I like it. It's definitely easier than building an enclosure to fit inside the tailgate. You've definitely got fabrication skills tho. It's going to look sweet when it's complete.

 

Thanks. My welder has become my favorite tool over the past few years and I learned to work with wood as a young kid while tagging along with my father on his home improvement jobs. He was a contractor.

I had fun building it. Unfortunately the rain held me back from finishing it today, but at least I bought the fiberglass supplies this morning so they are ready to go... I'll post more pics as it gets finished.

 

that false floor comes up a little above your hole cut outs. also that amp is way more than you need for them little 8's especially comps kicker's bottom line sub. i think using the tailgate would have been bad *** for an enclosure. i dont think you would really have a problem with moisture seeing as the tail gate is sealed from the outside when fully closed up. but either way you could have stuck a baffle behind it and siliconed it in place. you take the panel off the tail gate, make your cut outs in the metal and the panel. if it's not deep enough then make your wooden rings and fiberglass out from the panel and recarpet when done. at that point if you were going to recarpet you could put in a cool foam bowtie in the carpet so it's raised in between the subs. and you already have a channel running into for speaker wire. i used to work a lot with kicker. they are a good brand and will only buy them just because i have so much experience with them. have seen a lot of blazer enclosures but i dont know why i never thought of mounting in the tail gate.

 

Yes-- the sub cut outs are below the top surface of my false floor. I wanted them that way to create more of a blending effect from the floor to the sub box. I plan on peeling back the carpet on the floor and carving out enough clearance for the sub grilles to nestle in there. You'll see--- I'm not nearly finished yet--nor did I state I was.

As for using the tailgate to mount my amps.... I chose not to do that since I use this vehicle daily and didn't want an obtrusive pair of subs impeding on the functionality of the hatch area.... so I chose to tuck them on the side---out of the way. As it sits, I have retained as much hatch area as possible for maximum functionality.

Now-- if this were a second car, or toy for me,... I may have considered creating a sub enclosure using the tailgate. It just doesn't fit the big picture for my intentions and daily needs. I appreciate the input however.

Also--- these lil' 8" subs KICK A$$--especially with all this wattage. They can handle it all bro.... You should hear them pound. I've owned them for over 10 years now and they still rock. Amazing stuff-- "entry level" or not. I love 'em.

 

love the way its coming together. i had the crazy idea of trying and putting subs in the back seats. literally, unfortunately i lack that know how. on another note we have the same head unit! do you like it?

 

Subs in the back seats would be incredible! I've always challenged myself with creating a system as stealth as possible--nothing detectable except for the head unit.

Yea--- Alpine has always been a favorite of mine after switching from Pioneers back in the day. The ol' SUPERTUNER" series used to be my favorite. On this Alpine, even though it's one of their low-end models, it has some amazing features.... The adjustments for frequency boosts and HPF's are easy to use and help you tailor the sound to your speakers. I would like to get the bluetooth adapter for it, but will have to wait for spare cash to appear again ... This one was actually given to me from a friend who removed it from his 2011 Lotus Evora. It's a factory Alpine stereo for Lotus. We installed a totally custom system in it instead.

 

all my stuff was given to me, and installed. 2 10 inch bostwick plus subs, polk audio and scosche speakers. powered by kenwood and alpine amps and of course my head unit. cde-102. i wish you didnt have to buy the ipod cable for it. i went ahead and got it. just not sure how to install it.

 

I bought that cable too. Just plug it into the rear of the unit-- it's the only plug the blue end will fit into. Then run it to where you'll find it most convenient. I ran mine up through the center console and cut a "slot" so it would fit through the CD rack for when I need it. I also made it spring loaded so it retracts back into the CD rack when not in use. Turned out sweet!

If you use the front USB port or auxillary input for the IPOD instead, it will work, but will be much slower and give you less control. The cable from the rear of the unit is the best way to go...

Sounds like you have a nice-sounding system too. I wanted to go with 10's but space was a concern for me and being a little older now (39), 8's are enough. They are surprising and impressive actually.

 

I just spent some time outside coating the inside of each sub chamber with dynamat extreme, installed the speaker box terminals (5-way binding posts for 12 gauge wire), so I can drop it in for a quick test-fit and sound check before doing all the final cosmetic work to the box. I'll post more pics as it finishes.

 

Okay-- so I fiberglassed the enclosure to give the front-most sub chamber some structure. Then smoothed that out with a roloc, and applied two layers of Bondo body filler and smoothed that out as well. I decided to carpet the entire box to help it blend in to the rest of the hatch area.

First, I notched out the false floor to allow the subs to "nestle" into the floor and look blended in. I used a router and set it at 1/2" depth to give the subs clearance to drop in place. Worked perfectly...

Then, I carpeted the entire enclosure.... NOT EASY with all these curves and shapes to work around-- but it's done. It took lots of cutting, stretching, stapling, and gluing to get it done. I then installed the subs, and the rear binding post connectors to finish it off. I can't wait to hear them finally. (Believe it or not, I am just too tired to throw it in the hatch and try it after working outside in the sun.... so tomorrow's the day!)

**** By the way, these Kicker subs are the COMP series from around 2000, not the cheapies you can get in Walmart today. I remember someone mentioning that they are "low end" so I wanted to mention that. These are the old school COMP series from back in the day.