2015 Prius C with full stereo install

Picked up my new car and took it home to remove the seats and door panels and everything in the trunk to do a full stereo install.

Here's my equipment list:
1. Second Skin Damplifier for doors and under carpet. Spectrum for the hatch area.
2. Audison Bit10. Could have used an Audiocontrol component for $200, but was curious to try the Bit10.
3. Morel Tempo 6 6.5" Components and Co-axials.
4. JL 10TW3 sub. It's the only shallow sub I've heard that I liked.
5. JL XD700/5 amplifier. Highly efficient amp, not too much power so it should strain the electrical system.

Give me a moment to load everything. Unfortunately I'm missing a few pics....not sure where they went.

 

Lets start with the sub, since it seems to be everyone's favorite thing.I used fiberglass and MDF. If I did it again I would make a few changes that would cost slightly more but get the job done faster.

First I pulled everything out of the hatch area.


Then I went crazy painting it with 1 gallon of Spectrum.



Then I reinstalled everything except the passenger side foam piece. I put blue painters tape down on the areas I planned glass. Then covered all the edges with plastic. I brought the plastic up to the headliner just to minimize fumes going into the car. After the tape is in place use spray glue and attach aluminum foil. Use non-stick foil and your life will be easier...

I carefully lay out woven cloth fiberglass to start. It's easy to work with and not messy. I left the spare and designed the box to fit beside it so if I get a flat I won't have to deal with moving a box.

 

After the cloth is all in place I just paint it with resin. I add some chop strand mat, but don't get too crazy with it while in the car. No need to be hunched over and stinking up a new car.
Unfortunately I was in a rush and didn't thoroughly get all the pics. After it's pulled from the car it just needs lots of chopped mat for reinforcing it. Then the top is attached with liquid nails & screws.


The gap I was able to wrap with a shirt and glass over. While the shape looks crazy, it contours around the tire. The original foam I cut so the carpet still sits flat. I put a speaker plug in one side of the box and eventually painted it all with resin to help waterproof it.

 

With some cutting I was able to keep the hatchmat. I'll get silicone and build up an edge around the sub later. But I get most of my hatch area still. And yes, I've had stuff on the grill and it wasn't an issue.

 

I dropped to ball on door panel pics. I'll search, but so far I think I deleted them on accident.
The Morel Tempo 6 Co-Axes come pre-wired and will just barely reach under the passenger seat from the drivers side rear door without having to splice anything. The JL XD700/5 fits perfectly under the passenger seat.

 

The Bit10 is installed inside the dash. A USB cable goes to the glove box and it can be programmed via my tablet. It's pretty sweet, but likely overkill. Unfortunately no pics.

You can see the door panel some in this pic. I used 2sq.ft. on the inside of the door and the sealed up the inner skin of the door. The seats were out to add sound deadening under the carpet and carefully run all the wires. The car looks stock, except the sup in the trunk.

Hit me up with questions. I'll get some other pics later if anyone wants something specific.

As far as the sound, it's amazing. The Morels hit pretty hard without a sub, but the JL 10" will blur vision if cranked up. Now I just have to find & fix some rattles.

 

And if you're curious as to a shopping list:
$300 JL 10TW3-D4
$350 JL XD700/5
$350 Morel Tempo 6
$300 Morel Tempo 6C
$500 Audison Bit10 (can get online for $270 or less sometimes)
$90 Second Skin Damplifier B-stock 16 sheets
$70 Second Skin Spectrum 1 gallon

1 gallon of resin from US Composites is all you would need. I had a bunch of mat, but it didn't take a lot. If I did it again I'd make a curved MDF piece for where the tire is as the top part of the frame from 1" thick MDF. It would have made glassing the enclosure much easier.

 

I'll get a picture with the door panel off tomorrow. It's just 3 screws and those upholstery plastic push pins. Remove the window switch and use an upholstery tool or carefully pry the panel off. After it's away from the door disconnect the door handle from the inside of the panel.

Pics will make it easier to understand.

Bounces per gallon???

 

Here you can see how the foam sits by the box and the spare is still in place.

 

Here's a door panel after sound deadening and installing the Morel Tempo 6 components. There's also sound deadening inside the door. Use peel and stick type only, liquid tends to gum up important stuff.

 

I just used scraps of MDF that were left over from the subwoofer box build. But there are nice plastic adapters available for purchase.

I didn't do the adapter after marker head unit fiasco. The stock head unit has so many integrated features I didn't want to deal with a ton of adapters to get them all to work.

 

I did mine over 3 days. The doors can be done very fast, but if you're replacing the door speakers you'll want to do it at the same time (boosting the job time). Start with the rear doors and you'll just lose those tunes and still be able to drive. Once you take out a seat I wouldn't suggest re-connecting the battery until the seats are reinstalled and plugged in.

What type of deadening did you get? Hopefully you'll do better with pictures than I did.

 

No RCA's/co-ax on the deck. But the Bit10 converts and gives the turn on signal and a clear RCA signal and its small enough to hide in the dash. You could put the amp up under the dash, but my concern would be cooling it. I didn't even try since the amp fits so perfectly under the seat and it made wiring the amp easier than any amp install I've ever done.I would have needed longer power, ground and speaker wires if the amp was further forward.