Wired for Sound

Wow, two posts in less than a week...I'm trying to make amends. And so as part of the interior install, between doing the Dynamat and putting the carpets in, the wiring for the impending stereo needed to be installed. So last Friday was the day. First up I went for a quick a trip down to JB Hifi in Cannington to get myself some quality interconnects that run the signal from the deck through to the boot where the amplifiers will be installed. After doing a quick bit of research on what to use, it was down to Stinger and Aepro (?). As luck would have it, JB's had the Stinger Helix in stock...these being their higher end product, and in a nice red to boot. Therefore if they do get seen, at least they won't stand out like dog's bollocks. Back at the workshop the fun begins.

After a quick run down from Marc Palmer (all-round nice guy and electronics whizz, also C-Red Workshop Manager) on where I should be running the cables, I set to work running them out. First up were the Stinger interconnects (RCA's) which have been run down the passenger side of the tunnel, across the back of the rear footwell and up and over the wheel arch into the boot (basically following one of the stock wiring loom paths).

- Stinger interconnects along rear passenger footwell
- Stinger interconnects over wheel arch

Next was a 7-wire multi-core cable which we've run for future needs if they should arise. This was run along the same path as the stock loom on the drivers' side of the car, followed by the speaker cables which run down each side of the car and up and over the wheel arches.

- Speaker wiring in Passenger footwell
- Speaker wiring along Passenger sill
- Speaker wiring along Drivers' sill
- Speaker & multi-core wiring over drivers' rear wheel arch

Also on Friday I received my next box of Dynamat (3rd so far) and before leaving the post office, I had it weighed. It came in at a smidge of 10kg. Not bad really considering that could be the difference between my planned stereo setup, and one with twice as much weight. And of course the amount of deadening in the car really has made a huge difference already.

Saturday I managed to get the rear seat area and wheel arches covered so next up will be the boot. I reckon we're getting pretty close to getting the interior back it. So far I'm undecided on whether to get the rear seats and door trim panels retrimmed before Autosalon. The interior I picked up has the option CA-version velour material with a grey and slightly red stripe patten. It's nice, but the grey doesn't quite match the same grey as the GT-R seats, but I may forego that...but as mentioned, undecided.

For the stereo, I'm looking to go something fairly basic, but still punchy starting out with an Alpine SWX-1042D Type-X 10" Subwoofer. The front splits will be the Alpine DLC-177R DDLinear 6.5" Component 2-Way Speaker System (6.5" mid-bass and tweeter) as after listening to the Type-X splits, these has a more appropriate sound for my liking. The head unit will again be Alpine - and having just spied the new Alpine iDA-X001 Digital Media Receiver on their website, I think that's the winner (oh, it's basically an interface to an iPod and Tuner with no CD player...more info). Now rather than installing some huge amps which weight a lot, I thought I claw some weight savings back from the Dynamat by going for the diminutive Alpine PDX Digital Amplifiers. In this case I'll be going an Alpine PDX-1.1000 Mono Power Amp for the subwoofer and Alpine PDX-2.150 2/1 Channel Power Amp to run the splits. All-in-all a very nicely rounded system methinks. Now I just need to find a place that will give me a decent price for it all.

Oh, and something I didn't mention last week and that's about tyres. I originally had a set of Federal SS595 tyres installed on the rims, but with my plan to do a bit of track work, and the desire to have something that is both street and track pliable in a 50:50 split, I've just had some new tyres put on. These are again Federals, but not the SS595RS Ultra High Performance tyre - this should give me what I'm after. Oh, and an unashamed plug goes to Shane at Exley's Motorsports Tyres down in Willeton for supply and fitting these up.

Until the next episode.

Cheers
Brendan

Please be seated...in comfort

Jeez I'm slack, another month between posts. Well, I'm slack, just busy...but that isn't to say that work hasn't been progressing. It has, just at a slower rate since I'm back to a few hours on a Saturday morning. But I now have a target to get sillbeer as close to finished as possible by Cabin Autosalon (Perth) on 21-22 July.

So what have I been doing...well changing mind as per usual. This time with regard to my seating arrangements. The original plan was to use a set of Recaro recliners from a Honda DC2 Type-R Integra which I already had (and at great expense I might add). The more and more I thought about it though, the results of using recliners and aftermarket rails in the S13 has just been littered with saw heads. This is because the standard seats have the rails built into the seat itself and they're offset by close to 40-50mm on the inside rail. This basically means that you're never going to get an OEM ride height, and with the need to put a lid on my melon every now and then and being a touch over 6-foot means headroom would be at a premium. Now I've always liked the look of the R34 Skyline GT-R seats, and I knew they'd be a relatively easy fit only requiring the outside rear mount to be lengthened for the S13 floorpan. The only major problem was sourcing them. Thankfully Jeff at C-Red already had a passenger seat, but the driver's side was a problem. After a quick look on Yahoo Auctions Japan I found a possible suiter, and after Jeff arranged how we'd get it and I passed over the fold, I had the driver's seat on its way down.

Now other than a great looking seat, they're also extremely comfy especially for someone with a slimmer frame (such as myself), there's also the added bonus that they have full OEM movement. Meaning you lift the tab and the seats folds and moves forward...great for getting my kids in and out, and keeps the wife happy that everything works as expected. So without ado, here's some special piccy's of the new set:

- R34 GT-R Seat - Test Install in S13
- R34 GT-R Driver's Seat
- R34 GT-R Seat - Detail
- R34 GT-R Seat - Controls
- R34 GT-R Seat - Stitching
- R34 GT-R Seat - Front Outer Mount in S13
- R34 GT-R Seat - Front Inner Mount in S13



As can be seen in the pic above, it's a simple matter of welding on an extended tab to reach the S13 mounting hole. Yippee.



Now, at the moment, all interest is on the interior...with the Dynamat continuing to be spread from here to kingdom come. I've completed both rear passenger compartment sides and the B and C pillars a couple of weeks ago. Last week I removed the old carpet and laid the dynamat down on the main floor area. As can be seen in the photos, it's shiny. You're probably wondering how much weight I'm adding? I don't know, but the amount of deadening I now have is amazing and should make the driving and stereo listening experience that much nicer. The doors now close with a thud and the roof now sounds like a wooden chopping board rather than a tin can when you rap on it.

- Dynamat on floor
- Dynamat on side rear

There's still more to do, but I'm waiting for another box to arrive before continuing. It will cover pretty much everything in the end. On another note, finally went and picked up the door handles. They took about 4 hrs to fit in the end because I had to remove the old latch mechanisms because they'd been painted over and then go find any missing parts. Also needed to shave a bit of the paint from the key hole so the small black plastic key lock surround would mount through the hole (too much paint build up - very tight tolerances required). Fitted new strikers as well (the bits that bolt to the main body) and fitted back the window rubbers and a couple of bits of trim. I tracked down a nice set of horns...as I couldn't well have Sillbeer with a beep beep. It'll now perform a nice loud two tone honk.

- Door handles fitted
- New Alpha Horns

One last thing to report, and that's the child restraint mounts. They've now been fitted in and await the occasion of fitting the seat for my son Kai. Not to mention that they're required for compliancing.

- Child Restrait point from top
- Child Restrait point from bottom

So I'm currently working extra hours Monday to Thursday so I can take Friday off to do a full day in the workshop. Tomorrow will be laying cable for the stereo before I have to put the new carpets back in.

Signing-off
Brendan