Ok... so in the quest to construct the perfect stereo.... I've decided that I need to build a custom subwoofer box.

I want to build it to mount up under the passenger side dash.... and mount it so that there's still room for my passengers' feet.

Question: Can I drill into the forward (vertical) portion, or do I need to drill from the top?

How close to the forward firewall is the gas tank??

The LAST thing I want to do is drill a couple holes and fill the inside of my car with gas. What's safe?

the gas tank is fairly close so I would drill down. Pull the gas tank to do this right and while you are in there change the fuel lines.


Geoff

There is a fair amout of room around the area where the antenna wire passes through.

-Drill slowly if you dont pull the tank, It'd be hard to hit it, but once your drill cuts all the way through, it will keep kicking forward, and it won't back it's way out at first until you switch the drill to reverse...so if you have the drill really winding up when the bit cuts through, it'll fly forward really fast towards the gas tank...

there are several places where the gas tank actually touches the front firewall. there's not much room for error ....

Andy

I'm not going to risk drilling through the forward part of the firewall..... I would be in a world of shit drilling into the gas tank.

I'll dust drill from the top, and "hang" a speaker box.

I went out to the local stereo shops today on lunch.... found a new product: a SIX INCH JL Subwoofer.... I think I can build a box small and inconspicuous enough to handle that.

Plus... I only need a 2 channel amp... that'll save me a few bucks as well

Anyone ever try those "Aura - Bass Shakers" in a 914?

They'd fit behind the seats real good I think. But not sure of the sound output.

Never heard of such a beast..... What are they??

BTW.. I'm not trying to to turn this thing into one of those guys you hear coming from a mile away.... I just want a good quality sound that I can hear at 80mph with the roof off.

Aura Bass Shaker



There you go! Its more for feel than sound I think!

Jeff

Hmmm.... I think both my posts have turned into the same thing--LOL

I just bought a descent, but yet not highly desireable 600W amplifier (JVC).. I think that, with those new subs I found ought to work well.

I know JVC has a bad rep... but their stuff has always been really good, really inexpensive, and not really worthy of breaking into a car for, you know??

Thats why I went with a JVC head unit. Lower "theftability" rating that a Pioneer or an Alpine.

I used 1 JVC head in my life, never again... the quality was ok, but the controls were a PAIN! I like pioneer, or even Sony and they are still cheap enough to fly under the thief radar... or just get a decent removable face head and remember to remove it,

the amp should be ok, but I am very prejudice against JVC heads now... they MAY be better now, but I'll never try them again.

btw, those little bass shakers look cool, there was another product like that in the EARLY 90s... they didn't sell well, but sounded ok, and the auras are only $65/pair

I may look at those and see how they sound when I do my install

I'm going to mount mine in the area were the EGR and CAT counter was. I've chopped the brackets off and it looks like I can hide a decent size box in there if I shape it exactly like the fiberglass chunk I removed. Once box&guard are in place, I'll put the carpet over it and you'll never know its there.

I'm also leaving my stock anchient deck in the dash and going with one of these:

Secret Audio

Then I can park it somewhere with the top off and not worry some punk is just going to walk away with it.

ROTFLMAO

how about a nice pair of headphones? Aren't those illegal in most states?

Good Luck.

You don't need a stereo for that, just a high performance exhaust system.
You could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and no drilling required.

Here's where I got the set I've have...

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/cate...T-1B&type=store

I love this store , If 'Goldmine' doesn't have an elec. component, this place usually does.

Anyway, I hook one of them up to a crappy stereo I had in the basement, just to see what would happen....pretty wild, it just about jumps out of your hand...then I stuck it up against a metal wood-burning stove and the sound was pretty impressive. I'm thinking a pair of these stragetically placed behind each seat might sound pretty good (way too much vibration to attach directly to the seat...unless you're into that kind of thing ).

Ye have little faith

You wait..... I'm gonna hook up this car with a good sound, and its going to be very "plain" looking.. just how I like it

You'll see..... You'll rou the day!!!

(Is that how you spell that??)

People frequently remove the big foam piece in the passenger footwell and mount a sub there.

Big foam piece????

Yep, there's a sizable void behind/underneath the passenger side footwell area. I believe it's like some kind of pour foam polyurethane stuff. My '73's already stripped, so I'm not sure how difficult it is to remove.

I do remember on the Pelican Parts BBS, seeing some pics of someone doing a sub installation there.

Pics from PP site...

cont.

cont.

This one is obviously removable, it's just to show you the amount of dead space over on the passenger side. Seems like a good place for a sub, as long as there's some kind of reinforcement to keep the passenger's foot from trashing it.

HOLY CRAP!!!

Now see.. thats why I love this site... I assumed that it was just flat metal up in front of the carpet there..... Guess you learn something new everyday.

Ok.... the real question...... Is that subwoofer box for sale, or is that a custom piece?

If its custom, the guy did a hell of a job. I want one... BAD

ninefourteen, check out this site...

http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/boxes.asp

There's a huge amount of info about subs and speaker enclosures here. Somewhere in the site there's an article (step-by-step) on building custom (form-fitting) fiberglass sub enclosures, which would be perfect for a 914 pass. floor sub installation. You might have to ask on there BBS where it is (I was checking it out about 6 months ago), but it's there.

It's actually spelled r u e.


I like this sub woofer installation much better than the one a stereo shop put in the silver car I restored last year. It totally took up the front trunk, and wasn't well done either IMO. (but it was a big mf speaker)

How's the project working out?



Well, you just might be right. I'll see it but at 80mph with the roof off, I WON'T hear it.

It may be loud at rest, but with all that wind noise (even with a quiet exhaust) you wont get fidelity. I tried for over 10 years and you can get the thump of a subwoofer and you can get LOTS of noise from lots of WATTS but you'll not get good sound at 80mph with the roof off without having the speakers shoved in your ears.

By all means, don't let the opinion of this old fart bother you. More power to you if you can get good sound (from your stereo) at 80mph with the top off. But until then, I won't rue the day.

BTW, if you want to really pump up the wattage, look at upgrading the alternator as it will not be able to keep up with a MONSTER amp for long.

I wish you the best of luck.

Well.. the project is kind of at a standstill... the amp is on its way though.

Still haven't totally decided what sub to go with..... but I'm thinking I might just stay with my original ideas..... and just mount it under the dash.

With some careful measurements, I think I can build a box to house an 8-inch subwoofer without "too" many problems..... and yet still keep the passenger footwell clear.... as well as the center console.

Plus..... if it's up under the dash, I won't have to worry abot it being so "pretty".

As for the challenge to hear it at 80 with the top off??? LOL Call me a young, ignorant punk..... but I gotta give it a shot!!