Another Audio Build: 2019 Ford Explorer

[ProjectTwin]

Dude has had previous work done to the vehicle and decided he wanted more work done to it.

He took it to the shop and told them what he was looking for. They showed him the Audi build and mentioned doing something like that (24 in the floor).

The shop contacted me, we talked, then the owner of the vehicle contacted me and we talked.

Owner decided the best course of action was to have me do it.

Here’s the patient. Murdered out AWD with an EcoBoost twin-turbo V6 that’s currently around 450hp.

First step was pulling the door cards and seeing what the existing work looked like.

The door cards were heavy when I removed them. The driver’s side weighed 18.4lbs.

I looked at the tweeter install because our discussion was about possibly putting his 3” mids there, and noticed a missing fastener. Not a big deal, but an observation.

The inner door skin had a mix of Stinger Roadkill Expert and SoundShield. If you guys followed the Audi build log you know I’m not a fan of the 3-in-1 products. This is a 3-in-1 product.

You can also see his Morel 6 1/2” driver and a Fast ring around it. I’m also not a fan of the Fast rings because they’re open cell foam and allow air to pass through them vs forcing it into the listening space.

Removal of the SoundShield is insanely easy.

Completely stripped of SoundShield. Did this one-handed while on the phone with the owner.

Will update as I make progress.

 

[Penetrode Offroad]

I dont know shit about fuck but this is cool to watch.

 

[Pt_Ranger_v8]

man. I can't believe the dude payed for a system, and is now bringing it to you to tear it out and start over!

 

[Provience]

man. I can't believe the dude payed for a system, and is now bringing it to you to tear it out and start over!

Priceless means free, must be a charity job for tax purposes

In for the updates on this one as well pretty nice the old door treatment removes like a post it note, now it too can be reused for charity work

 

[ProjectTwin]

I dont know shit about fuck but this is cool to watch.

man. I can't believe the dude payed for a system, and is now bringing it to you to tear it out and start over!

Yeah. Not cheap. At all.

Priceless means free, must be a charity job for tax purposes

In for the updates on this one as well pretty nice the old door treatment removes like a post it note, now it too can be reused for charity work

No fuggin' way. That shit went straight to the trash.

The cargo area…

Owner with a template for a 24. Sizing things up.

The spare tire well as finished from previous work. The red cable on the right side is my USB cable plugged in for tuning.

I’ve done more disassembly. Will get more pics tomorrow.

Center channel is out of the car for an upgrade and I've disassembled the driver's side door pull and tweeter trim assembly and removed the tweeter that was in there.

 

[Flatbed]

Along for the ride again. Really enjoy your builds.

 

[LeadfootCJ7]

Looking forward to this.

Is this an ST or just a modded explorer?

 

[Sceep]

Niiiice

 

[welndmn]

I missed the other thread and am too lazy so spoon feed me, what don't you like sound shield?
I mean, I use Dynomat and killmat, but it's mainly on the floor and roof, I am just trying to stop the rattling.

 

[Sceep]

I am just trying to stop the rattling.

 

[Roc Doc]

Is this a complete re-do, or are you keeping some of the components?

 

[ProjectTwin]

Looking forward to this.

Is this an ST or just a modded explorer?

2019 Explorer Sport. ST came about in 2020.

I missed the other thread and am too lazy so spoon feed me, what don't you like sound shield?
I mean, I use Dynomat and killmat, but it's mainly on the floor and roof, I am just trying to stop the rattling.

Did you see how easily it came off?

Here’s what someone sent me after posted the deadener removal video:

 

[arse_sidewards]

Funny, I hit ice and water shield with a heat gun specifically to make it melt to shit.

 

[ProjectTwin]

Is this a complete re-do, or are you keeping some of the components?

Kind of a gut/rebuild situation.

He was running Morel components up front:

Morel Elate Carbon 6s and Morel Elate Carbon Alto tweets in the doors with a Morel CCWR254 in the center.

Sub is a JL 13TW5.

This is the 2-way he had:

…and the center

Tweeter up top, 2 1/2” midrange on bottom.

That little 2 1/2” midrange is going away in favor of a 6 1/2” driver. The Morel Virtus Nano Carbon Integra.

It’s a much larger driver than what was in the car and will actually provide midbass in the center channel.

Here’s the crazy feature of this driver - the mounting depth.

So the left/right sides will become a 3-way with the addition of the Elate Carbon MM3s and the 6 1/2s are going away in favor of some Morel ADMW9s

The new 3-way.

6 1/2 vs 9s.

 

[east_beast]

I enjoy watching these builds but holy shit the whole "murdered our" look is so played out. You knew it was over when they started cranking out murdered out glorified minivans straight out of the factory.

 

[ProjectTwin]

Pulling the door cards apart.

I noticed while riding in the thing that I could see both the original tweeter locations (that were filled with ABS sheets as a plug) as well as the new tweeter locations.

I didn’t like it. Made a mental note to make sure that gets corrected/fixed as I work.

With the door card off I removed the whole assembly.

The tweeter had one screw that attached it to an ABS spacer.

There was also a good bit of butyl rope that had been used around the area where the spacer met the factory panel.

Turns out the butyl rope was used as an adhesive to attach the spacer to the panel.

Here you can see the stock tweeter location (shiny area) and the hole where the new location was made.

Panel disassembly.

Panel without the factory grille. Shiny side of the ABS sheet really stuck out in the car as light hit it. It made the modification rather obvious.

So now I need to shoehorn the MM3s into this location.

 

[bdkw1]

I like Morel, they are different, but in a good way.

 

[Roc Doc]

Kind of a gut/rebuild situation.

He was running Morel components up front:

Morel Elate Carbon 6s and Morel Elate Carbon Alto tweets in the doors with a Morel CCWR254 in the center.

Sub is a JL 13TW5.

This is the 2-way he had:




…and the center


Tweeter up top, 2 1/2” midrange on bottom.


That little 2 1/2” midrange is going away in favor of a 6 1/2” driver. The Morel Vitus Nano Carbon Integra.

It’s a much larger driver than what was in the car and will actually provide midbass in the center channel.

Here’s the crazy feature of this driver - the mounting depth.



6 1/2 vs 9s.

How do they do that, some crazy magnet /pole design. I've seen planars that thin, but that's a cone driver.

 

[Roc Doc]

I enjoy watching these builds but holy shit the whole "murdered our" look is so played out. You knew it was over when they started cranking out murdered out glorified minivans straight out of the factory.

1991 "Night Edition",

 

[ProjectTwin]

How do they do that, some crazy magnet /pole design. I've seen planars that thin, but that's a cone driver.

Yeah, they're crazy.

VIRTUS NANO CARBON INTEGRA VIRTUS NANO CARBON Systems - Morel Hifi

VIRTUS NANO CARBON INTEGRA 35031 Morel’s cutting-edge design gives the Virtus Nano Carbon and Virtus Morel Hifi

www.morelhifi.com

They list frequency response of 50-25k, but the T/S parameters list a Fs of 73Hz so I'll likely high-pass the thing at 80 or 90.

The trade-off with such a shallow driver is a reduction in excursion. It's listed at 3mm one-way linear (70% motor force).

https://www.morelhifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Virtus-Nano-Carbon-series-manual-web-1.pdf

 

[ProjectTwin]

Working on packaging these MM3s…

Cut the factory tweeter housing off. That also got rid of the shiny ABS we were seeing.

Cleaning up the back side of the panel. The boss near my thumb has to go. Also got rid of CA that was used to tack stuff in place. CA sucks. It doesn’t stick to a lot of automotive plastics, and if it does, it’s only for a short while.

Cleaned up. All of the bullshit out of the way. A blank slate to start building.

The unused stud/boss on the panel meant this hole at center top could go.

Then it was a matter of hitting some bits on the back side with the Dremel so the MM3 would drop in at an angle that didn’t suck for listening.

Dry fit/mock-up pics for the owner ahead.

I did an initial mark/cut with an air saw to open up the panel for the MM3 to play through the panel.

With the factory grille back in place we see the same problem from the previous build - you can see the driver.

Black grille cloth between the panel and the grille makes this a non-issue.

Tomorrow I’ll make a mount for the MM3 and get this thing installed for good.

 

[Provience]

Kind of a gut/rebuild situation.

He was running Morel components up front:

Morel Elate Carbon 6s and Morel Elate Carbon Alto tweets in the doors with a Morel CCWR254 in the center.

Sub is a JL 13TW5.

This is the 2-way he had:

…and the center

Tweeter up top, 2 1/2” midrange on bottom.

That little 2 1/2” midrange is going away in favor of a 6 1/2” driver. The Morel Vitus Nano Carbon Integra.

It’s a much larger driver than what was in the car and will actually provide midbass in the center channel.

Here’s the crazy feature of this driver - the mounting depth.

So the left/right sides will become a 3-way with the addition of the Elate Carbon MM3s and the 6 1/2s are going away in favor of some Morel ADMW9s

The new 3-way.

6 1/2 vs 9s.

9" for mid bass in the doors and a 24 in the trunk

Oh hell yeah

 

[Roc Doc]

Yeah, they're crazy.

VIRTUS NANO CARBON INTEGRA VIRTUS NANO CARBON Systems - Morel Hifi

VIRTUS NANO CARBON INTEGRA 35031 Morel’s cutting-edge design gives the Virtus Nano Carbon and Virtus Morel Hifi

www.morelhifi.com

They list frequency response of 50-25k, but the T/S parameters list a Fs of 73Hz so I'll likely high-pass the thing at 80 or 90.

The trade-off with such a shallow driver is a reduction in excursion. It's listed at 3mm one-way linear (70% motor force).

https://www.morelhifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Virtus-Nano-Carbon-series-manual-web-1.pdf

Do you select your x-over frequency by octave, or just a decent distance from the Fs?

 

[Chicken Corners]

I installed a complete Kraco system I bought at Kmart in my brand new Nissan pickup. 1983, so I can help you out with any questions you might have.

 

[Pony_Driver]

That's a sweet looking ride.

 

[ProjectTwin]

Do you select your x-over frequency by octave, or just a decent distance from the Fs?

Tweets and mids I usually start at 2 x Fs and go up from there. Also depends on power. I have mids with a Fs of 128 that I was running a 300Hz HP on. They were unhappy at times. Bumped to 400. Sitting at 500 now. Running more than rated power on them.

Midbasses I usually HP at 70. The LP for them depends on the midrange HP.

Subs typically get LP at 70 or so and obviously play above/below Fs.

I'm not convinced that a full-range driver with a Fs of 73Hz is going to be happy with a 70Hz HP. That's why I said it'll probably be 80 or 90. Depends on how much power it sees. Won't be much with a 3mm one-way excursion rating.

If I'm doing a 2-seat car I'll do what I can to have the center channel capable of playing the same frequency range as the left and right.

My Chevelle has 8" midbasses in the kick panels and I have a pair of Audison Voce 5 1/4 coaxes in the factory 4x10 location as a center.

I installed a complete Kraco system I bought at Kmart in my brand new Nissan pickup. 1983, so I can help you out with any questions you might have.

Noted.

That's a sweet looking ride.

I dig it.

Today has been a PITA.

The JL 13TW5 lived behind this grille. The build-out for it was attached to the interior panel. I had to remove the left/right interior panels to get the 3rd row seat out.

With the panels removed I pulled the sub and unbolted the enclosure.

I unbolted the four rear bolts for the 3rd row and tried pivoting it up so I could access the front bolts. The brackets for the seat hit the sub enclosure and the HVAC plumbing.

So I figured I’d remove the enclosure.

I couldn’t wrestle the enclosure out even after unbolting the four rear bolts for the 3rd row. A sawzall lopped off the corner of the enclosure. It’s going to the trash anyway.

More room with the enclosure out.

This asshole of a 3rd row seat still didn’t want to come out. It was hitting the HVAC plumbing on the left.

I plugged the power 3rd seat controls back in and started trying to make progress.

Sumbitch. It worked. The rear seat brackets pivoted enough to let me pivot the seat forward. Then it was a matter of dealing with cabling and pins with locking tabs.

Generic plate with a cutout for a 24 dropped in place.

There’s a lot to strip back there.

 

[Drummer79]

I've watched basically all of your builds silently, basically because of the technical detail and quality of work. I'm not sure I fully understand it all though. I love music, and jamming out in my vehicle, but is this build like a "trying to win bass competition" or like "I want Doobie Brothers or Pink Floyd to sound absolutely awesome"? If the second, I'm totally on board

 

[707offroad]

I installed a complete Kraco system I bought at Kmart in my brand new Nissan pickup. 1983, so I can help you out with any questions you might have.

I have some spark-o-matic 6" coaxials if you want to upgrade your system

 

[bigun]

And here I am just trying to figure out how to work the Alpine that the previouse owner put in. What ever happened to just a simple on/off knob

 

[ProjectTwin]

I've watched basically all of your builds silently, basically because of the technical detail and quality of work. I'm not sure I fully understand it all though. I love music, and jamming out in my vehicle, but is this build like a "trying to win bass competition" or like "I want Doobie Brothers or Pink Floyd to sound absolutely awesome"? If the second, I'm totally on board

This guy is in Nashville. Wants to be able to have something to listen to mixes in while on the road. He wants a system that will excel at everything.

I have some spark-o-matic 6" coaxials if you want to upgrade your system

Better step up and get some Jensen triaxes.

And here I am just trying to figure out how to work the Alpine that the previouse owner put in. What ever happened to just a simple on/off knob

The on/off knob went away with shaft style radios.

Yanked the rear D-pillars. These have a 2 1/2” driver installed from the factory and also have a slot in them for the 3rd row seat belts.

It will be easy to drop the Morel 3” in here.

The grille is going away, though. I’m going to fill the seat belt slot and do a mesh grille over the speaker opening like I did in the A-pillars of the xB. Then the D-pillars will get wrapped in black suede and set aside.