Hours of Perfection
The highlight of the system is the trunk area. At first glance, it’s nothing much and looks pretty much or completely stock. But a touch of a button on the Quantum VSE alarm reveals a hidden equipment rack that rises out of the spare- tire well. The rack is unusual--not because it holds an amplifier and equalizer, but because it is completely housed inside the well and also holds the original spare tire and jack. What many people don’t see in the equipment rack are the hours it took to perfect it, Francioso said. The problem was not building it to fit inside the shallow well, but motorizing it enough to lift the entire rack out of the well. “The first model was actually made out of wood to figure out the pivot points and the amount of lift involved,” Francioso said. “It took about three or four tries.” Eventually, Francioso decided on a combination of actuator arms and hatch- back pistons to give the 20 inches of clearance necessary to lift the rack out of the well far enough to access the spare tire. Francioso did such a good job, Tones said, that “it actually comes out over the bumper.” A machinist crafted the rack out of aircraft aluminum. “We chose the aluminum because it’s much stronger and lighter,” Francioso said. The rack was finished with gray car- pet. The rack must also be lifted to access the Alesis MEQ-230 equalizer, which is located on the front of the rack above the spare tire. The top of the rack houses an Xtant 3300c amplifier, the only amp in the system. The amplifier can be accessed with the rack open or closed and is concealed with the original spare-tire well cover. The equipment rack is the only modification to the trunk area. Although it holds a great deal of equipment, Torres didn’t lose any precious cargo space. He often leaves cleaning supplies and other travel items in the trunk to display that feature to sound-off judges. “I just want them to see how 1 have it set up,” Tones said.

Minimal Modifications
The source unit of the system is an Eclipse ECD- 415 CD radio mounted in the factory-radio location in the dash. The unit was flush-mounted and finished with a trim ring fashioned out of black ABS plastic. The radio was not furnished with a remote control, but Francioso modified rear- window switches in the driver’s side door to control volume and disc tracking. Plus, the switches still control the rear windows, Francioso added. Three MB Quart 100.03 KX speaker sets consisting of a 1-inch tweeter and a 4- inch midrange were installed in the dash. Two sets were mounted in the factory locations, while the third was housed in a cut- out in the center of the dash, at the top. Minimal modifications were made to the factory opening on each side of the dash. The 3-inch hole was enlarged for the bigger speaker combination. Each tweeter-and-midrange set was mounted onto a foam and plastic baffle and attached to the opening. The third set was mounted in a similar fashion inside the cut-out. New grilles were made to replace the too-small factory ones. The new grilles were fashioned out of perforated plastic finished with grille material. After cutting out the dash pad to accommodate the new speakers, the new grilles were mounted from behind for a flush fit. “When you look at it, it’s totally flat,” Francioso said. The factory location in each front door holds an MB Quart 160.03 6-inch midbass speaker. No modifications were made for the installation, Francioso said. “The only thing we really did to the doors was damp them.” V-Block damping material was also applied to the trunk, firewalls, and dash area. A single MB Quart 100.03 4-inch midrange was mounted in a cut-out in the center of the rear deck. Francioso built a small enclosure out of 1/4- inch medium-density fiber- board (MDF) for the speaker so the woofers, also mounted under the rear deck, would not cause interference. The factory grilles on each side of the rear deck were left intact. A grille for the midrange matching the factory ones was fashioned with perforated plastic. The deck itself was reuphoistered with factory-matched material. The MB Quart Musicomp crossovers, which were used for all the speakers except the subwoofers, were hid- den inside a panel concealed inside the backside of the rear seat. Some of the foam backing was cut out of the seat, but it does not affect the comfort of passengers, Francioso said. The panel was built out of 1/4-inch MDF and finished in shiny black Plexiglas. A removable cover was fashioned with the same MDF, but finished in gray carpet on the outside and black Plexiglas on the inside. The rest of the rear seat back was recovered in gray carpet also to match the trunk. Originally, the carpet on the rear seat back was an olive green, Francioso said. Two JL Audio 101B4 10-inch subwoofers were mounted under the rear deck, firing upward through the factory grilles. No modifications were necessary for the installation of the sub- woofers, Francioso said.

A Winning Combo
In the engine compartment, no electrical upgrades were necessary Francioso retained the stock battery and alternator, but used Phoenix Gold gold-plated terminals for the battery connections. A voltage meter was installed in the center console, housed on an ABS plastic panel. StreetWires were chosen for the wiring and cabling. Proving he could come out on top with the right players, Torres placed second in the amateur 151-300-watts class at the 1996 IASCA Finals in Greenville, South Carolina. Like his beloved New York Yankees, Torres hopes to bring a title home in 1997. If he and his team stick together, the winning combination is sure to repeat.