Badger's Pug. And now a 320d.

[Niku Driver HC]

At this point the audio is almost the value of the car alone now.

Well, you know what say, polished turds and whatnot...

I kid, I kid. But as a member of a family who had to get a new radio for their Peugeot 106 because the seller decided to keep the one the car had to himself, I know a thing or two about having to spend audio money when you clearly shouldn't have to...

 

[Jet Badger]

Well, you know what say, polished turds and whatnot...

I kid, I kid. But as a member of a family who had to get a new radio for their Peugeot 106 because the seller decided to keep the one the car had to himself, I know a thing or two about having to spend audio money when you clearly shouldn't have to...

The only thing lacking now in that regard is an underwater dog named subwoofah. Not gonna spend money on that now though. Unless I can find a pile of cheapo components for that to make a fun DIY project of it.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

The only thing lacking now in that regard is an underwater dog named subwoofah. Not gonna spend money on that now though. Unless I can find a pile of cheapo components for that to make a fun DIY project of it.

Can I not get called a dimwit if I say that I read the first sentence and immediately thought you were going to buy a real dog...? Your pun was a damm good one, considering it did that to my thought process...

But yes, right now doing that would be the proverbial "turning a sow's ear into a silk purse", automotive version. You have the skills, no doubt about that, but finding the luck and the parts will be a whole different story... Unless you got contacts which can help you with that.

 

[Jet Badger]

A new cheapo woofer is something like 20-25€ and a used amp you can get for around 40€. I have loads of MDF laying around. So not counting carpeting and all other bits and bobs I could possibly do it for around 70€. Might just do it once I get paid. Would be a pretty fun project. Experiment with different boxes and whatnot.

Anyway, I should sort out the clutch first. It started slipping pretty bad now. Once the weather gets nicer I'll have to crawl under there.

 

[Jet Badger]

The beginning of a small addition. Arranged to have a look at an amplifier on sunday. A Caliber CA180, seems like a decent unit, not much info on it on the internet at all though.

 

[Jet Badger]

Made the box for it today. Going with sealed one, atleast for the start as it's simpler and mainly because it'll take up just so much less precious space. I need to get an amp for it so I can see where I will mount it all and how the wires will run. Then will have to cover it in carpet/cloth. Thinking what configuration would be the best. The woofer itself is pretty cheesy looking IMO. Shame the store didn't have the plain grey version. Oh well, I think I'll try leaving the front face white to give it some contrast, see how it looks. I can always wrap it later.

Made a few possible versions of it in CAD since I apparently have nothing better to do

Material - leftover MDF from various furniture builds.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

CAD + DIY = FTW? It seems that way, considering how good the final product looks...

I did kind of dig the "black background/red ring" version a bit more, since the car already has a dark-colored interior but hey, white is nifty too.

 

[Jet Badger]

CAD + DIY = FTW? It seems that way, considering how good the final product looks...

I did kind of dig the "black background/red ring" version a bit more, since the car already has a dark-colored interior but hey, white is nifty too.

CAD definitely helps. Doesn't stop from making simple mistakes due to lack of experience though. If I was to make another box, I'd do a few things differently in the process to make it look even better.

The bare red ring on black does look good in the render. Not sure how good it will be in reality as there will be screws around the red frame there. Will see. I want to try the white front panel just to make it different from all other black-on-black-on-black boxes out there. Give it some life and all

 

[Niku Driver HC]

CAD definitely helps. Doesn't stop from making simple mistakes due to lack of experience though. If I was to make another box, I'd do a few things differently in the process to make it look even better.

The bare red ring on black does look good in the render. Not sure how good it will be in reality as there will be screws around the red frame there. Will see. I want to try the white front panel just to make it different from all other black-on-black-on-black boxes out there. Give it some life and all

Well, at least you have one way to preview what the final product will look like, so that then you'll blame the tool for displaying "contents different from those illustrated"... Joke aside, what would you do to make the box look better, if you don't mind me asking?

The screws might actually make the red-ring-on-black box better, given their steel polishing and whatnot. But using white can do for now, you do have a point with the whole "being different" argument. Even the stuff you buy off electronic stores has black-on-black coloring schemes...

 

[Jet Badger]

In the last pic you can see the side being a bit crooked. That's because the front fascia and the rear panel are slightly different, one might be half a mm plus, other half mm minus, it adds up and looks weird. I should've cut the width of both panels in a single pass, that way they would've been identical. Also another thing was that I accidentally cut on the wrong side of the line when doing the diagonal cut for one of the sides. Now it's too small by the width of the blade, but I couldn't be bothered making another one, because it's not critical and I can patch it up, also I ran out of the very colour of MDF.

 

[Jet Badger]

Another smol piece of the puzzle.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

A high-Caliber piece, no less.

sorry

 

[Jet Badger]

It seems to be a rather quality unit, even if a bit old. Anyway, I expected it to be maybe half the size it is. Not sure where I'll fit this thing. My planned spot was the side of the box, but there is no way it's going on there. Hmm...

 

[Niku Driver HC]

Time for more DIY with CAD, perhaps? If that fails, just plonk it under the driver's seat. It works in my family's 307 SW...

 

[Jet Badger]

Perhaps. If I make another bigger (ported) box I should be able to fit it on there somewhere, but for now I'll just put it somewhere next to it in the trunk. I already bought kit of 5 meter long cables so it would be a shame not to use them

Also done some test fitting the other day that I didn't mention.

 

[Jet Badger]

Finished off the subwoofer box over these days. I tried leaving the front white at first, but it looked too out of place, so full carpet it is.

(couldn't get a decent pic there, oops)

Finished product:

Ignore the wiring mess there. It's time will come too - I do need a usable boot after all.

A grill of some sort on the box would be good too. Thinking about some black perforated sheet metal maybe. If I can find some that's not too pricey.

 

[MidnightRun85]

Finished off the subwoofer box over these days. I tried leaving the front white at first, but it looked too out of place, so full carpet it is.

(couldn't get a decent pic there, oops)

View attachment 635432

Finished product:

View attachment 635430

View attachment 635428

View attachment 635431

View attachment 635429

Ignore the wiring mess there. It's time will come too - I do need a usable boot after all.

A grill of some sort on the box would be good too. Thinking about some black perforated sheet metal maybe. If I can find some that's not too pricey.

Really nicely done. I'm liking this!

I'm pretty sure I've got the same head unit as you do, maybe just a little older.

 

[Jet Badger]

Really nicely done. I'm liking this!

I'm pretty sure I've got the same head unit as you do, maybe just a little older.

Thanks!

I quite like the deck. I mean, it does it's job. Could've gone with a used one to save some money though. Oh well, can't always win.

 

[MidnightRun85]

Thanks!

I quite like the deck. I mean, it does it's job. Could've gone with a used one to save some money though. Oh well, can't always win.

Mine's been playing up a lot. I'm not sure if it's the harness adaptor it came with or the head unit is faulty. But really often when you press a button to, say, change to USB, it resets itself (on/off), and it seems to only play to a certain point on USB tracks (about the 8th track normally) then skips to the next folder.........

 

[Jet Badger]

Mine's been playing up a lot. I'm not sure if it's the harness adaptor it came with or the head unit is faulty. But really often when you press a button to, say, change to USB, it resets itself (on/off), and it seems to only play to a certain point on USB tracks (about the 8th track normally) then skips to the next folder.........

Is it happening with different USB sticks? In a different car? Or maybe there's a dead roach inside of it shorting stuff out I'd assume it's out of warranty, so it won't hurt having a crack at it

I had to troubleshoot the amplifier for the sub that didn't work when bridged. Turned out it was a faulty filter switch at the end. Sometimes it's the silliest things

 

[MidnightRun85]

Is it happening with different USB sticks? In a different car? Or maybe there's a dead roach inside of it shorting stuff out I'd assume it's out of warranty, so it won't hurt having a crack at it

Yup, out of warranty now. I'm thinking I might pull it out and check the connections. Might be something loose somewhere. I only really use one USB - suppose trying a different one might be a good move!

Failing that, it's going in the bin! Let us know how you get on with yours...

 

[Jet Badger]

In the past days I've replaced one bad ball joint, a wishbone bushing and rebuilt one sticking caliper. The piston in that one did have some pitting on it, but I still put it back together. Eh, what's the worst that can happen, right? Right?

Now yesterday I started the biggest job on a car I've ever had, which is replacing the clutch as it's been getting worse and worse. The fixed balll joint and brake caliper really made the driving much more enjoyable, now the clutch was the main thing letting it down.

Yesterday I started stripping out all that's in the way. Battery, ECU, all the brackets. Had a big fight with the longer axle intermediate bearing, which I only managed to get off today by unbolting the whole engine mount that it's set in and also sliding the gearbox itself off of it. :/

And the next day - today. The box is out!

 

[eiriksmil]

Gearbox out job in his driveway. Man has cojones.

 

[MidnightRun85]

Gearbox out job in his driveway. Man has cojones.

And it's not even tarmac! Big cojones!

 

[Jet Badger]

Heh, it's not that big of a deal really. Probably not the worst setting to be changing the clutch in though. Perfectly doable aswell. Finished the job today, didn't take any pics, because I was in a hurry to get it done. Put it all back together, put new gear oil in it and had a small test drive - it drives! That I consider a win! Also gears change much smoother now with new oil in it. It really got much more pleasant to drive.

 

[Jet Badger]

Reporting in after a well waited 300km trip today. Everything with it seem to have went flawlessly. Even gave it a wash beforehand

 

[Jet Badger]

From recent trip with @Wiegert

 

[Niku Driver HC]

Guess it'll need another wash after the trip (judging by the weather in the first three pics)...

 

[Wiegert]

She didn't fail to start in the three-and-a-bit days I was there. What luck!



Where's the castle?

 

[Jet Badger]

Made myself do another bit of work on it this evening. It has been in need for an oil change for a while now as I did about 15k km since last oil change. I've had the oil and a filter for a few months. I've just been putting it off as I wanted to replace, or more like put in a sump gasket as there was just some sealant there and it was leaking in a place or two.

Out of a dozen bolts one ofcourse one I managed to strip the head. After some hammering and grinding managed to get it loose. So that was lucky.