Fourthmeal
07-23-2008, 11:17 PM
I'm posting this in hopes that it might inspire some of you some way, some how. As with all systems I do, you're welcome to take any ideas and solutions as your own, and improve upon them to your hearts content.
This thread will document the build process of one of my family member's daily drivers. This is for a 2008 Ford Focus, but it could easily be reworked and slightly adjusted for those with other vehicles with the spare tire inside.
How I do it:
Take careful measurements of the trunk area. Draw on graph paper a scale version of what you are measuring, its ok to be messy, just get all the critical angles and measurements.
Transfer that graph drawing to regular paper, keep the scale in check, but make your drawing more simplistic and without measurements written in.
Photo scan your drawing, keep the scale 100% and save a copy to your computer. Now you can make as many copies as you want of your trunk, to draw out different solutions on top of the basic form. Try drawing different possible solutions, such as a false floor or a corner-loaded setup. Visualize what will work best for your needs, and make that your #1 option. Photo-scan that one into your computer, as a backup in case your original plans get lost.
With a program like Google Sketch, try to make your idea come to life, at least the outline of the design. This way you can see for yourself what your 2D drawings showed. Here's what you get:
http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs31/i/2008/202/9/5/trunk_CAD_drawings_1_by_Fourthmeal.jpg
http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs31/i/2008/202/3/3/trunk_CAD_drawings_2_by_Fourthmeal.jpg
That's a rough general feel for what I'm going for.
The main deal about this build is to work around a full-size spare in the trunk. The factory Focus doesn't even have a spare, BTW! It just has a sleezy can of fix-o-flat and an air compressor. That's not going to cut it when something goes wrong, so I'm integrating a fullsize spare into the trunk. That's why the CAD drawings show a little curve in them on the sub box. That's part of the spare tire well area. The other thing to notice is that rather then build a system that just rests close to the rear seatback area in the trunk, I configured this one so it sits relatively flat across the trunk, and borrows the entire width of it with the amp rack and part of the sub box. That portion is about 3.5" inches tall, which so happens to be the height that will allow the factory trunk pass-through of the seatback to the cabin, almost completely flush. Compared with the trunk, the seats fold down about 3 1/4" above the trunk's baseline. So, with the amps like this, items can still pass right through the trunk for maximum utility. The subs box sits higher of course because the subs aren't that thin, but by being as thin as reasonably possible, and up against the side of the trunk on just one side, very little usable trunk space is sacrificed. So, the car gets full spare tire (full size) utility, two subs, and full pass-through utility of the trunk. This is of course exactly what we're going for....perfect compromises!
The taller platform holds a pair of subs, stands about 6.5" tall. The rectangle in front of the subs is going to be a digital processor to integrate the factory dash radio to the aftermarket amps. The lower platform is the amp rack, holding two Alpine MRP amps, the MRP-M500 and MRP-F300. The center section will hold the required distribution fuse blocks and ground blocks.
This project will probably be slow-going, since the person I'm building it for is in the Navy, serving as an air traffic controller, and only can visit on the weekends and intermittently at that. Still, the way I see it, once I get the base platform figured out, I can build it without the car in my hands, and work on it on my own time while he handles his work.
The system plan:
The aforementioned Alpine MRP-M500, and F-300 amps, 50w x 4 for the woofers and tweeters of the front stage, and 500w x 1 running in parallel to some Blueprint 10" subs (same ones I had in my older setup...so perfect for my client...er brother in law.)
The Alpine PXE-H650 digital processor. This will perform active crossover, time correction, pre-amp level, and EQ duties.
Alpine Type X - REF components, with the crossovers thrown out and the Alpine digital processor used instead.
Factory crap rear speakers running off the factory crap deck. I don't do rear speakers.
A full 62sq. ft. roll of RAAMmat, and 4 yards of Ensolite foam.
Knukonceptz 4 gauge wiring, with a Streetwires CBR44 distribution block (one of the few that contains the power AND ground distribution in one single unit!)
Streetwires battery terminals
Thoughts?
This thread will document the build process of one of my family member's daily drivers. This is for a 2008 Ford Focus, but it could easily be reworked and slightly adjusted for those with other vehicles with the spare tire inside.
How I do it:
Take careful measurements of the trunk area. Draw on graph paper a scale version of what you are measuring, its ok to be messy, just get all the critical angles and measurements.
Transfer that graph drawing to regular paper, keep the scale in check, but make your drawing more simplistic and without measurements written in.
Photo scan your drawing, keep the scale 100% and save a copy to your computer. Now you can make as many copies as you want of your trunk, to draw out different solutions on top of the basic form. Try drawing different possible solutions, such as a false floor or a corner-loaded setup. Visualize what will work best for your needs, and make that your #1 option. Photo-scan that one into your computer, as a backup in case your original plans get lost.
With a program like Google Sketch, try to make your idea come to life, at least the outline of the design. This way you can see for yourself what your 2D drawings showed. Here's what you get:
http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs31/i/2008/202/9/5/trunk_CAD_drawings_1_by_Fourthmeal.jpg
http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs31/i/2008/202/3/3/trunk_CAD_drawings_2_by_Fourthmeal.jpg
That's a rough general feel for what I'm going for.
The main deal about this build is to work around a full-size spare in the trunk. The factory Focus doesn't even have a spare, BTW! It just has a sleezy can of fix-o-flat and an air compressor. That's not going to cut it when something goes wrong, so I'm integrating a fullsize spare into the trunk. That's why the CAD drawings show a little curve in them on the sub box. That's part of the spare tire well area. The other thing to notice is that rather then build a system that just rests close to the rear seatback area in the trunk, I configured this one so it sits relatively flat across the trunk, and borrows the entire width of it with the amp rack and part of the sub box. That portion is about 3.5" inches tall, which so happens to be the height that will allow the factory trunk pass-through of the seatback to the cabin, almost completely flush. Compared with the trunk, the seats fold down about 3 1/4" above the trunk's baseline. So, with the amps like this, items can still pass right through the trunk for maximum utility. The subs box sits higher of course because the subs aren't that thin, but by being as thin as reasonably possible, and up against the side of the trunk on just one side, very little usable trunk space is sacrificed. So, the car gets full spare tire (full size) utility, two subs, and full pass-through utility of the trunk. This is of course exactly what we're going for....perfect compromises!
The taller platform holds a pair of subs, stands about 6.5" tall. The rectangle in front of the subs is going to be a digital processor to integrate the factory dash radio to the aftermarket amps. The lower platform is the amp rack, holding two Alpine MRP amps, the MRP-M500 and MRP-F300. The center section will hold the required distribution fuse blocks and ground blocks.
This project will probably be slow-going, since the person I'm building it for is in the Navy, serving as an air traffic controller, and only can visit on the weekends and intermittently at that. Still, the way I see it, once I get the base platform figured out, I can build it without the car in my hands, and work on it on my own time while he handles his work.
The system plan:
The aforementioned Alpine MRP-M500, and F-300 amps, 50w x 4 for the woofers and tweeters of the front stage, and 500w x 1 running in parallel to some Blueprint 10" subs (same ones I had in my older setup...so perfect for my client...er brother in law.)
The Alpine PXE-H650 digital processor. This will perform active crossover, time correction, pre-amp level, and EQ duties.
Alpine Type X - REF components, with the crossovers thrown out and the Alpine digital processor used instead.
Factory crap rear speakers running off the factory crap deck. I don't do rear speakers.
A full 62sq. ft. roll of RAAMmat, and 4 yards of Ensolite foam.
Knukonceptz 4 gauge wiring, with a Streetwires CBR44 distribution block (one of the few that contains the power AND ground distribution in one single unit!)
Streetwires battery terminals
Thoughts?