Rockn_Ferrari Almost Complete

14 Speakers and a Subwoofer, 3 amps, 1500+ watts, 7” TFT Video DVD/CD/MP3 player

I know that there are purists out there who think that you just cannot put a decent audio system in a Ferrari… but hey… have you checked out the newer models from Italia? Like… the California’s Infotainment Centre? Not sure if Enzo would have liked the word “INFOTAINMENT”… even if it’s only on a brochure.

But I have basically the same thing… plus a few more speakers… and a few more amps.

The Basic Idea:

Replace the stock Blaupunkt Head Unit with something more up to date
Replace the stock Front Door Speakers with a Component System
Get some sound up high in the car... and add rear speakers.. eliminate an eyesore on all 308/328 models
Add a substantial subwoofer
Add sufficient amplification
Tune the system with separate front and rear equalization
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2003 - New Head Unit - Custom Door Enclosures

This is one of the new enclosures… built out of aircraft plywood (9-ply, ½" birch plywood) and fiberglass instead of MDF to keep the weight down as it was going in a door. The inside of the speaker area was lined with Dynamat to solidify the sound. I didn’t want to hear buzzing fiberglass.

The idea was to have the larger 6" driver spaced out from the door slightly to allow the magnet to fit in where the smaller OEM speakers were… and to point the smaller 4.5" midrange driver up towards the passenger and driver.

This shows my original blue Wilton Wool carpeting for many Ferrari interiors in 1986. Wilton Wool was the carpet supplier for Ferrari and Rolls Royce… and this $100, ½ yard piece was ordered from England. It took a while to get it as they could not tell me which color of blue they used with the Cairo Blue Ferraris... so they sent samples first.

I also used some fabric glue that slowly dried clear and held really well. This is a tedious process... so grab a beer... slip in a video or turn on a game... and cut and glue. All of the pieces fit perfectly together when I was done… and the enclosures looked great... no seams visible.
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These photos show the Door enclosures with the doors open... and the relative position of the speaker drivers with the door closed... and also the location of the third driver in the 3-way Pro Series system… the 1” dome tweeter on the dash in the original position.
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The idea here was to get some sound up high in the car... and add rear speakers.. and to eliminate an eyesore on all 308/328 models.

The rear shelf on these Ferrari models just wasn't a great ides... having the roof latches rest on cloth. This might have looked great for the first week… but after that the cloth didn’t hold up very well… leaving marks or tears. This would have been a better design in leather… with an ABS piece sewn in to take the abuse from the latches.

The first photo was the original idea… to put a smaller Boston Acoustics Pro Series component system on the rear shelf… so that both the driver and passenger have their own set of stereo component speakers.

The original design is also shown. The rounded enclosures will each hold a pair of Boston Acoustics 4.5 Pro Series 2-way speakers… and they will rest on a built-up structure attached to the rear shelf. All pieces will be covered with leather and sewn in a pattern that matches the Ferrari dashboard. Small Prancing Horse emblems will be attached to the rounded “humps”. These humps mimic a trendy feature seen in most convertible sports car today… behind the headrests… but on the outside of the car.

The “humps” are also designed to minimize any loss of rear vision. The driver can still see out the side windows (I am 6' tall... not sure about shorter driver)… and there is no affect in the rear-view mirror… or when the driver turns his head around to look out the rear window.

More on this later... and the front subwoofer enclosure...

It's just too nice out to not be driving. In the meantime... here's a photo of the finished product. You have to love it when the finals results look better than the design!
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OMG Why?

You have to be ****tin me... a male member of the species... on a Ferrari site... actually posted OMG...

 

The rear enclosure can come out in about 15 minutes (took longer the first few times... but it's a refined process now)... the time that it takes to unscrew the Safety Belt bolts... 15 degrees a turn... and flipping the wrench. The unit was designed so that no holes are needed... the safety belt bolts hold it back there... that and some 2" aluminum angle stock attached to the base of the enclosure.

Once removed... you are back to that flippin ugly... scratched or torn rear shelf.

The front Door Enclosures take about 2 minutes... 4 screws in the original factory screw holes.

Once removed, the original speakers and door panels can be installed in 10 minutes.

The front Subwoofer Enclosure takes some time... probably 10 minutes to de-install... and 20 minutes to put it back in. You need to disconnect the side amps and place them on the subwoofer (using a towel works)... then unbolt the enclosure from the base... disconnect the speaker wires and the hot and ground leads and the interconnects... and remove the entire unit. Then the base comes out and you are done.

Once removed... back to that ugly tire bay... but with a nice new... never used... original Ferrari spare to cover most of it up.


So what's the big deal about doing some customizing? It's just an opportunity to bring out the whiners.


Also... this system DOES HAVE A VOLUME CONTROL... so I don't need to miss that engine screaming up an on-ramp... or taking the twisting back roads through LeBron's hood to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.


But if I am cruising down a freeway and there isn't much going on in back... I can crank it !!

The rear enclosure WAS NOT added for LOUDNESS!!! I used the same ideas as my home... with 15 sets of in-wall speakers... there is music everywhere... and it doesn't have to be loud. The rear enclosures actually allow you to hear some music at lower volumes.... something that is hard to do with the stock system. I have the front fader set to +3... and I hear a good (soon to be perfect when I get it fine tuned) balance between the front and rear speakers.


That's the idea.

 

More photos of the Rear Speaker Enclosure...

The "Humps" are curved in front so that the tweeters are pointed towards your ears slightly. The stitching is the same as the dash and seats.

I liked the look of the design... even looks cool from the rear of the car... but I knew that the upholstery would either make it or ruin it... so I managed to find a local pro who has done cars for Barrett-Jackson auctions.

The upholstery was done by John Lehman... of Lehman's Auto Upholstery in Wadsworth, Ohio (10 minutes from me). If you live in an area that doesn’t have a pro who does this type of work… or level of work… you could probably Google this guy and ship stuff to him. He does all kinds of leather repair and re-upholstery work. If my leather was in need of replacement… I’d get a quote from him before paying the prices that I’ve seen from some other leather seat suppliers.
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The Front Subwoofer Enclosure

I have my stock Ferrari Wheels stacked neatly in the corner of my garage… and I run Dunlop 265/35ZR18 SP9000 tires on 18” HRE wheels. Ferrari purists wouldn’t like that either… but it makes the car look more like it was made in this century… not the last one. Of course I am also a Ferrari purist sometimes… and I know that I can take the wheels off when I want to.

I thought that these were run-flats… but a friend (tire engineer) told me that they are not… they’re just thick-walled. Regardless… I have a tire repair kit in the trunk… a small compressor…. some Fix-a-flat cans… and AAAs phone number if I get a flat.

So I feel no need to ever have to use that skinny little spare and ruin its value as a Ferrari part. Besides… I’d hate to have a Corvette with two babes in it pull up next to me and laugh at that skinny little tire. I’d rather see them pull up next to me and see a flat.

So the tire bay is a waste of time. But it is a good location for a 1 cubic foot subwoofer enclosure… 3 amps… and a few other miscellaneous audio items (capacitor, interconnects, distribution blocks, speaker wire, and garden hose sized power cables.

I actually had these amps from 2004… when I planned on Phase II of the audio system. I found a wine box in the basement that was exactly .8 cubic foot… and just high enough to slide under the curved metal cover to the bay. So I put it in the middle of the tire bay and worked on amp placement. I opted NOT to put the amps in the trunk… which would not only take up space in the trunk… but would necessitate long runs of interconnects and speakers wires. I was just focused on making the tire bay a place for everything… the subwoofer… and the amps.

I started building the enclosure for the subwoofer… trying to squeeze in more volume by slanting the sides… and allowing the amps to tilt… but one thing that became clear right away was that these amps would lean far enough to the hood clear… so I started searching for new amps.

I’ve always been a Rockford-Fosgate fan… not because it’s a popular supplier with the Rice-Burner crowd… but because it’s David Hafler’s legacy… and his amps powered my Magnepans for many years. I found some newer models that fit a lot better. It’s nice to see some “Downsizing” in audio equipment. The new amps allowed me to make the enclosure a little bigger… exactly 1 cubic foot.

I covered the inside of the box with Dynamat to dampen any resonance… gave the outside a few coats of primer… and a couple of coats of Chiaro Blue… and about 4 coats of clear coat. After I dropped in the Boston Pro-Series 12.5 LF Subwoofer (all speakers and the sub were purchase din 2004)… it was ready to go into the bay.
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Photos from a recent Car Show...

This was a popular system for a good number of car show attendees... and I didn't even have it turned on.

I saw a group of college ladies taking photos... and coudn't help but think that some of them probably thought that the sub enclosure was the engine. The bonnet was closed at the time.

Interior photos next.
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I consider myself to be an expert woodworker and cabinetbuilder... and I've made most of my furniture... but I re-made that rear enclosure 3 times.

The first run... it was high density particle board... didn't like the way it tooled... switched to MDF (car audio material of choice these days)... didn't like that either. So I decided to go with the lighter 9-ply birch plywood (what I use for drawers on most projects). The rear enclosure doesn't weigh much (unlike the beast in front)... and the seat belt bolts are only going through a 1/8" peice of aluminum. How would that affect anything? Those bolts are probably 1 3/4" long.


If I ever part with this car... I'll either restore it to original or get a waiver signed anyway... but mostly because of the weight in front.

I'll post a pic of the aluminum.

 

Aluminum used in rear enclosure...

2" x 1/8" thick aliminum angle stock... burried 2" deep in the wood (via a table saw slot)... and secured to the wood with screws and polyurethane glue.

The safety belt bolts are just basically going through and extra 1/8" washer. Also... keep in mind that these are hand made cars... nothing is symetric... like the pacement of the safety belts on the driver and passenger side (way off)... or the number of spacers that the safety belt bolts use under the fabric (look at yours some time)... or even where the seats are placed. The driver's seat is 2" closer to the console (because of the parking brake)... so the humps are just centered behind the headrests.

I'd be more worried about full-time custom installers that use fiberglass in abundance for most enclosures. I've seen Vettes break up... and flying fiberglass in the inside of a car is not a good thing.
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