Picked up a few things today:
> 4 channel and 2 channel Rockford Fosgate 5m patch cables - They were old new stock still covered with dust, but are twisted pair cables with a nice black mesh central cover on them and small rca plugs for fitting tight spaces. Got as cheap as mail order, but bought local.
> 75' Stinger 12 gauge speaker wire. Plan to use this for all runs with two pulls to each door and one or two to the sub. I know it's not needed for the watts I'm running, but I like having a little overhead.
> Spare 1 in / 1 out 4 gauge fuse block as the JL amps don't have onboard fuses so I'm going to put one inline just before my amp in addition to the battery fuse.
> My JL Audio 10TW3-D4 10" shallow subwoofer - new in box for the sub box I just had built.
The shop is still working on the trim ring grill, but I went by and picked up my semi finished sub box. At this point, it has been fully resin coated inside and out with a small piece of fiberglass inside over the thinnest panel on the rear for added support. It has been painted black on the rear and has black carpet installed on the front. I'm pleased with how it turned out and I got it for a hell of a price even though it amounted to a lot more man hours than I think they thought it would take when they gave me the quote. Not quite as rounded as a full glass enclosure, but will have some added benefit of being made from birch when it comes to mass, resonance, and overall cabinet stability, and because it is almost fully contained inside the trim the material wasn't as important anyway. The resin is still curing at this point.
The new sub
JL XD700/5 amp out of box finally. Would never know this was a refurbished amp from looking at it. I finally figured out a mounting location that I will be working on tonight and over the weekend. Amp is going on the driver side in the rear quarter panel, sort of like the sub and will be partially recessed. Not so much for stealth as it is to retain cargo space and keep amp at higher level off floor. Didn't want to put under seats in a 4x4 play vehicle in case water ever gets in during a mishap.
Made a little progress on my amp mounting location tonight. space is so tight in these older 4 runners that there are a limited number of places to mount an amp. Unless you are using a micro amp like an arc mini or similar, you are basically limited to under the drivers seat (mine has rear heater under passenger seat) or somewhere in the cargo area. What I typically see is people mount to the back of the seats or to a sub box sitting in the cargo area.
In my case, since I've gone to the effort to get a sub box made to fit inside the rear panel to preserve cargo space, I wanted to do something similar with the amp. The other reason I didn't want to put it under the driver seat is this is a 4x4 and I've had a prior land rover actually get hung up during a river crossing and have water start coming in the doors, which would toast an amp mounted down there.
I chose to go in the rear compartment and on a side. Also chose to go over a wheel well to get it as high as possible. The obvious thought would be directly opposite the sub as there is another pocket inside the panel on the driver side rear, but the problem is there is a pressure vent there that is open to the outside with only a rubber flap to keep water out. I felt like moisture during wet driving might be a problem in that location even though it would have allowed recessing the amp into the wall like the sub.
So, long story short, the amp is where it is and I'm going to make do. Here are the pictures.
Using plastic lumber so it's water proof and I don't have to mess with resin to make wood water proof.
Cut a large rectangular piece and then hacked away until it would lay flat on the side wall. Then split it so that an existing factory truck wiring harness could still pass through.
This stuff is 1/2" thick, and it comes in 1/4 and 3/4 options as well. I bought it at West Marine, but you can buy it online and ebay. Hard to see it, but I layered ensolite closed cell foam between the marine board and the sheet metal.
There was already a hole in the side quarter panel where a rear cargo cover would go.
Working now on test fitting initial hole
Once the hole was large enough for the amp to pass through, I put the panel in place and then put the amp in place. Once centered and leveled, I screwed the amp to the plastic marine board. I used all stainless hardware to bolt the board to the sheet metal and to screw the amp to the board. Should be pretty solid.
As you can see, my cutting skills are not quite as precise as the shop that built my sub box and cut the woofer opening on the other quarter panel. But hey, I did it myself and I plan to put a trim ring around the amp when I'm all done anyway to dress it up.
I'm going to pull the amp back down so that I can sound deaden this side, but also so I can wrap the factory wiring in a few layers of electrical tape to give it a little heat insulation from the back of the amp. I'm getting much closer to being ready to start putting deadener down everywhere and to running my wiring. Once I get all of that done, I'll be ready to get the headliner and new carpet back in. My doors are something I can work on after the interior is put back together.
