Subs in a convertible - pics?

[Beerhunter]

Hey all,

I would like to add some subs to my convertible. This is a daily driver so a rear seat delete will not be an option. As you know the space in the trunk is already eaten up by the room needed for the top. Most of the pre-built enclosures that fit the sides of the trunk seem to be for the coupes only.

Since the storage area for the top already eats up space at the back of my trunk, I was wondering if anyone has built something that uses up the remaining space. I guess I'm just looking for ideas on how to do this without eating up my precious trunk space.

Any help or ideas would be appreicated.

Cheers!

 

[Liftedbronco]

lose the spare. put a box down in there.

Choose not to do trunk subs and use high quality woofer in the factory sub door location. I think you'd be surprised how good that setup can be.

 

[Beerhunter]

lose the spare. put a box down in there.

Choose not to do trunk subs and use high quality woofer in the factory sub door location. I think you'd be surprised how good that setup can be.

Are the factory amp adequate to drive the upgraded door subs? I'm thinking that I would need to update the amps and the subs. Is that correct?

 

[Liftedbronco]

absolutley need amps. just changing speakers would really do nothing. actually, itd probably be worse.

If im not mistaken, ive seen JL audio 8W1's in the doors. thats probably what ill ultimatley do. Wire them up mono with a dedicated amp 400x1. cut off at like 100hz low pass. Then do (I already have done) some jl 6.5" separates in the doors. I did separates in the rear deck too.

 

[Beerhunter]

absolutley need amps. just changing speakers would really do nothing. actually, itd probably be worse.

If im not mistaken, ive seen JL audio 8W1's in the doors. thats probably what ill ultimatley do. Wire them up mono with a dedicated amp 400x1. cut off at like 100hz low pass. Then do (I already have done) some jl 6.5" separates in the doors. I did separates in the rear deck too.

Where would you mount the amps, in the door? I'm guessing that I will need some pretty compact amps to make this work. Also, I don't have a rear deck which is why the sound in the low end sucks. I have to get most of my sound from the front doors only. I was thinking of adding some tweeters as well.

I guess whatever route I end up taking I will have to bypass the factory harness and run straight off the deck. So much for the PAC harness I just bought - bummer

 

[Liftedbronco]

amps would not fit in the doors. you would want to mount them somewhere in the trunk. maybe you could even go under a front seat.

regarding adding tweeters - thats what separates are. a woofer and a tweeter. you want that in each door in the factory location. well, i mounted my tweeter on the factory speaker grille on the door panel. it looks stock. ill get you a pic 2nite.

Regarding adapter harness - dump the stock radio. its worthless. and itll just cause you headaches now that you are ready for a big boy system.

 

[Beerhunter]

amps would not fit in the doors. you would want to mount them somewhere in the trunk. maybe you could even go under a front seat.

regarding adding tweeters - thats what separates are. a woofer and a tweeter. you want that in each door in the factory location. well, i mounted my tweeter on the factory speaker grille on the door panel. it looks stock. ill get you a pic 2nite.

Regarding adapter harness - dump the stock radio. its worthless. and itll just cause you headaches now that you are ready for a big boy system.

Pics would be awesome thanks.

No stock system here. Needed the harness so that my AVIC deck would work with the factory amps etc so I didn't have to cut the existing wiring.

 

[bigwilly43729]

You need to think this through a bit more, just like it's a mod. I won't recommend any particular brands because people like what they like. If you want subs/amps, the trunk is your best bet. You need to ask yourself a few questions first though:

1. How custom do I want this?
2. How much money do I want to spend?
3. Can I do this stuff myself or will I need a professional?
4. What kind of design am I looking for?

I'll tell you right now, this car is not very friendly for the stealth look and retaining a ass-ton of trunk space together. It can be done, but it's not a walk in the park.

Here are some renderings I made when I laid up my bad leg. This design took me about 6 weeks to make with all of the tweeking that needed to be made. Now I could have done it quicker if I had been able to walk, but my point is that these things take time. If you just jump in there without a plan, you are likely to mess it up and it will cost more than it should.

I have completed about 90% of this project and this design is in my car and is functional at this point. I'd take pics, but I have no clue where the camera is right now. As soon as I find it, I'll put up some pics that can give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. It ends up raising the floor about 4 inches (level with that hump in the back of the trunk) so I can still carry stuff if need be. You can also do something in the spare tire well that will fit in there completely and be totally out of the way.

Good luck!

 

[Liftedbronco]

ill get the pics 2nite. totally forgot last nite.

willy - shit you are the man. awesome stuff. Ive been toying with system ideas since i got the car in '07. for me, ive got amps, subs...all the good stuff left over from my younger years. i want to use it, but i dont want to negate all my trunk space, look like a drug dealer OR add a million pounds of weight.

heres what i found:

triple 10 glass box that appears will fit in the spare tire location. Says its 26" high and 26" wide. Well our spare tire is at least 26" diameter. 27" if its stock diameter for the rest of the tires....
So I could shove that down in the tire well and see what i could do to make it look nice.

 

[Liftedbronco]

epic fail on the pics again. maybe when im home for lunch if i can friggin remember.

 

[Liftedbronco]

heres my tweeters...and a fun pic i snapped at the supermarket.

basically what i did was my tweeters had a removable mounting cup that had a central hole in it to mount the cup with 1 screw. i just used a rivet and attached it through the existing perforations in the door panel (speaker grill). I believe i had to drill the perforation slightly larger....and didnt make the rivet kung-fu tight because i didnt wait it to pull thorough. been like that for years. they dont spin. its great. ppl think its factory.

 

[Liftedbronco]

okkkk i got your pics! lol.

 

[Liftedbronco]

whered ya go beer?