Luther

iTrader: (13)

Hi all.... looking for some inspiration.... Fitted some good quality speakers (plus soundproofing) to front doors.... changed the headunit.... and have now purchased an amp to drive the speakers....

Problem I'm having is where to install the damn amp as the boot is weird shaped and doesn't have an obvious place to mount.

I've bought a....

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro...s_id/7054.html

which is a big old thing and doesn't fit on the rear of the back seats. I've considered fitting it across both seats but it means I'd end up blocking off the ski hatch access...

Any ideas? Simplest thing to do would probably be to cut out a piece of 8mm MDF and lay it across the boot floor, then screw it down but what a waste of space....

Inspiration and ideas please?!

scooby51

You could buy a few more amps and a sub or two and get a full on boot build!!!

Or maybe suspend it under the rear "parcel shelf". that way you dont lose the floor space in your boot


Alternatively, you could just give it to me and i'll sing REALLY LOUD in your car for you!!!!!

Luther

iTrader: (13)

Lol... I'll consider that.......

Funny you should say that.... just picked up a JL Audio 12" Sub+Box and a second 500/1 JL amp.....

If I move my front crossovers to the boot and get my self a capacitor I think I'd have the beginnings of a full on Ice build

Anyone got any pics?

Luther

iTrader: (13)

Scooby51... Nice install...

kgt

iTrader: (1)

Luther, could you not craft a piece of mdf that you can secure vertically down the back of only one seat, thus preserving the ski hatch ?
Thats what i'm hoping to do now I've got monoblock and a 4 channel amp in the boot with my JL12" sub, as I still need to try and get a trolley and a set of golf clubs in there

Luther

iTrader: (13)

Considered that but the single 4 channel amp is physically bigger than the visible part of the rear of the seat area....

Now that I've got two amps to fit... I definitely can't see a straight forward solution....

Having seen the JL sub in action today I'm definitely going to have to keep the ski hatch open or else the pressure from that sub is going to cause some serious damage

Life was so much easier in my Megane hatchback....

RMA26

Create a false floor maybe? or screw it to the back of the seat?

postie90

mdf on the back seat mate "all the way" get some carpet so it matchs the rest of ya boot! job done, unless your havin a full install....

scooby51

Thanks Luther

Scoooby300

I feel your pain.

I ended up pushing the sub box to the back (housing JL 12" with capacitor bolted to the side) and making a false floor for the two amps. The problem with false floors is access to the spare wheel. Therefore the false floor is not fixed, but made to sit snugly. Try to keep the false floor as thin as possible as the sub box can't be raised any more than about an inch due to the car's bodywork meaning part of the cone may be restricted. I have this problem, but only to the tune of about an inch at most. Am sure the sound isn't impeeded too much, but looks a bit pants.

Doesn't look as awesome as some builds in here, but at least it's workable. I have given up with the ski hatch. When going to play golf (only happened twice in the last 9 months mind!) the clubs went on the back seat.

Not too keen on opening the boot up with all that in there anyway for some thieving <insert expletive here> to then spend the next 10 mins stealing it.

Hope this helps.

Luther

iTrader: (13)

Thanks Scooby300.... Well update to my last.... Finally had two days off work and thought I'd crack on with the install.

So much for all the planning; when it came to execution the install went a little differently (pics to follow)

First I dynamatted the entire floor of the boot after giving it a good scrub.









Next came a good solid 18mm MDF boot floor. Although the boot was an awkward shape, I ended up using the boot carpet as a template and it ended up perfect. I did notice that the floor of the boot raises up near the back seats so only ended up with half the boot with a wooden floor.





Next I've cut out another piece of MDF to sit vertically. The plan is to create a little section between the boot and back seats. Amps and crossovers will be installed inside here facing the back seats. Access will be limited but once they're in and setup, they'll be sealed off....

That's as far as I got today.... Couple of quick questions tho...

I've listed the following current drain (max) from my components;
HU=10A,
iPaul Amp=71A,
JL Amp=50A

Is the standard battery and alternator sufficient or should I be looking to upgrade or even fit a second battery ? (Although the ipaul states 71A, it'll only be powering the front components so I expect it to draw less than half of that, say 30A)

My sub (12W7) will be sitting on the floor of the boot firing towards the false wall (on which the Amps will be mounted). Any obvious issues there?

I'll be laying a single 1 guage power cable from the battery to the boot along the nearside, and signal cable from HU to amps, and amps back to speakers along offside. Any obvious problems here? I know power cables and signal cables shouldn't be run together but is it ok to run signal cable and amplified signal speaker cable in parallel?

[more to follow]

Scoooby300

I personally wouldn't mount the amps on their side, as with the formation of the circuit boards and their respective heatsinks, the amp can't dissipate heat as well. If you think about it, heat rises and the heat sinks are no longer above the components when the amp is mounted on it's side.

It's ok if you aren't thumping the sub too much, but if you like the bass loud enough to make your rear view mirror dance and shake to the point of not being able to see out the back (like me ) you might find the thermal cut-out comes in and shuts the amp down untill it cools off a bit. Some people put fans in to circulate air to help alleviate this. 12v computer fans do the job nicely, but will never be as good as keeping them on the floor

I am a bit confused how you are going to mount the sub in the floor If you are going to use a standard box, the backs of them are raked to sit up against the back seat, but it sounds like you are going to put it at the front of the boot?

In response to your queries, the standard battery is rubbish, i got a 1 farad capacitor which did stop headlight-dim on the standard battery nicely. Problem was that the battery then gave up the ghost two weeks later .

I did a lot of asking around on here and ended up with an Optima Red Top battery. Getting one for a scooby is a nightmare however as in subaru's ultimate wisdom they thought it would be a good idea to swap the terminals around. I searched high and low around Essex to find one and ended up getting one online from an online company based in Norwich who had it delivered very quickly. I haven't had to change my alternator, so can't see why you'd have to.

In terms of running the wires, keeping power lines separate is a definate must, but you can run the speaker cables together down the other side, that's fine. I would recommend using some thicker oxy-free cabling rather than the bell wire they give you. Oxy-free cable really doesn't cost very much and transforms the sound quality. The current going down these cables isn't extensive, so they won't interfere with each other and create signal noise.

I hope this helps mate, any more q's please fire away. Hope to see it all done at the McRae gathering!

Luther

iTrader: (13)

Thanks for your reply Scooby300.... my thoughts as follows....

I considered that but the JL manual states its optimal mounting position is sideways with fins pointing up.... Worked out perfect for me... The iPaul tho doesn't seem to have any heatsinks.... just little vents on the side...

Seeing as it'll only be powering the two front Rainbow Mids/Tweets, I thought I'd risk it and mount it sideways too....


Considered this but the top of my 'partition wall' is open which should hopefully allow my amps to vent out heat..... If not, I'll look into some small vans like you suggested...

I bought a JL 12" Prowedge which was a little too tall to sit on its ar*e.... however once I flipped it on its back it sat in the rear of the boot quite nicely.... The original plan was to build a false floor with the box 'cutout' to prevent it sliding around.... Now that the false floor idea has gone out the window, I'll need to think of something else....

Thanks for that... I'll look into getting the Cap first but may have to give you a shout on sourcing a battery too.... I was looking at a Bosch upgrade but I'll see how it goes for now...

Done, Done, and Done....

More than you've realised mate.... Spent 3 solid days stripping out the car, rewiring, and preparing everything.... Just mounted my amps onto my 'wall' and tomorrow morning will hopefully plug it in the car for a quick run... fingers x'd....

Photo's of install will be up once everything is

PS - Any pics of your setup.... I need inspiration...

Scoooby300

Blimey, that's a stroke of luck! I agree with your thoughts about the iPaul. My 4 channel doesn't get too hot.

I recommend the VW Caddy or the Ford Escort van
Hee hee hee. sorry, couldn't resist!

On the up-side, just think how many speakers you could get in a van........

Why can't you make a new box for it? Subwoofers have set enclosure capacities, therefore you could make a box which is lower, but wider to make the same volume? Sub boxes are only MDF glued and pinned together with a bit of carpet over the top.


Good man, there's an equation to work out how big a capacitor to get, but can't for the life of me remember what it is. Am sure 5mins on Google will find it though.

[QUOTE=Luther999;8079206]
Done, Done, and Done....



More than you've realised mate.... Spent 3 solid days stripping out the car, rewiring, and preparing everything.... Just mounted my amps onto my 'wall' and tomorrow morning will hopefully plug it in the car for a quick run... fingers x'd....
[\QUOTE]
Subwoofers take an age to wear in. Best not thump it straight away as you will blow it. I tend to plug them into a home hi-fi for a couple of days with the gains set for bass only, gradually building up the volume. You can hear when it's struggling as it farts. So turn it down a bit, then after a while have another go to see if you can get a bit more out of it.

[\Quote]
Top stuff, will get some on here later on. Doesn't look that great as the bass amp died last week and couldn't be bothered to re-skin the top of the false floor so just put blanking plates in the gaps as the new amp is smaller than the old one. But hey, it works. Maybe when it's a rainy day i'll reskin it.