Amp board DIY (for shawnskee22 & others)
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Amp board DIY (for shawnskee22 & others)
I get asked here and there about my amp mounting procedures.....so here goes.
The board is just a 1/2" thick and somewhere around 16" x 38" pine board, laminated i think .... basically a bunch of small boards all glued together to make one big one. The advantage here is it doesn't warp like a large one peice board would.
* Cut the board to fit, remember it leans at an angle .....
* Lay it all out, amps, crossovers, etc .... visually and mark where you need holes drilled. Power, gound, remote, RCAs, and speaker wires.
* Drill the holes for the wires first. Don't forget any wires or it ****s it up. I actually forgot my RCAs .... but I got lucky that the amp ends covered the abortion it turned into to get holes in there after the carpet was already on. Let me put it this way .... it was ugly. I almost redid the carpet.
* Cover it with carpet. Spray glue w/ special carpet from a local shop. Forgot the exact name of the stuff.
* Bring the board into the car and attatch the hook and eyes and attatch the board to the car. Line it all up etc. and put it all together.
* Take it back out of the car by just unclipping the hooks and lay it down so you can continue working on it.
* Cut an X over any hole for the wires you drilled. This lets the wires poke through while keeping the hole covered in carpet.
* Mount the amplifiers etc on the board.
* Now go put it back into the car by just rehooking the hooks.
* Shove in the wires and start connecting it all up. Poke the carpet around the hole into the hole so it looks better.
* This leaves it so that the front looks great, and all the wires are sticking out the back.
* Here I just covered a piece of scrap paneling in carpet and leaned it against the backside of the board. The wires end up hidden between the two pieces of wood that are back to back.
You should be good to go.
I attatched the board top to the car w/ hook an eyes. Any hardware store will have them. This way you can move it (without tools) if you get a flat tire or something. They had a tendency to come unhooked on big bumps but I just wrapped tape around them quick.
The board is just a 1/2" thick and somewhere around 16" x 38" pine board, laminated i think .... basically a bunch of small boards all glued together to make one big one. The advantage here is it doesn't warp like a large one peice board would.
* Cut the board to fit, remember it leans at an angle .....
* Lay it all out, amps, crossovers, etc .... visually and mark where you need holes drilled. Power, gound, remote, RCAs, and speaker wires.
* Drill the holes for the wires first. Don't forget any wires or it ****s it up. I actually forgot my RCAs .... but I got lucky that the amp ends covered the abortion it turned into to get holes in there after the carpet was already on. Let me put it this way .... it was ugly. I almost redid the carpet.
* Cover it with carpet. Spray glue w/ special carpet from a local shop. Forgot the exact name of the stuff.
* Bring the board into the car and attatch the hook and eyes and attatch the board to the car. Line it all up etc. and put it all together.
* Take it back out of the car by just unclipping the hooks and lay it down so you can continue working on it.
* Cut an X over any hole for the wires you drilled. This lets the wires poke through while keeping the hole covered in carpet.
* Mount the amplifiers etc on the board.
* Now go put it back into the car by just rehooking the hooks.
* Shove in the wires and start connecting it all up. Poke the carpet around the hole into the hole so it looks better.
* This leaves it so that the front looks great, and all the wires are sticking out the back.
* Here I just covered a piece of scrap paneling in carpet and leaned it against the backside of the board. The wires end up hidden between the two pieces of wood that are back to back.
You should be good to go.
I attatched the board top to the car w/ hook an eyes. Any hardware store will have them. This way you can move it (without tools) if you get a flat tire or something. They had a tendency to come unhooked on big bumps but I just wrapped tape around them quick.
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Joe, I was gonna PM you because I am in the process of doing this right now. Anywayz, I am glad that I got the same measurements for the wood as you (16X38). I have already cut the wood, and basically I am waiting on the amp to map out where I make the holes. I have no idea how to drill holes big enough for 4 gauge wire and RCAs (is there a special drill bit I need to look for?), so I was just going to cut big holes under each amp in order to push the wires from under each end of the amp. But maybe I should look for a special drill bit?
Now the part that I am worried is not gonna work: I want to hide all the wiring going to my cap so I was just gonna cut a small rectangular hole in the center of the board. I was going to put the cap on the inside of the board so that hopefully I can see the digital readout through the rectangular hole. My problem is that the digital readout will not be flush against the hole (maybe like an inch back)...so it may look funny unless I am looking in it strait on. I really don't know about this part??
Anyway, i will post some pics in a week or two if it all works ok
Now the part that I am worried is not gonna work: I want to hide all the wiring going to my cap so I was just gonna cut a small rectangular hole in the center of the board. I was going to put the cap on the inside of the board so that hopefully I can see the digital readout through the rectangular hole. My problem is that the digital readout will not be flush against the hole (maybe like an inch back)...so it may look funny unless I am looking in it strait on. I really don't know about this part??
Anyway, i will post some pics in a week or two if it all works ok
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Rep Power: 0 maybe u can use some black plexi or just wood pieces painted black to "frame" the readout on the cap so u wont get any shadows or anything making the display fuzzy. im really interested in seeing pics, im getting tired of my current setup
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As far as drilling the holes it doesn't matter as long as the hole is big enough for the wire to go through. Then just cut an X over the hole and poke the wires through it. When you get it all in there then just tuck the ends back into the hole and it will hide the cut parts. If the hole gets big, like for the cap. I would suggest cutting it in 6 or 8 pieces, just like a pie. Staple or glue the ends to the back side of the board. It should make it look really finished off.
Just a thought. Can you unscrew the digital readout from the cap. Cut and extend the wires. Now you can custom mount it anywhere. Or possible get a similar voltage readout that you can custom mount somewhere.
As far as drilling the holes it doesn't matter as long as the hole is big enough for the wire to go through. Then just cut an X over the hole and poke the wires through it. When you get it all in there then just tuck the ends back into the hole and it will hide the cut parts. If the hole gets big, like for the cap. I would suggest cutting it in 6 or 8 pieces, just like a pie. Staple or glue the ends to the back side of the board. It should make it look really finished off.
Just a thought. Can you unscrew the digital readout from the cap. Cut and extend the wires. Now you can custom mount it anywhere. Or possible get a similar voltage readout that you can custom mount somewhere.
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