BALTIMORE-BASED INSTALLER RYAN SHUTT KNOWS HOW TO BUILD ATTENTION-GRABBING SHOW CARS. He did it with a red '97 Honda Civic at SEMA in 2004 and an '06 Civic that was featured in CA&E last year. "I'm a real big, in-your-face kind of guy," Shutt says. "I'm not head over heels into creating perfect car audio. I like bright colors, lots of speakers."
And that's why Honda of America hired him to modify one of its new-to-the-U.S. Fit models earlier this year. "With Honda trying to focus on a certain age group, we wanted a look that would appeal to someone that can relate to the vehicle," he says. "But it was stressful, since we only had five weeks to complete the project."
But the time limit wasn't the only challenge. Instead of relying on car-specific adapters and connectors, Shutt and company had to fabricate the majority of their installation accessories. After all, they were working on one of the only Fits in the country and aftermarket parts just weren't available. "Nobody had a body kit, nobody had anything. A lot of the stuff that we used is one-off."
Although Shutt handled most of the bodywork and system designs himself, Thom Voisinet and Josh Claar from Polk installed the Fit's audio system at the manufacturer's Baltimore headquarters. And here's how they did it.
Shutt wanted a do-it-all head unit that wouldn't dominate the Fit's interior space. The Alpine IVA-W200 DVD player fit the bill -- offering DVD and CD playback, a 6.5-inch LCD monitor, satellite radio and an iPod connection. The unit was installed in the Fit's factory dash opening and was ISO-mounted with a custom-fabricated steel bracket.
To create the front soundstage, the team fabricated 34" MDF mounting rings and attached a set of Polk db5251 5.25" components to the Honda's pillars. Identical sets were installed in the front and rear doors and the factory grilles were painted to match the Fit's black and orange color scheme. A 5.25" Polk db521 coaxial mounted on the modified dash bezel handles the center channel.
The audio installation team gutted the car and lined every exposed surface with Dynamat Extreme sound dampening material. From there, Shutt took over and covered the dash, doors and trunk with Tsunami suede, complete with carbon-fiber door inserts and orange highlights.
Two pairs of Polk db651 6.5" coaxial speakers were installed in the hatch and set up to run as front speakers when the car is open at shows. Additional rear fill is provided by two pairs of Polk db401 4" fullrange drivers installed in the headliner behind the rear seat.