Enclosure/Amp mount location with rear strut bar

[winstontj]

My car came with a jl12w0 in a tiny box that's bungee corded to the rear strut bar (on the bumper side). The amp is screwed into the enclosure on the bumper side, woofer faces the pass compartment.

In my 2002 I mounted my amp board on the rear firewall at first, then I mounted the amps under the rear seats and put the sub between the shock towers. e30's don't have an under the back seat so I'd like to find a creative way to mount amps and a sub all between the rear firewall and strut bar to open up the trunk a little more. I'm going to throw away the crap and use other equipment. I'm not trying to start a debate over how krappy jlw0 series woofers or shitty pioneer amps are - the PO put them there not me. I simply need a creative way to mount a nice single 12 (or maybe i'll buy a new 10) and three amps (maybe only two if I just go with rear speakers) all between the rear firewall/bulkhead and the strut bar. I don't care if the box wraps around the strut bar or goes under/over it.

Anyone sell anything or have any good pics for me?

If anyone cares I have F&R MBQ QSD 5.25's, a JL12w3, 2-Fosgate t600-4 and 1-Fosgate t500-1. I don't have an enclosure built for the 12w3 and am debating going down to a 10w3 or 10w6 still driven by the fosgate 500a1. If it matters I listen to everything - radio, country, a little rap & then the gf listens to all her stuff. I went with this setup because I'm after crisp, clean sound not noise. I'll go down to the 10" woofer if that makes a big difference with the enclosure size. Also I'm worried about heat if I put the amps directly on the rear bulkhead and then mount a tall thin enclosure right in front of that....

If anyone has any thoughts, pics, suggestions, etc. I'm open. Also I don't have a head unit yet. I'm looking for something nice and simple, possibly something with a TFT display that is Windows compatable if I go to MegaSquirt so I can do my tuning from the display - if not I'd rather just go with a nice head unit that's got 3-5v outs (maybe they are higher now) and single CD with iPod hookup.

Thanks for reading through such a long post. Also if anyone is in the Boston area and wants to take a look please let me know.

[winstontj]

Bump....

Maybe I pissed someone off???

Just looking for an enclosure or drawings for an enclosure for a 10" or 12" sub that will fit between a bavauto rear strut bar and the rear bulkhead. Any help would be much appreciated.

[240zs30]

Hi, Don't know if anyone is pissed but there is a lot of stuff in previous threads. Maybe others will give you different opinions but just to get you started........
This one is pretty nice to give you an idea if you haven't seen it yet.
pretty clean setup. The box would probably work with your 12. Check out the JL size for the recommended enclosure size.The rear strut bar may be an issue tho.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=48950&highlight=jordan

If your looking at using your 12 or going to a 10 it will be up to your music taste. Also in this one....

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=83546

you could figure out some ideas on how to make the stuff yourself....
I have a similar setup but have decided to make a fiberglass sub in the left side of the trunk with the required .69 for a 10 inch JL. MB Quarts in the front with a decent Alpine head unit.

Hope this helps. Good Luck.:)

[winstontj]

Was hoping that someone had drawings for an enclosure already OR that someone would sell an enclosure pre-built.

I also need a place to put my amps unless they will fit on the box somewhere in the back. I'd rather put them somewhere better for weight like under the front or rear seats - but that's not possible with our cars.

[netcsk]

You could build your enclosure around your strut bar. In other words, remove the strut bar and build the enclosure with a hole through it (a PVC tube would work for simplicity) to where it will fit around the ends of the strut bar. Put the enclosure and strut bar together; then put them in the car. Otherwise, I couldn't imagine you getting enough volume in the area between the wall and the bar.

Why are you running 2 4 channel amps? Separate channels for each components around the car?

I have a 4x100 and a 2x200 screwed into my rear deck and have never had any overheating issues with my sub pushed up against one of them.

Things have changed somewhat since these pics, but you get the idea.

[winstontj]

I bridge the amps so each set front & rear get a dedicated 600w amp. The Q's are an amazing speaker (IMO) but that power range is about as much as I would ever run to them. Others run 800+ to them but this is WAY overkill as it is with 600. If I did it over again I'd get one 800w 4chan amp for the speakers and one 200w amp for an 8" sub.

BTW do you guys know what the stock size holes are in the Harmon/Kardon rear speaker housings are? I would like to keep everything totally stock looking (stealth) so that I can park anywhere and not worry. If the 5.25" is too big I may get smaller speakers or look for another solution.

I'm thinking that I'll put the amp board on the back bulkhead and put the sub enclosure built around the strut bar somehow. I'll look up the specs and see about volume but I'm probably going to jump down to at least a 10 if not an 8