So after having my amps lie down on the upper floor of the trunk (next to the rear seats) and having some wires not so-neatly arranged around it (because I kept changing the DSPs), and because I had a little car show thing coming up at work, I decided to build an amp rack against the back seats.

I didn't want to block off the passthru before, but I've only ever used it twice: once to carry my stock exhaust (pic) and another time to bring back a pushbroom from Home Depot.

However, I have been suffering from basically being unable to use the rear section of my trunk. So I decided to go for it and block off the passthrough and make an amp rack there.

This is not a professional install. For professionals, this may be cake, but for me it was a big learning experience and was far from straightforward.

So.

I decided to use birch plywood instead of MDF, because birch was lighter and I only needed 1 2x4 sheet (so cost was moot).

So all that we have are V-shaped braces behind the rear seats. The rear seats themselves are just foam-backed, so I can't screw anything into them. The problem is that these braces intersect the rear seats in the lower half only. The topmost portion of the brace is only 60% up on the board or so.

To help with the mounting, I decided to use "mounting squares". I attached them to the V-shaped braces and attached some wooden pieces to make it sit more flush against the not-very-flat brace surface:



Then for the amp board itself, I used a large piece of flat cardboard to trace out a shape and test-fit it before cutting the actual plywood. The end of the trunk has three different widths, getting narrower on top, and so I couldn't just use a perfectly square piece of board. The stock seats had plastic covers behind them, and those covers followed the shape of the rear of the trunk. I used these covers to make an initial outline for the cardboard cutout.

To secure the top of the board, I decided to attach a T-shaped brace (the only one I had lying around) to the top center of the board and then attach it to the sheetmetal using a screw.

Here is a test fit:



I left 2" of space behind the actual back of the trunk, so that I could mount my distro blocks and DSP there. I didn't have enough space to put the amps (in a nice straight-up fashion) and the DSP on the front of the board. Plus, the center rear has approx a 1" ledge sticking up right behind the passthru, and I no longer had to worry about clearing it.

Here is a view of the front of the board. The moral of the photo is that cutting straight lines with the jigsaw is hard. Thankfully, I was going to carpet the amp board, so it wouldn't be very visible.



I used an idea from a friend to raise up the amps using 1/4" spacers and run the wires underneath. This would make the holes where the wires are going completely invisible. Here is a shot of an amp on the spacers (ideally, I should use dark-colored spacers and black-finish screws):



The above shot also shows a T-nut on the left. This is one of the T-nuts for 1/4" size machine screws that I was using to attach the amp board to the mounting squares. T-nuts worked rather well in this application as they were stationary and weren't rotating as I was screwing things in.

Here are the poorly drilled holes for the wires underneath the amps. The holes are just 1/2" or so up from the edges of the amps.. the wires don't run all that much under the amps themselves.



Then I went to carpet the amp board. I had no carpet and it was a Sunday. For some not-so-good reasons, I didn't have carpet prepared. Thankfully, a local Tweeter store was open, and I drove down there to pick up some charcoal and black carpet. The charcoal was too bright and didn't match stock; I ended up going with the black. Here is the carpeted board:



OK, now to mount the amps and run the wiring to them. I attached the amps using #8 gauge machine screws and T-nuts. Damn, do I like using T-nuts! They feel so secure.



As I began mounting the amp board, I realized just how heavy and unwieldy the thing is with two amps on it. It was a total pain to get it up in position and screwed down. As I got it up, I realized that the top needed more bracing. So I attached two extra L-braces (one per side) to the top, screwing the top into the metal using sheemetal screws and the bottom into the amp board using wood screws. The wood screws I had were too long, so I ended up using a nut to use up some of the length of the nuts.

My newly-received Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.2 DSP got a place on the back of the amp board in the center. I can see the unit when I remove the passthrough cover.

Here is the back of the amp board, all mounted and ready to rock (click for larger pic):



Yes that's extra power wire on the right which I ought to trim by now. I originally left extra length to allow flexibility if I wanted to route it elsewhere.

I used barrier strips on the back to make it easier to disconnect and remove the amp board (although I don't anticipate doing so).

So here is the finished look of the trunk:



I want to swap out the red RCA cable for something better-looking, but that's a very low-priority item now. This is way cleaner than what my trunk used to look like. All that space on the bottom of the back of the trunk is now usable.

The back seats are back on and you can't see any of the other side of the board.

Since the amp board is at such an angle, you can't see the wires coming out of the amps unless you lay your face almost to the bottom of the trunk. So in retrospect, it wasn't worth raising the amps up and tucking the wires underneath.

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Also, the 4080 box is holding up alright (installed Nov 2005). The metal tab that keeps it from moving came off the metal screws, and so I had to add some washers to keep it in place. Also, my rotor shaped grill has a small crack in one of the bottom connections, probably from flying all over the place, because on certain harder turns, the grill flies out. I need to figure out a way to keep it in place more.

 

Wow man... that look good! I'm very impressed how clean that looks! nice job!

 

that looks awesome..i was gonna do something like that but decided not to because of the time that that would take. nice job though

 

i want that sub grill lol!

 

Props man, That's nice!

 

Man you had to go and bring SEXY back

Sweet install...

 

Awesome work. Even better in person.

 

Time for a suggestion here. From my perspective I see a big wall that is prohibiting bass response from getting into the cabin. In the center of the rear deck where the stock Bose amp would normally be is a nice big hole once you take out the stock Bose amp (if so equipped). Take and cut out the plastic on the back deck above it and make a speaker grill over it to help some of that bass response get into the cabin area.

 

Thanks for the sugggestion. I do have the both of the rear 6x9 speakers removed--so, behind the stock grilles, that should be enough open area to let more bass through. Also, my amp rack doesn't seal completely (there is about 1/4-1/2" clearance on the sides and top, covered with carpet), so I'm also hoping that plays in my favor.

It's easy enough to remove the Bose amp placeholder, but I don't want to cut my rear deck plastic cover until I have a stock replacement handy

 

Looks nice! Very clean install.

 

Go to the autowrecker and grab another plastic type of dash or door and practice on it until you know how to do your own.