First off my apologies, I have no pics yet. Decided since it was a nice day to get out and install the system. Amazingly easy to pull the seats, carpet, trim etc. Had a bear of a time getting the power lead for the amp through the rubber grommet in the firewall. While doing so I ripped said rubber grommet about a half inch (don't ask) on the upper side. So, what do you all recommend to seal that back up ?

Used the door speaker plates from Audio Dave as well as the sub box housing a JL 10W1. Install was a snap with these items, Kudos to Dave for the nice work. Front speakers are Blaupunkt components (going to replace them in the near future). Amp is an Alpine MRV-F450 placed behind the passenger seat and grounded on the rear seat bolt. I think I'll lose about 2-3 inches of seat travel. Not too bad since I rarely sit on that side

RCA's were run along the center tunnl pass side. Power pulled forom the Yellow wire near the BCM on the pass floorboard. Illumination came from the HVAC Cream colored wire. All is working as it should sans some crackling in the pass speaker at high volume. I'll run that down tomorrow.

After spending a good part of the day on this I have come to a couple conclusions. An aftermarket system in a Corvette is not a bad install whatsoever as long as you, if unsure about anything, read the forums stickies on everyone elses install. A great deal of what was covered here was truly instrumental having read everything and asking questions before diving in.

I used 17 ft RCA's since they were what I had in my 2500HD and found that they are way too long. I have a bundle sitting under the passenger seat and will eventually replace them with shorter ones to clean it up . Crossovers are under the pass seat as well.

I really had to bend that retainer bracket behind the head unit to get it to seat properly. Even with regular RCA's, opposed to the angled insert ones, the fit was fine.

I didnt do anything to the antenna amplifier and FM reception seems to be just fine.

One thing I found is that with my HU, I now have the ability to adjust both the Subwoofer settings where i couldnt in my truck. Not sure what happened there


One thing I recommend, along with a few other posts I read, keep a bottle of Advil handy. At the ripe old age of 41, soon to be 42, all the bending, reaching and contorting is kicking my 6.

Thanks again all who answered my questions and to Audio Dave for a couple of great produtcs.

 

congrats man lets get some pics up here.... vettes are suprisingly easy to install in

 

To seal up the rubber grommet in the firewall, you can use silicone or some kind of similar rubber sealant you can pick up at the local hardware store. As for the lack of sub control in your truck, perhaps the sub RCA's weren't plugged into the subwoofer output of the radio...
Glad to hear you loved the stuff you bought!! Thanks for the compliments!!
Looking forward to seeing the pics!!

 

And Alieve also works great for the aches and pains.

 

pics pics pics glad you had a fairly easy install. i found that if you use some lubricant, its a little easier to push the power cable through the grommet. So when are the pics coming

 

Aye little wd40 or something similar on the wire helps with working it through that grommet a lot. I agree with dave about the fact that you were likely using the rear RCA outs from your HU when it was in your truck instead of the dedicated sub out RCA's which you are using now which "turned on" your subwoofer control on your HU.

Sounds like a solid install g'luck on the tuning.

Fej

 

Pretty much what they all said, i want pics lol

 

**Disclaimer** Not done cleaning up and these pics are poor... I'll take some more later after I clean everyhting up and place the passeger seat back in.




now here is where I really have to clean up... this isnt going to work so I am brainstorming a way to reroute the excess RCA/s to clean this up...


Being today is Sunday, Im sorta glued to the TV. Hawks kickin the snot outa the Giants... Can you say FALSE START and TD SEATTLE !?! hehe

 

ive left em bundled under the seat before its not gonna hurt anything, snakin em all around the car can almost be worse if you run it near the pcm and stuff

 

Looking good!!

 

Ok, here are a few more after i put everything back together.

Obligitory HU installed pic


You can see the top of the amp but looks fine to me...


Pulled the excess RCA wires up the side of the amp. Eventually I will replace them with shorter ones...


The stealth box fits well, maybe too well. With the cover on I think the sub at higher volume levels tops out against the cover. Not too worry, I dont max the volume much but the problem is the cover really deadens the sound. Thinking of maybe switching to a flush mount box and investing in a sub grill.


Another shot of the box ...


All in all I am loving the new setup... thanks all for the assistance/advice !

 

Looks great!! pm sent...

 

Looks awesome!

 

looking good. it took me a couple months to think about where to route my wires. here is what mine looks like after i cleaned it up, hopefully it will give you some ideas.

 

Thanks for the compliments guys. I am ejoying the new tunes. What a difference !

DPG, how has your install been for heat behind the seat ? My Alpine gets warm but so far not too bad. The only thing I am concerned about, other than redoing the wiring to clean it up even more, is when I do take the longer trips where heat from below becomes an issue...

Eventually I will rip out the interior and do the sound/heat deadening mod. That will probably wait til next Spring...

 

The heat/sound deadening mod won't change how hot your amps are through the seats. I, too, have my amps behind my seats...one for me and one for the passenger. If it does get too hot, I'm putting some Reflectix in the seat back. That should do it.

 

like you said it gets warm, but thats about it. Even on long road trips and driving in the 90+ heat we had a few times this year, it wasn't a problem. It sayed about the same warmness. i even have the seat touching the amp sometimes when a bigger guy gets in the passenger seat and that hasnt affected the seat any. I think it will be a safe bet. If your amp is getting really hot, you may have other issues. There is a lot of ventialtion behind the seats. Im sure you'll figure something neat to clean up the wiring. You can use wire looms too to help disguise it a little bit as well. dont forget to snap some before and after pics when you clean up the wiring.

 

i see what your thinking, but is that going to keep the fake leather from getting heat when its in contact with the amp. as long as the amp isnt touching the the seat, the heat of the amp shouldnt be too much of a factor, at least i dont think so. I can see blocking heat from getting to the person in the seat. but im thinking about if it gets hot enough that it will melt that fake leather. But i havent felt my amp get not even close to hot. it gets warm but its closer to luke warm, where you can keep your hand on it with comfort. ok now im babling any thoughts on this

 

I'm not sure what the melting point of the fauxleather is, but I'd think it's pretty dang hot. I'm not at all worried about the leather melting away. I'm more worried about my sweaty back. Like you said, the reflectix will minimize that, but so does seat foam. I'm sure it's much ado about nothing.

 

yea i hear ya. experimentation is probably the best option here. Ive thought about taking some small tubing and routing it to under the seats from an ac duct and give myself airconditioned seats. No joke. Winter project here