Building a false floor for my amp's to mount "into"....

[Eric VerValin]

Here is what I have planned. My power wires come out of the right side of the amps, speaker and rca's come off the left hand side. I'm going to bundle the two groups, as if they are 2 big wire harnesses coming off opposite ends of this "thing" I made.

This thing was designed to mount right on top of the spare, and using a spare nut off the top of a strut, which happens to have a nice shoulder on it, and is the same thread pitch as the hooked bolt in the center of the spare, it mounts in place nicley. You can't see them, but there is a good 45 1 1/4" wood screws used in this. The moulding is primered pine, pine for the base where the amps screw to, and some spare crap I had laying around I cut to fit inside the spare.

I'm going to notch some 1"x1" peices around the spare, so I can put them together like lincoln logs of sorts, and not have to screw them down. Easy out if I need to use the spare. I plan on leaving enough slack to move the amps out of the way, so I can still access the spare.

On top of that, I need to get some more carpet, and I'm going to cut a peice of plywood or maybe something a little thicker, and glue the carpet down to it.... leaving enough extra to lay into those p[ockets there in the rear, and the front edge of it, will lay flat and tuck in behind the rear seat. Should look like it was made this way I'm hoping. Plexiglass or something on top, maybe some computer fans, and whatever to vent it. Possibly some led's that light up whenyou open the trunk. But the way I have it, you shouldn't be able to see 1 wire.... What do you think? Ideas ?











See my rubber bushing to protect against shock? > Should only lose about 2" of trunk depth there in the middle... minus the carpet thickness...






Should look something like this... need to cut a peice 36x48, cut the holes out, and find some carpet. Of course a little wire management, zip ties, and wire loom, and I should be good to go...

 

[Eric VerValin]

Got a chance to play around outside today.. Came up with a few more ideas... And got my floor cut..

Cut my holes...



Had it sitting like this for a while... shaving a little off that center piece... really didn't want to screw that up. Going to put a piece of all-thread against the back of it, so it won't come apart on accident.



From a usable spare... the 4 cross braces all lay in place, no tools required. One 1/4" socket and a 6" extension, and the amps bolt down the the tire there.




Then with it all in place I figure I'll "Pin" it in place... already got my pins and cotter pins, so the top part will come off easy. I'm going to add a piece across the front, and two other funny shaped peices on the sides there, which will hinge toward the center so the entire thing can come out in one piece.



Need to find a big piece of carpet now... then I'm going to "frame the edges there with some 1/2" conduit, drill some carefully places holes on the inside, and use that 3/8 steel rod in the pic there to make the amps look like they are behind bars. Which will run front to back so I can still slide boxes in the trunk when needed. I plan to have a little carpet over hang so everything tucks up front, along the sides, and into the rear pockets there.

 

[dohcsable]

Amp cooling isn't an issue I presume?

 

[Eric VerValin]

They should all be open to air flow, but I was thinking about popping some holes underneath and mounting a pair of 90MM computer fans, to fire up off a relay tied to my remote amp wire so it will come on with the amps. It's the main reason I didn't want to put plexiglass over the amps.

I'd had the Sub's amp wired up for a month now, and it doesn't get too terribly warm at all. The other one I'm sure the gain will be up a little higher, and I bet it draws a bit more, but it shouldn't be too bad. I may get a small drill bit and pop a bunch of holes along the inside so it would draw cold air up from around the spare tire.

Either way, I don't want to fry my alternator, so I may not even hook the big one up until I wire up a 95 alternator in there... more than likley a yellow top in the corner of the trunk there too. I just noticed I can draw 165 amps with this setup @ 14.4. About 150% of what my alternator is now. Pretty sure that would really tax that alternator in a bad way.

 

[Eric VerValin]

Went out for some carpet, and carpet glue (Permetex carpet / headliner adhesive), glued it to the face, let it dry, trimmed around the edges sprayed the backside, used scrap pecies and clamps to hold it down on the inside.



Then at home depot I found some galvanized 1/2" channel. Drilled out my holes, and then figured out I should have bought some more of this steel rod. Everything is pretty much done.. I just ran out of supplies. Getting close. Just need to adjust the height a little bit, and finish running some wire...



Need to find some round peices of steel to use to make it look like a hood pin "washer" or whatever you wanna call it. Little things... big stuff is done..

 

[SHOBlu]

Lookin' good Eric! You should definitely provision for cooling. Something like a couple of computer fans, one in and one out, and some discreet holes in the false floor. Stinger Electronics makes fan controllers that work great. That way the fan's wouldn't be drawing current constantly. You can find them on eBay for as little as $27 or so. I've been window shopping amps for the past week or so and came across the fan controllers. I wish they were around 10-15 years ago..........

Keep up the good work!

 

[Eric VerValin]

Thanks ! It was kind of hard to explain what I saw in my head. Kinda had to just keep plugging away at it. But I did find my hood pin solution. Need to drill 4 holes in these washers and find some nickle plated screws and figure where / how to mount the other end...







Getting a lot closer. Need to pull my rear seat and get the front edge level where I want it, then drill my holes for the "Pins" then worry about running some wire. Then I need to trim off a little carpet and lay a few peices across the front edge, then I should be good to go!

Might take a break tho now. I got a little job tonight wiring up some stuff at Best Buy. And I'm thinking it'll take all night. But everything included I'm still under $100. Not by much tho.

Edit.... Need to hit up the American Legion... get rid of that old flag back there... Just noticed it sitting there looking sad. No worries tho, it's been folded in the corner there until I can get rid of it the right way. (Yes some of us still give a s@%t.)

 

[Eric VerValin]

Well, I trimmed out the edges.... added my 'pins' and after I drill a big hole for that 1/0, I'll be "done"... might need to put a little lighting somewhere....

 

[boat]

Looks good, Eric. I like it.

 

[intimdatr]

What he said!

 

[Eric VerValin]

Hey Boat... Have you ran that fat cable of yours yet? I was thinking right below and towards the center of where the lower a/c line is.... Not too sure how it lines up, but Thats where I'm at now. Trying to keep that big dude hidden might be a challenge... lol

 

[digeronimo34]

Looks great man. I love custom work.

 

[boat]

Yep, ran it before I put the black dash in, after I removed the VAPS module and harness. Tucked it along the driver side of the car (before the carpet went in) underneath all of those plastic trim pieces where most of the other body/interior wiring run. Did the same on the other side with 3 pairs of RCA's, run along the passenger side of the car in the same way as the power wire. I re-used that hole and grommet from where the vaps harness goes through, and wrapped the engine bay side in black wire loom and tucked up along the lip on the top of the firewall. Nice and hidden, if you didn't know it was there, you would never see it.

Hey Boat... Have you ran that fat cable of yours yet? I was thinking right below and towards the center of where the lower a/c line is.... Not too sure how it lines up, but Thats where I'm at now. Trying to keep that big dude hidden might be a challenge... lol

 

[Eric VerValin]

Well my problem is that 1/0 is just too fat to fit under there.... I have my speaker wire right down the center, and my amp gain controllers run down the side like your saying. And I'm pretty sure I used that same hole your talking about before when I had my 8ga running there, but I'm thinking I'll need to open that hole up to get this 1/0 in there. I bet a trip to Grainger is in my future. Maybe all-phase... I should still have an account there.


Just to clarify, the VAPS hole your talking about is just north of the gas pedal right? I'll add a few pics here in a few to show you where I'm looking at.

 

[boat]

Roger.

The throttle cable is real close to that too. I was able to run my 4 gauge across the top of the brake and clutch pedal quadrant so that it was not in the way of any pedal movement, then it was on the far side of the pedals, where it was draping across the top of that quadrant, it is a nice place for it to fall, to run down the lower firewall into the floor on the driver side.

Just to clarify, the VAPS hole your talking about is just north of the gas pedal right? I'll add a few pics here in a few to show you where I'm looking at.

 

[Eric VerValin]

Yea I just got back under there a second ago.. and thats where I ran the power exactally for my 8 ga which powered the sub before. I also ran wires for a hood trigger for the alarm through there I forgot about.. I think I'll have just a little blue sticking out where the console meets the dash there. not too sure on how to get around the HVAC plastic thats right there.




And that bushing is big enough.... won't be much left after i open it up a bit to fit this fat guy in there.. lol I just hope the rear seat lays down nicely.. lol

 

[boat]

If you can run it under that plastic channel under the carpet, it should hide it nicely. When I got to the back of my car with my power wire, it is not even under the seat. Runs beside it. I know its a pain, but if you really want to run it and hide it well, you will have to take apart part of your interior to get it there.

 

[rbruso]

If you can run it under that plastic channel under the carpet, it should hide it nicely. When I got to the back of my car with my power wire, it is not even under the seat. Runs beside it. I know its a pain, but if you really want to run it and hide it well, you will have to take apart part of your interior to get it there.

On a previous (non-SHO) '89 Taurus I was able to tuck two 4-gauge wires in those same areas and have them hidden quite nicely. The only place they were visible was right around the e-brake handle area, and I wrapped them in electrical tape to make them less noticeable.

The second 4-gauge was ground. It went directly to the battery negative and to the common body ground my amps were using. Basically, it acted to stabilize the grounds between the different parts of my (rusty) car body. Also had a dedicated negative from the battery to the ground point at the head unit. Overkill, but the annoying alternator whine I had wrestled with for a few years was killed quite nicely.

Still haven't really gotten around to setting up amps/subs in any SHO I've owned. Basic speaker locations are upgraded, but they're driven by the aftermarket H/U. I miss the sound, but I've always had way too many other projects to get it done properly.

 

[boat]

Hmmm... thanks, Richard. I like that idea of running a dedicated body ground from the battery to where you ground the amps at. Makes sense, must do!

 

[Ishodu]

That looks great nice work!