Vibe Mod n()()b, Got Questions, Please Have Answers ;D

[ProVibe]

Hi All,This is my first post here and I'm sure glad I found this forum, looks like a very active and helpfull forum, hope to contribute as much as I can as I learn.A little background:I just got an '03 Vibe Shadow and I love it but being a sound aficionado as I am I want to do a compleate overhaul of the system.Now to my questions.1. When I tried to take out the sotck speakers on the doors I found them to be very hesitant to come out, to say the least. What is the best way to take them out? Short of using a drill to get rid of the rivets. I wanna make sure there no other options.2. I want to also replace the factory grill and replace them with the speaker grills. What is the best tool to use for this? I have a Dremel and am not afraid to use it. What is used to hold the new grills in place? I was thinking something along the lines of hot glue. Or is it possible to mount the grill to the speaker or speaker harness?3. Right now I have a boom box with two 12" Sony Xplods but in the near future I will be making a custom made enclosure in the back so it will be easy to reach the spare in an emergency. What is the best wood or plywood to use to make my project. I intend to use vynil to cover th ewood in order to keep the same look from the trunk. Is there a specific kind of vynil I should be looking out for? Any suggestions on this will be greatly appreciated it's the first time I try to do something like this. I know my speakers need 1 one cubic square foot of air space, whatever that means.4. I am somewhat of a pc modder so I have used CCFL in my cases and such but I'm not sure how this translates to cars. That being said, I have bought several 12" red cold cathode lights to install in the footwells of my Vibe. What is the best powersource for these lights? They come with an inverter and are made originally for a pc. These are them http://www.coolerguys.com/840556011057.htmlThanks in advance for all your help. I'm sure some of these questions have been asnwered before but after several searches with no results I decided to post.

[AKLGT]

welcome to genvibe! for speaker install info, check out this how to/do it yourself one http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=785

[ProVibe]

Cool! Thanks! That answers one question but whart happened to the pics? All are broken.

[AKLGT]

they are? bummer! that's one of the best install how to's. hopefully cohocarl fixes that. it's pretty easy to install the speakers. i know nothing about audio/visual stuff and w/ the help of a friend, muddled thru it w/ his instructions.

[Jahntassa]

Alright..you got the speaker install thing. I think drilling the rivets is your best answer. For the front speakers, I ripped out the guts of the speaker so i'd get enough clearance for the window.2. Probably dremel. Depending on the speakers, the grill screws in with the speakers. Now..the problem you'll have, is you want the speakers to be screwed into the door itself, NOT the panel, or you'll lose a lot of bass response. Now, if you just want the grills on there to "look pretty"...then some small screws, or glue, would probably work.3. Usually boxes are made of MDF these days...and whatever you want to cover it with is up to you! The airspace the speakers need is important. You wanna keep it as close to spec as possible to get the most boom for the buck. Check out this guide: http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.....html4. Your CCFL lights are basically the same thing as Neon, so they SHOULD just power off the 12v in the car. I don't think they need 5v... Take a look at the pc power connector on the end of the power supply, if they take power from the yellow and black wire, they'll power direct off 12v in the car.

[ProVibe]

1. What guts are you talking about? Why would you need clrearance for the window if it's the same size speaker?2. I'll try that thanks. I'm gonna do this today.3. Thanks for the link. I'm gonna photoshop up an image so you can see what I'm trying to do and see if you guys think it's do-able.4. I'm not sure what voltage computers run on but CCFL's come with an inverter to power them up. I'm not sure if the inverter is to make the voltage higher or lower though. Thanks for your help.

[ProVibe]

This is what I want to do for a box.Making sure that it is moveable, so I can reach the spare in an emergency. This is what it looks like now.

[Jahntassa]

Quote, originally posted by ProVibe »1. What guts are you talking about? Why would you need clrearance for the window if it's the same size speaker?2. I'll try that thanks. I'm gonna do this today.3. Thanks for the link. I'm gonna photoshop up an image so you can see what I'm trying to do and see if you guys think it's do-able.4. I'm not sure what voltage computers run on but CCFL's come with an inverter to power them up. I'm not sure if the inverter is to make the voltage higher or lower though. Thanks for your help.1. 6.5" Speakers are the same diameter, but not the same depth. I had to cut out the black part of the stock speaker from the plastic outer part, and cut the inside plastic bits to I could screw the aftermarket speaker into the resulting space. If you tried screwing an aftermarket speaker directly to the front door panels, it would interfere with the window operation.4. Computers run on 12v, and 5v. The inverter is to step up either one of those voltages to about 20,000v. The power wires going into the inverter should have a standard PC power connection on it. There're four wires in that extension, two black, one yellow, and one red. If the inverter is taking power from the black and yellow wires, then you can connect it directly to the car's 12v voltage. If it powers off the red and black wires, it uses a 5v input, and you CANNOT use them in the car without some sort of voltage converter.

[ProVibe]

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »1. 6.5" Speakers are the same diameter, but not the same depth. I had to cut out the black part of the stock speaker from the plastic outer part, and cut the inside plastic bits to I could screw the aftermarket speaker into the resulting space. If you tried screwing an aftermarket speaker directly to the front door panels, it would interfere with the window operation.4. Computers run on 12v, and 5v. The inverter is to step up either one of those voltages to about 20,000v. The power wires going into the inverter should have a standard PC power connection on it. There're four wires in that extension, two black, one yellow, and one red. If the inverter is taking power from the black and yellow wires, then you can connect it directly to the car's 12v voltage. If it powers off the red and black wires, it uses a 5v input, and you CANNOT use them in the car without some sort of voltage converter.1. Now that I have replaced mine with aftermarket speaker I see what you mean. My speakers actually came with all the pioeces needed to mount them properly so it was pretty much cut and dry. Made a couple of extra holes for the new bracket but thats it.4. The whole car runs pretty much on 12v so i should be able to splice into any powersource and run these correct? I still need the inverter though, right?

[Jahntassa]

Yeah, you will still need the inverter for the lights. Just randomly tapping into wires is a bad idea though... It really depends on when you want them on, if you want a seperate switch, if they come on automatically with the car, etc.. Let us know, and we should be able to ID some wires for ya.

[ProVibe]

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »Yeah, you will still need the inverter for the lights. Just randomly tapping into wires is a bad idea though... It really depends on when you want them on, if you want a seperate switch, if they come on automatically with the car, etc.. Let us know, and we should be able to ID some wires for ya.Well.I'm placing the first pair in the front footwells, the second pair in the rear footwells and the last pair in the back with the speakers.Thanks,Sammy