2018 golf R - upgrading "Premium" fender audio system

[BboyTaktix]

Latest wiring photo as of yesterday afternoon of lower amp rack - almost complete - you can see the relay in there now for remote turn-on circuit. Still missing the 8ga ferrules required to finish wiring the small fuse block power and ground to distribution blocks, to finish off this rack.

 

[BboyTaktix]

Finished up lower amp rack wiring - all that is left is to connect the loose wires to upper rack and of course the main power and ground. Small triple terminal up top is for the Zen NavTV which will be replacing the amp under driver side seat. Still need to make a wiring harness for that, but will be attached from the underseat bracket side. 

 

 

Made some side brackets which will mount to OEM bolting locations of some side trim. Took a while to get everything lined up and drilled out properly but no doubt it will be solid once installed;

 

 

 

 

 

So for the Zen NavTV, I removed factory amp (since that is where the MOST150 cable is) and copied the profile onto a piece of HPDF to make a proper bolt-on direct replacement bracket.  I didn't grab photos of the OEM amp but basically this bracket matches up perfectly to the profile and bolting pattern. Turned out great - see below - Note: the Zen is just loosely placed - I afterwards drilled and tapped for permanent mounting - will take photos onc eit<s ready for install. For now I put my OEM amp back until everything is ready;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dafaseles]

14 hours ago, BboyTaktix said:

Finished up lower amp rack wiring - all that is left is to connect the loose wires to upper rack and of course the main power and ground. Small triple terminal up top is for the Zen NavTV which will be replacing the amp under driver side seat. Still need to make a wiring harness for that, but will be attached from the underseat bracket side. 

 

 

Made some side brackets which will mount to OEM bolting locations of some side trim. Took a while to get everything lined up and drilled out properly but no doubt it will be solid once installed;

 

 

 

 

 

So for the Zen NavTV, I removed factory amp (since that is where the MOST150 cable is) and copied the profile onto a piece of HPDF to make a proper bolt-on direct replacement bracket.  I didn't grab photos of the OEM amp but basically this bracket matches up perfectly to the profile and bolting pattern. Turned out great - see below - Note: the Zen is just loosely placed - I afterwards drilled and tapped for permanent mounting - will take photos onc eit<s ready for install. For now I put my OEM amp back until everything is ready;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So much attention to detail. This is going to look great! 

[BboyTaktix]

3 hours ago, Dafaseles said:

So much attention to detail. This is going to look great! 

Thank you!!! Taking my time with this build for sure - do everything right to the best of my knowledge.

 

speaking of attention to detail - wait until you the my color-coded speaker wiring harness I’m building 😜 ran out of tech flex so I gotta pick more up from my favorite local electronics store. I think they’re getting used to seeing me there LOL

[Dafaseles]

48 minutes ago, BboyTaktix said:

Thank you!!! Taking my time with this build for sure - do everything right to the best of my knowledge.

 

speaking of attention to detail - wait until you the my color-coded speaker wiring harness I’m building 😜 ran out of tech flex so I gotta pick more up from my favorite local electronics store. I think they’re getting used to seeing me there LOL

I might have to steal your color coded wiring harness. I'm putting a total of 8 speakers in each door.... keeping those straight is going to be..... interesting🤣

[BboyTaktix]

1 hour ago, Dafaseles said:

I might have to steal your color coded wiring harness. I'm putting a total of 8 speakers in each door.... keeping those straight is going to be..... interesting🤣

Sure thing! And damn that’s a lot of speakers lol I gotta take the time to check your build!!! 

[Dafaseles]

14 minutes ago, BboyTaktix said:

Sure thing! And damn that’s a lot of speakers lol I gotta take the time to check your build!!! 

4 B&C 8BG51 8" mids and 4 Dynavox  TD2801XL 1-1/8" Silk Dome Tweeter's in each front door. It's becoming my nemesis rather quickly

[BboyTaktix]

Haha nice - that definitely sounds like an SPL build considering the tuning would be a nightmare 🤣

[Dafaseles]

4 hours ago, BboyTaktix said:

Haha nice - that definitely sounds like an SPL build considering the tuning would be a nightmare 🤣

My goal is as loud as I can get it, without sounding like shit. Though the tweeters won't be on a very optimum place because of my door shape, so there's that. I might get a DSP down the road, but I don't have one as of right now. The speakers will be run active off their own amplifier. (A Cresendo 2000.4 for the 8's, and a Cresendo S4 for the tweets which is 800.4)

I would consider it a lightweight SPL build. But in just really afraid I'm not going to like the sound of the doors. 

Anyway, this is your thread bud! Keep building! 

[BboyTaktix]

Got my 0-gauge main power wire passed this evening - took me less time than expected, about 1.5 hours. Thank god for the existing large grommet on the firewall. Just removed the battery, pushed the grommet inwards and snipped it with some cutters and the 0-gauge pushed through perfectly. Then re-installed battery and the bracket with fuse holder and made the final connections. Pretty happy with it. 

 

 

 

 

inside the cabin was not much more difficult - removed the door trim (front and rear door was one long piece) and carefully moved it up out of the way - 0-gauge wire JUST fit in between stock harness and edge of the channel (door gasket basically). Trim clipped back on perfectly. No room for zip ties but the trim was nice and tight so I don't see the need. 

 

 

Driver side front kick panel (next to foot):

 

 

front door edge trim;

 

 

 

 

towards the back:

 

 

 

 

 

Now, can anyone give me some insight on how to cleanly and safely run and secure the 0-gauge wire under the rear seat? Just worried about the seat sitting on top causing some sort of impingement - the seat is foam but has a round metal structure. Not sure how much clearance is under there. I could just be over-thinking it too. No room to run around the side of seat especially since it is 0-gauge.