HardHitter

When I go there today, I will talk to them about making something for the 8. I really don't think they have the time to mass produce something like this because it's very hard work for them.

They told me that they will do custom installs on RX-8's again in the area, but they do not know about producing a frame like that did for mine to offer to people out of the area, however, when I go back in today to pick it up (they said it should be done this evening) then I will talk to them about it and I'll get back to you guys with info and pictures.

HardHitter

Hey guys, I got back from the audio shop tonight I was able to pickup my car. I didn't take any pictures because well, the mold is at the body shop still because he needed to sand a little more and wet sand it to get it really smooth before they paint it. They are closed Saturday and Sunday, so I will not be able to get the mold until Monday night. This is my only car so I couldn't go any longer without the car (4 days so far) but Andre and Cory made sure everything was working fine and they let me take the car out of the shop. Although it doesn't have the mold, everything works great. The screen is amazing. I tried the navigation and it works great, played a DVD, great, played music, etc etc everything is so nice I love the screen and can't wait to get the mold back and put on the car!

The only problems we are coming up with right now, is basically the heaters don't work because like someone said, the resistance in the wires is screwing everything up, so he is going to ask me to come in Sunday and he is going to try a few things to see if it fixes it, if not, then he has to mount it up by the passenger footwell, it is going to be hidden and will not ruin any kind of foot room, but he would like to have it still mounted in the trunk. If anyone has any advice, go ahead and post it.

But, I am really excited, the mold should be painted and at the audio shop Monday night and I am going to go there and all they need to do is mount it and we are set. I will get you guys pictures Monday night!

All8Up

This is gonna be great. I can't wait to see how this works out for you. I've been researching this project for the past year and there's nothing more that I want for my 8 than to have a unit like yours. Congrats, Man!

Dookie_Rx-8

exactly how i always wanted.........

truemagellen

from the picture you showed us there is a lot more that can be taken apart for the HU and thus you could fit it behind the dash or in the glove compartment

as for resistance you will not overcome it easly...most of the wiring is probably parallel as are most PCB cabling...this means for optimal use it should be no longer than 18inchs although it will go further (as evidenced by a few other installs)

someone with basic computer install knowledge should be able to take apart the hu core pcb board further and place them stacked on top of each other, eliminating the metal frame

good luck!

Tigerfootball

looks great. can't wait to see the finished product. i am actually thinking of doing something very similar except with the Alpine IVA-D310. again, that install looks spectacular.

forbidden

What I did was to take the stock main board and casing and run new wires from the socket on that board to the socket on the board that plugs into it. The factory radio circuitry board that these wires attached to was next mounted to some 1/8" abs to keep it from shorting against anything. The main climate controls were then extended about 14" and plugged into this board as well, followed by the lengthened display and hazard light wires. Both units can then be mounted wherever you see fit.

truemagellen

forbidden...has this car grown on you? :D

based on your posts just on this forum, let along the 12volt one...I would be spending a LOT of money if your shop was in my area because your the only installer I trust

forbidden

Thank you for the compliments, 20 years of hands on leads to one heck of a lot of knowledge. There is new things to be learned every day however. We can always come and pick your car up. :D It is presently 4:08am on Sunday morning, pulling an all nighter on this car so he can get it into a car show in the morning. We had his two Audison amplifiers stolen out of it right in the back of the store while we had our supper. So, in goes a couple of temporary Eclipse amps for now. Our door panels have turned out awesome, the lighting kit is totally wicked. The center channel, guage cluster and dvd / g meter also look great. I have much more work to do on this in the future (like taking out the dash to repaint it anfter a little excess resin found it's way onto it). That's OK though, it gives us a chance to finish the front end or maybe add some effects lighting like that in the door.

We mounted out Focal door speakers on clear lexan and backlit them with 32 multi color leds and a controller kit for them. The crossover are also mounted in the door and lit up with blue led's that only illuminate when the door is opened. For a inventive speaker grill I copied my top grill on the new center channel. I made a Mazda rotor grill cutout on the top dash, it flows with the reverse rotor that you see on the hood if you look closely at it. The grills for now are not made but will be made out of 3/4 aluminum and will inset into this rotor cutout. The balance of the inside of the grill will be cut away except for the Mazda logo. So we have the Mazda logo inside of the Mazda rotor made out of aluminum and inset into the new dash panel. We have duplicated this idea into the doors.

The doors took an enormous amount of work. Cut out the factory speaker grill, glass the new mdf into place evenly, fibreglass reinforced bondo to keep it strong and another coat of bondo over that to smooth everything out. We then stretched black vinyl over the entire lower portion of the door to clean it up. The new grill area now shows the speaker and a clear plexi area in the shape of the Mazda rotor, way cool, especially with all the lights.

So, now the dash is going in and we hope to see a picture and sound for the first time, all should go well. Lots of hiccups along the way today but nothing that a little time and ingenuity could not solve.

If anyone asks me to do one of these cars again.....leave it here for 6 months and I will do it or I will hire a dedicated installer specifically for it. Big monster job that we will finish much later this fall. Trunk work and finesse to come.

moRotorMotor

^Why must you live on the opposite side of the country?! Argh!^

truemagellen

or in another country!

blacxicano

forbidden.. I too am on the 12volt...and I hope we get to see pictures of yours soon..I grow weary of all the verbal teasing you are doing to us.... :p

moRotorMotor

What is this "12volt" you all speak of? Is it the sticky thread started by forbidden?

truemagellen

12volt forums www.12volt.com

blacxicano

its one of those forums like here that contribute to me not getting any work done at work...damn these forums they are like crack

IZoomZoomI

gulp

truemagellen

pass me some more of that Sub install info....ssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aahhhhhhhhhhhh

dats sum good sheet :p

mazradiodoc

HEY --- where'd she go !!!

cleoent

subscribed to see finished product

forbidden

www.the12volt.com my user name is the same on that great site. It is much more industry related with many great industry people that "hang out" there. I kind of like hiding here right now though.

Moostafa29

I hate to actually to steer this back onto topic, but how was the outcome?

HardHitter

Sorry for not updating in a while but here is the situation. A 3 day job turned into a 1 week+ job, but I don't mind, because it was a lot of work for them and although I really wanted it all done quick, I didn't want to rush anything. So like I was saying, I was supposed to be done Monday, however, the paint shop had to do a lot of work to prep the piece, and then started spraying it Monday night. Marin, the manager of the body shop, told me that the audio shop will get it back Tuesday because they let the piece dry over night.

So today, I thought was the day. The guys at the audio shop were still working on my stock deck in order to fix all the A/C and heat controls so I was basically driving around with no music for 2-3 days--my RP High-Flow Cat/Greddy exhaust was my music for those two days. I had a soccer game today at 5:55 and at 6:15 I get a call from Andre, I checked my messages after the game and Andre leaves a message saying he has the piece but he is only going to be in the shop a half an hour or so. I call him ASAP but he already had left the shop to do other work, soooo, I need to wait another day hah. He wanted to see if I could come in early, but I have a dentist appointment at 11, then straight from that, I need to go to work until 3.

So, after work tomorrow I am going to go to the shop and we are finally going to complete this! Sorry for the delays, but from what Andre was telling me about the finished product, it's well worth it.

Check back tomorrow for pictures of the finish product! And boy, my car is dirty, I can finally give it a wash once this job is finished.

truemagellen

we are honored you are hiding here

HardHitter

Hey guys, just to give you an update. I dropped the car off at the shop today for Andre to finish up the car. I was able to see the piece and man I am really impressed. The paint job on the piece looks great and its smooth. I'm really excited to see the car finally finished. I had a lot to do today and I needed a car, so Andre gave me his car for the day. A silver Audi TT. I drove it to my ortho appointment and then I am driving it to work and then I should be able to drive to the shop and pick up the car after work (3ish) Anyways, I decided just to take some pictures of his car cause it's pretty nice and I like the wheels hah, enjoy.

P.S. The rear bumper damage was already there, that wasn't me, he's looking to get a body kit anyways.

cleoent

dude what did you do to that rear bumper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

j/k. TT"s dont do it for me, they are so slow i could probably push my rx8 faster to 60.