89 240sx: My setup

[BlackHat]

I thought that I had a pretty good idea going for a setup. Posting here in case it gives someone else an idea. It's not done, but I'll post the pics as I get farther into the project.

View of the supports from the front. I'm probably going to add two more supports along the sides.

Yeah Yeah, I know. It's not the straightest, but it does its job and I managed to miss the brake lines that run on the underside.

I have the top cut out for 2 8" subs and 2 4"x6" speakers that would normally go on the back brackets of the hatchback. The Subs are going to be in sealed boxes and they just barely fit sideways.

View from the back. The top will have hinges attached in the middle for easy access to anything in the cabinet.

View of just the top cut out.

I'll post more as I get farther along. I have everything lined out, just trying to get it all put together.

Also, if anyone has a link or can post information about the factor harness layout I sure would appreciate it. I need to know which wires are what so I can splice into them. I already have a harness so I don't mess up the factory one, but have no clue where to find the wire layout.

[zerepdivad]

You should definately post up pics as you get more and more done.

[BlackHat]

Finally got the boxes mounted to the top plate. .25cu. ft. sealed enclosures. I was looking more for SQ than brute force.

Monday everything should be done and I'll post the final pictures up.

[BlackHat]

Still have some wire hiding and vacuuming to do, but I'm pretty much there. It sounds GREAT. Looks like I was able to hold to what I originally wanted to. It has plenty of bass but doesn't rattle anyones windows.

I originally thought that I would need some kind of latch to hold the front of the top down. As it turns out, the weight of the speakers and boxes hold it down perfectly. The carpet itself seems to have dampened out any rattling that may have occured otherwise. As an added bonus, the entire assembly can pivot up on the hinges to point straight back. Work pretty good if I wanted to open the hatch and have a party. All I have to do is open both doors at the same time and I have all the sound pointing back and outside. (Just need to disable that damn door ajar ding)

I also was surprised to have as much space below the seats as I did. The only thing that stops the seats from going the entire way back is the wiring. And it doesn't stop the seats by much, so I don't even consider it a problem. The box also did not limit the space the passenger could use by reclining or sliding back.

As you can tell I don't have a lot of barrier between me and road noises. I've been working on the suspension to tighten it up and with those efforts a lot of road noise has been transfered to the interior. So far, this system has been able to overcome all of those noises and then some.

Hope this gave someone some usefull ideas!
Modified by BlackHat at 7:28 AM 4/7/2006

[BIGT94z]

looks real professional for a do it yoiurself job...pics are great...i was thinking of doing the same thing with my s14 but just taking the backseat portion out....

[BlackHat]

I'd be interested in seeing how this would work on a s14. I would think you could get better sound out of something like this in the coupe.

[zerepdivad]

i think this turned out pretty damn nice how's it sounding?

[BlackHat]

Sound is doing very well and I've barely touched any settings on the amps. I'm still playing around trying to find the sweet spot for the subs. I may have to add the frequency limiters on the rear 4x6"s because I can't tell when the subs are overdriving. The 4x6s in the back seem to be pushing too much bass for what they are. Not sure if it's the Head Unit trying to push too much bass to them or if the subs are just vibrating the hell out of them. I actually think it's the first choice, 4x6s are really not that good at bass to begin with.

But even with conservative balancing the system is rocking. It's actually turning out to be a little stronger than I originally thought. Might have to be more carefull in my neighborhood at night

[MiddMackAttack]

Great job.. i may consider doing something similar, however, what did you do to where the top half of the seat goes? have you dont anything with it yet?

[BlackHat]

Not yet, I've been debating what to do there. I also have taken out all of the interior trim from the back. I think in the end I'm going to fiberglass all of it. I may even replace the existing cabinet with fiberglass, but I'm still torn on that. The main reason for replacing the cabinet would be to angle the subs a little better. They work great where they are, but fiberglass would look better imho and would make it easier to cover up where the top of the back seat went (just make that part of the glassed area too). The interior work has been temporarily suspended as I'm struggling through a couple of mechanical problems.

Hell, I haven't even had time to vacuum the car since I did the stereo install