My goal was to build a great sounding system to play my tunes and not loose functionality of the vehicle. I am not trying to let the neighbors know I have a loud system so I focused on sound quality instead but it has plenty of volume for my needs.

Well here it is, or should I say "What can Brown do for you" as Santa Clause drives a brown UPS truck this time of year. He brought me a 10" alpine type R sub, 6.5 MBQuart Reference speakers, 6.5 MBQuart Discus speaker, 600 watt mono alpine sub amp, and a 75x4 Alpine amp. Head unit was already installed several weeks ago but its an alpine 9847.



I decided to build my own box. This was due in part because every box I looked at really cut into the cargo area which would cause me to loose functionality.

Prep work for the project. Plastic, painter tape, and foil everywhere in case of spillage of fiberglass resin. Don't want to hose up my brand new ride.


Here is the back of the box completed and trimmed up. Put in the truck to test fit.


This is the box with the 5/8" mdf board glued into place. I did it with a hot glue gun and it worked great as hot glue sets very fast but gives you time to work. Make sure you fit the board up and glue it when the box is in the truck. I did not do that initially and had to cut the glue and reshape the board. This is important because if you glue it while out of the truck it will cause the fiberglass to flex and then it won't fit right.


After that was complete I stretched material over the top and front open sides, hot glued it in place and put resin on it. I then cut off all the excess material with scissors and a dremel tool with sander blade which was needed because the resin hardened the edges. I don't have pics of this but I covered the opens spaces only. Why cover the front of the box in material and have to apply resin it. That adds time and money as resin is expensive. After that I fiberglassed the material/resin covered areas on the inside and outside of the material since the material/ resin is pretty weak.

After that I sanded it down and bondoed the heck out of it to get it smooth and make her puuuurrrttyyy!! Lots of sanding!


Here is an install picture. The rear internal plastic cargo panel is not hard to remove. To truly remove it you have to take out the rear seat. I did not do that so I just flexed it a bit so I could get behind it. I sound deadened the heck out of the body metal behind it and ran 2 1/4x20 bolt though the cargo pane and though the box to hold the box in place. I then ran the speaker cable and bolted it all together. After that I caulked the heck out of the holes (created by bolts and speaker wire) so I could have a sealed enclosure.


Here she is installed and completed!

Here is a door that has the speaker installed and has been sound deadened with eDead.


Here is my regular amp installed under drivers side seat. I installed it onto a 1/4" thick plywood piece that I custom cut. I place a 2x4 on the side close to the door so it would level it out a bit and fit over the A/C vent that run under the seat.


Here is my sub amp and distribution block installed under passenger side seat. Mounted identically to the regular amp.


Here is a crappy picture of my crossovers for the MB Quart Reference speakers. Up under the dash on the drivers side there is a free space of bare metal on the inside of the quarter panel. I screwed in a 2x4 spacer with self taping metal screws and a 3/8" piece of plywood to make a mount for the crossovers. One thing to note is that all the power wires and such did not interfere with the crossover sound. I got lucky.


Here is the head unit.


That about does it. I ran my RCA signal cables around the door frames and my power wires up under the center console. To remove the center console just remove two screws on both sides near the floor on the very back edge. After that you pull up your emergency brake up as tight as it will go and you can lift from the back end. It won't come out but will give you access to run your wires.

Now I get to enjoy her. Only thing left to do is to sound deaden the rear hatch door.

Sorry so long winded.

Great job!

Now, can you make me one, too?

Looks great. Time and money permitting I have plans like that!

Wicked Pissa!!!

Nice!!!

Great job!!!! Enjoy the fruits of your labor!!!

Great job! I've been avoiding fiberglassing my X, but you've inspired me by jumping right into it with your new 05. BUT I'M NOT CUTTING ANYTHING!!! lol, I'll wait another month or two before I start with all of that.

Thanks folks. I did this post not to brag (ok maybe a little) but to show what could be done with an 05x especially since not many people have done something like this to the 05s. All of the install work is easy to do with the exception of running your own wiring though the doors. Thats not too bad but its a real pain.

I like so many people was hessitant to rip into the interior of my brand new ride but after I got going it was not that bad. I have done installs before but this is the first time I have not used factory speaker wiring (ran my own) and my first fiberglass/wood sub enclosuere I have ever made. Key thing is to allow plenty of time and not rush it. Another tip: Expect problems. Example: I figured I could bolt in the rear 6.5" speakers to the doors with out adaptors. WRONG. Had to make some which took a bit of time because the fit has to be perfect or else the interior door panel won't go on correctly.

Lets see some other peoples systems?!!?

mtbcyclist,

Do your seats slide back and forth properly with the amps mounted under them? I had a small Alpine amp under my passenger seat and it blocked the seat from sliding on its track.

Nevermind, I just found the answer to my question. You have a 2005 which has more room under the seats.

I went and checked my 02 x and you have a hell of a lot more room. I was wanting to put a 10" JL w7, but I'd definately have to cut to do that. Oh, well, time to get busy.

not done with my fiberglass box but i'll post what i have currently

I didnt pop in the top tray just yet because im installing the PAC controller for my steering wheel to connect to my eclipse cd8455








tweeters for the dash...


my jl 450/4 did run longer than i thought, the rear floor mats have to lay over my amp a bit but still very clean and i like it. seats clear the amp fine. problems running wires back and forth and thru the doors. but got that done as well.

i'll post my sub in a week or 2 when the damn thing is done.

does that amp really fit under the drivers seat? i would hate to see people in the back kick it over and over again... i would put some sort of barrier up if it hangs out at all.

shit... sorry, i just saw your last post...

i would still build some sort of kick detourant.

just saw your post and the pics of your power wire for the amp. do you think you can show me where you stuck it through to get it to the inside from under the hood.

thanks adv.

If you are looking at the firewall (like the picture shows) there is a point in the far right hand side a few inches down from the top of the firewall where the vehicles wiring haraness passes though the firewall. I simply cut a small slit in the rubber boot and passed the power wire though it. I then caulked the slit in the rubber boot I made shut (obviously after running the power wire) with silicone house caulk so water would not get though the hole I made.

Snowboard guy: Your amp under the drivers side seat is way too small. You will never be able to here it. Oh and nice work!

Snowboardguy: You have the stereo controls on your wheel. Do they work now after you put in your new HU? Any thoughts.

They shouldn't work unless you get the PAC SWI-X adapter to allow for use with factory steering wheels with audio controls.

highly recommend what mtbcyclist said about slitting the boot and sealing it up.

HAHAHA...OK everyone...let me have it about the amp...i can take it...

they dont work after i installed everything.

and max6spd is right...must use the PAC SWI-X controller to get them to work. which i just bought 2 days ago.

ok i take that back...i probably cant take it ...im a sensitive guy...

here is a pic of the floor mats over it and a pic of how much the amp actually sticks out behind the seat...like i said, IT ISNT THAT BAD!!! ROAR!!!


just playing everyone...your my friends, your my friends... :rolleyes:

Hey MTB Contgrats on finally finishing it! Good job.

Here's a few pics of my amp installation under my front seats..

1. Driver's side 2ch amp


2. Passenger's side 4ch amp


3. Amps hidden when seats are in regular seating position


4. Height clearance on passenger's side



5. Height clearance on driver's side

mtbcyclist

Nice job dude i want something nice like that.i dont think ill cut anything probably just drop a 10 inch JL in a q logic box which shouldnt take that much room.But dude nice work.

snowboardguy

Good lord! Nice job very good job.I like those huge amps dude i never owned a JL amp i only owned there subs.JL subs are great let me know how those amps work out.
What series of subs are you gonna put on it?
Just go ahead and list all your setup im curious to calculate in my brain how its gonna sounds. I have 2 12 inch jl W6 in my 04 tundra getting pushed by a small fosgate (300W) amp and they still bumped like crazy!
Wish i could start working on my X 05 but it seems my wife and my daughter are in it more then me and i wouldnt want them going everywhere with so much equipment so im gonna stay basic NOT STOCK basic like mtbcyclist .

Good job guys keep it up.

Eclipse cd8455
diamond audio HEX s600s
diamond audio D361i
diamond audio D612D4 (traded a CM312D2, had to upgrade my sub due to the power of my mono amp)
JL audio 450/4 amp
JL audio 500/1 amp

JL amps are very good, IMO. no problems with them yet. their subs also hit very hard. i had a 10W0 in my little geo before and it was nice. I heard that diamond subs hit cleaner so I went with them instead.

good luck with your future install.