[Cadillac Bob]

Love my Crosstour, but hate the crappy stock electronics. Decided that its time the car had some tech worthy of it, so decided to upgrade a bit. Since our cars dont attract too many mods and there is crap for info online for it, I decided I would share my progress.

First I removed the stock CD changer and storage drawer so I could recess the mini back far enough so that it could be used easily even with the shifter in park.

Next I used the stock CD changer mounting bracket to fabricate a mount for it, and started prepping to make a fiberglass mold.

Once I had my mold finished, I added some hardware so that the mini could be ejected for removal, but still look stock when it was in the car.

Its Bondo time!

Since the factory sub is asstastic, some sound system upgrades are in order as well. Here was step 1 in my sub box fabrication

Time for more fun with fiberglass!

Welp, thats as far as I got today. Will be working on it more tomorrow and will probably start my new amp rack as well. Will post more pics as I progress. Wish me luck!

 

[L8Apex]

Good luck.

Are you putting a small amp in the compartment below the new woofer or just abandoning the compartment?

 

[Cadillac Bob]

The amp I am using is a huuge hifonics, so I am going to build an amp rack in the center storage well. Odds are though I may install my 2 farad cap in that compartment though to keep some of the center well still usable for storage.

 

[Xaque]

Very nice!

I can't wait to see the final product!

 

[Cadillac Bob]

Well got some of the pain-in-the-ass work finished today...

Finished all the fiberglass work on the sub cabinet

Yay it fits!

Got the amp rack built and wired up..

With some luck tomorrow ill get the dash molded and painted and get the sub box covered and installed. Am not looking forward to the mass of spaghetti involved in feeding my inputs back from the radio and then sending wires back up for all the speakers, but at least I wont be sniffing fiberglass resin all day!

 

[Cadillac Bob]

Well, first fly in the ointment is that I found out the wiring schematic I have is wrong. Closest I found for a 2008-2011 accord 7 speaker diagram on crutchfield, and although the plug is the same the wiring colors are not. Sooo... if you have a 2012 crosstour, that is a dead end. Am scouring the net trying to find the right diagram so at the moment im dead in the water until I do!

 

[Cadillac Bob]

Ok after some digging here is what I found. Although the crutchfield diagram for the deck isnt totally accurate, the speaker color codes are. I took my rear door panels off and compared the speaker wire colors to what was on the diagram and it was a match. Here is a link to it btw in case anyone else needs it:

http://crutchfield.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8759/kw/2012 honda accord

Also I had to remove the rear interior panels to disconnect the factory sub as well as route all my wires. JL Audio makes a decent stealthbox for the Crosstour (I wanted more beastly power which is why I went with my own) and they just happen to have an install manual on their site, which details how to remove the radio, rear seat cushions and rear panels. It came in pretty handy for me so I figured Id share that too.
http://mediacdn.jlaudio.com/media/mfg/9013/media_document/live_1/SB_H_XTOUR_MAN.pdf?1327115738

Soo, looks like im back in the running!

 

[Cadillac Bob]

I had planned on replacing the factory mids/highs anways, and im glad I am! The factory rear speakers are horrible, tiny little things. Also the doors have absolutely squat for sound deadening, and a horrible little plastic mount. Tomorrow I am adding some dynamat along with a better speaker mount made from MDF.

I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone here. By cutting into the factory harness right in front of the door jamb (next to lower seat belt mounts) I can both pick up a left/right input signal for my line out converter off of the rear channel of the factory deck, but I can tie my amp wires right back into the factory wires going though the door which should save some time on the install.

A Quick Note: The Audio control LOC I am using can accept up to 3 inputs, it can even accept high/low pass signals from the factory deck and combine them to give a proper full range signal, which you can then adjust as you wish with your amp or signal processors built in crossovers. In my case, I will be running a front/mid, front/hi and rear signal to my LOC.

And here is a shot of the lower deck removed, pretty easy only took maybe a minute thanks to the JL Audio instructions!

Ok so thats it for tonight, time to get some sleep. More fun tomorrow!

 

[deathwish]

After seeing the factory speakers up close, would there be any benefit to a simple speaker upgrade? I had done so with my Accord when new, and am tempted to upgrade at some point . . . Just maybe not to the level you are!

 

[Cadillac Bob]

After seeing the factory speakers up close, would there be any benefit to a simple speaker upgrade? I had done so with my Accord when new, and am tempted to upgrade at some point . . . Just maybe not to the level you are!

Cant speak fror the fronts (havent got there yet!) But as for the rears, definitely! They have tiny little magnets and no tweeter. A decent set of 6.5 coax would certainly be an improvement. Also while in there, the doors have no sound deadening from the factory, so throwing some dynamat in there will certainly improve speaker performance and road noise, and there is no better time to do it than when you already have the ol' door panel off for a speaker upgrade

 

[deathwish]

Tiny magnets tells me they are likely neodymium . . . Efficient, but no range w/o a tweeter. And yes, if you're doing the speaker job, what's another few dollars for some dynamat?!?

 

[Cadillac Bob]

Tiny magnets tells me they are likely neodymium . . . Efficient, but no range w/o a tweeter. And yes, if you're doing the speaker job, what's another few dollars for some dynamat?!?

FYI here is a shot of the factory speaker compared to an aftermarket. I went with 6.5 MB Quart components front and rear, and they definitely are a huge improvement, especially with some power to them.

 

[Cadillac Bob]

Will have to post some more pics later, but I am allllmost finished. Got all my doors dynamat'd, new component speakers installed and have everything up and running now. My new bluetooth adapter is working great for the ipad and everything sounds very good. I still have to do some more finish sanding on my ipad mount and paint it to match the rest of the console, but this gives you an idea of how it looks.

 

[1klanbaris]

looks amazing

 

[deathwish]

I did component speakers in my van that the CT replaced. Nice set of Boston Acoustics. Night and day difference over the stock 6x8s Ford put in.

You're doing an excellent job . . . Try not to blow the moonroof off!

 

[BlackBetsy]

Man, I love the custom install.

 

[erx808]

Very nice !! More pics ? What kind of blue thorough adapter did u roll with let me know cause it's one of the biggest issues-can stream calls but not audio have the same stock set up as u started with !!

 

[crosstour480]

I know this is an outdated post but could we get some pics finished and how do you like the RF 3sixty.three?

 

[dshalikar]

Looks great, can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[rasjgo1]

#UZEEIT that looks tuff