My new RB3 Odyssey - modding thread

[Winno]

Hey everyone.
Today I ordered a brand new (2010 MY) Odyssey.
It's my first new car.

It's the Lux version so I get black leather, HID, sunroof, full tint, Odyssey D34 deep cycle battery etc.
Colour is polished metal (metallic grey).

Will keep it standard except for lowering it about 2.5cm, a very subtle rear camber kit, and under body sway bars. I probably wont even change the factory wheels unless I get a crazy deal on some correct fitment mildly dished wheels.

The audio system will be MEA standard though.
- 24bit Clarion HXD2 mounted into the bottom dash tray
- HAT wide band point source mid/treble drivers in A pillar pods
- floor pod mounted 8" or 9" mid bass drivers
- ported 10" Infinity Perfect 10VQ sub under the centre tray
- Phoenix Gold Titanium and Alpine PDX amplification
- Kimber and Monster XLN Pro cabling
- Kleaved iPhone 4 for mass storage music

Yes, I like music on the go.

Can't wait.

Will post pics of the progress...

[Philip Lee]

U sure u wanna keep the 17s? They will look smaller again once u lowered lol

2.5cm drop is a good height. By springs or coils?

[Winno]

For now, until I find a deal too good to pass up, I'll stay with the 17's.

Will just go for shorter springs. The factory shocks are ok with this because it's only a small drop.

[Philip Lee]

i dropped around 35mm with springs and the ride is still fine and handles much better.

stock springs are progressive and it feels like floating.

[Winno]

Bit of an update on things, although not much has been done so far.

I'm in the process of finalising the audio system that's going to go into the car.
I come from a high end home audio background and enjoy my home system very much (modified cd player, class A valve amp, ribbon tweeter speakers, etc).

I like to have good music on the go and I am an active member of the Australian Mobile Electronics forums (MEA) where I judge at sound quality competitions. My last car had a big 4 way fully active sound quality system in it. The Honda system will be a little simpler and hopefully better quality.

I have a little gear left over from my Peugeot 306GTi but I've changed a few things and am in the final process of procuring my front stage drivers and a few other bits and pieces.

I have a Clarion HX-D2. It's a high end, 24bit, cd/tuner/pre head unit with 8 channel time alignment and 5 band parametric EQ. The factory head unit will stay in it's place and feed into one of the AUX inputs on the Clarion.



I have an iPhone 4 for mass music storage and playback, along with GPS. This sits in a Kensington Assist One cradle mounted into another of the dash pockets. This give full voice control of my contacts and music. This feeds into the other AUX on the Clarion.

I also have a Phoenix Gold 500.4 amp which will be used to drive the midbasses that'll be fitted to the sound proofed and treated doors.



I have a Phoenix Gold 600.2 which will power the front wide band tweeter/midrange drivers.



I also have left, one Infinity Perfect 10VQ





Yet to come are some Hybrid Audio Technology L3SE tweeter/mids that will be mounted in specially modified A pillars.



I also have coming, some Seas Prestige L16RNSL midbasses for the doors.



I also have an Alpine PDX series monoblock amp coming for the sub.




The cd player will be mounted into the specially modified bottom pocket in the centre of the dash. The sub will be mounted into a specially made sealed enclosure under the centre tray. The amp for the sub will be mounted into the storage space in the passenger side boot space. The other amps, I'm hoping, will fit under the front seats.
The only things really on show will be the mono amp, and the A pillar speakers. Everything else will be tucked away, out of the way.

I had the dealer fit an Optima D51 deep cycle battery before delivering the car to me.

I'll keep you posted on how the progress of this build goes. It'll be slow, I'll warn you now - I have a family life as well so things are done when I have the spare time.

[Winno]

Over the weekend, I also changed out some of the factory lighting courtesy of Philips Blue Vision W5 bulbs from Ebay.

The factory bulbs are quite yellow, especially compared to the HID main lights.

Easy enough to do for the parkers although the driver's side needs you to pull out the washer bottle (5 second job), and the passenger side requires the removal of the battery to gain access to the bulb socket.

The results:







(I don't mind displaying my number plate - a custom plate is on the way anyway)

I've also got coming some more Philips bulbs for the fogs (Diamond Vision - quite blue to match the HID lows), and high beams (Plus 50s).
Yes, I like Philips bulbs. I've used them in the Peugeot I modded and they're reliable - never had one blow on me yet. And yes, I know they cost a little more. The trick - I only buy them from Ebay if they're in their packets.

A word of warning: the plastics on the Honda are brittle. Take your time and be gentle or I can see you breaking bulb covers, seat bolt covers, dash parts, etc VERY easily.

[Winno]

Today, I decided to get out the plastic card for another small mod - my plastic scraping card that is.

The Honda doesn't have that many badges on it (thank goodness) but I wanted it even 'cleaner' than it comes from the factory.

The trouble is, the front H is flush mounted on its big square holder in the grill so I can't get rid of that unless I swap out the grill (might start looking for an after market one without the badge holder).
The rear H is surface mounted (YAY!) but it positioned with two little pins that have holes in the rear hatch (DAMN!).
The skirt badges are flushed in and will look funny removed without filling and painting.

So, this leaves only one - the rear ODYSSEY badge. Off it came!



Heat it with a hair dryer.



Use your trusty plastic scraping card (so as not to scratch the new clear coat) in underneath the badge and gently work the whole badge off.



Clean off any sticky residue. I use only the best products (or Meguires if I'm caught short).



This is the result

[Winno]

Oh, I'm also on the hunt for some rear tail light garnishes as well.
I wont pay over AU$300 for what are essentially a couple of pieces of plastic trim though (yes, I was quoted that, and it didn't include painting!)

If anyone knows where I can get them from at a sensible price please let me know, or send me a link or something.

Cheers,
Steve

[Philip Lee]

looking good there. i think i'll debadge the rear badge as well.

can't wait to see your audio setup. it should be awesome!!

[Adrian128]

Looking good there.. all of you guys have the black interior.. .. for all my bulbs I go to http://www.powerbulbs.com. Great prices, and free shipping from the UK.

[Winno]

A little something I did today - changed all the door wood trim garnishes to brushed alloy finish.

It's a high quality 3D vinyl wrap.

Looks way better than the factory trim and matches in with the door release handle and Seas driver in the bottom of the door.



When I have the dash apart to fit my head unit, I'll do the two panels in the dash as well. And yes, the audio is coming soon...

[Philip Lee]

A little something I did today - changed all the door wood trim garnishes to brushed alloy finish.

It's a high quality 3D vinyl wrap.

When I have the dash apart to fit my head unit, I'll do the two panels in the dash as well. And yes, the audio is coming soon...

nice. where do you get those vinyl from? my wife always complain about the fake wood!!

thanks