I have four 12" subs in my basement and wanted to put two of them in the car. I have seen the single 10" enclosure that fits in the storage well but was thinking I could have a box built for my 2 subs, still be able to store my top, and have the amp flush mounted as well.

Has anyone else done this or anything close to it?

Mike

 

Yep, you can build up to a 2.5 cu.ft. enclosure and still be able to use the storage compartments as well as put your Targa top in the back in it's stock mounts. Here's something I threw together. It's a 2 cu.ft sealed enclosure with two 10"s. Partitioned, pollyfilled and crossed over at 80 Hz down. The area where the emblem is located is the cover for the electronic crossover and the amps and digital cap are flush mounted behind the seats. The amp enclosure is hinged (soon to have hydraulic lifts) so all you do is pull up the rack and access the storage compartments. This sub enclosure was an experiment I was doing on frequency response with two 10"s in the hatch of a C4 to provide the best SQ. 80 Hz turned out to be perfect. SQ of the bass is tight and responsive. Of course I also have over 70 sq.ft. of Brown-Bread sound dampening in there too.

Not one single trim piece was cut or harmed during this installation. It can all be put back stock with no damage left behind. :)

Here are a few pix of the rear. Pics are hazy and overexposed because I suck at taking pictures. :D

 

Looks sweet!

 

MMM....Does the exhaust rumble stand a chance? If they only had a servo controlled velodyne for car audio, that could be the next experiment. :smash:

 

I was just trying to brainstorm when I saw your photos. Awesome job! I just acquired a nice pair of 12's and a Kenwood amp and was trying to figure out my best option for installation in my '84. Could I trouble you for the specs on the box you made. What about the partition in the middle? Just to clarify, the design of the box is a sealed enclosure with sound dampening material filling the inside. Also, how exactly were you able to mount the amp? Is it on top of one of the hatches? I was thinking of putting it exactly behind the driver's back (behind the seat) but I don't think that will work very well, if at all. Did you have to get a new high output alternator, inline capacitor, or anything like that?
Thanks for your help
P.S. Kudos for the Corvette emblem on the crossover cover ;)

 

Woofer box has 1.98541 ft3 or 2 cubic feet air space TOTAL
Sealed box made from 3/4" inch MDF wood
Box dimensions in inches (Measured from inside)
H – 9.25"
L – 30.25"
D – 13.5"
Notch in box dimensions in inches (Notch is for active crossover to fit in, measured from outside)
H – 10.75"
W – 10.75"
D – 3"
Yes, the box is sealed and well caulked with a layer of Brown-Bread sound dampening material lining the inside (not necessary but I use it to help in sealing. Some people use fiberglass, this is the same thing just quicker to do). I also have one bag of Polly Fill in each side. I originally had no partition in the middle but have since put one in, I changed it because I altered the tuning for different subs. It's made of 3/4" MDF as well. The advantage of having a partition is that if one sub goes bad, the other one won't be damaged. Without a partition, you will get good bass response but the subs share airspace and if a sub goes out, the remaining sub will have double the airspace it needs and it could be damaged by that. It also makes a difference in sub tuning but that's a different subject. Remember to take into account the 3/4" of MDF you are using when measuring. Measure twice, cut once.

Equation to calculate enclosure airspace: WxLxH/1728

I built an amp enclosure for the amps, digital cap, distro blocks, relay, etc, etc. from 5/8" Birch. The amps and cap are set down inside the amp enclosure with a 1/8" plywood top with the amps and cap dimensions cut out so they will show flush with the carpet I put on everything. The amp enclosure is hinged to the sub enclosure and can be raised up like a lid to access the storage compartments. Once I figure a way to install the hydraulics without having to cut the interior (and that's the trick here) I will put them in to raise the amp enclosure at the push of a button.

Here are some pics of the amp enclosure:

With the top on.


Underneath the amp rack are the distro blocks, relays and wiring. The "coiled up" wires are extra power, ground, and remote turn on's for adding additional equipment like hydraulics, cooling fans, etc. all ready to just be slapped in without adding new wiring.


I wouldn’t advise it unless you are very short and don’t need the legroom. Some people have put their amps behind the passenger seat but I still would not do it. Too easy to damage the amp or the seat from that location. Also, you have the same problem with no legroom for the passenger, not to mention heat dispersion problems.

I upgraded my electrical system wires with 4-gauge and ANL fuse as well as put in a 175 amp alt. I have a 1-FARAD digital cap in the rear by my amps but I use it mainly as a filter for the amps. Needless to say I have no voltage problems but I also am a student of overkill. If you are running under 1000 watts total then you might not have to upgrade your alt. I would suggest however, you upgrade your electrical system wiring by adding no smaller than 4-guage wires to it regardless of how many watts your system pushes. It is inexpensive and the results are quite noticeable. Just do a search on how to upgrade your electrical system wiring, I have written several posts detailing the process.

You're welcome and thank you. :cheers:

 

These are some pics I have gathered from different posts from other members. I would like to do something like the second pic but with the amp on one side and the sub on the other. I dont know which member these systems belong to but I really like the second one!

Mike