Badfish740
05-30-2004, 11:50 PM
I've been putting in some late nights out in my garage getting the stereo stuff ready for my new daily driver and came up with a few ideas. First I decided that I didn't want to eat up my trunk space with my old Q-logic sub box so I made one that will fit in the space formerly occupied by the fold down armrest/storage box in the back seat.
Sub Box (http://www.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=12539330/PictureID=258598577/t_=9421434)
I built an 11"x15"x10" box (more than enough for a sealed 10" sub) to fit right in the opening, of course its going to stick out about 5.5" though. The box is made from 3/4" MDF, a whole lot of screws, and liquid nails on all the joints. I stole the nifty speaker connection insert from the old Q-logic box I had. The carpeting is, yep you guessed it, from a 740 spare tire cover (BTW, 3M spray glue works wonders on that stuff), and the top piece is the lid to the armrest storage box. I ran out of carpet so I had to think of someway to finish off the top. I think it will look good or at least unique sitting between the seats and the sound should be good as well. I plan on taking all of the plastic associated with the ski pass through off to prevent rattles, and I'm going to place a layer of Volvo sound deadening material between the back of the box and the sheet metal behind the seat. Then I'll sink wood screws through the sheet metal into the back of the box from inside the trunk. Some may say it looks a little ghetto, but hey I'm no custom installer...just a guy with a garage full of tools and half an idea of how to use 'em.
Door panel front (http://www.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=12539330/PictureID=258598188/t_=9421434)
Door panel back (http://www.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=12539330/PictureID=258597812/t_=9421434)
Next is the door speakers. I picked up a set of Kenwood components that included 6.5" midrange speakers. Note: this was all done on a pre '88 door panel. First of all I removed the plastic insert that holds the speaker and the grill from the back. This can be done with needlenose pliers by carefully prying the tabs in towards the center (you'll see what I mean when you get there) and pulling the whole tab up. Once this is out you have a hole that will accomodate most 6.5" speakers. Now comes the part which isn't for the squeamish. I took the template provided with the speakers and placed it on the outside of the panel to see how far the grills would overlap onto the raised part of the door. I carefully scribed a line and then cut out the foam on either side with a very sharp razor blade. Once this was done I test fit the speaker and grill and colored in some of the foam with a black marker and covered the big spots with 3M automotive vinyl tape. Not the cleanest install in the world, but one that I think looks good enough. I have yet to figure out where I want to mount the tweeters, but they should be easy enough. As for the rest of the work I'm definitely going to have to take the tin snips to the door panel to make room for the larger magnet. I'm also going to cover the entire inside of the panel with sound deadening material to prevent rattles.
Anyway, I'll have pics once everything is in the car as well as an update on how it sounds soon...
Later,
Matthew
Sub Box (http://www.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=12539330/PictureID=258598577/t_=9421434)
I built an 11"x15"x10" box (more than enough for a sealed 10" sub) to fit right in the opening, of course its going to stick out about 5.5" though. The box is made from 3/4" MDF, a whole lot of screws, and liquid nails on all the joints. I stole the nifty speaker connection insert from the old Q-logic box I had. The carpeting is, yep you guessed it, from a 740 spare tire cover (BTW, 3M spray glue works wonders on that stuff), and the top piece is the lid to the armrest storage box. I ran out of carpet so I had to think of someway to finish off the top. I think it will look good or at least unique sitting between the seats and the sound should be good as well. I plan on taking all of the plastic associated with the ski pass through off to prevent rattles, and I'm going to place a layer of Volvo sound deadening material between the back of the box and the sheet metal behind the seat. Then I'll sink wood screws through the sheet metal into the back of the box from inside the trunk. Some may say it looks a little ghetto, but hey I'm no custom installer...just a guy with a garage full of tools and half an idea of how to use 'em.
Door panel front (http://www.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=12539330/PictureID=258598188/t_=9421434)
Door panel back (http://www.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=12539330/PictureID=258597812/t_=9421434)
Next is the door speakers. I picked up a set of Kenwood components that included 6.5" midrange speakers. Note: this was all done on a pre '88 door panel. First of all I removed the plastic insert that holds the speaker and the grill from the back. This can be done with needlenose pliers by carefully prying the tabs in towards the center (you'll see what I mean when you get there) and pulling the whole tab up. Once this is out you have a hole that will accomodate most 6.5" speakers. Now comes the part which isn't for the squeamish. I took the template provided with the speakers and placed it on the outside of the panel to see how far the grills would overlap onto the raised part of the door. I carefully scribed a line and then cut out the foam on either side with a very sharp razor blade. Once this was done I test fit the speaker and grill and colored in some of the foam with a black marker and covered the big spots with 3M automotive vinyl tape. Not the cleanest install in the world, but one that I think looks good enough. I have yet to figure out where I want to mount the tweeters, but they should be easy enough. As for the rest of the work I'm definitely going to have to take the tin snips to the door panel to make room for the larger magnet. I'm also going to cover the entire inside of the panel with sound deadening material to prevent rattles.
Anyway, I'll have pics once everything is in the car as well as an update on how it sounds soon...
Later,
Matthew