July 6th, 2008 update: Carpet, sound deadening, amp wiring

Words: Adrian Farina Pics: Adrian Farina, April Farina

Project Accord came back from a 5 month visit to the body shop with straight panels and fresh paint. It then sat for several months while I accumulated parts for it and otherwise sat on my butt. So after almost a year I've finally made some progress towards getting Project Accord back on the road.          To begin the carpet install I just unrolled the new carpet in the sun to let it heat up. This makes the backing less stiff and easier to work with in the car. Since I had already stripped the interior before paint I got my tools together and planned out the install. New automotive carpets come molded from an OE floorpan for proper fit, but none of the holes or cuts are done so plan on spending some time doing this yourself. For the carpet install I used a sharp razor knife, large upholstery shears, one large Phillips-head screw driver and lots of patience.          After about 20 minutes I pulled the carpet into the car and spread it out as best I could. The first cut I made was straight down the middle where the carpet lays over the center tunnel. The cut starts at the front of the car and goes back to just before the end of the center console. This let me lay the carpet out like it would sit when it's installed. From here I started locating all the holes and cuts I needed. To get the seat bolt holes I lifted the carpet to get a visual reference, laid the carpet back down and then pushed my large Phillips-head screw driver through the carpet and into the hole. I then pulled the screw driver out and lifted the carpet back up so I could make my cut from the back using my razor knife. The under seat vents also needed holes cut. These were easier cuts to make because I could locate them through the carpet and just cut along their edge. The carpet is also cut larger than needed and you have to trim it to fit. To do this I just worked slowly and trimmed several times until I had the carpet cut back to where I needed it. I did still cut one spot too short at the base of the B pillar. Instead of holding the trim piece in place to get a reference I trimmed to where I thought it was and cut too much off. Luckily it's only a small gap and the seat mostly covers it.          With the carpet in I started cleaning out the trunk. I don't mean getting the spare out either. I began by vacuuming out the entire trunk and wire brushing particularly dirty spots. After a second vacuuming I scuffed the entire trunk with 320 grit sandpaper. I vacuumed the trunk one more time and then wiped it all down with rubbing alcohol.           Masking the trunk took forever! I knew it would take awhile but I was still way off. I didn't watch the clock, but I probably spent 3 hours masking everything off. I know that sounds crazy but you have to consider a couple factors. First I really didn't want to get overspray on a new paint job and second I'm a perfectionist when it comes to things like this. I started by masking off the rear deck and then moved to the tedious part . This is where I spent a lot of time. I masked off the wire looms and harnesses, gas door/trunk release cables, fuel pump cover, speaker wiring, power antenna motor, taillights, trunk vent, jack mount, etc, etc, etc. Next came the opening into the passenger compartment, rear shocks and, last, the trunk opening.          Finally I was ready to spray. Thankfully my wife was willing to help me during this step. She kept the Spectrum mixed and helped me refill the spray gun (and cleaned up the mess from refilling the spray gun). With my regulator set at 80psi and the Spectrum somewhat warm from sitting in the sun for a few minutes the spraying went well. One container from the spray gun laid down one full coat over the whole trunk and underside of the rear deck. It was pretty hot outside so the time it took to refill the spray gun alloyed the Spectrum to skin over just enough to be coated over again. I ended up spraying three coats and used almost one gallon of Spectrum. I was able to get in all corners and tight spots and ended up with really good coverage. My perfectionism paid off too, I didn't have any overspray, all my tape lines ended up straight without any deadener bleeding under. If you're wondering about the trunk lid, I didn't forget. I was going to spray it next, but was just too worn out from masking/spraying in 95deg weather to get it that day. I hope to get it next weekend.          The Spectrum needs several days to fully cure in this weather so I moved on to an easier job. I'm going to build a ported enclosure with two 12s and needed to install the amp wiring. I started by mapping out where I was going to run the RCA and power. Since all the trim was still out of the car this was a lot easier. I decided to run the RCA down the center tunnel to keep it short. I ran the RCA making sure it wouldn't rub on anything since some of the brackets for the center console have sharp edges. I then ran the cable under the carpet at the rear of the console and under the center of the back seat. Running it this way I was able to use a 10' Rockford Fosgate RCA with a couple feet to spare.          For the power cable I used 8 gauge wire since I don't plan on pushing a lot of power. I installed an AGU fuse holder on the inside of the passenger fender next to the battery. I made a small slit in the gasket for the main wiring harness on the firewall and ran the line through. From there I kept the line up on the firewall to keep it out of sight and ran it down under the passenger sill trim to the trunk.          With the 4th of July on Friday, my Mom's birthday Saturday and work on Sunday I didn't get too much farther this week. I did get the kick panels and door sill trim cleaned and installed. I also got the front of the rear shock towers covered with Second Skin Audio's Damplifier, an adhesive backed sound deadener. I used Damplifier because, being in the passenger compartment, the Spectrum wasn't sprayed here. With my wife calling me to the 4th's festivities I left Project Accord until next week.

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