This will be my first installment of my stereo upgrades for our Mini. I plan to run a 5 channel system like I had in our BMW but I will be selling off the old gear to replace it with some new and smaller equipment that will fit in the new car without taking up to much space. I thought I would start with the sub box first. I built it into the recess for the tool kit but didn't use all the space as I only need .35cf for my sub.

Starting with a basic wood frame and then glassing in the bottom to the shape of the car.





Took that out then added a few more layers of mat on the bench, then cut out the baffle and recess for driver. Added some red vinyl to make it match the car.





Next was trimming and cutting out a piece of MDF for the cover. I used a piece of card board to trace out the shapes of the round corners and then transferred that to the wood. Cardboard is cheaper than wood if you screw up Made a few measurements and cut out the grill piece and wrapped it all in some trunk liner. I cut up an old 12" grill and attached that to the grill so that stuff can be put on top of it and I don't have to worry about the sub getting damaged.





And the finished product in the car with and without the grill. The box will be bolted to the floor of the car after I lay some more sound deadener in the back. The empty space under the trim panel to the left of the box will be used for the dsp unit when it gets installed.





My plan is to go with 2 small d class amps to run the system, a four channel for the front components and a mono block for the sub. The amps will be installed in the small cubby spots on either side of the trunk. This will all be run off the factory head unit and through a dsp. I have a set of JL Audio C3 components for the front stage and the sub is an Infinity Reference 8".

 

Nice build! I want to make a box like you did but one that covers the whole trunk floor maybe a bit slimmer though.

 

There are some shallow mount subs out there that would allow for the box to not stick up as high. Don't forget if your car is an S then the battery is in the spot where I put mine so you won't have that extra depth to work with.

 

Finally got around to installing the rest of my audio gear. I went with the PPI Ion series amps as they fit in the side compartments in the back. Up front is a set of JL C3 6.5" components in the doors. I pulled the drivers seat and ran my power and left side speaker wire down that side and the right speaker wire went down the pass side. I ran 2 sets of speaker wire up front as I plan on going 5 channel active as the next upgrade step. That might not be until next year as I want to add a DSP unit too.

We'll start with a shot of the wires on the drivers side, zip tied every 6" or less.



And a shot of the right side speaker wires and power wire for the next amp run across the back seat to the pass side of the car. I used sound deadener to hold the wires down where zip ties were not able to be used.



I am running the speaker inputs on the amp as I am keeping the stock headunit for now. I grabbed my inputs off the rear speakers as they are not hooked up anyways. Here you can see i have mounted a board to the inner fender to hold the amp.



Amp mounted up and wired up to the car.

 

Finally got around to installing the rest of my audio gear. I went with the PPI Ion series amps as they fit in the side compartments in the back. Up front is a set of JL C3 6.5" components in the doors. I pulled the drivers seat and ran my power and left side speaker wire down that side and the right speaker wire went down the pass side. I ran 2 sets of speaker wire up front as I plan on going 5 channel active as the next upgrade step. That might not be until next year as I want to add a DSP unit too.

We'll start with a shot of the wires on the drivers side, zip tied every 6" or less.



And a shot of the right side speaker wires and power wire for the next amp run across the back seat to the pass side of the car. I used sound deadener to hold the wires down where zip ties were not able to be used.



I am running the speaker inputs on the amp as I am keeping the stock headunit for now. I grabbed my inputs off the rear speakers as they are not hooked up anyways. Here you can see i have mounted a board to the inner fender to hold the amp.



Amp mounted up and wired up to the car.



Sub box back in with some deadener under it and ready to put the car back together.



I just mounted my iPod control unit on the pass side as I forgot to run the wire up to the front when I had the door sills out. I don't really touch it once it is hooked up so in the back works fine with me. The unit plugs into the factory cd changer wiring which is located in this cubby.



I didn't get too many pictures of the door speaker install. Basically built a mdf mounting ring and coated it in rocker guard/bed liner paint and mounted it to the door. I cut apart a set of foam speaker baskets to put behind the speakers just to keep water off them as the doors aren't the most water tight. I didn't go too crazy with deadener as I auto cross the car as well and wanted to keep the adding of weight to a minimum. I did put some on the door cards as well to help with vibrations.



I hot glued the tweeters to the back of the factory grills for now. The tweeters are almost the same size as the factory grill so I want to get a second set of the grills and flush the tweeter in from the front down the road.



The end result in the trunk. I wish the amp could be more centered but it can't really go back much more.



Sounds pretty good from first initial listen. That little 8 puts out a fair amount of bass in that box!

 

ATTN MODERATOR - I tried posting to this thread using a user name of mine from another forum "derekj" by mistake - you can delete that post - thanks

 

Great looking build, man.

 

This is a very nice build, thanks for posting OP.