If you're like me, you building a whole removable sub box is just too damn much of a hassle. Why bother with dimensions and all sorts of stupid MATH when all you really want to do is make some LOUD BASS with MINIMAL MAINTENANCE. well, luckily for you, Menards sells MDF and silicone. and you don't need anything else! I've had this setup for a while and it works great, so i was told to put it on here.

"where am i going to store my t-tops?" i hear all the t-top owners saying. "they fit so nice back there." Fold down the rear seats, that's where I keep mine. It was never a 4 passenger car anyway, and good luck finding 3 other people who will still want to be your friend after you get used to this volume of music.

"isn't that sort of dangerous for my subs? it kinda lets dirt and grime inside" I hear that one specific friend of mine saying. They're walmart subs. If you have fancy subs, ya probably have a fancy box. it keeps everything clean enough to stay in working order, but if you want high end sound quality, then do your math, dork. If you want a cheap as possible BASS SOUND to make your drunk uncle RESPECT YOU for the MAN that you are, then this is the route for you. (in all seriousness i have found that this really is "close enough" to the recommended volume to get pretty good response, and havn't had any issues with this setup wearing down over the last year.)

"What if i want a port, or some sort of band pass enclosure?" then figure it out and get back to me. that actually sounds pretty interesting. my goal was flat as possible response curve, but i'll never say it can't be done.

look if you're in it for high-end super balanced sound, i can't help you. but if you're a high school kid (physically or at heart) and you want some BIG SUBS, this setup was cheap as and makes things pretty darn loud.

steps i followed:
- replace alternator with a high output one
- cut the rear hatch plastic piece about halfway down to make room for the MDF.
- ran all the wires in appropriate places, including fresh 4 gauge wire straight to the battery for simplicity and best power delivery. (i bought welding cable LOL.)
- stopped at menards and got some MDF and silicone.
- cut and installed the MDF, making sure to run the wires through the silicone in a way that allowed them to get out to the amp.
- cut and installed the black fabric (after steaming it to get the wrinkles out) with spray adhesive.
- wired up my 2 ****-TYPE X (dual voice coil) subwoofers from Ebay in parrallel, wiring it down to 1 ohm through my Taramps HD-2000, then screwd it all in.
- get dumped by my girlfriend, who never liked my "loud" car but thought this was the last straw
- SIT BACK AND PLAY THE "THX" SOUND EFFECT TO SHAKE THE HOUSE DOWN

whole thing was probably around $800, but that's just because i bought two subs and a big amp. the MDF, silicone, and carpet was probably like $50 all around, and you could really put whatever size subs or amps you wanted in there.









Remove the carpet and grab some 3/4 inch MDF and fit it to cut in the back of your car. you're going to have to cut the back plastic to get a nice fit against the rear wall. seal it with like two tubes of silicone, and be sure to fill in any cracks/loose gaps in the seams of the well box.

grab some black carpet type material and button it all back up.

wire up your amp and such where your spare tire used to be. in this photo it's held in with some spare silicone but i switched it to be held by a bolt so it doesn't come flying out. I ran some thick welding style wire all the way up to my battery, for both positive and ground. overkill? sorta. Don't come at me about getting my wire colors mixed up there LOL.

 

Why go perm? The boxes on the market for the 3rd gen are decent priced. Just trying to see your logic here.

 

Love the ambition and thoughtfulness of the install, but it seems like a lot of extra work and irreversible mods done to the car, for what? To wit, I used a 1" carpeted baffle board back in the day, put it where the cargo bin door /lid originally went, and it kicked *** w/two 12" JL free air subs and a 500w Soundstream amp. Bonuses:
Easily put back to stock, no cutting
T-Tops still store in the stock place
Storage "Sump" is still usable for....luggage/storage (although the sub frames/magnets cut into that space, slightly)
Storage space above the subs is still stock-like.....I could still put two mountain bikes in the back.