How to custom

it is pretty common, done quite a bit, and my suggestion is do it! go to town.. Custom installs are great, just make sure that when you put that amp in that hole, that you put cooling fans on it, cause it won't get any circulation stuffed in there, and be sure to mount the amp to wood, and then the wood to the trunk. don't screw the amp directly to the trunk, grounding the chassis of the amp to the chassis of the car is not good.

 

please. PLEASE! dont put a cap in !!!!!!


ty, thats all i got to say

 

I used to say the same thing. But the kids insisted on having them, and usually in very prominent places. I would put them in where ever they wanted. Wire them up neatly, then tape off the other ends of the wires and tuck into the loom Wouldn't believe the stories about how much "harder" their system hits because of the cap

 

I did a 93 Civic once. Regreted it for the rest of my life (just kidding). One of the few people that could beat me in a SQ contest. I built it so I really don't feel that bad.

False floors and walls are easy. Here is how I did it in this car. (by the way this is the second fiberglass box I built)

First everything is removed from the trunk, EVERYTHING. Box/trunk liner carpet is glued to the trunk. We do this so that when a panel is removed it still looks neat under the panel. Nothing looks worse than a half assed job.

Next we mount everything where we want it. If anything needs mounting boards, they are also made and covered using the same carpet. Panels are made. We use cardboard to make templates first. Only after the cardboard fits perfectly then the wood is cut.

The cap sits inside its own housing and the amp is mounted to a frame under it. Everything is positioned first before panels are made.




This project (not including the box building time) took about one week, you will not do this in a weekend. I've said this a hundred times, TAKE YOUR TIME this is not rocket science.

When the cover board is in place the amp and cap are not visible. Look close and you should see the lines where the cover board goes.

 

Good article.
I see nothing difficult and the steps well ordered. I like methodical.

Go for it.

And Viking, caps make good decorations, like Christmas Ornaments.

This is my car, I dont drive it much. Bought it brand new in 98 and today it only has 52000 miles.
The cap was necessary, I needed something to fill that space with. And its hooked up.



Now I don't expect Miracles from it or anything but it was needed for the overall look.
Remember car audio today is as much about the look as it is about the sound.

 

Whats wrong with putting a Cap in? I just had my subs put in and they are dimming. Someone recomended that i get at least a 1 farad cap. How can i fix my headlight problem if i dont buy a cap? Thanks

 

Adding something else to be charged ( cap) to an allready taxed electrical system ( lights dimming) doesn't do any good. Have you added heavier gauge wire to the factory alt and and ground wiring ? It helps more than a cap will

 

I have Caps in both my cars. I don't feel that they harm the car or the sound system. A capacitor can smooth out the voltage spikes when installed near an amp. It can also fix your problem (headlight dimming) in boarderline siutuations. But its a bandaid.

I agree install larger gauge wire. Make sure your ground is good. Make sure the ground from the battery to the chassis has been upgraded. I am not against installing caps, but nothing looks worse (its about the looks for me) then a cap thrown in the trunk and a bunch of extra wire. Its nasty, so have a plan.

 

Cap is fine after you upgrade your big three.

 

Upgraded to what, where can i find all the stuff i nedd to stop My headlights from dimming?
I guess i can go to any Mechanic shop and ask them to replace my alternator wires, but where can i fing the other stuff i need. Thanks

 

In many cars the wire from the battery negative post to the chassis is 10 gauge or smaller. Soppose we have an 8 gauge run from batt positive to our amp and a short 8 gauge from amp to ground, we end up with a problem at the battery if there is something smaller connecting the battery negative to ground. We have a bottle neck here. And we need to fix it.

I usually simply add another wire from Battery negative to the chassis and to prevent future problems I like to go a little overkill here. A foot or two of 4 gauge should do a good job for you. One end on the negative battery post, the other to a good place on the chassis. I really like to use a factory bolt for the chassis mounting point.

The next week spot, is the wire from the alternator to the battery. Again its 10 gauge or smaller. We need to get power from the alternator to the battery faster. A good 8 Gauge run here will be a good improvement.

Again, I'm not against caps, I have them in both my cars. But they are not there to fix problems. So the last thing I would do (what I've done in both my vehicles) is run a 4 gauge run to a distribution block that is closer to the amp. If you look at the picture of my car you will see a circuit breaker, it serves as a distribution block. Four Gauge wire in from the batt and 8 gauge out to the amp. The cap is also connected at this point.

 

Thanks Ranger SVO, i will try changing the Battery wire and see how much it would cost me to replace the wire from my Alternator to battery. I wont try that myself because my battery is in the trunk so i assume that it would be pretty long as well as run throught the length of the car.

 

Sorry I Hijacked your thread 97CivicCoupe but this is somewhat related lol, I too have a custom setup like what you posted.

So Ranger SVO in the pic my car battery is below the speaker right next to the tire. I will be moving my Amp from where you see it to the back of the rear seats. Maybe Upgrading the Alternator might be too difficult so do you think running my wires directly to the amp instead of going for show like i did. I have 2 Amps, a Alpine 4ch and a 500W 2ch Kicker. for the two subs. Thanks for your help.

 

I love art and thats art.
Personally, I would go for the looks. The amp that needs the most current will be the Kicker, make sure its closest to the battery. Also make sure it has the largest gauge wire going to it. The Alpine doesn't need as much current so place it anywhere it looks good. To compensate for distance use a larger wire run to it. With a battery in the trunk, you should not run into any problems.

Your trunk is very tastefully done, what ever you decide to do keep it looking good.

 

yes, props to both ranger and tj..

very nicely done fellas

I have been running caps since back in the day.. back when you could only get them from radio shack and had to wire a bazillion of them up together, back before the large ones were available to car audio, and I've not had a problem. Just make sure that the electrical system is healthy enough to withstand an extra load, because that's what you're doing..

if your alternator is going bad, a cap will send it to the hospital for sure, but in my experiences, as long as you don't go crazy with ten farad, without upgrading wiring and batteries, you should be fine.

a healthy cap will help smooth out the system and will help with the dimming problem. they will not fix it, though... Just help. they add a little bit of punch to a system, but a good amp will have plenty of capacity inside it when you get it.

Wiring is very important, and is the first step to a real fix. then a h/o alt and a spare battery..

but a cap will help.. just don't get crazy.

 

I do not like large capacity caps at all. They are carbon film based and need to be avioded like the plague. These caps can and will cause real problems. I really think it was these high capacity caps that gave capacitors in general a bad rep. I have never seen a problem with Electrolytic Capactitors (other than bad installs or unreasonable expectations). Carbon based caps discharge slower than electrolytics and are much harder to charge. In other words installing one of these could make what ever problem you have WORSE.

 

Hell, make your own cap!!!!! get some aluminum foil and wax paper and go to town!!!!!!! a half inch dowle as the form and some creative soldering! Roll it up and shove it into a large diameter cardboard tube. Hell, everyone could have a cap big enough to start thier car with!!!!! Sure beats high prices they get for caps!


LOL!!!!!!!!!!

I hate caps and everything they stand for, kind of like the democratic party, they fill you with hopes and dreams, then pile on the taxes that kill you, ot your electrical systems.. HE HE!!!!!!!!!!

 

Viking, caps are cool man...like my friend bought one and installed it and it has the digital voltage display...dude it works too man...like it gives the amp the power it needs...lol