Wicks' E46 M3 Build. Hertz 3-Way Set from Tony D!

[scooter99]

When you're putting two pieces together. The joint that you're brazing, do they need to be butt up together or a gap for the braze to flow into?

Ohhh, Duh, I took "braizing" to mean important....

I misspelled it too. So my bad. SO you're saying then, that if I just put a little bevel on it, basically create a groove for the aluminum to melt into, it should be fine then? Cause it's going to go through the joint right? Just like if you were to solder a copper plumbing joint right? Sucks through the space and then cools and seals and bonds.

[scooter99]

Yeah, I've got about 3 too many projects going on all at once. I need to actually slow down and finish one and then work on another one. Just hard with my scattered time availability to work on this stuff.

I'm taking a different direction though. I'm going to work on the power first, get it all squared away then I can have power for the back already there and ran. I don't know.

Enjoy, I'm sure going to be!! LOL

That's me. All I said up there? "Easy" for most. But eh. Tryin to find a 2nd job (2nd full time), get all the material gathered up, etc? Too busy lol. I been on the hunt for something and just found it yesterday... now to order it and wait. Lol.

Thankfully, all my equipment is stockpiled. All i'm trying to get now are materials when I need them. SEVERAL trips to Home Depot!! LOL Glad you found what you were looking for though. Now Jamie needs to help you work on it..................LOLOLOLOLOLOL

[WastedTalent]

That's it. I'm not helping you by slowing him down. Lmfao jk. We'll see. I may. I do need help with things and all but... we shall see.

[Wicks]

When you're putting two pieces together. The joint that you're brazing, do they need to be butt up together or a gap for the braze to flow into?

Ohhh, Duh, I took "braizing" to mean important....

I misspelled it too. So my bad. SO you're saying then, that if I just put a little bevel on it, basically create a groove for the aluminum to melt into, it should be fine then? Cause it's going to go through the joint right? Just like if you were to solder a copper plumbing joint right? Sucks through the space and then cools and seals and bonds.

Yep, very similar to soldering. Heat the base metal enough that it is melting and flowing the brazing rod, not the torch.

Just watch out and make sure the base metal doesn't start turning black with residue/contamination which will weaken the joint.

[scooter99]

Ok thanks. I'm going to try it in the next few days.

[CJ18]

Love this build man. Always have. Keep it up!!

Thanks Dude!

I hate you wicks, one of my all time favorite cars with the same amp and (almost) same subs I have, combined with the insane fabrication so far. Hahaha build is looking amazing man

Thanks, much appreciated!

Insane fabrication is a stretch but I'm trying to make this build as unique and clean as I can.

Ok I think I may have answered my own question, if I am wrong, please feel free to tell me to shut up at any point. I have read back through about half of the log just looking at pics to try and see if I see anything that would help those numbers and I think I may.

The issue I am seeing is with the port. I see it firing up into the rear deck, but not through it. The port needs to actually come up through the deck and into the car for it to work like it should. Basically what is happening is you are just losing all of that pressure and it is being trapped in the trunk. Sealing off the box from the back of the trunk wont matter if the air flow from the port is not actually making it into the cabin. If you are able to fix this, you will see a dramatic change.

2 options to fix this.

Option 1- Figure out how to extend the port up through the rear deck. This option requires the cutting of the rear deck.

Option 2- Rebuild the box and do a single port out the front of the box into the cabin and seal off the box from the back.

Either option is tough, one requires cutting the rear deck and figuring out how to extend the port up through it. The other requires taking it all out and starting over.

If I am wrong, please tell me and I will go back and hide in a corner and keep watching, but if not, I hope these suggestions help.

Hey Cody,

Nope, you're right on the money.

I didn't have enough clean room for a front facing port so I had to go up through the rear deck.

I was also hesitant to cut the rear deck so the ports fire through a few holes in the rear deck that were already there (factory speaker holes and a couple others).

Its definitely not a clean transition though into the cabin so a good amount of pressure is going into the trunk.

As you can see from my latest video, even with the rear "somewhat' sealed at the back of the box, I'm still getting a lot of energy vibrating the trunk lid.

Your idea is exactly what I've been thinking about the past week since making that video.

I need to cut the rear deck, extend the ports upwards into the cabin and integrate the ends of the ports into a newly and fully sealed rear deck.

I've gone so far into this build that returning the car to stock is very unlikely. So the idea of cutting the rear deck is becoming more appealing.

Thanks for the comment Sir, always welcomed!

Gotcha. I thought I was seeing it right, but just couldnt quite tell. Once you get that done, you should notice a HUGE difference. The only downfall is going to be that you are going to drop your tuning when you extend the port to get it up through the rear deck.

[Wicks]

Gotcha. I thought I was seeing it right, but just couldnt quite tell. Once you get that done, you should notice a HUGE difference. The only downfall is going to be that you are going to drop your tuning when you extend the port to get it up through the rear deck.

A HUGE difference, huh? I like the sound of that! I was worried that I was about maxed out on my output from this box without drastically changing the port(s).

Yeah, I figured it would drop my tuning a bit.

Rather than just an extension of the ports, what would you think about a large flared opening from the end of the current ports to the rear deck?

That should also help couple the sound into the cabin while also reducing the drop in tuning (I would think?).

The flared opening may also give me some "horn effect" and also help with some gain....?

[scooter99]

Interested in what you come up with.

[Wicks]

Had a road trip that I needed everything fitted and functional for so things got fast-tracked a bit.

Here's the mess in my console on the night before the trip:

Remember this:

I wasn't happy just looking at a clipping light so I sought out to be able to view the output of the DC 5K live.

After looking around for a while I found the smallest o-scope I've ever seen.

Here's the front:

Yep...its an oscilloscope (O-scope) with a screen that's maybe an inch wide.

The measurements for the whole device are 1.615” x 1.01”.

Sure, it wont be the most accurate o-scope ever but its perfect in that it neatly fits into my custom ashtray area and shows me the live waveform from the DC 5K.

A couple of hurdles to overcome:

1.) Runs on 5VDC

2.) Input voltage limit of 20VDC

So I had to use a 12VDC to 5VDC converter to power it which I had leftover from a prior voltmeter that I replaced.

The voltage from the 5K had to be reduced so that the o-scope wouldn't be over-driven. The most simple method is a resistor divider.

I started off with 1MOhm and a 200kOhm resistors to give me about a 16% reduction in voltage.

Here's an initial test with my bench power supply at the top of the resistor divider:

Here's the output of the resistor divider:

Now to the install...

Besides the obvious Kenwood aftermarket HU, everything still looks stock:

Flipping up the ashtray cover and we have...

Closeup with the car off (resting voltage)

Closeup with the car running (Charging @ 14.7V), with some music playing so you can see the o-scope display.

Apologies for some of the rough cuts and finish.

Its not near as clean as I'd like it, but I was rushed to get things together and this was a bit of a test phase anyway.
I'd like to re-do the panel and give it a cleaner finished look.

It is a bummer that I don't have the voltage measurements marked out like the original VM-1, but I simply didn't have room to place them anywhere.

So I just have to keep an eye on relatively where the LED is lit and make sure it doesn't drop too low (also indicated by red LEDs which will help).

[Leo1103]

You have an oscope in your car..... I hate you. Hahaha loving the work your putting in to this man!