Leaderboard

Wiring/batteries: Honestly, 1 run of 0ga +/- should be fine unless you're pushing absurd lengths. Can calculate voltage drop across wiring to get wherever ya need as far as Vdrop goes. Same goes for batteries. That's plenty for the power you're running. As always though, you can always adjust/upgrade if you find your electrical isn't performing how you want. I don't have any hands-on with those rigs, so I'll take your word on the ground loop shenanigans. --- Alternator: Again, prefacing this with I don't have any hands-on with these. So if you've already done the research on it, apologies. Just want to have a talking point on it. I'll also add that if you wanted to bypass ELM altogether, ask mechman for an external regulator. If you go that route, throw the wiring harness in the trash and wire the +/- on the regulator with 8ga tinned OFC. In my experience, the 14(?) gauge the kits come with creates a bit of a feedback loop of sorts and yields inconsistent voltage. the tl;dr is voltage drop across the sense wires causes the regulator to read low voltage, increasing power, increasing voltage drop, and so on until it sees an equilibrium. At which point, the regulator eases up, eliminating the voltage drop, then reading a higher voltage, and so on until that sees an equilibrium. Then the whole process repeats cyclically. See it more with larger battery banks or capacitors than with smaller stuff, ironically. Would this one work? https://www.mechman.com/alternators/acura/ilx/2-4l/2013-2015/240-amp-alternator-for-select-2-4l-honda-acura/ If so, honestly, you could probably ditch the rear battery and replace w/ capacitors to save some weight, or throw a smaller one in there. Idle output might be challenge though, IIRC these hondas have a smallish crank pulley. That's something you'll have to weigh the pros/cons of on your end. --- Trunk coating: Be careful with any sort of painted on material, especially in low spots like the trunk, and absolutely don't use it on exterior. It likes to trap water between the coating and base material and can cause some corrosion issues. Nice idea on the off-label use though. Always like to see those sorts of experiments. --- Rear speakers: depends how stiff they are. Rear stage usually isn't a huge consideration on builds like this. But there are 2 trains of thought on it: 1. Remove them altogether so you have a gaping hole to let pressure through to the cab. Test and check to see if your system performs better with them in or out. It's not always better because of resonances. That turns your box+trunk into a psuedo series-tuned-6th-order. 2. Install the rear speakers and leave the buckets in place to protect them. The pressure from the sub will shred the things otherwise. Depending on how it goes together and how stiff it is, you could use sound deadener to firm up the area and bolster your efforts to seal off those drivers.