Baron
Enthusiast
I recently did a custom audio installation in my 98 GTS so I figured these pictures may be useful to some of you who are looking for ideas.
My goal with this project was to replace the entire factory system with one that can get really loud if necessary but not be something that attracts a lot of attention from people walking by the car and looking in the back window.
I'm working with a Silver GTS, shown below:
The first thing I did was rip out the factory radio and replaced it with an Alpine 7995, which is a pretty high-end CD player with a flip down face. I chose it because it has a cool silver face which matched the car, but primarily because I can burn MP3s to a CD on my computer and then just pop the CD in this head unit. So instead of having some clunky CD changer in the back, all I need is this head unit and one CD which can hold a couple hundred of my favorite artist's songs.
The factory door speakers were the next to go. I replaced them with JL Audio 6.5" separates, which are outstanding. This was a pain in the butt because the doors would not accomodate the 6.5s as a simple "bolt-in". I actually had to peel the carpet back and widen the circular opening for the grill about 1/2 inch all the way around. After that, the carpet had to be replaced and the speakers were then installed. That was a one day project in itselft, but it turned out well.
Ok, onto the good stuff. The road noise of a Viper is pretty loud so I really wanted to make sure I had enough bass in the back to overcome any road noise without distorting at all. I decided to do a custom fiberglass enclosure in the spare tire well for one JL Audio 15" sub and an amp rack for two JL Audio Amps, one for the sub and for the speakers in the doors. The sub amp is a JL Audio 500/1 which is a one-channel 500-watt mono amp. The other amp is a JL 300/2 which sends 150 watts to each door.
The reason why this was done primarily in fiberglass was that I didn't want a ton of particle board or MDF weighing down the rear of the car. Another reason is because I needed an enclosure that could conform to the contour of the floor in order to get the air space I needed for the sub to function properly. Here's a top view.
As I mentioned earlier, I didn't want this to be something that people could just walk by and see all the time. So I made a snap-in panel that would cover the whole thing up.
The "stealth panel" is one of the few things actually made of wood. The picture below is a look at it from the backside. 13 guage perforated aluminium was used for allowing the sound to escape from the sub, and for allowing heat to rise up from the amps. The aluminum also serves as a fairly sturdy floor that can hold whatever you may want to throw in the back. I put quite a few six-packs in the back and the aluminum didn't bend at all.
Before the enclosure was fabricated, the entire back of the car was stripped and layered with Dynamat, which is a sound deadening material to prevent rattles and other unwanted resonance. I highly recommend this for anybody who is contemplating a sub enclosure in the back. The last thing you want is to put thousands into an elaborate enclosure, only to have the sound ruined by a bunch of annoying rattles.
The only thing that's really not shown here is a 1 Farad Capacitor, which is tucked away in the driver's side well in the back. A cap is used to provide short bursts of power for the amplifiers. The cap is essential for preventing your headlights or dash lights from dimming on heavy bass notes when you're really cranking the system.
By the way, I used to own a car audio business and was a professional installer for a several years just in case you're wondering.
That's about it. If anybody has any questions, let me know.
My goal with this project was to replace the entire factory system with one that can get really loud if necessary but not be something that attracts a lot of attention from people walking by the car and looking in the back window.
I'm working with a Silver GTS, shown below:
You must be registered for see images
The first thing I did was rip out the factory radio and replaced it with an Alpine 7995, which is a pretty high-end CD player with a flip down face. I chose it because it has a cool silver face which matched the car, but primarily because I can burn MP3s to a CD on my computer and then just pop the CD in this head unit. So instead of having some clunky CD changer in the back, all I need is this head unit and one CD which can hold a couple hundred of my favorite artist's songs.
You must be registered for see images
The factory door speakers were the next to go. I replaced them with JL Audio 6.5" separates, which are outstanding. This was a pain in the butt because the doors would not accomodate the 6.5s as a simple "bolt-in". I actually had to peel the carpet back and widen the circular opening for the grill about 1/2 inch all the way around. After that, the carpet had to be replaced and the speakers were then installed. That was a one day project in itselft, but it turned out well.
You must be registered for see images
Ok, onto the good stuff. The road noise of a Viper is pretty loud so I really wanted to make sure I had enough bass in the back to overcome any road noise without distorting at all. I decided to do a custom fiberglass enclosure in the spare tire well for one JL Audio 15" sub and an amp rack for two JL Audio Amps, one for the sub and for the speakers in the doors. The sub amp is a JL Audio 500/1 which is a one-channel 500-watt mono amp. The other amp is a JL 300/2 which sends 150 watts to each door.
You must be registered for see images
The reason why this was done primarily in fiberglass was that I didn't want a ton of particle board or MDF weighing down the rear of the car. Another reason is because I needed an enclosure that could conform to the contour of the floor in order to get the air space I needed for the sub to function properly. Here's a top view.
You must be registered for see images
As I mentioned earlier, I didn't want this to be something that people could just walk by and see all the time. So I made a snap-in panel that would cover the whole thing up.
You must be registered for see images
The "stealth panel" is one of the few things actually made of wood. The picture below is a look at it from the backside. 13 guage perforated aluminium was used for allowing the sound to escape from the sub, and for allowing heat to rise up from the amps. The aluminum also serves as a fairly sturdy floor that can hold whatever you may want to throw in the back. I put quite a few six-packs in the back and the aluminum didn't bend at all.
You must be registered for see images
Before the enclosure was fabricated, the entire back of the car was stripped and layered with Dynamat, which is a sound deadening material to prevent rattles and other unwanted resonance. I highly recommend this for anybody who is contemplating a sub enclosure in the back. The last thing you want is to put thousands into an elaborate enclosure, only to have the sound ruined by a bunch of annoying rattles.
The only thing that's really not shown here is a 1 Farad Capacitor, which is tucked away in the driver's side well in the back. A cap is used to provide short bursts of power for the amplifiers. The cap is essential for preventing your headlights or dash lights from dimming on heavy bass notes when you're really cranking the system.
By the way, I used to own a car audio business and was a professional installer for a several years just in case you're wondering.
That's about it. If anybody has any questions, let me know.
