Jump to content

2012 Malibu system upgrades: wiring & prep.


Recommended Posts

hey man, just wanted to say a couple things. 

 

1.) above all else I hope you and your family stay safe and wish you guys nothing but the best in coming to the best possible resolution for whatever issues you're facing.  That is above and beyond any other importance. 

 

2.) thanks for keeping up with the build, you have patience I could only dream of, and actually with this whole corona stay home shit I actually thought about your build as I've been able to work on my own.  So thanks for the inspiration and keep up the amazing attention to detail and level of craftsmanship!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 642
  • Created
  • Last Reply
14 minutes ago, bmwking said:

hey man, just wanted to say a couple things. 

 

1.) above all else I hope you and your family stay safe and wish you guys nothing but the best in coming to the best possible resolution for whatever issues you're facing.  That is above and beyond any other importance. 

 

2.) thanks for keeping up with the build, you have patience I could only dream of, and actually with this whole corona stay home shit I actually thought about your build as I've been able to work on my own.  So thanks for the inspiration and keep up the amazing attention to detail and level of craftsmanship!

Thanks man, it really means a lot to me.  I am partly lost with this hunker down situation, my church hasn't had services in person for a month. The online services are no where near the same.  The wife and i are doing Christian Counseling that we just started. We love each other dearly, the last 5 years has thrown a lot of external pressures and situations are way that we never really dealt with. We both have a very strong work ethic and just put our heads down to put one foot in front of the other to make it thru each day.  For the last couple years i was self medicating with weed, which she hated, so i got on some good meds and have leveled out to a even keel.  She has had time to reflect also and she know i am 100% here for her and our son. So thank you again.

 

As for the build i guess it was a good thing i bought up almost 10k worth of tools and equipment. The goal was to get it done by this spring/ summer but now if i could get to where i could put the interior mostly put back in so it is out of the downstairs extra room that would be great.

I have a pretty good layout in my mind, rerunning power inside changes it a little but i think i can get some shit happening pretty quick next week. I don't come over on the weekends unless invited to give her space. On a sad note... The Lancer trunk batteries to a shit on me, had no tunes for a few weeks. It took about a week to charge one back up and the other is holding at 10.7 but won't hold higher than than no matter how i try to charge it.  So i am running one battery in the trunk and two under the hood.  I bought a 5 amp battery tender to replace the 2 amp one in the car.  Where i am stay is only 7 minutes away from the house so between the AK cold and lack of driving or charging the batteries more often that one Kenetic Engery HC1800 is dead and the other is ok.  At least i have tunes again, getting into the SQ side of music so i don't have to or want to run full tilt. Just enjoying having tunes again. 

 

If i had the ability i would ditch the RF power series amps and replace the with some Zapco's.  Close to same cost with better SQ IMO. This build is now about making due with what i have and finishing it for now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update:

 

 

spacer.png

Passenger Panel put back on so now i can say the front doors are done!

 

 

spacer.png

 

 

spacer.png

So i was playing with some JBL GTO 429 coax speakers,  These really helped the front stage presence but the i hooked up the RF T1962's and they sound better with the midrange and mid-bass.  There will be times the rear seats will be up and sub off so i will stick with them. 

 

 

spacer.png

I almost left the fast rings alone but i could't. 

 

 

spacer.png

They looked good but i knew i could do better,  plus i had another deadening material to use on the rear deck.

 

spacer.png

 

 

 

 

spacer.png

A peak underneath the rear deck. Yep, it's still there and deadened well.

 

spacer.png

SecondSkin Luxury line pro... this is some thick stuff.  I wasn't going to pull the stock cotton deadening of because more work would be involved.

 

 

spacer.png

Now to clean the cotton and hot glue up.  And i need to trim the plastic ring around the speaker for the new fast rings to marry up properly

 

 

spacer.png

These snips did most of the work well enough. 

 

 

spacer.png

Dremel  cleaned the rest of it up good enough.  I will take the rear panel home and cut a shit ton of squares to add mass to the rear deck panel. Why....what else is there to do, wife needs a break on the weekends, No church Services and with the hunker down order nothing is open.

 

 

spacer.png

Final trimming of the Luxury Liner Pro.

 

 

spacer.png

SoundSkin speaker rings with SecondSkin Luxury Liner Pro.  I had two boxes, not much left of the first one.  Now i need to figure out the best way to mount it.  On the rear deck with Velcro?  Under the deck panel with Velcro?  I watch a few vids, and do i need to cut out for the satellite radio box there or should i mount it on top?  I had it off to deaden under it.

 

 

spacer.png

I think that should work?

 

Happy Easter guys.  More to come next week. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Updates from the weekend:

 

 

spacer.png

6 hrs worth of deadening. I cut all squares out individually on the first layer.  Second layer i cut strips to make it faster. Was it worth it, not really but what the hell.  Added a pound or so and made it stiffer.

 

 

spacer.png

Luxury Liner Pro Velcro'd down and sealed off with Dynamat aluminium tape.

 

 

spacer.png

The 3 tapes i used,  .8" Velcro & 2".  Plus the Dynamat.

 

 

spacer.png

Rear deck panel on and done!!!

 

 

spacer.png

Now to tackle the C-pillar panels.

 

 

spacer.png

Nice to have a pattern to work with.

 

 

spacer.png

I will do the panels with deadening tonight and cut either luxury liner pro or just liner pro.  Not sure which way to go right now.  At least i got a little something done today.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

C-Pillar panels done & back in....

 

spacer.png

One layer of SecondSkin to add a little mass and weight.  This was much faster to use the stock template to cover the panel instead of cutting squares or strips.  Duh... Turned out good and only took about an hour with cleaning and deadening.

 

 

spacer.png

I decided on the luxury liner pro.  I have it, might as well use it every place i can where it will help the most.  I can always use the other product on the rear doors and trunk lid.  This shit is $80 a roll and the other is $50. 

 

 

spacer.png

The Velcro seems to work well adhering  the Luxury Liner Pro to the panel, I used a polyurethane roller to marry the two up.

 

 

spacer.png

Went in nice and snug.  These haven't been in for over a year also so nice to have a few things finally done.

 

 

spacer.png

passenger side is the same.  These panels weigh like 5x heavier after being treated.

 

 

spacer.png

Sorry for the shitty picture, i usually take two just in case but didn't on this one. On both panels i used 2 mm thick speaker gasket to keep some separation  of panel on panel, hoping to reduce any rattles possible from the c-pillars to the rear deck panel.  

 

 

spacer.png

That's the channel the C-pillar slides into and once locked into place pushes down on the rear deck panel to keep in location.  I love deadening and wire management.  One changes the acoustics of the environment,  and the other is for looks. 

 

 

spacer.png

Not much to look at for a base model Malibu but if anyone every breaks it down besides me they will find a shit ton of work behind the panels.  Those stupid child car seat tie-downs are going to need some attention, i am thinking speaker foam on the hinges and where it closes. Just  to keep from bugging the shit out of me. 

 

 

 

 

  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, bsneon98 said:

wow man. blown away by how clean this build is. Really striving to have something even remotely close one day! Best of luck to you and yours!

Thanks man, the wife and i are counseling and in time we should be way better than before.  I am starting to get into the groove of the build again, still have a ton of work and at my pace snails are passing me by.  But that's ok,  i know what kind of quality i want in my system.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

spacer.png

Picture with rear deck pad on.  I will Velcro it down toward the end after i clean the interior.  Now for the power runs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

spacer.png

Coming from the engine bay.

 

spacer.png

Around rear suspension.

 

spacer.png

There is shit for room to drill holes for 0 gauge grommets.  This is a large hole that factory power runs from front fuse box to rear fuse box. I am thinking about removing this to run my two runs of 0 gauge to the rear battery.  Unless i can find two flat spots in this area to drill 2 holes 1 1/8" for the grommet to pass thru plus i need 1 3/8" for the nuts and t o be able to tighten them down.  You can't hardly get to this spot from the top or underneath.  They just packed to much shit into a small engine bay.  Shit shouldn't be this hard.  I would run one 0 gauge back to rear battery if i thought it would be enough.  3000 watts max , 400 amps of fusing. what the draw will actually be i don't know?  I do plan to upgrade alternator this summer.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

spacer.png

Hell Ya... I got both runs thru the factory grommet.

 

 

spacer.png

I was able to put the factory grommet back in and now i just have to tape up this rubber matting.

 

 

spacer.png

I was able to push the lug ends thru the grommet so i didn't have to redo anything. So really happy for that!

 

 

spacer.png

Tesa taped the runs and ran them thru the nearest hole without having to drill in the seat mounting brace.  Idea was to run them as low to the ground as possible.

 

 

spacer.png

I will run it under the carpet which will leave the channels open for speaker and signal wires.

 

 

spacer.png

I most likely run the power thru here.  I will have to grab rear seat framing for wire routing so i don't make any mistakes.

 

 

spacer.png

Up over the fuse box with the proper  distant with it coming down from the top of the panel into this SMD fuse box which i plan to use ABS to sandwich in between the trunk side panel.  Should look clean and have easy access to the fuses.

Way happy to have this mapped out so real progress can get done. 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...