When luxury's your middle name, everything you do should have a posh flair. Fortunately for its clients, 909 Luxury Wheels lives up to its moniker, especially with this 2003 H2, done up with a high-end audio system, custom interior and, you guessed it, luxury 27" Lexani wheels. 909 owner Frankie Thanasith wanted to create a rolling statement of what his brand-new shop could do. The perfect opportunity sprung up with Dino Palmiotto and his previously factory truck.
Make It MePalmiotto wanted "something more than my stock H2 could offer," but the directive to make something cool and more fitted to his personality was as far as he went in guiding the install. That didn't bother Thanasith, who picked out all the gear, or the two installers chosen for the installation: Michael Milot and Vahik Vohskanian. In fact, for them that "was the coolest thing about the build, because Dino is one of those rare customers that allowed us to turn it loose and build something special." Turn it loose they did.
Nice Rear EndWith the H2's trunk open, the 5ft3 subwoofer enclosure immediately draws attention. Housing four 12" Alumapro Alchemy RX subwoofers sporting laser-etched 909 Luxury Wheels logos, the sealed, silver-painted behemoth can't help it. Complementing the box constructed from MDF, fiberglass and the typical body fillers is the amprack. To hold up the Zapco C2K9.0XD amp for the subs, the Zapco C2K3.0X for the front stage and the Zapco C2K6.0X for the rear fill, the installers welded square tubing into the rough shape they needed. After mounting it in the truck, they built around it with fiberglass and body fillers before having it painted black. The effect resembles a badge floating above the sub enclosure.
Higher FrequenciesIn the cab, Rainbow Profi Vanadium component sets handle the audio duties. To install the speakers in the factory rear door locations, the installers made a jig out of 3/4" MDF, which filled the gaps left by removing the factory speakers. They then built another perfect jig for the 6 1/2" speakers and used a pin router to copy the speaker ring onto the factory speaker baffle. Lastly, the installers used a hole saw to carve a spot in the factory panels for the tweeters. In the front doors, the installation of the front stage followed the same steps, except the tweeter fit into the factory location without substantial modifications.
Give Me VisualHeading the audio and video array, a Pioneer DVH-P500MP head unit usurps the factory On-Star system's location. In place of the OEM radio, an Pioneer AVD-W6210 monitor was custom mounted and built flush into the dash. In addition, two Visualogic 9-inch monitors lodge in the back of the front seat headrests. The three monitors receive visuals not only from the head unit but also from an Xbox modified by sdmods under the driver's seat and the Tracvision antenna mounted on the roof.
Icing On The CakeThe H2 didn't just receive the standard A/V fare. Since Palmiotto has to take care of business wherever he goes, 909 installed a Canon printer and laptop mount to create a mobile office in the rear. While Palmiotto works back there, he can enjoy sitting on captain's chairs hijacked from a Denali and reupholstered in leather and suede. Suede also wraps the headliner while Mercedez Benz carpet provides cushioning underfoot.
Beneath the carpeting and the specially ordered 2005-2006 factory panels, a whole lot of Dynamat keeps unwanted road noise and resonance to a minimum. Monster Cable 14-gauge wire connects the speakers while 0-gauge takes care of power and ground. Interconnects come from Monster Cable for the video and Symbilink for the amps and SX-SL Zapco equalizer.
Once completed, this H2 with the $40k install hit the show circuit. It caught our eye at the Extreme Autofest in Chula Vista, CA, (check out page 78), where we awarded it first place. Thanks go to Team C.S.W., Jason Lee, Chris Yato, Ouki Nakomaura and Ryan Basto for the help and letting Milot and Vohskanian build the car at Competition Soundwork's facility while 909 was still in the process of completion. Thanks also go to Larry Milot for all those coats of black paint on both the interior and exterior of the truck and Mark Ignolikov for helping with the special parts.