(click here for thread with finished results)

Alright - here are some progress pics of the box (it's my first box, so criticism is welcome):

3/4" MDF used

The box works like the subthump boxes sorta I believe -- it rests on two rails I have running from one side of the well to the other -- the box is not suspended in air or anything like that..


-bracing will be added along the back bottom and front bottom
-the top rear corner will be leveled off with respect to the plastic of the car


front will be shaped and rounded nicer...won't be able to tell and sanding imperfections once carpeted anyway

The pass side (where the box is not) will have a carpeted board filling in that space where I temporarily have floor mats, and an amp will rest on that (or I'll make a rack for the rear well wall) -- this will all be able to be easily raised to access trunk storage underneath the sub box and the amp rack -- my other smaller amp for front components will go where "stealth" boxes go on a board I have for there.

For now, I just need to glue it all together -- crap...just realized I didn't take pics with the sides in.....I'll get some of those later. Surrounding areas will be filled in with carpet, etc so it will look more "complete" that way as well.




as far back and level as I could get it

--When I had all my specs, I was a little over 1 cu. ft. -- which is what I wanted -- however getting everything to line up just right and changing some of the angles may have brought that number down slightly -- can always polyfill I guess.

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EDIT: here are some pics I have from earlier that show the rails the sub is resting on -- just two pieces of wood I painted black -- they are NOT screwed in...they cannot move due to the small support beam I did screw in on the other side. Reason for this is so that I can easily unplug the sub/box, take that out -- then just be able to lift the boards without any tools and have use of my full trunk again.

 

updated pics will be posted here

 

No sides but we get the idea pretty well!! Like what you've done. It's a departure from the traditional well enclosure but I think it works! You still have a trunk to use even with an amp down there. Nice job. Will it be covered in carpet or have you considered vinyl like the subthump enclosures?!

 

(sorry about the sides -- I didn't even realize it until I was writing this -- they'll be in shortly, I'd run out and do so now but I already took the box pieces out and cleaned up, etc -- hopefully tomorrow after work)

So far I'm thinking carpet -- but that's because I hadn't even thought about vinyl...hmm... I'm still unsure if I will build an amp rack to sit on the rear wall of the well or just have it sit next to the sub. I considered having the larger amp under the enclosure but I really do keep things in that trunk that are nice to have and wouldn't want if getting scraped up, etc. I'll most likely just do everything in carpeting -- otherwise I probably would have made some small changes to the box, but ya never know.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

If you're good with upholstry, go with Vinyl. If you aren't good with upholstry, the vinyl will look terrible and you'll have nasty looking seams. Carpet seams are a little easier to hide.

 

Ok, I can see what you are doing here.. but why? How much etter could it sound over the well enclosure? How muc cu. ft. will you have when done? You mentioned roughly 1 cu ft? What sub are you going to be running in it and wat amp?

Overall I think it will prolly look real nice Good luck bud.

 

Yea I'd have to play with vinyl for a while - I designed the box more for carpeting (if the sides were in you'd see) -- I've never built a box before so I have no idea if my carpeting skills are even decent - so looks like carpet for now..

I never said it would sound better -- I wanted to have easy access to trunk space. I wanted a 12" so I couldn't use a stealth box.

My previous setup was just a box in the hatch itself (not in the well) and I will have my car at school next year so I would like to have a decent system still and be able to hide it. Other than that -- I'm just cheap and bored so making my own seemed to be the best route.

Yea - roughly a little over 1 cu.ft -- will be running an Elemental Designs 13Ov.2 sub with their NINe.2X amplifier (considering their NINe.1 so I have room to grow).

 

vinyl is way harder and carpet will cover errors better

 

I voted vinyl but carpet IS WAY more forgiving. Vinyl top part where the sub would be with the sides carpeted would be fairly easy to do and blend. As the side plastic flows around it would mate up with the vinyl. Then the side closest to the amp would be carpeted to match the well. OH...noticed something that might be an improvement as well...the top edge that backs up to the hatch...you can cut the top edge flat so that it's flush with the side plastic and the trunk latch area. Really easy if you have a table saw by laying the whole box flat on it's back on the table saw. Might work...just throwin ideas out. Either way it's gonna look fine and sound even better!!

 

I like your idea on the partial vinyl

You prob missed the quote in my pic (as part of the changes that would be made to the box) -- but here is one of them that was trying to say what you just described: "-the top rear corner will be leveled off with respect to the plastic of the car " -- thanks for making sure that I am doing this right!

(I'll actually be using a circular saw of a belt sander though....unfortunately, I do not have a table saw) -- I plan on finishing before the end of the week -- too tired/lazy after work to do anything so....give me some time

 

Yea..I missed the quote...sorry. I was fortunate enough that I had a neighbor that didn't feel like moving his table saw so he gave it to me when he moved!! Can't wait to see the finished product and more importantly a review of how it sounds!! Good luck!!

 

If I were to go all carpet -- what color carpeting should I use?

BLACK, CHARCOAL or GREY?

I have been working on it...(at least it has sides now)....got it glued up now (except for top which still needs cutout) -- just need to level off the rear top corner with the surrounding plastic panels and do some sanding. The side is intentionally in to provide a place for carpet seams to make -- the other side of the box wont be seen though, so the surface is flat since I don't care about seams being visible there and wanted to squeeze a little more space out of it.

 

As far as carpet vs. vinyl, carpet will be easier to work with. I went with vinyl and the hardest part was joining the seams. It also highlights all the imperfections where I was in a hurry and did a crappy job rounding edges and such. I had a brainstorm though and am going to remove the vinyl and try wrapping the box in a thin layer of foam to even it out a bit and re-apply the vinyl.

 

I'd go with black.

 

I'd add a board on the right side (closest to the middle if your at the rear of the car looking at it) that goes all the way down to the floor and matches the profile of the well, then notch out for the hatch latch and add another thick (maybe two) pieces of mdf to the rear most part of the box (the part facing the taillight) so that it wouldn't fit and spend some time with a large belt sander to match the profile on the rear wall...I just think that would have a more finished look...

 

thanks for the suggestions -- as I noted with the pics, it was by no means complete at these stages -- and I actually mentioned that I was adding an amp board on the other half, and would level out the top rear corner of the box with respect to the plastic there.

The only thing I wasn't going to do is add wood into the back -- I'll probably try to fine a way just to carpet the gap since I see wood looking out of place carpeted there - especially since I'd have to match the interior there in color..

actually after re-reading your post I'm not 100% sure what you're saying about the amp board -- but it will be laying next to the sub -- nothing will go below the "rails" I have there besides maybe some wires, because under that will be for storage.

 

sounds good, keep me updated with pics...

 

carpeting it tomorrow -- mounting a sub Saturday or Sunday

just needs minor sanding once everything dries up

 

Finally carpeted -- sub mounted tomorrow -- however...I only have my 2ch amp that runs 300wRMS at 4 ohms bridged and my sub will be a DVC 4 ohm.....so it's not even worth hooking up since best I can do is 75 watts per VC... so hopefully they decide to finally ship my amp soon.

anyways, here are some progress pics -- keep in mind I was not trying to make it look factory, etc -- just decent enough to make my idea work (when amp does come it will fill the space right next to the sub box on the board there -- the amp for front components is mounted where stealth boxes go in the cubby secured withe galvanized steel wrap and bolts).

and yes I realize that the top part of the box by the plastic isn't level.....but the other side is level with the carpeted hatch release point which I found more important...and I wasn't about to make the top of the box uneven (can always just raise the plastic more also).

 

turning out not too bad.