maltesechicken

As the title indicates . . . the only items that I had purchased outside of my starting $150 are my head-unit: Alpine 9845, and my distribution block.

So here's the skinny:
Don't expect anything too flashy - this is about creativity with bang for the buck. We're a single income family (my wife stays home with 3 kids) so I
don't have the $$ for anything fancy.

Here's what I did with the $150:
There's a guy in Niagara falls (20 minute drive for me) who buys up massive lots of electronics from big-box stores and sells off the broken items AS-IS on e-bay. I purchased 2 lots of Altec Lansing computer speakers (11 systems total) for $65. I fixed 5 of them up and sold them on Kijiji for a total of $165 . . . so I turned a $100 profit.

So I'm now working with $250 . . .

I also purchased 3 Insignia amplifiers (sub-woofers not included) - $30 for all three. Pretty big amps 200 RMS x2 @ 4 ohms, 300RMS x 2 @ 2ohm. I turned one into a parts amp and got the other two up and running (One was just a fuse and the other I replaced one of the main diodes, a resistor and the fuses and it - I think the original owner mixed up + and - on install and that blew the diode and resistor creating a dead short). So for $30 I've got over 1000watts of power - sure they're cheap amps, but I can't go too wrong at that price.

Next I went to XS cargo and picked up these because I found this link and thought "$100 looks like a steal!" I've played with them in my shop and I've been impressed so far.

I also picked up this sub for $20 used on kijiji. Not much, but will hopefully tide me over until I can get something nicer.

For $50 I bought an ANL fuse holder and fuse . . . and for wire I found 4awg in the dumpster at a construction site a few years ago . . . yes, I'm that cheap. The wire from the distribution block to amps is 6awg - also home stuff.

So this past weekend I've had a chance to start installing.
Here are some pics:

First I removed the seats and re-routed the the wires from my previous install
I decided on mounting the amps under the seats for two reasons:
1) My last install had the amps in the trunk - I hated going back there to make adjustments, and I wanted the freedom to quickly and easily remove my gear in case I ever needed full trunk space again.
2) Under the seats is well hidden and very hard for thieves to go for.

Next I wanted to find a good ground location nice and close - the floor ridge at the front of the seat provided a great close location

Need to make that metal bare for good electrical current - I love my Dremel!

To make bolt down easy - my little friend: the self-tapping screw.

Bolting the wire into place

Ready for amp connection

Both amps installed

To protect the amps from moisture, I created little spacers to keep 'em off the floor

Amps with seats reinstalled


A few nights ago I installed the tweeters also, but I haven't taken pictures yet, and since it is -15 and I'm in my boxers and a T-shirt right now, I'll take those pictures later.

I still need to mod the doors from 4.5" to fit 6.5" - this should be fun !

lpchouinard

Nice job!

I need to find one of those near my place...

jalat

iTrader: (6)

i'm guessing this is a corolla... if so, i'm interested in how your gonna fit the larger speakers in the front doors, cause a buddy of mine has been wanting to change his 4" pioneers into 5.25" ones

maltesechicken

Close. It's a '97 Tercel.

I've had 5 1/4 in there before with little modification. I used a 3/8" baffle which brought the mid out enough so it still fit into the original hole for a 4.5"

This time I'll need to cut the door metal, and build out. I'm think MDF and maybe a layer of fibre glass to protect the MDF from moisture. I'll need to get some advice from this place too.

fresh1

iTrader: (2)

the concept: awesome, the price: awesome, the install: so far...awesome.

maltesechicken you sound like you had this plan cooked up for quite some time, i'm sure its gonna come out awesome, and for that price, thats wicked

ryannow

i'm actually really impressed. other than the amps sticking out from under the seats a bit, this is looking pretty kickass i'd say.

SQmonster

iTrader: (2)

That's awesome!!! I like the look of a nice clean install. You get extra points for the little feet!
The only thing that I would recommend is to protect those rca's. I'm sure you don't want your kids or friends stepping on them.
You can get 12 foot rca's with 90 degree ends on the one side in some shops. You may have to search for them as they seem to have gone underground in the last few years. I'm not suggesting using an adaptor at the end, because it will still come out into harms way. The one's I'm talking about are very shallow, kinda like my sister. That's a whole other story. (Small towns!)

sx4life

iTrader: (1)

keith are you from surrey:P

maltesechicken

<-- Click on my images just to the left here (you'll see a number 4). The first pic is how I had 5.25" Polks previously installed in my car . . . . then I blew the left mid and few days later the right tweeter

Thanks! I wish I could have tucked the amps further out of the way, but to get them further under the seat I would have had to mount them on top of the floor ridge, and there was not enough seat clearance for that (even with these feet on here I only have 1/8" clearance at the lowest part of the seat)

Thankfully I rarely have rear passengers, and when I need to take the kids or their friends anywhere I use the family van.

SQmonster

iTrader: (2)

No, I live on the expensive side of the river, New Westminster. Why?