Its hard to believe but once up on a time, 350zs and G35s made up about 80 percent of my customers base :) After while of what seems to be the same install over and over again with slight variations, i decided to stop marketing myself and gradually, less and less Zs and Gs came in and i moved onto other models.
But it was nice to get back into a car that i can almost take apart blindfolded after about a year and a half hiatus...(ironically my next project is another 350z lol)
This one is also somewhat unique and a shift from my usual focus, it is a pretty dedicated show car belonging to a long time friend. A 2005 350z that has seen several iterations over the years...but had been twin turbo charged since about 5 years ago. This time when i saw it, it sported a air ride system, a brand new color changing paint scheme and other goodies.
The goals for this build therefor is quite different than my norm:
1. To create a system for extra points during show judging, as the car had a lot done but no audio system
2. to retain all the components of the air ride system in their current positions into the design as they are already set by the hose routing etc.
3. still keep it clean simple and classy as i dont like to do wild painted volcano sub enclosures :D also cant go too crazy as it is on a relatively modest budget
so SQ is not the goal here, though due to the speakers i used, i have to say this car sounds pretty decent :)
So lets take a look at the car...these are actually NOT the wheels the car currently runs on, but umm...cheaper ones he drove down to me on (if you can call AMEs cheap by any stretch of the imagination lol)
here is the car dropped fully...talk about ON THE ground :o
the colors change really shows under the sun...oh well...
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The signal starts with a pioneer Avic-F900 navigation headunit that has been in the car since the age of the dinosaurs lol, lovely screen background to see everytime i started the car though:
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for his front stage, the goal was to have the speaker visible yet not hinder driving, so i molded a set of door pods to show case the speaker. they are wrapped in one piece black street suede/alcantara, which is a bit of a pain if you worked with it :)
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if you look around the speakers, you will see a trim done in CF vinyl, a theme that carries over to the trunk. the black suede is identical to the material on his headliner and other parts of his interior soon to be upholstered.
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and the passenger side:
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and a quick shot of the interior:
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in case you are wondering, the speakers are the Illusion Audio Luccent L6CX point source set...its a high end set with a full bi-amp capable passive xover. I chose this set for its sound and to show case it all in one location without a separate tweeter:
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a few quick build pics of the pods:
first molds were taken off the locations:
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once cured, they were pulled off and trimmed to the desired shape:
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the ring baffles were aimed and attached:
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mold cloth pulled and resin applied...once it cured, excess cloth was trimmed:
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next the pods were reinforced from the inside heavily with a mixture of duraglass and resin to make them very solid and the exterior rough sanded:
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next, filler was applied and the two pods sanded smooth:
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the inside received a layer of STP gold damper to reduce resonance:
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But it was nice to get back into a car that i can almost take apart blindfolded after about a year and a half hiatus...(ironically my next project is another 350z lol)
This one is also somewhat unique and a shift from my usual focus, it is a pretty dedicated show car belonging to a long time friend. A 2005 350z that has seen several iterations over the years...but had been twin turbo charged since about 5 years ago. This time when i saw it, it sported a air ride system, a brand new color changing paint scheme and other goodies.
The goals for this build therefor is quite different than my norm:
1. To create a system for extra points during show judging, as the car had a lot done but no audio system
2. to retain all the components of the air ride system in their current positions into the design as they are already set by the hose routing etc.
3. still keep it clean simple and classy as i dont like to do wild painted volcano sub enclosures :D also cant go too crazy as it is on a relatively modest budget
so SQ is not the goal here, though due to the speakers i used, i have to say this car sounds pretty decent :)
So lets take a look at the car...these are actually NOT the wheels the car currently runs on, but umm...cheaper ones he drove down to me on (if you can call AMEs cheap by any stretch of the imagination lol)
here is the car dropped fully...talk about ON THE ground :o
the colors change really shows under the sun...oh well...
The signal starts with a pioneer Avic-F900 navigation headunit that has been in the car since the age of the dinosaurs lol, lovely screen background to see everytime i started the car though:
for his front stage, the goal was to have the speaker visible yet not hinder driving, so i molded a set of door pods to show case the speaker. they are wrapped in one piece black street suede/alcantara, which is a bit of a pain if you worked with it :)
if you look around the speakers, you will see a trim done in CF vinyl, a theme that carries over to the trunk. the black suede is identical to the material on his headliner and other parts of his interior soon to be upholstered.
and the passenger side:
and a quick shot of the interior:
in case you are wondering, the speakers are the Illusion Audio Luccent L6CX point source set...its a high end set with a full bi-amp capable passive xover. I chose this set for its sound and to show case it all in one location without a separate tweeter:
a few quick build pics of the pods:
first molds were taken off the locations:
once cured, they were pulled off and trimmed to the desired shape:
the ring baffles were aimed and attached:
mold cloth pulled and resin applied...once it cured, excess cloth was trimmed:
next the pods were reinforced from the inside heavily with a mixture of duraglass and resin to make them very solid and the exterior rough sanded:
next, filler was applied and the two pods sanded smooth:
the inside received a layer of STP gold damper to reduce resonance:
