2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

I know this is a Mach 1 site, but, the process I used to create a speaker box is the same for the Mach so I thought I would share.

As some of you know, my daughter is a chip off the old block; she loves cars. Arguably she may be the luckiest girl out there.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/k9...A=w772-h580-no
I have two soft spots, 1. My Daughter and 2. Cars. (wife fits in there too but she has a Mustang too). She was lucky enough to have a 2004 Convertible Premium with some updates as noted in a previous thread. She took real good care of the that car and kept her grades up. Now she has a 2017 Ecoboost Premium but the sound system lacked bass! So, for graduation I fixed that. Better yet, she makes her own car payments (dad provided a healthy downpayment).

Now for the meat of the topic.

1. Subwoofer is a Kenwood Excelon KFC-XW1200F shallow mount 12", for some reason, this speaker is overlooked many times but it sounds fantastic and only requiring .8 cubic foot of space but more importantly is it physically shallow so box options increased.
2. Amp, we went with a Rockford Fosgate R500X1D. Good, clean power.
3. Misc, power wires , etc.


Now I needed to build a box for the truck. Wanted a side mount enclosure. I pulled the panel out of the car.
Here is a pic of it:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/98...=w1008-h756-no

(here is where I failed to capture pictures, so I will try to explain)
1. I used blue painters tape and fully covered all the carpeted areas of the panel.
2. Then I added a second layer going the opposite direction.
3. Purchased Fiberglass resin and Fiberglass matte from Wal-Mart, I mention Wal-Mart because it is 37.00 per gallon instead of 50.00 at the parts store.
4. I missed up 16 oz of resin with hardener, most I could mix up at a time, otherwise it hardens to quickly. Very helpful to have your wife help out, must move quick.
5. Pre-cut strips of the fiberglass mat, laid the strips down in the 'taped' form and brushed on the resin.
6. fully covered the from in a vertical direction, when complete, did it again in a horizontal direction.
7. Here is the form:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Qu...=w1008-h756-no
When I removed the 'dried' from, the tape came with it. Good thing I did 2 layers of tape. Hindsight, I would have also put foil down.

More shots of the form:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/M8...=w1008-h756-no

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

trying to fix the picture sizes... this is a PITA.

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Next on the list was to find out exactly how much space I needed. The box for the speaker required .8 cubic foot, so this equated to about 6 gallons of water. So, I filled up the form with 6 gallons and marked off the level.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5J...=w756-h1008-no

Once marked by the water level, I trimmed out the new form to a much smaller size.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/R1...=w756-h1008-no
another angle:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RL...=w1008-h756-no
You can see I spent some time removing the tape, this is important when you add on the front, the new fiberglass will need to be sanded for adhesion of a new layer.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rm...=w1008-h756-no

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Next was to create a mounting point for the 12" speaker. This was simple, just cutout a ring from 3/4" MDF.
This pic shows the rough placement of the ring.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/go...=w756-h1008-no
If you look closely, I glued in supports for the ring for the next step.

Another couple of angles:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TW...=w756-h1008-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/N4...=w756-h1008-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TW...=w756-h1008-no

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Next I added a strip of carpet tape around the exclosure, this was used to create a tight pull on the fiberglass Matt.

I then brushed on a coat of resin.

Then I added another layer of fiberglass Matt and reapplied more resign.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Kb...=w756-h1008-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wW...=w756-h1008-no

Cut out the speaker hole, notice that I did not add any resin to the cutout area, that would have been a waste. :)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B9...=w1008-h756-no

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Getting time for carpet; when applying carpet, this is not the time to cheap out on glue. Stupid can of 3M yellow glue is 25.00 but it works great.

I sprayed two coats on the box and two coats on the carpet, let it set for 5 minutes and then applied. Very tacky.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rJ...=w756-h1008-no

Added in the speaker after carpet was done. I should note that I added in a terminal block on the back of the box but forgot to take pics.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/EA...=w1008-h756-no

By utilizing the odd angles of the form, I was able to limit the amount of trunk space that is used, notice the odd angle going up, that is for free volume.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vk...=w1008-h756-no

Fits like a glove with full access to the spare tire. (things I think about as a parent but as a teenager I could care less.)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4g...=w1008-h756-no
Amp shot:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Uu...=w756-h1008-no

Notice I used the Amp's built in speaker converter, I tapped into the factory speakers. Also, in the glove box I installed a remote bass control knob.

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Bass hits so hard you cannot see out of the mirrors. Brooke teared up a bit, she had no idea how hard it was going to hit.

I guess I left out that my entry in to cars was 16 years old putting in car audio equipment, but this is the first fiberglass speaker box I have made. It was actually easier than I thought, a bit time consuming because of waiting for the resin to dry between steps. But, well worth the weight savings of an MDF enclosure and a perfect fit.

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

thats killer! Thanks for posting

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Very cool! So the PL Premium was to glue the MDF ring to the fiberglass? That's my favorite construction adhesive.

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Thanks

thx and Yes, I used the PL Premium to glue in the ring supports then glue the ring to the tabs. This was only used to secure the ring while stretching the fiberglass matte.

PL Premium is the best glue ever! I always keep it handy. Found out about it when putting down thresholds for my wood floors, then having to take up the threshold a year later due to other issues I discovered how great that glue really was. Instead of coming off the wood or concrete, the wood threshold split at the woodgrain. To say the least, I was very impressed.

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Excellent work, Darrell. I bet she's a happy camper. The neighbors, probably not so much. :yeh:

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

This is awesome!!!

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Crazy cool. Are you adopting?

But really, impressive work. Make me one for the Mach and I'll pay primo! :bigeyes:

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Really nice work.

You should see about patenting a design for this, then market and sell the patent. (seriously, I work with people that do this as a second income.)
_

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Nice job and she is a lucky girl, I wish I had a nice looking car when I was younger.

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

thanks for the kind words everyone.

I would only do this for my own cars, saves a ton of money so long as I do not charge myself by the hour. :)

I think a ton of people would like to have a box like this, because I looked and could not find one myself. However, most people are not willing to pay for what it takes to make any kind of real money on this.

Re: 2017 Ecoboost Subwoofer + Amp Install
 

Your right,most wouldn't pay for this...its a great design for adding g some low end...i have a sundown so I want those deep lows that shake your bones....im also having issues figuring out where to mount the amps..i also run fosgate prime amps.i have the 500d and 400x4 and right now they are mounted to the back of the rear seats.i want to move them because I have just bought a 3 channel crossover/linedriver and need room for it as well...was hoping one of our members would spark and idea for me...boise Idaho doesn't have good enclosure builders....