1994 FJZ Stereo Upgrade - 3D Printing and Other Custom Stuff (1 Viewer)

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After MUCH delay, some updates on the stereo swap!

Also, to anyone who has messaged me about those speaker spacers - sorry for the lack of reply as I've been on a forum hiatus and am just now getting back into things. I am trying to figure out the best way to handle those spacers - perhaps @Outsane has met the needs as he seems to have a similar item ready to sell or ship.

While those rockford fosgate speakers went well from a DIY front, I finally took the cruiser to a local installer to move faster... so these pics are showing the work that started this October.

In addition to the stereo here's the total scope of work and products/providers:

Interior:
- New seat covers/armrest pads - Lseat - Dim Gray Genuine Leather with Perf pattern insets
- New Flooring/tailgate Carpet through Stockinteriors.com - Color 827 Grey Push Cut Pile with MassBack
- Re-uphoulster peeling door vinyl below windows
- Add variable temp Seat heaters, driver & passenger front (don't recall the brand)
- Peel all janky old window tint

Stereo & Electronics:
- Front doors: Morel Maximo 5 1/4" components in OEM location, tweeters mounted to A-pillar
- Head Unit: Sony XAV-AX7000 - I liked the real buttons, clean frame design, higher wattage, unique amp EQ and didn't feel like paying more for DVD/GPS
- Amp: Alpine MRV-M250 with RUX-KNOB volume control
- JL Audio W3v3 Series 6.5" 4-ohm subwoofer - the installer to provide custom ported box
- Viper 5806V 2-Way Security System w/Remote w/ Auto Start - I liked the light/audible feedback on the controller and USB micro recharge capability + interior motion sensor
- Back-up Cam: Echomaster PCAM-110

Pics show some of the main gear and a severely shelled out FJ80!

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Seat wise here are the LSeat covers out of the box alongside the old seats. You'll see that the gray is warmer than the original - this concerned me at first but it all jived by the time it came together. Photo shows the new door vinyl swatch prior to install, and another shot after it's done. Between the lighter/warmer seat color, darker gray vinyl, new carpet and the original upholstery/plastic/dash colors I ended up with more of a tri-tone look but in a good way. Ulphoulstry guy had to pack some foam onto the original seat foam to tighten things up. Some of the wrinkles you see already have started pulling out and I'm told they will continue to smooth out with use and sun/temp/humidity variations.
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Those spacers look good, @Brisco94 @Outsane if you end up doing a run put me down for a pair. Would it take much work to modify them a bit to fit a 6.5"? Something similar for the front would be perfect.
 
Comparing the 94 OEM seat headrest (lefT) to the L-Seat (right) - you can really ee the color, texture and even slight shape variation as others have said in these forums, the LSeat headrest cover is a little loose - I had my upholstery guy stuff more foam into all the headrests and he def had to utilize more foam on the seats as well.

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Now for that beautiful JL sub install.

First off, I completely abandoned the idea of running the sub free space in the original bracket and wanted to get the most out of the sub possible via a custom box. The final box you'll see was version 2.5.

Version 1 we tried to occupy that original sub location behind the panel with a sealed box - we realized that with the magnet depth and the limited space, that the box would have to stick out from the panel anyway to have appropriate interior volume - so we decided to elevate a long box over the passenger wheel well. (No pic available of that first effort)

Version 2 was the same shape and dimensions but with a different bandpass port structure/location closer to the sub- which sounded too airy (again no pics of the losing port configuration), so what you are seeing pictured here is what I'm calling Verison 2.5 which moved the port as far away from the sub as possible.

Here's the final box design, unfinished - I took it out for a test listen - and it sounded INSANELY GOOD. That chopped interior trim panel definitely rattled - but there was a plan for that.

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The shop built up 4x MDF trim pieces with beveled front edge detailing- when installed on the box, these overlapped the plastic trim cutout, and keep that plastic panel from rattling or flexing. The radio shop team stretched gray vinyl on the frame and covered the front with a black carpet for a cool 2 tone effect. That third pic really allows you to appreciate how much custom edge shaping they did in order to follow the curve of the panel approaching the rear pillar.

I noticed a little panel rattle from below the box (where the panel is extra flexible), so I used some medium weight window adhesive foam stripping and applied it behind the bottom box trim piece, concealed, but adding just a bit more padding down there - problem solved.

I still plan to order a JL grill to snap over the sub, but for just a little while I like seeing it all opened up.

I can't describe how fantastic this tiny 6.5" sub sounds - other than to say that most people that hear it think it's a 10" or a pair of 8"s - I think the RadioShop team hit it out of the park with the box build in terms of size, durability, port/sound design and final finishes.

Note that I do not have, nor do I intend to use the third row seat - so I have no idea whether this setup would impede the seats - I expect it easily could be in the way at least at some level.

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My goal is to finish that port with a 3D printed bezel - my buddy Shawn built up this first version in solid works - which looks great, but I'm noticing it creates some air noise during punchy, faster music - so a bit more work on the aerodynamics is needed. Even though it looked fantastic, the sound is the priority so I took the piece off.

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For that Alpine Amp - it is hidden above the jack - the jack remains accessible and the bag still fits over the wheel well. BTW if you are wondering, They had to grind out that plexiglass to allow the panel latches to swivel. At first I thought it was broken but... nope.

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that close up got rotated, this is easier to see placement.

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Front Door Speakers:
These Morel Maximo 5 1/4 components just BARELY fit without use of a spacer (and still cleared the window track etc inside) and their sound quality surprised me - with the tweeters mounted on the A-pillar, the mids and highs, the stereo pan effects - are all very well pronounced. They make those rockford fosgates in the rear doors sound flat.

For the front speakers, there isn't much room for a spacer due to the clearance from the door to the dashboard when the door is closed - so the fact that these Morels fit was a huge relief, and I'd highly recommend them if you are looking to get great sounding components to the front cabin (where it really counts)

The RadioShop wrapped the black plastic tweeter mounts in gray vinyl, which I thought was a nice touch.

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A few interior shots that show where my carpet, seats etc all landed - the photos amplify the color differences - while I was worried at first about too many warm and cool shades of gray, it looks great in person!

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Hi All - Was anyone able to source the original stl file to print the rear speakers? I'm looking to upgrade mine and this looks like a great solution. Thanks!
 

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