Imagine you recently finished an installation in your brand new car. You took it out to CES and then proceeded to hit the show circuit: IASCA, USACi, Hot Import Nights, Extreme Autofest. Then at a Nopi Nationals show, you and your ride get beat by a "stock Passat with nothing more than a prefab box, lowering springs and wheels." That's exactly what happened to Fred Lynch, marketing honcho at Arc Audio. At first he shook off the judge's criticism that his car was not "show worthy" and had "no original creativity." But then, when a second judge at a Hot Import Nights show decreed his Passat "was too stock and showed a lack of creativity," Lynch could ignore no longer.With the sting fresh in his heart, Lynch did what any self-respecting audio nut could do. He tore the car down to the unibody. Determined to make it as far from stock as possible, he and buddies Matt Borgardt and Jeremy Mullins got to work.
Tear It Down
Once Lynch ripped everything out and stripped the floor of factory paint, sound damping could begin. Three layers of Dynamat Extreme smother every inch of the interior. In addition, the areas behind the front seats received 3/4" Baltic birch inlays, drilled through with 1 1/2" holes. Taking a cue from boat building, 20-pound two-part expandable foam filled all the space between the plywood and the floor. In fact, Lynch used the foam everywhere there could be a cavity, such as in the plywood-topped steel box in the rear seat area. After the foam, he laid down more Dynamat Extreme, Dynaliner and Dynamat TACMAT.
The Fun Begins
Lynch wanted a new dashboard to display a large AcceleVision monitor at center. To make his vision a reality, the install team had to move all the factory relay packs to the passenger side firewall. If the installers weren't masters with a soldering gun and heat shrink when they started, they are now. After also modifying the factory climate system, dash fabrication could begin. Framework consists of 3/4" Baltic birch with 3" aluminum tubing bent to create shapes at the top of the dash. To increase strength, two 1" by 1" metal vertical sections are mounted into the frame. Select Products mold fabric was pulled over dash and resined before creation of the center display.
An Empty Stage
In addition to the center monitor, Lynch knew he wanted an excellent front stage that could handle the variety of music played at competitions and late night jam sessions. He focused first on the midbass, choosing four Dynaudio MW160 6 1/2" drivers for the front doors. The two MW160's for midranges and the four MD100 tweeters sound from the kick panels. Lynch cut away the inner layers of the body paneling with an air saw, applied sound deadening and created the back of the enclosures with 5-ounce fiberglass mat. The top of the enclosures and the trim piece consist of layers of 3/4" Baltic birch, 5/8" and 1/8" aluminum, and acrylic. The tweeters are mounted on top of the midranges with the help of billet aluminum brackets. To increase stage height, Lynch molded an additional pair of tweeters into the A-pillars.