Custom sub install

[D323]

Well, I was tired of having all that room in back of the 323 cut down by 2/3's with the oversized box. I decided to fiberglass and see what I could do.

My first idea was to enclose the side kinda like hihslova's (sp?) tutorial. But then I decided that mounting the subs in the rear deck lid like a pair of 6x9's would be cooler.

So here is what I did:
The first pic you can see the edgu of the bottom side of the decklid. I fiberglassed the crap out of it to make it rigid. That way it would support 2 subs and an amp. After I glassed a few layers on the bottom I went in and liquid nailed a 3/4" thick mdf board cut to the shape of the bottom of the decklid.
This made a great mounting point for the amp, and I knew would hold the subs well.



Oh and remember, the fiberglass gel is crap. I tried that crap first, and it was horrible to work with. The liquid went on more smoothly and made the 2nd half 10x easier. The woven fiberglass mat is also ideal for curves and rounded areas, where as the stiffer random, non-woven fiberglass mat is perfect for straighter areas.

[D323]

Yes I know the **** is dirty and gross looking, but that changes later.

After a few more layers of fiberglass, I decided that it was sturdy enough that it wouldn't flex and do what I wanted it to.

Next I sanded the **** out of it. As tweeaks posted once, you need power tools to sand fiberglass. Sanding by hand will take forever to get the crap how you want it to look.

Sorry no sanding pics, as the fiberglass dust went everywhere and I didnt want it on my camera. Oh and dont do this **** w/o gloves in a well ventillated area w/o a mask. eVeR. **** will mess you up if you are not careful.

I rattle canned it black sanding between coats and making sure it was exactly as I wanted it.

I wanted a perfectly round hole for the subs. This is no easy task as many will tell you. I kind of cheated. Home Depot makes a giant ass compass that has a scry at one end. Its in the drywall sections. Construction ppl use it to make round circles for can lights in the ceiling. Its like 4 bux, but well worth it.

From that I cut the circles with a jig going really slow with brand new blades for sharpness. Then I got a grille spkr kit to protect the subs. From there I screwed the amp in the bottom and go this:

[Marc93lx]

Pretty pimp dude...I like it!

[silver03p5]

nice

[D323]

Yes I still need to split loom the wires and make some sort of backings for the subs... they sound like ass as of now since they dont have a back to them. Yes it will be heavier, but it can all be removed by undoing the 2 rca connectors, and the 3 wires to the amp. Quick removal was my goal and I am happy so far. The deck does need some mods, (sub backside, and supports for the sides) but other than that works for me.

I started thinking that the ghey bubbling tint was bothering me. I also didnt like the idea of the sun destroying the subs from the UV rays. Also the thought of someone busting the glass for my system was very real seeming since they were right there. So I decided to tint it @ a 5% in the rear 3 windows, and the front 2 had to get 35% according to local laws here. Its dark, but man I love it. Oh and yes the car is dirty. I took the pics after 7 hrs on the road.

[Intruder]

Looks good, but you skipped the most important part! How does it sound?

[Kevin]

the fundamental problem you are going to face is your subs don't look like they're a free air style sub.. it needs an enclosure of some sort. the good thing is they make subs specificially designed for an install like that. the bad thing is it's gonna set you back another 200 to 300 bucks. but another good thing is, it's going to act more like a ported enclosure but it still only requires very little wattage to give you the same kick ass 'volume' as a pair of sealed subs.

here as remarked by crutchfield:
"A free-air system consists of woofers mounted to a board attached to the rear deck or placed in the trunk against the rear seat. The trunk of the car acts as an enclosure which houses the subwoofer and isolates sound from the back of the speaker, solving the sound cancellation problem of subs without an enclosure.

Free-air systems save space and have flat frequency response. The woofer must be specifically designed for free-air use. The lack of a box makes them more convenient to install, but their power handling levels are usually much lower than their boxed counterparts."

you did a very cool thing bro, i love the design and your finished product, it's awesome, it's just that unknowingly, you may have just created another problem for yourself . you could always make an enclosure behind each sub.. but that will require a good deal of math to figure out and might not be as 'space' saving as that install. and by the time you buy more fiberglass resin, hardener, and cloth, you might have well bought better subs in the process.
via-crutchfield:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Fx9FMH2...free%2Dair+sub
these infinity kappa perfect 10.1's are $150 a piece, BUT you may be able to get them for around 90 a piece on ebay.
i'm sure someone could offer you a more technical description of what you really need, but seeing as how your hatch area isn't entirely sealed off from your cabin area.. free-air may not be the description i'm looking for.
kevin

[D323]

Good info. But as you said the area under the hatch is not sealed seperate off from the cabin. It has a small 1-1.5 in gap from the end of the deck lid to the rear hatch door. This gap is also at the front of the deck lid where the seat backs latch into place.

It looks like I might as well do the fiberglassing to enclose them from behind. One of my friends reccomended mdf b/c it will make it sound better than a fiber glass back. The problem is I need 2 dome shaped pieces that are hollow on the underside to mount there. I know home depot wont have anything like that at all. I was thinking about it, and I am trying to think of some sort of a hollowed out cylinder I can use to mount to the bottom for the spkrs.

I did buy some of the green pottery foam the other day tho.... I have been toying with the idea of making the exact shape +size I need from the foam then glassing over it. I am thinking if I get it thick enough (it will be a heavy ass bitch I am sure) then I can dynomat/badding the inside to get that little extra. Blue told me I needed roughly 1.5cu ft or something like that (its in a PM I got) for each sub, so that shouldn't be too large.

Sounds like complete ass since the rear is open air Martin.... thx for reminding me

[blue LEDz]

i can't say i remember the volume i said, but MDF doesn't sound any different than fiberglass. as long as the fiberglass is equally as strong, it does not effect the sound.

here's what a guy on the vwvortex did for his pair of RE8's:

[D323]

thats kinda the same thing I am going for, just not as pointy.... I cant find the PM, but I thought you told me roughly that size..... either way what would you reccomend for size?

[blue LEDz]

the volume sounds about right. i couldn't get great specs on the subs.

[Scott D]

Yeah, Why not just go for the IB-capable subs? It will save alot of space, sound better, and won't set you back too much. Check out a set of 11 kv2's from Elemental Designs (www.edesignaudio.com). They are great subs and are IB-capable.

[blue LEDz]

Yeah, Why not just go for the IB-capable subs? It will save alot of space, sound better, and won't set you back too much. Check out a set of 11 kv2's from Elemental Designs (www.edesignaudio.com). They are great subs and are IB-capable.

in order for an IB system to work, the rear of the speaker still has to be sealed off from the front so that the rear sound wave cannot interact with the front sound wave. that's why it's usually only done in cars with trunks, so that it's easy to seal off the trunk from the rest of the car so that the sub can use the entire trunk as an enclosure. same idea behind AP enclosures. the rear wave cannot interact with the front sound wave in order for it to work properly and sound good.

IB never sounds better than a properly enclosed sub.

[D323]

Exactly and the idea behind my design was remove 3 wires ( I want to eventually work out a quick release for them) and pull the deck lid out with the full system. Easy removal was one of the most important things.... but now I am having to work on sound as that seems to have gone to crap on me.

Thx for the info and suggestions though guys.

[Scott D]

I meant it would sound better in his current setup with IB-capable woofers. Not sound better than a enclosed woofer.