JonnieBlaze's 2005 Subaru Forester XT

[JonnieBlaze 0]

Hey Everyone,

I'll be building a system into my (new to me) 2005 Subaru Forester over the next couple weeks. This will be my first build ever so hopefully it goes well and I don't mess things up too bad.

Opinions and Suggestions are welcome.

Goals:

• Take up minimal cargo space
  
• Don't make it too noticeable to people looking in the windows
  
• Create the system so it can be removed and stock pieces re-installed
  
• I've never had good, tight bass in my past vehicles. I want to achieve that 'tight' sound more than anything.
  

Components to install:

• 4 Sundown Audio E8s
  
• 2 Peerless SLS 8" Midbass
  
• 2 Peerless 4" Midrange
  
• 2 Seas Prestige Textile Dome Tweeters
  
• Memphis Belle 16-MCH1300 5-Channel Amp
  
• Kicker 650.4 Amp
  
• Alpine H701 Processor
  
• Older Alpine Headunit (can't remember model number)
  

Supplies:

• RAAMmat BXT
  
• Ensolite from RAAMaudio
  
• Wire, Fuses, and Distro Blocks from KnuKonceptz
  
• 1/0 gauge wire from weldingsupply.com
  

11/09/2009

I started taking apart the interior and will post pics and updates to this thread as I start the build.

Edited November 9, 2009 by JonnieBlaze

[JonnieBlaze 0]

Reserved

[JonnieBlaze 0]

Reserved

[Mac N Cheese 90]

Looks great...good equipment

take pic!!!

[JonnieBlaze 0]

Reserved

[JonnieBlaze 0]

Hmm..Well I was going to add some pics tonight but now it looks like I can't edit my original post or any of the ones I reserved. Is that normal or am I doing something wrong?

[jcarter1885 995]

You probably just dont have the rights to edit posts yet, you dont have to reserve posts just put your pictures up on a new post.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

If need be, the mod team can edit the post for you.

[porkchop 304]

nice equipment list, really into seeing the install.

Chop

[JonnieBlaze 0]

I was just hoping to keep all the pics and install related information at the very top. But its alright...no big deal.

Here is the car all of this will be installed in:

Rear Passenger side with no deadening:

Deadening Added:

Cardboard frame work for the sub enclosure:

I still need to add deadener to the floor, and ensolite just about everywhere. There are some vents back in that little cubby hole where the cardboard is. That little channel I built out of cardboard is so the vent still gets airflow like it did from the factory. I honestly dont know what its for, but I dont really want to block it off with fiberglass.

I can't work on it tonight, but I'll get more pics up when I get the chance to work on it some more.

[jcarter1885 995]

More more more

[djphilly 11]

that vent in the back is kinda wierd. is there anything connected to it.?

[bigrank916 72]

Very nice list going into this ride. Im interested to see a video when this is done. Keep it up dude.

[JonnieBlaze 0]

that vent in the back is kinda wierd. is there anything connected to it.?

Nope just a vent to the outside. Its tucked behind the plastic molding that goes around the car. I'm not too worried about it. It will have plenty of air flow. Probably more than needed but oh well.

[JonnieBlaze 0]

Well I worked on it for a few more hours tonight. Seems like I work for hours and hardly get anything done. Tonight I got one side glassed for an enclosure and covered the other side with foil so I can glass it tomorrow night. The plan is to put two of the Sundown E8's in each enclosure. They'll be sealed.

Passenger side foiled, ready for fiberglass:

Driver side fiberglassed. Has a couple layers on it now. Will pop it out and add more layers and reinforcement this weekend:

[porkchop 304]

looking good....

everytime i see a creative glass job, i want to rush out and start one of my own, i hate being broke!

hey if i was a betting man, i would lay odds that the vent you are reffering to is for the air pressure in the vehicle.

if you were to close them all off and slam the door shut, it would cause a great deal of pressue on something else.

on vehicles with new windshields installed, this is not even enough.

you have to leave the windows down some till the glue dries all the way, or pow, you will be resealing it again.

there is alot of air pressure created when slaming the door shut.

after you are done with the mock- up have someone stand on the passenger side of the vehicle,

while you are on the drivers side. with all the windows up, give your door a nice shove, did the passenger door flex real hard?

if not , you are good to go.

keep up the glass work!

chop

[JonnieBlaze 0]

Alrighty...after over a week I finally got back out there and worked some more on the Forester. Not having much time or experience with this makes the whole process very slow. Luckily, I had black friday to work on it while the rest of the world was shopping

Popped the fiberglass out of the car to more easily add some layers:

Finished putting Raamat on the floor:

Finished putting Ensolite everywhere:

Trimmed up the fiberglass a bit and put it in for a test fit:

Fitting on the top board of the enclosure:

Fitting on the front board of the enclosure:

Test fitting everything:

Now here is something I'm not sure is going to work. The floor is very uneven in the back. So the board that the amps will be mounted to does not sit even. My plan was to put little blocks under the board to raise the low spots to be even with the high spots, then shoot expanding foam everywhere to take up the extra space and make the board level.

Preparing for the expanding foam:

Amp floor put in and foamed under....foam hasn't fully expanded yet:

After the foam hardens I'll cut it and shape it to make it look right.

I still need to finish the boxes obviously. I won't be putting carpet over anything for a while. I just want to get everything finished and working then I'll worry about cosmetic things.

[brewer_brewer 0]

i would have sealed up that vent. most of them have a little flapper valve that keeps water out and

i've seen people's systems that when the bass hits you can hear the flapper valve slamming opened and closed. its quite annoying.

[JonnieBlaze 0]

So yeah, its been like two years since I've updated this. I got the sub boxes finished and had the 4 subs and 1 amp installed. I went to test out the system and the amp was bad :-( Stupid me bought it on Ebay for my last car, never actually got around to installing it, decided to put it in the Forester (about a year later) and when I finally did the amp was bad. So its been sitting in my house for another 2 years waiting for me to pony up the cash to get it fixed. Sucks.

Well anyway, after that I kinda gave up on the project and now I'm about the sell the car. I wanted to update this thread with some more pictures because I plan on putting the two boxes up for sale and will direct people to this thread to see how they look and how I installed them. I lost the pictures where I actually built the boxes, but basically I just added some more layers to the fiberglass pieces I already had, then took nylon rope soaked in resin and places them on the flat parts of the fiberglass to strengthen them. I figured the curves had enough strength. Then I cut my top and front out of MDF and screwed it together. There were a lot of gaps between the fiberglass and MDF. Some places were big enough to cut pieces of wood and fill the holes. Other places I had to use liquid nails. After it was all together and basically sealed, I coated the inside and all the corners/joints with another layer of fiberglass mat and resin to truly seal it. Then I worked down all the rough edges and put carpet on.

So this first picture is the molded carpet that was on both sides of the cargo area.

I had to cut it where you see, and discard the middle section because that was being replaced by the box.

Ok, I didnt actually discard the middle part. I kept it in the shed because when it was time to put the Forester back to stock and put the pieces back together by gluing carpet to the joints. Good as new and can't even tell they were cut in the first place.

The back of the drivers side box. The foil and tape was pretty stuck...I didnt worry about getting it off. You can't see it anyway.

The drivers side box when it is getting installed. It stayed there on its own pretty good but I used a couple sheet metal screws in each box to really hold them down to the cargo area

The passenger side box.

The passenger side box when it is getting installed.

Both boxes installed

They fit perfectly up to the plastic interior pieces around the struts and windows.

The passenger side still has a pass-through for the cabin pressure relief flaps and the 12volt adapter plug is there incase I wanted to put a plug back there like it originally had.

The drivers side box has a similar pass-through built it but its large enough to mount an Alpine H701 processor

The amp floor mounted but not carpeted. Its really not mounted, but its such a perfect fit its almost a pain to put in.

These are the pieces that get mounted to the inside of the box and the subs actually mount to these. The allows the subs to be recessed about 3/4 of an inch into the box. They must be removed to get to the sheet metal screws that hold the boxes to the cargo area. Once they are removed the holes are large enough to even fit a large battery operated drill so you can drill your mounting holes

Inside of the boxes. You can see the reinforcement nylon rope that was soaked in resin.

Comparison of the box carpet with the factory carpet. That factory carpet is one of the three pieces above that were cut and reinstalled.

The view of the box from a passenger door looking under the cargo cover (which hides it all) and through the backseat

Cargo cover covers everything perfectly

Passenger side box. The inside piece of wood will need to be painted black or carpeted to make it blend. After the subs are installed you only see two very small pieces of that so I was just going to paint it.

Drivers side

Finished product without carpet

Finished product with carpet. I haven't glued the carpet down yet so it might have a wrinkle or two.

[sefugi 166]

Lot of time and effort into this setup! How did the 8s end up sounding??

[JonnieBlaze 0]

Well they sounded great, but not in this setup. I never actually got around to installing them because my amp was dead and I didnt have the extra money to get it fixed or get a new one.

I ended up building two ported boxes to Sundown's specs using the RE slotted box calculator. I put two of the 8's in each box, hooked each box up to a 500 watt Alpine amp and they sounded awesome. Put one box in my sister's car and one box in my girlfriend's car. They are louder than two 12" cerwin vegas I use to have on a cheap 2000 watt amp in my chevy blazer. Its obvious now how buying quality subs and amps and building a box to the right specs really makes all the difference.

[Ohjay 116]

Nice work, those enclosures look good. What's next?

glws