Next comes the placement. and attachment. Don't forget to put your gains as low as possible and then work your way up.

 

Another angle.

Believe it or not the speakers are acutally centered in the trunk, and in the boxes. The line between the boxes is off center. I guess in retrospec, I could have made this an even center line by halfing the cover. Oh well. It sounds insane.

 

One more view.

The amp is a bit crooked but that is easy to fix.

The oil bottle and tire kit fit perfectly. Speakers are within .1' of perfect breathing room. I have a S#%t ton of trunk left. I can get to the jack if I need to.

I will eventually build a center piece for the back side to block the view. It doesn't need it however.

And now, I need another project. :D

 

From here I will have a local plexiglass shop build me two (or one big) grate to cover the speakers so the golf clubs will fit on top.

I am in bass heaven. The only problem is that the amp has so much power I have the gain set at about half to balance with the rest of the system. Anything more and I can't hear my mids.

Also, The rx8 runs at about 14.5 amps nominal from the alternator and battery. This system is running 445 watts at 2 ohms. With the lights on and the AC on, when the bass hits the system drops to about 14 amps. Does anyone think this will be damaging? Please help on this. I don't want to get stranded on any long trips.

 

I'd be more concerned about the short trips adding up.. but 14 amps isn't all that bad. The alternator is rated for 100 amps. it can handle it. It just emphasizes the need for a batter gauge.

If you were cranking out 30+ amps on that line, I'd start to be concerned. I ran a big 600Watt amp on dual 10's in my MX-3 with only a 90 amp alternator for years. The battery died after 8 years, but (some) batteries should be replaced much sooner anyway. If anything, there'll probably just be a little deeper cycling of the battery, slightly reducing it's life expectancy.

If you really want to keep an eye on if you're slowly depleting the battery, get a decent charger and see what kind of current it draws when charging (but don't change it for long, just long enough to get a reading). If it starts to take more and more current, it's slowly getting depleted and might leave you stranded.

It probably makes a big difference how long your average trip time is than anything else as long as the system has reserve capacity.

The battery will get hurt from deeper cycling, but the alternator should be fine as long as you don't draw more total current in the system than the alternator is rated for. Even then it's supplemented from the battery, but when you stop you can have no power left to get going again.

Regards,

OverLOAD

 

Thanks for the info. My daily trip is about 4 or 5 miles to and from work. The car has plenty of time to get warm by the time I am out of my neigborhood.

Thanks,

 

looks like all the hard work
paid off


looks very sharp

 

<drool>

 

Looks amazing. I'm impressed that you even built in the little nook for the tire repair kit and oil.

If you could make more, I'm sure folks would buy them.

 

Oh... My... God... You have done a great service for those who are compitant enough to complete this, but wouldn't know where or how to begin... Thank you... From the bottom of my heart... Thank you!

 

If you're getting 14v or over at idle with full load (all accessories on, bass hitting) you're golden. Hell, even in the 13v range you'd probably be OK.

I'm assuming that you're checking voltage at the battery with a meter - that's the best way to check.

They probably used the same alternator in the RX-8 as they did the 3rd gen RX-7 - that sucker puts out a LOT of juice, I think it's actually under-rated at 100amps.

BTW, cars with Bose/nav/etc. will likely draw more current than less-equipped models. Also, I seem to remember the automatic might have a different alternator - anyone know?

Anyhow, good job! I've always wanted to do something with fiberglass, and it's neat to hear of other's adventures .

Dale

 

It has been some time since my last post on this thread but I have to complete the project. I have been searching for a plexiglass cover for the speakers so I can use the space for luggage. Unfortunately, everyone wanted a fortune for the work so I must do DIY again.

Does anyone have any tips on gutting plexiglass to get smooth edges?

 

bob the eskimo...I work in non-ferrous metalsmithing and I have to cut plexiglass/fiberglass for metal die forming...

You can use just about any saw, even a jigsaw as cutting it is like butter...BUT just like butter it will melt and create a mess...specifically the synthetic glass will melt down and gum up the saw if you don't keep the saw at an extremely low speed. You must be patient or the jigsaw (or bandsaw, whatever)...will as it is cutting through, heat up through friction, and you will find the cut will melt back together as the blade passes through it...\
another trick is keep a fan on you cutting or many jigsaws have a blower built in...aim it not so it will blow particles away but blow on the blade and the cut to keep it cool.

Practice with a piece of scrap first to get the hang of it...oh and if you don't have a jigsaw or the like...use a jewlers saw, it is slow but flawless and you can control the cuts much better.

More CRITICAL info on cutting...you will scratch the hell out of your project if you remove the plastic coating on the synth. glass. Also use a buffer bettween the saw table and the project to prevent scratches....and keep the project flat as you cut it...severe vibration will prevent an even cut and possible cause cracking.

ON SMOOTHING THE EDGES...if you cut extremely carefully you may not need to do this (but that is unlikely) so...this is easy...Sand it!

Start with a 200 grit silican carbite paper....break glue bonds on paper by pulling along a 90 degree edge (like the end of the table), this makes the paper more durable...wrap paper around a small block of hard, smoooth wood...sand edges till relatively smooth...

if you wish to have a beveled edge...carefully angle the sanding block (with 200 grit paper)

Then move on to 300 grit silcan carbit paper...sand till smooth

then 400 grit...you can probably stop here as the edges will now be smooth with a slight haze to them

if you really want perfection do a 600 grit...and finish it off with a 1200 or more grit...this will polish it (but both 600/1200 are hard to find at most hardware stores...but look around)

one alternative...is at around 400 grit...if you have a polishing wheel...get a synthetic glass polishing disk that will finish it beautifully...and fast!

Good luck Bob...and anyone else with you DIYs!

 

A couple things to note here and to help improve upon and hasten the finishing of acrylic plastic edges. If you want to skip a lot of sanding, and you do not need an edge that is optically clear, use a small blow torch to heat up the edges, this will melt the roughness and produce a very smooth edge that will not show a lot of marks to it. Do not over heat it to the point that it actually turns to liquid and melts. Just heat it gently and as you apply the flame at the right moment, it will turn clear. Always move the flame back and forth along the edge so as not to overheat in one area.

If you want to get a glass like optically clear edge and you do not have a polishing disk on a grinder, buy some 3M rubbing compound (Professional Formula) at your local auto parts store in the paint section. This you work with after the 1200 + ( I use 3M Imperial WetorDry 1500) grit sand paper. You can also obtain this readily available at the local auto parts store in the paint section too.

For projects that I work on, I first use the ban saw, then shape with a belt and disk sander. After that it is sand sand sand. As truemagellan said above, graduate up with the grit as you go along.

Here are a couple of pics of a project that I did with my K&N intake window and unpainted rough and smooth sanded fog light accent strakes that demonstrate this.

 

That, Dennis, is VERY slick! :D Got a thread going on it somewhere?

 

Yeah, I posted on it before. Took a lot of pics and stuff but do not remember the name of it. Took me a while to find the original thread but here it is: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/k-n-cai-dress-up-28185/ I know, I owe a few DIYs for a few of these things I am guilty of. :D

 

I just finished my amp install. What I noticed is that the grommet on my 05' is different what is depicted in this thread. I had to cut a slit on the side of the grommet and squeeze my power wire in through.


Not sure if Mazda changed the design of this part at some point.

Brett

 

I just installed 2 infinity 10" subs in my 06 last week. I found that the easiest route for the power wire was to drill a whole right behind the washer fluid holder. That way I didnt have to worry about damaging the wires in that gromet. Just a thought.

 

How did you end up hooking up the rca's to your amp?