Has Anyone Ever Done This Install in a Hatch?

[SeriousBlack]

I have a BassWorks box (with the angle) with a 12" sub from my previous car with a mono amp. Though it's a bit heavier than I'd prefer, it's a sunk expense and sounded great. I plan to remove the spare in my 5dr, the plastic bins and OEM cover. I'm contemplating securing the box with some rigid tie straps with bolts so it sits dead centre along the tailgate with the speaker facing up (with grille). The screw bolts would utilize the existing holes under the plastic buckets.

I will then use the lightest but most rigid finished wood product (MDF or Pine) as a deck, notched out so it wraps around the box but otherwise sealing the floor. I'd raise the deck a few inches to be able to place my mono and 4 channel amp underneath (with room for heat dissipation). The deck would be carpeted. The finished look would have the box protruding from a lowered, carpeted deck but (hopefully) difficult to remove quickly.

The idea is to preserve my bass with a fully sealed box (and not have to seal all around the deck), allow me to deter a quick jack job by using torx screws/tie straps and/or hidden bolts and have the amps underneath, and finally preserve some usable hatch space. I'd probably cover the exposed vertical gap at the rear seat by folding the seats down and screwing a removable plate for access. I'm certainly wary of weight issues but don't want to do anything to the car that's not reversible to preserve OEM resale. Fiberglass is not an option for me.

Has anyone used a box/deck combo before? If so, I'd love to see a dyi or pics. I haven't started anything yet so I have no pics to post. Just tossing the idea out there for discussion.

[sort_o_sane]

Just to make sure I understand you , you are going to "box your box?" Actually i am not sure if you mean that or make a case with an open face that will face teh rest of the car, which could improve sound response but might aslo kill sound response at the same time. I did something similiar in my Honda, if you are "encasing", My rear seat folded down completely and I had 2 dual 10" sub boxes "Boxed" in my now open trunk. Damn I miss that car sometimes. Should sound great, but it also sounds like a lot of security that will take a while to remove if ever you need. Why not just bracket to metal with Allen headed bolts and Phillips down some no motion canvas straps? Of all the theives I used to know they never had an Allen headed anything with them.

[SeriousBlack]

Initially, the thought was to box the box but that seemed redundant/stupid with the weight. I contemplated removing the speaker (front) panel of my
Bassworks box and replacing it with an MDF panel that would also be the new deck for the hatch.

After all this shyte, I'm now leaning to a fiberglass install afterall. I met with a local who uses a great mould remover that will allow me to take out any FG put in when I ever sell the car stock. I'm going to use my existing 12" sub with a mono and 2 channel amp in the custom FG.

I'm choked at SPKRMAN (is he really banned? ) as he was so dismissive of a shallow sub option. JL Audio is coming out with what looks like a promising model this fall. I guess a reasonably priced and performing shallow sub would render box salesmen pretty redundant.

[sort_o_sane]

Shallow mounts are getting lots of people pissed from what i am hearing. if they don't throw off the cubic volume requirements of boxes they are going to kick ass, but if they do people are going to have to start redesigning their box concepts.
On the topic of spkrman, if he did what nutz is saying( and other people from what i have recently found out) then that is someone I don't want around me, personally.

What really might give your bass system it's major kick is going to be the cabin area of the vehicle itself. the trunk of my old honda was at a maximum 4.75'W x 4.75'D x 2.25'H and that added a lot of thump when I laid the back seat down. The hatch back version of the yaris has what I believe to be the perfect amount of cubic feet to maximize the potential of even a 200 watt bass system. What I am going to try in my hatch is adding a solid rear deck lid to isolate where the sound is going to go, i might also lay the back seats down in this car as well, or just scoot them forward. And don't forget the basics of subs; speakers produce sound, magnets produce bass. Just figure out what you are looking for.

I saw some rather interesting sound proofing material that would probably also help prevent other people from hearing your system. i don't know about you, but I can hear a lot of noise when I drive with the windows up, so I am planned on installing that before I move on to a system with bass.