2002 Chevrolet Malibu Substage Install

[Kern417 10+ year member]

NOTE: THIS IS NOT FOR GLAMOUR, ONLY FUNCTION!

Alright so i decided to change out my sub last weekend. made a few orders on CarAudioClassifieds, eBay, and of course here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif and finally got everything installed. Tell me what you think!

Old setup:

Sub: 12" RF Power HX2 D2

Amp: RF T10001bd

Batt: Kinetik HC1400

Box: ~2.5 cu.ft. tuned to 40hz (RF Recommended specs)

4awg from battery to amp

0awg Big 3

New setup:

Sub: 12" RD Heavyweight D2 Daily

Amp: Sundown SAZ-3000D

Batt: Kinetik HC2000 and HC1400

Box: 2.71 cu.ft. before displacement tuned to ~34hz (still don't know Heavyweights displacement? either way its the biggest box i could fit in the opening for my trunk)

0 awg from battery to amp (3 300amp fuses)

0 awg Big 3

Damplifier Pro in Trunk

Now onto the pics!

This is the old ugly setup I had, but it was definitely functional. Just had to keep the trunk closed to hide my embarassment

look at that bootleg bracing haha. a couple 2x4s cut to keep it from sliding around worked like a charm.

Behind the box you can see the battery and amp

They fit perfectly! But not on purpose....

See the box was had to be put in upside down because i couldn't fit it the other way (woops)...the back was supposed to be flush with the back of the seat buut yeah that didn't work out. After a lot of sanding that basically ruined the paint job i did on it, i finally got it in. Luckily it turned out my amp and batt could be hidden out of sight behind it...guess it worked out for the best

Here's the back of the box from another angle

including some more bootleg bracing for my batt. But like I said, function was key, not much else was worried about.

So finally time to say goodbye. Started taking out everything with the help of my pops

Got the box out

amp still attached to the back

all the brown edges you see are where it was sanded down just to get it to fit. and even then it was a bish to put in

This is how it was supposed to sit in the trunk

another angle with the amp removed

trunk empty

Click to read more...

 

[Kern417 10+ year member]

I almost forgot how much space i had in there! I used to be able to fit a tv, minifridge, and suitcases my freshman year for trips home from school...but those times are gone

tire well

after removing carpet

ready to apply deadner Bought a bulk pack of dampflier pro but ended up only doing a little of the trunk. finished the trunk lid though

before

and after

For my first time i dont think i did that bad. and plus it's easy as hell to put on. I'll do the rest of the trunk later but i was eager to get the subs in and i think the lid is the more important part anyway

got a box in the mail

she made it! couldn't wait to open her up

shes a beauty

big ole ugly magnet though lol

shiny butt

 

[Kern417 10+ year member]

single spider but it's stiff as ALL HELL.

I made my dad push on my HX2 cone and then push on the HW...his jaw dropped lol he's like 'is it going to move??' oh yes sir, it will

now time for old vs. new

HX2 has a bigger dustcap

Heavyweight has a bigger everything else lol.

I look at these pics for hours at a time lol i love it.

Now old amp vs. new amp

bottom one has 3 times the power. I think it's pretty good size ratio for the amount of power i get.

rest of the stuff i bought (batt, alternator, 0 gauge wire, terminals, fuses, fuse holder)

220amp alternator still waiting to be installed, i found out i may have to remove the engine support just to get the serpentine belt off unless i find an easier way to do it i may have to pay to get it done...LAME

started building my box. cut out all the pieces

starting the build

almost done (pops helping out some more...he couldn't resist when he saw me pulling out the tools lol)

 

[Kern417 10+ year member]

finished

inside

port

test fit in the trunk...got in A LOT easier

now moving to the actual install, got the big 3 done.

definitely the hardest part of this project was wiring. cutting and crimping was a bish but threading the 0 gauge wire through the 4 gauge opening Best Buy made for me was the WORST. luckily the grommet was rubbery enough that i could stretch it around the wire. then i took a couple hours threading it underneath the carpet....man that was a pain. finding a hack saw also made cutting the wires much faster

finally put the sub in the box...looks like *** to me

amp attached to the back of the box

finally finished all the wiring

I know someones gonna say something about it all being the same color wire, but 1. I did the install myself and no one else will be touching it so i know the difference and 2. No one offered to send me 2-3ft of black 0 awg wire lol. plus i still have about 3 ft left of the 0awg that i bought, so i wanted to put it to good use.

everything in place.

I couldnt believe how perfectly the Kinetiks fit next to the box. they literally stagger off eachother the exact width of my trunk at that section...guess i'm on a lucky streak

yeah you see it...the batts are basically flush with the front of my box. I honestly did not measure this at ALL...don't know how it happened this way, but not complaining either!

 

[Kern417 10+ year member]

used some of the left over mdf for bracing

and it's done! I'm breaking it in right now but definitely satisfied so far. can't wait to turn it up hopefully by this weekend

soooooo....watcha think??

 

[Marlo Stanfield 10+ year member]

Nice bracing for the box and batt, how can u spend $1k+ on a system and not find a proper way of bracing the box. Also its not that hard to make a quick battery box.

IMO it just looks like a half *** install with nice equipment.

 

[chaunb3400 10+ year member]

ur gonna need some internal bracing with that box...Also a nice amp rack would be a plus

 

[Kern417 10+ year member]

Nice bracing for the box and batt, how can u spend $1k+ on a system and not find a proper way of bracing the box. Also its not that hard to make a quick battery box.
IMO it just looks like a half *** install with nice equipment.

Well I work full time during the week and i am going out of town over the weekend through next week, so i wanted it installed ASAP. I'm considering doing a false floor but with the curves in my trunk its not going to be easy. the sides and bottom have several different levels that i would have to accomodate for.

So far it's working out pretty well for me though so it'll probably stay like this for a while. But thanks for the input I'll definitely consider it

 

[Kern417 10+ year member]

ur gonna need some internal bracing with that box...Also a nice amp rack would be a plus

I am going to double baffle the box as well, i had to make sure it fit first though. why would an amp rack be needed?

 

[J31Rob 5,000+ posts]

Don't hate on the dude, he said it was for functionality not "glamour"..

I would have done the box longer & made an amp & battery rack on top of the box if you are trying to save that back bit of space.. or even put amps & where the spare is.

 

[MTXman 10+ year member]

I don't think he meant that the amp rack was needed, he just meant that it would be a nice touch.

With a beefy sub like that.. I'm always afraid of vibrations causing amp internals to fck up.. but that's just me being paranoid I guess; even then I'd probably add some rubber feet to the bottom of the amp.

And what's the port area? Seems a bit small, although I don't know the port length.

Pretty nice overall man; very nice equipment.

 

[DB-Audio 10+ year member]

over all nice job how does it sound

 

[Kern417 10+ year member]

Don't hate on the dude, he said it was for functionality not "glamour"..
I would have done the box longer & made an amp & battery rack on top of the box if you are trying to save that back bit of space.. or even put amps & where the spare is.

The box is actually pushed back as far as it can go. the amp i guess is technically 'outside' of the trunk...theres a good bit of space behind the seat since they are bucket seats so they have a slant.

I don't think he meant that the amp rack was needed, he just meant that it would be a nice touch.
With a beefy sub like that.. I'm always afraid of vibrations causing amp internals to fck up.. but that's just me being paranoid I guess; even then I'd probably add some rubber feet to the bottom of the amp.

And what's the port area? Seems a bit small, although I don't know the port length.

Pretty nice overall man; very nice equipment.

yeah i knew i was pushing it with the port width (only 2") but i modeled it in the RE Enclosure calculator it was tuned to ~32hz but i heard with sub displacement it'll go up about 2 hz so i'm estimating its around 34hz.

and i have spacers inbetween the amp and sub box, would the vibrations thing still be an issue? i heard similar situations before where people take the amp off the box and its all scratched to hell and pieces inside moved around so i was *hoping* the spacers would fix the problem...

over all nice job how does it sound

thanx man, so far it's pretty good. still haven't turned it up though. i put a review on CACO you can check out and i'll update it when it's broken in (hopefully by this weekend)

http://www.caraudioclassifieds.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18193

 

[swrve31 10+ year member]

nice job kern looks good. cant wait til its broke in, maybe we can meet up and youll let me hear that thing.

 

[Savag3 10+ year member]

doesnt look bad i bet its musical . . you can make those 12's slam tho ! the thing with your ap is you need a way for the bass to get back in the cabin . . maybe even do a front fire/front port into cabin sealed off that would sound nice