802Projects
I originally had some of this documented in my Rx7 Interior page. I decided to pull it out into its own blog entry. I love working on stereo installs. My end goal is to have a good "bang for the buck" system that is clean and functional. Meaning I don't ever want to hack up my interior to fit speakers or give up my entire trunk space for multiple subs. I just want a good looking head unit, good sounding speakers, and some bass. I think I achieved that here.
Not much to say here. My rx7 came with a full set of Kicker speakers already installed. One of the fronts was blown so I just ordered another pair. They were nothing special, but probably much better than the paper cone speakes that probably came with the car. Unsure what the rear are, but the fronts are Kicker 40CS54 5 1/4" 75W RMS speakers. I usually like to run components in the front, but there aren't factory front tweater housings I could repurpose. On my Supra and 3000gt I did just that. To run components in the RX-7 I would have to hack up the dash or a door card. I opted against that.
I opted to replace the old Alpine single din I was using for a Sony XAV-AX5500 double din head unit. It's the same head unit I run in my Supra. I was happy with it, so I "bought" a second one. I documented the install in a youtube video that I'll share below. The bezel and mounting kit I used for it is a Pioneer ADT-VA133. I also removed my MGW shifter and cut an inch off the bottom to shorten it. I figured this would free up some extra room to the double din.
Originally I ran a 8w3v3 subwoofer in a ported JL Audio box powered by a JL 250W amp. It worked well, but consumed a lot of trunk space. I opted to build my own box that fits under the rear strut bar. It sounds just as good and fits the car really well. I documented everything (including dimensions) in the video below. I'll include a few pictures too. I have quite a bit of MDF left. If I have some free time I may build another box just to see if it would sell on eBay.
Here is my original box with the amp mounted. You can see how much trunk space it took up. It also wanted to slide around.
Here I'm assembling the new box out of 3/4 mdf. You'll also see another box in the pictures. That is a mockup one I made out of some scrap plywood I had lying around.
The subwoofer is offset for a few different reasons. The magnet itself sticks out really far. If I centered it, the amp would have to go on the backside of the box and it would stick into the trunk more. By offsetting it, I'm ample to recess the amp and make everything narrower. Also the air space for an 8" JL sub is 0.31 cubic feet. If I used the entire length of the box the air space would be about double what it calls for.
I wrapped it using some black sub box carpet from Crutchfield and some 3M Super 77 spray ahesive.
