt pay too much for that