Ok well I have a kenwood cd player, and alpine 6x9's type S and then stock front speakers, and I just bought a 2 year old baja 500w amp and a 12" premier pioneer 1000watt amp for $110(the amp and sub) and I was wondering exactly what all I need to hook it up. I've heard a few differnt stories for the guys at electronics stores some say I need more then others and I was wondering what all I really need. Oh and me and my friend are gonna fiberglass a box for it and was wondering what kind and dimensions would be best, money is a little bit of an issue. And I know most of this I could do a search on but my dialup is really slow so ya if you could even give me a link that'd be appreciated. thx in advance for all help. Also what is the best way/places to run the wires to and from the amp/sub.

 

Basically you're going to need to get power from your car battery to the amp. This usually means getting one of those side post connectors from an auto store that has a nut on the end so you can put a connector on it. Depending on the power of the amp you can pick the wiring size (different models and companies put off different amounts so it's just what they say they put off. Kind of like advertisement saying headers add 25 hp and air foil adds 12 and KN filter adds 18 so you just made 55 hp). So you'll need to run that wire into the car somewhere most people normally make drill a hole on the firewall (or use a factory wiring hole) and run it under the carpet to the back (I do under the driverside still well). For safety reasons you should consider a fuse cause it will be really bad if it shorts out for some reason under your carpet and you still have a live wire. I do a fuse on both ends that way if either one shorts the whole line under the carpet goes dead (no power). You'll need the wiring to hook your amp up to your cd player. You'll need additional wiring to go from your amp to your new sub. You basically usually want the wires from amp to sub short as possible that way there will be little power drop from the amp to sub. It doesn't make sense if someone puts the amp in front seat then runs wires all the way to the hatch.

Don't get fool'd if people tell you need a breaker or a capacitor in there because you shouldn't. If you have any power troubles like headlights flickering that is normally solved by upgrading the alternator wires and the battery ground strap. That has been talked about to death so I won't say anymore.

The box size depends on what the manufacter recommends for that speaker. All manufacter's are picky on what that model and size recommends so you should search for it and not just play a guessing game. The size of box can effect the overall bass deepness and rate it hits and many other things. We mostly all agree that it sounds the best in the hatch well cause the hatch glass reflects the bass nicely.

Depending on fiberglass box a low money budget might not be a good idea. If you or your friend hasn't had much fiberglass experience yet I would say it would probably be a good idea to stay away from it for now due to the budget. It'll be easy to get 30 bucks or more just in resin and acouple dozen in fiberglass depending on where you buy it. Then you all all the prep work masking tape off (also costs money), aluminum foiling off with masking tape (more money) before you even get to the fiberglass. After you get the shell worked out you'll need to get some kind of surface to mount the sub cause putting screws into the fiberglass isn't going to work. This might be just glassing a flat board for a top. So yet another thing to buy. Then you have to decide if you want to carpet it (best choice under budget since painting requires a bunch of automotive supplies to get it to look right).

 

Hey thx for the help, i'll keep all of that in mind. My friend said he has everything but the fiberglass and resin so i'm not sure. would it be easier to make it out of some kinda of board, not sure which kind is best and all. So ya it's still all under consideration and who knows if i think it'll cost to much that i do not want to spend i'll just sell the stuff since it didn't cost me much and sell it for more since it's worth more.

 

A fuse, 10" from the battery is all that is needed. The fuse at the other end is a waste of time, money and theoretically adds more resistance, so one fuse is enough.

If the fuse at the battery blows, there is no longer positive potential on that whole wire...and ground will not short to ground.

You are correct about the fuse protecting the wire though, that is indeed what it is for. The amp has it's own fuses.

If you plan on running a wire with no fuses, then you should keep within reach: a fire extinguisher, a welding mask (for the arc welding which may occure), some baking soda to clean up the exploded battery...

Also, don't install the fuse until the entire system is wired and ready to be powered on, install the fuse with the radio/amp turned off.

You really don't need much wiring to install those amps, just some 4 gauge, fuse holder, maybee a distribution block or seperate 8 gauge wire, RCA cable and Y splitter, regular wire for speaker wire and remote wire...thich enough to handle the power.

 

True... good catch... I was thinking of my system which
has an optima in the back seat and a conventional under the hood. So I have a power source at both ends of the wire.

Well if you decide on doing a hatch well box there are premade designs you could use for it if you wanted to use wood (found on here somewhere using the search feature). I wouldn't try using a particle board type of wood. Just due to the fact they tend to crumble easy.

If you wanted some really stout building material go get a sheet of MDF (medium density fiberboard). I just bought some 3/4" thickness from Lowe's for 23.42 for a 4 foot by 8 foot sheet so it's relatively cheap. That would give you a crap load of extra so you could think about building another box with it or use for another project.

Only bad thing about making a wood box is you're going to have a lot of cuts and wood screws with liquid nails holding it together but it should be faster, cleaner to build, and probably cheaper than the fiberglass.

But if you plan on going fiberglass I'd order some fiberglass and resin from a website like http://www.uscomposites.com Cause paying 4 bucks per 8 sq feet at walmart gets old quick and there 10 dollar 1 quart resin cans don't go very far because there really thick. You might try a boat speed shop or something like that if you have a local one. You might beable to get a gallon of resin from them.

 

Ok well I just got off the phone with my friend and we discussed the whole MDF vs. fiberglass. Since he has most of the stuff besides the resin and fiberglass so I have most of the material at my disposal. And either way I go my aunt ownes an upolstery store and my uncle has a shop that he redoes automotive interiors, so I have cheap and accessible carpeting and tools for that kinda stuff. And another cool thing is I work at Ace Hardware and can get almost anything else we need. And yes there is a number of marine shops that I can go to here in/around Wichita so I can get fiberglass and resin. So it'll prob only be around $40 or $50 for the fiberglass box and all and then about $60 or so for the wiring which I may already have free RCA cables which would be awesome. But back to my point I think me and my friend decided on going with fiberglass cause it'd be about the same price and I could make it fit in the well better or use my space more wisely, now all I need to know is how much airspace a 2002 Premier Pioneer 1000watt sub needs, so more then likely I'll go with the fiberglass, plus that way if any of my friends want a box me and him can make the box and charge and have a lil spending money lol. So ya if you guys can throw any more pointers or ideas at me that'd be great. Even if it's just some genergal stuff. Thx for all your input.

 

Hmm. Make sure you masking tape off the whole area. It might seem like over kill but you don't want that resin seeping into your carpet. After you get it taped off get some aluminum foil and tape that down too. Fiberglass doesn't stick to aluminum foil to well.

Get plenty of plastic so you can put drop cloths over everything including the quarter panels and rear bumper areas. It's really easy to drip resin while doing the first couple glass layers.

The toss away brushes are very nice it's a heck of a lot easier paying 50 cents for a brush and tossing it after you do a batch of resin with it than trying to soak and clean up an expensive one. I've also found it easier if I cut back the bristles on the brush so there only 1 1/2" long or so. It makes the brush more solid so it's easier to jab the fiberglass to get all the air bubbles out of it.

Use a decent cup to hold you resin. I like the heavy duty icecream gallon tubs. But my box I'm building is a lot bigger (takes up the whole hatch area including the parts where the panels are). About anything that's heavy duty plastic works. Ceramic dishes are nice too... I stole a bowl from my house cause it had a chip in it and with it you just let the resin set after you're done and it pops right out clean and easy after acouple hours.

If you plan on doing a fiberglass top you will need to make MDF mounting rings for it. Just due to the fact you can't get the screws to hold on fiberglass.

Main thing is to remember to take your time and realize it will be a little messy.

 

Thank you for all the helpful information. I personally don't know to much about fiberglassing right now but my friend does. I think he said we could use some scraps of fleece to get any drips. The masking tape and drop clothes and brushes will be cheap and very accessible for me caues of my job at Ace hardware, i may spend about $5 on al that prob less, wow I love discounts. The foil is also a good idea thanks. And I'm sure we'll come up with something to hold the resin in, and thx for those ideas. if you can think of anything more let me know please. thx

 

A resparator would be a good idea too, it's $30 for the one I got at Home Depot, but I'd rather breath fresh air than nasty vapors.

I think you need the black cartridges, it will tell you on the packaging.

(there are two types of cartridge, one for dust, one for vapors)

The cartridges will last a long time.

I've been doing alot of painting, with oil based Kiltz and UGL concrete sealer....I can only imagine how nasty resin is.

 

As far as amp wiring goes. Get yourself an Amp wiriing kit. Comes with the power line, RCA's, Ground and the fuse. I recomend getting the kit with the largest wire you can get. 4 guage will do the job nicely. I know wal-mart has them listed as 500watt amp wiring kits.

 

I checked Ultimate Electronics(best quality and most expensive) Best Buy and Circuit City(bout the same quality as best buy and price) and also checked Wal-mart(cheapest). And I was wondering how much difference there really is in teh quality of the wiring and cables? Although most of the peoples I talked to at the stores said I had to buy the wiring kit and also RCA's. My friend however says he has some RCA's. But ya my question was how much of a real differnce will there be in teh quality of the wiring and all from those differnt places.