xtremerevolution Posted May 2, 2008 Author Report Posted May 2, 2008 Ha, so I have an update. I finishing the rear struts, strut mounts, and retrofitting Energy Suspension bushings on the ADDCO sway bar. I had to take a dremel to the ES bushing brackets because the holes weren't big enough for the strut bolts to fit through, but I wanted the greased bushings anyway. The whole job was a bit of a pain because the rear brake rotors were somehow stuck to the hub and I couldn't get them off even hitting them with a hammer from behind. This is after removing the caliper and bracket. The whole strut job had me breaking a 1/2 3" extension bar, a 3/8 and 1/2 ratchet (one of which was a telescopic extending Husky that cost me $20 from Home Depot). After getting pissed, I went out and bought a 3' 1/2" breaker bar and wrung the hell out of those bolts. Also, I got pissed enough and completely threw away the rear auxiliary damper. That thing has been nothing but a useless pain in the ass, and additional unsprung weight at that. Pictures of all this will come soon. So after I was done with that, I went back inside... I took out the whole sound system (amp board and cap & power distribution block board) and left the back of the car completely bare (save for wires). I cut some grooves in the trunk's carpeting with a utility knife so it would fit through the RSTB nicely, cut some more so it wouldn't hang out into the cabin, and cut off the whole section that was circled in yellow earlier in the thread, in addition to some more tabs of sheet metal sticking out of the bottom and left corners. All in all, I went through 3 heavy duty Dremel metal cutting blades, and a half inch deep cut in my right hand middle finger from scraping those unsanded edges. After I bandaged myself up, I got in the trunk, stretched my legs out into the cabin, and took a 15 minute nap. I discovered that its just a little over 6.5 feet from the end of my center console to the back of my trunk, so if I wanted to set up some sleeping pads, I could make a nice bed out of the back of the regal. As previously mentioned, it would make for a nice massage when I get the Alpine R12 back in there. I'll have pics up tonight after work. The back of the car looks pretty awesome with a lot of the metal cut out. For the record, that yellow circled part that I cut out didn't change the solidity of my car as far as handling goes. The RSTB probably helps a lot in that sense. Quote
pontiacmaniac94 Posted May 2, 2008 Report Posted May 2, 2008 wow man! that sounds a whole lot like work! need some pics though the finished product! i will be pulling a page from your book though, i am going to be pulling the rear seats outta my gp this weekend, but because i want to be able to fit more in the car when i start hauling stuff back from college.. Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 2, 2008 Author Report Posted May 2, 2008 wow man! that sounds a whole lot like work! need some pics though the finished product! i will be pulling a page from your book though, i am going to be pulling the rear seats outta my gp this weekend, but because i want to be able to fit more in the car when i start hauling stuff back from college.. lol! you will be absolutely amazed at how much you can fit in the back of these cars with the rear seats missing. I used my regal when I moved from my last apartment and it was pretty impressive. pics to come in the next hour... Quote
AWeb80 Posted May 3, 2008 Report Posted May 3, 2008 pics to come in the next hour... you got 6 minutes Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Posted May 3, 2008 PROGRESS!!! But first off, my rear struts... I made the mistake of buying a 24mm socket that was too short, so I got the Dremel out... And the junk I got rid of... Most freakin annoying thing I've ever had to deal with. This caused me nightmares the last time I changed the shocks because I thought I actually needed it... And now, for the progress pics... The edge I cut off is a bit jagged, but I'll be covering it the amp board anyway. Now to figure out where I'll put the cap and distribution blocks. Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Posted May 3, 2008 So I'll probably be using carpet padding since I can get a 6x9 foot roll of it for $20, and gluing it down with spray glue. Would anyone suggest anything else though? Quote
Venom Posted May 3, 2008 Report Posted May 3, 2008 Looks like you had as much fun as I did when I changed out my rear struts. I used a 38" breaker bar with a 3ft homemade cheater bar to break a few loose on mine. Quote
jeremy Posted May 3, 2008 Report Posted May 3, 2008 Looks like you had as much fun as I did when I changed out my rear struts. I used a 38" breaker bar with a 3ft homemade cheater bar to break a few loose on mine. you could also just get a good pneumatic ratchet or impact instead ..... Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Posted May 3, 2008 Looks like you had as much fun as I did when I changed out my rear struts. I used a 38" breaker bar with a 3ft homemade cheater bar to break a few loose on mine. you could also just get a good pneumatic ratchet or impact instead ..... Yeah well, the breaker bar was only $16, and the store replaces it if it breaks (as it if ever will). I wish I could afford a pneumatic ratchet or impact wrench. Quote
Venom Posted May 3, 2008 Report Posted May 3, 2008 Yeah I wish I could afford a good impact also. I got the compressor to run one, but a good impact usually runs at least $100 Quote
slick Posted May 3, 2008 Report Posted May 3, 2008 An electric grinder with a cutoff wheel would have went much quicker. IIRC, the last time I was at Home Depot, they had one for $20. Also, putting a subwoofer back in there will not sound good, at all. I could only imagine how tinny it will sound in there. Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Posted May 3, 2008 An electric grinder with a cutoff wheel would have went much quicker. IIRC, the last time I was at Home Depot, they had one for $20. Also, putting a subwoofer back in there will not sound good, at all. I could only imagine how tinny it will sound in there. It actually didn't sound bad at all when I had it in there without the seats. The sound dampening helps, and I imagine the ton of carpeting will too. Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Posted May 3, 2008 2 seater 4 life!! Its nice not having rear seats, lol. Makes you feel special. Quote
CSI_MuNkY Posted May 4, 2008 Report Posted May 4, 2008 I like having 4 seats. IF I want I can take a few friends with me where I go, but if I don't want to be playing Mr. Cab Driver then I just say, "oh, sorry I have a 4 seater, theres no room, someone else has to drive" Not to mention I always have crap in the back of my car, haha Jamie Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 4, 2008 Author Report Posted May 4, 2008 I like having 4 seats. IF I want I can take a few friends with me where I go, but if I don't want to be playing Mr. Cab Driver then I just say, "oh, sorry I have a 4 seater, theres no room, someone else has to drive" Not to mention I always have crap in the back of my car, haha Jamie lol. That's why I have the Bonneville GXP; for going out with friends. The regal is my daily driver to and from work 80 miles a day. Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 6, 2008 Author Report Posted May 6, 2008 So I've made some progress!!! While driving with the bar rear, I was heavily annoyed at how much buzzing was coming from the back panel. Even going on slightly rough road, the back panel would buzz like a bumble bee. So after messing with it a bit, I figured out that the sound was coming from the plastic speaker mounts vibrating against the rear metal paneling, so I got out one of my rolls of sound dampening. So that solved that problem. Now there's one last spot in the rear that has a very slight buzz when drive over rough roads, and I have a feeling its the locking mechanism in the seat belt assembly, so I'll have to figure that out later. I'll probably end up covering it with carpet padding to muffle the sound, since I'd rather not risk having that seat belt fail. I'll have more pics up when I get make more progress... Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 6, 2008 Author Report Posted May 6, 2008 polk FTMFW!! Hell fucking yes! I have the DB5250 components up front and combined with these DB690's in the rear and 170W RMS x 4 over two amps to power them, they sound absolutely AMAZING. Quote
AWeb80 Posted May 6, 2008 Report Posted May 6, 2008 I did the same thing....I just took some old rubber inner tube and did the same thing..put it under the plastic just like that Quote
pontiacmaniac94 Posted May 6, 2008 Report Posted May 6, 2008 looks good man! i did the same thing, kinda, pulled my back seats out and the insulation, so i could get more stuff in the car to bring back from college.....it is really really loud though now....prolly shouldda left the cat on... looks good man! i cant wait to see the finished product! Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 6, 2008 Author Report Posted May 6, 2008 looks good man! i did the same thing, kinda, pulled my back seats out and the insulation, so i could get more stuff in the car to bring back from college.....it is really really loud though now....prolly shouldda left the cat on... looks good man! i cant wait to see the finished product! Yeah man I can't wait to finish it, lol. I've already started taking the wiring off the amp board in preparation of running the wiring again in a different pattern. I'll probably end up running the cap and distribution blocks behind the amp board if I can. I'll have to find a new place to ground everything though, but it shouldn't be too hard. But yeah, its really really loud once you take those seats off. I think most of the noise comes from the wheel wells, which were previously being blocked by the seats. I'm really hoping a couple layers of carpet insulation will do well enough to block out that noise. I'll probably mount the amp board tonight and start running some of the wiring again. I'll pick up the carpet insulation later this week or this weekend. Quote
xtremerevolution Posted May 13, 2008 Author Report Posted May 13, 2008 Update... Bought the carpet insulation and some kind of spray glue. I took apart both doors and lined them up with sound dampening, then replaced those little plastic screw-type things that hold the panels into the doors with new ones. Door seems to close without rattling as much now, which is good. after lining the wheel wells with sound dampening, I sprayed up the rear of the car with spray glue to put a first coat on, and layed a 1x6 foot strip where the bottom seats used to be after cutting a line across the carpet. I'll have pictures of that as soon as I can get my digicam back from my girlfriend. So far, progress is going well. My only concern so far is how I'll go about covering up the seat belt assembly, but I have a slight idea on what I'll do. We'll see soon enough... Quote
AWeb80 Posted May 13, 2008 Report Posted May 13, 2008 Let Me Know Shipping On What We Discussed. Quote
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