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Amp Rack creation step by step?

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Old May 4, 2004 | 09:50 PM
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Amp Rack creation step by step?

my question is about amp racks.. for reference i ran a 4 guage amp kit last night.. i have installed an amp or two before and made a subwoofer box before.. my car is a US Evolution 2003..

i have 1 amp (would like room for one more) and a farad cap.. i want to make a wood rack to mount 2 amps and the farad cap to.. i have scoured the forums and could use some help..

i want to mount my amp, etc to the back seat in the trunk, but i have a few questions.. first the material there is flimsy and some sort of covering, do i just pull that off? is there something sturdy behind it, or just the seat cushon? what is there to mount to?

could i cut a peice of mdf the height of the trunk, then mount it somehow to the rear of the seat or trunk? how exactly do i mount the board to the car?

i have a good bit of tools, but not really power tools.. i have a drill set, but no saws at all.. i should be able to buy any tools i might need.. but im in an apartment.. i should also say that i have about 15 ft of 2" velcro..

how would i mount an amp rack to the rear of the trunk? what do i screw into? would i need a saw to get the board cut the right size, or would home depot or someone be willing to do that for me? should i be using 1/2" MDF, or something thinner?

im also still lost on how im going to secure the subwoofer encloser too.. unless that somehow factors into the mounting as well..

i will post pics of my setup as it comes along.. i cant wait to have this system up and going.. here is a list of what im getting in the mail:

Sub/enclosure - Polk/MOMO MM12 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...094729251&rd=1)
500w RMS @ 4 ohm, 1000w PEAK @ 4 ohm

Amp - Kenwood KAC-7201 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...094929778&rd=1)
480w RMS @ 4 ohm, 800w PEAK @ 4 ohm

Cap - .5 farad rocksford fosgate

anyone got any suggestions? i will post pics of what ive got in my trunk as i go.
Old May 4, 2004 | 10:00 PM
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in my lancer (oz) i screwed into the seat itself there is a piece of metal that holds my amp there shold be velcor or zippers near bottom of seat check them out
Old May 4, 2004 | 10:11 PM
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well, if you buy MDF at home depot... they will cut it for you. but, how much do you need? instead of buying a 4' x 8' sheet you can get it in 2' x 4' sheets which is much more convenient. they should be able to cut that for you... but, if you need to make any adjustments or any custom cuts i suggest buying a little jigsaw for yourself. i got a decent skilsaw for like 20 bucks. it's a tremendous help.

btw, please don't mount the amps to the seat backs with the velcro. i can just picture it... sliding around a turn and BOOM! amps flying everywhere.

good luck man!
Old May 4, 2004 | 10:17 PM
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Originally Posted by treo
in my lancer (oz) i screwed into the seat itself there is a piece of metal that holds my amp there shold be velcor or zippers near bottom of seat check them out
the rear of my trunk is a thin plasticy feeling peice covered in carpet.. it isnt the rear of the seat.. im not sure if i can just remove this, or what.. i guess i should just take all the crap out of my trunk and try to pull it off.
Old May 4, 2004 | 10:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Lance Dogg
well, if you buy MDF at home depot... they will cut it for you. but, how much do you need? instead of buying a 4' x 8' sheet you can get it in 2' x 4' sheets which is much more convenient. they should be able to cut that for you... but, if you need to make any adjustments or any custom cuts i suggest buying a little jigsaw for yourself. i got a decent skilsaw for like 20 bucks. it's a tremendous help.

btw, please don't mount the amps to the seat backs with the velcro. i can just picture it... sliding around a turn and BOOM! amps flying everywhere.

good luck man!
i wouldnt mount the amps with velcro.. i definately would make those go flying i was mentioning the velcro i guess for mounting the subwoofer enclosure.. it has no carpet on it, id rather not put velcro on it, but i guess i could..

thanks for the suggestion of the dimensions (2' x 4') of the mdf, and i can get a jigsaw (i have never used one).. how would i then secure that board to the rear of the trunk?

thanks for the reply
Old May 5, 2004 | 07:32 AM
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Mjost of the time, the box will be so heavy by it-self that you don't even need to secure it. If you want to make sure it's not moving at all, then put a few pieces of velcro under the box and keep the trunk carpet.

The amps can be screwed directly in the backseat. Don't use screws that are too long, nor too big though.

The wood you'll need is either 3/4, 5/8 mdf or partical board. If you use partical board, make sure you seal the whole thing. Not just the joints but the whole thing with either fiberglass resin or coaking or what ever your budget allows you.

As far as getting you wood cut, I say get a cheap hand saw and a jigsaw. The hand saw will cut your boards straight while the jigsaw will make your sub's hole. If you don't feel like buying then rent the tools. Home depot rents everything.

Look at the crappy drawing of my setup in this thread and it might give you some ideas
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=79094
That box takes the whole width of the trunk (between the strut towers), it's 14" high and 8" or 9" deep. Leaves you your spare tire and plenty of room to put crap in your trunk.

Last edited by blaze_125; May 5, 2004 at 07:40 AM.
Old May 5, 2004 | 08:54 AM
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Originally Posted by blaze_125
Mjost of the time, the box will be so heavy by it-self that you don't even need to secure it. If you want to make sure it's not moving at all, then put a few pieces of velcro under the box and keep the trunk carpet.

The amps can be screwed directly in the backseat. Don't use screws that are too long, nor too big though.

The wood you'll need is either 3/4, 5/8 mdf or partical board. If you use partical board, make sure you seal the whole thing. Not just the joints but the whole thing with either fiberglass resin or coaking or what ever your budget allows you.
thanks for the response, the issue here is how to mount the amp rack.. which wont be a big box.. but rather just a board with my amps and stuff mounted to it.. how would i mount that to the back seat? can i just drill the mdf into the backseat itself? what is the backseat made out of?

so to clarify, i am not making a sub box, the MM12 is a sub and box all in one..

thanks for the help
Old May 5, 2004 | 09:09 AM
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From: QC
Then don't even bother with the MDF, it will just add weight for nothing. Just screw the amps on the back seat. I'm pretty sure it's hard enough to hold you amps. Mitsubishi03 has his amps mounted directly on the back of the seats and did not add any wood. I think he just screwed it in.
Old May 5, 2004 | 01:48 PM
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look for the metal behind plastic. on the back of seat behinde carpet remove the (velcro) at botom of seat. check for positioning the drill holes re-apply covering then screw in that simple .

thats what i ment by velcro not mount the amps with velcro thats ridiculas*

also listen to blaze 125 he knows

if you could acces my old profile, you could look at mounting positions and how i mounted my capacitor and amp it but dont know how to acces pictures. since they changed the site.
Old May 5, 2004 | 04:44 PM
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From: QC
Originally Posted by treo
if you could acces my old profile, you could look at mounting positions and how i mounted my capacitor and amp it but dont know how to acces pictures. since they changed the site.
Originally Posted by LancerEvoMR
Jesus Christ, how many times do I as well as WSB have to reiterate that the registry is in the process of being upgraded and revised. IT WILL BE BACK ONLINE SOON!!!



That's why
Old May 5, 2004 | 05:17 PM
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i looked behind the plastic covering and here is what i found:


basicly it is 2 metal bars and all that white stuff is foam.. there is no way i can mount anything to the foam.. im sure i could mount the amp and farad cap to the thin board that is over the spare tire well, but i really wanted to mout it veritcally to save my trunk space.. anyone have some suggestions?

thanks in advance
Old May 5, 2004 | 05:25 PM
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From: QC
OK... now you got me offguard.

Looks like you will need to put some wood in there. Don't use anything thicker than 1/2. You drive an Evo, so you want to keep it as light as possible.

Put a board that will take the whole space.
Put a screw every 2 or 3 inches to secure the board on the metal bracket
Mount your amps

You might want to either paint or wrap the board with carpet before you mount it. Just to keep your trunk clean and tiddy

Last edited by blaze_125; May 5, 2004 at 05:27 PM.
Old May 5, 2004 | 05:35 PM
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From: QC
I do have another suggestion if you want. It's an idea I've been toying with for a while now.

You can mount some sort of drawer that would be attached to the rear deck.
4 post would hold the rails (regular rails that you can buy at HomeDepot)
a board on rollers *spl* on the rails
your amps and cap would be mounted on that board

Whenever you need to tune you amps settings, just pull the drawer out, do your thing, then push it back in.

Of course you would need some sort of locking device for the drawer so it doesn't open and close while driving. A pin that goes acros the rail would do the trick.
Old May 5, 2004 | 05:39 PM
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Originally Posted by blaze_125
Put a board that will take the whole space.
Put a screw every 2 or 3 inches to secure the board on the metal bracket
Mount your amps

You might want to either paint or wrap the board with carpet before you mount it. Just to keep your trunk clean and tiddy
so your saying i should drill holes through the board into the metal bracket every few inces? i was afraid of that.. that sounds like alot of holes to drill.. i really wouldnt feel comfortable doing that to this car..
Old May 5, 2004 | 06:01 PM
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From: QC
I would not recommand pre-drilling the holes unles you plan on using bolts and nuts. I would suggest to use screws made specialy for metal and to screw them right in without pre-drilling the holes.


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