This may sound stupid, but am wondering if it will work. OK here's my theory, strip the carpet from the well in the trunk to around 2" from the rim at the top coat the inside with 3 or 4 coats of rhinolining. Put trim on to hold the carpet down. Build a top, just a top for the well and put weatherstipping on the underside where it makes contact with the weatherstripping. put a long hinge on the seat side of the top and metal "clasps" to hold it down so you can unclasp it and lift it up. Basically thats about all.....i am trying to save on weight, and cant afford the 100's of dollars for fiberglass. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Oh and its for a 15" Fosgate Punch, and 360 watt insignia amp. Not sure how much the fosgate will hold as i cannot find out anything on it since it is discontinued, gonna start low on the amp and go up till the speaker smokes im hoping the weatherstripping will be enough to eliminate any air.

 

i don't know if the weatherstripping will be a tight enough seal for the subwoofer... but having a similar idea as you I really like the idea an openable sub box in the well would be handy dandy especially if "good" sound is good enough - i don't care personally about having the most slamming, db sensor tripping sound system in the universe just a little bit of thump.

 

You'll still get massive cancellation because you're not properly isolating the rear soundwave. Your weatherstripping idea is a good one, except that plates seal pretty well around the carpet. Where an "enclosure" like that leaks is between the floor/sides and the plastic trim panels, not really around the plate itself. Your design seems like it will suffer the same problems.

I also wouldn't worry about blowing that sub unless you overdrive the **** out of the amp. That sub will take far more power than that insignia amp could ever hope to provide.

 

That was the reasoning for the rhinolining on the inside.....I know i am going to have to build a "frame" for the top section to fit on, cutting the trim away underneath it and having the trim start at the top part......almost seems like less work to just build a damn box.

 

Exactly why I wonder why some people go to such great lengths to use a "plate".

 

well my reasoning was the space. I would like to hide the jack and other ammenities that i keep in the trunk now.

 

yea that would be my deal also, to hide the jack heck possibly even the amp but still be able to easily access it if need be.

so what you are saying jim is that if a frame were made ( no big deal in my book ) and weatherstripping used all along the perimeter of the frame then it would work? i understand not up to competition level work but would it pass tech for someone like me who just wants a little thump

sorry for the hijack Matt... starting a whole nother post on the same thing didn't make any sense to me though.

 

how well it works will depend completely on how well the weatherstripping seals and how resonant-free the enclosure is. I would think that a thinner gasket than weatherstrip, combined with a well built enclosure that doesn't NEED a big gasket would be better. Also, a good clamping mechanism that pulls the "lid" very tight would be a tremendous benefit.

if I for some reason decided to build an enclosure of this type, I'd build a regular enclosure out of MDF or fiberglass, except that instead of a solid top piece, it would have a 1" or 2" wide surface (we'll call it a ring) all the way around it, and it would also have a removable lid. The ring would have a cork or thin rubber gasket all the way around, and I'd use some sort of clamping style fasteners (similar to what fishing tackle boxes use, but more heavy duty) all the way around.

But most likely, I'd just stash the jack somewhere else or buy AAA and forget about all this convoluted crap.

 

I hear ya Jim from a technical standpoint I couldn't agree more, thanks for the reply

bench racing is sure cheaper than real racing

 

Sounds like a good idea!
However, you will need to be able to take it apart easily just incase that you want to sell the car.
other than that the idea sounds great! Very theft proof.