i am looking into installing an amp onto the rear firewall like some people did that i see from searches. the question is how tough is it to drill that hard looking steel firewall in the rear. or how do people do it. thanks.

 

Are you talking of the steel plate that is bolted to the frame behind the rear seats?

 

yes. is that a firewall?

 

I wouldn't call it a firewall... But reguardless.

Its not that difficult to drill. If i were you I would use self tapping screws. Probably no longer than... Say 3/4"?

 

the rear is not exactly 90 degree and a car has to deal with bump and etc. won't a self tapping screw will come loose overtime?

 

Not if you do it right.

You don't even need self taping screws...the metal is pretty thin.

 

you could just run the wire on the side of the seat then down through the rear speaker hole underneath as you know you must remove the rear seats to remove the stock rear speakers!

 

Nani???????????

 

Or just run it behind the rear seats where they fold down, follow the stock wiring basically and just run your wires with it.

There's enough wiring in the car that they made holes basically everywhere, I'm not sure why people think that drilling is always the best answer.

 

Good point, one way I tried that worked quite well is to get some bolts and nuts and use locktite and then make sure to use foam or rubber gasket as a spacer around the edges to give a space for airflow cooling.

 

the dude said hes puttin an amp onto the "firewall." he didnt ask anything about wires.

 

I was like wtf?

Who said anything about wires.

 

I myself would mount a small piece of plywood to the rear seat frame then mount the amp to the plywood. This gives you great ground isolation no pop's or wine's

 

Yupp, that is what I did. I screwed 2 boards from the inside of the car and then screwed the amp into that from the trunk like this :

Amp - Wood - Steel Plate

 

why not jus buy a sub enclosure big enough to mount the amp onto??? But thats besides the point. iima say that the back seat metal is pretty hard to drill through. Use a good bit. The Plywood is yur best but to make sure the amp can breathe.

 

i have my amp mounted on top of my sub box along with my cap, however the down side to this is , its easy to rob, lol!
the bottom bolt on the trunk makes a good ground , theres lots of holes and bolts u can use without tearing the car apart just look around, and pick up a ground loop isolator b/c that humming noise sucks!

 

you should just mount the amp to the back of the trunk. thats how the circuit city did it in mine, they didnt drill any holes through steel.

 

velcro mother****ers

 

If your subs really do hit hard, you run the risk of literally shaking the amp apart

again, if your subs really do hit hard you run the risk of the amp falling off the velcro (IMO I wouldnt trust some $4 velcro with a $600 amp)

 

You're right I guess I just assumed he was talking about wiring.

I think it even says in the instructions not to mount it directly to the car, and that you should put a piece of wood under it first. Not a big fan of mounting things onto the sub box, I think it just looks tacky. I had mine under the passenger seat back when I had my system.



Thats with the seat all the way forward, when it was all the way back it covered it very well. It makes the install much cleaner IMO and lets you remove the sub from the trunk incase you need the space or need to put the seats down or whatever.

 

Make sure the drill bits you use are for metal. Also industrial strength velcrov works wonders. You can also connect the amps behind the sub.

 

my system is pretty decent and ive never had anything move period with velcro. it usually takes a good amount of force to pull my amp off.

 

done. like fallenone and beegeezy were saying. easy to drill and it's a thin piece of metal. i used all purpose drill bit that includes soft metal. the actual drilling was the quick. it is the best location for me. it saves a lot of space in the trunk. i don't feel comfortable blowing hot air under the seat when using the foot heater. i am sure no one has any problem with it. the hot summer months is coming. i will soon find out if my cheapy amp will die from overheating at 4th gen back seat angle. now i have to look for a set of shielded rca splitters.

 

The seat angle is absolutely fine. Even mounting an amp upside down can be done if there is no other choice. (preferably one with an internal fan, not just heatsinks)

 

great instructions, helps me out as well

 

Since you have already done the 'mod', I am only posting for future searchers.

There is a reason every amp manufacturer will tell you not to mount the amp directly to the body. Stop and think about the suspension on your car. It all has bushings for a reason.

If you are going to mount an amp to the firewall, IMO, the best is to bolt a piece of MDFB (or other like wood that will soak some vibration) to the firewall and then mount your amp to that. If it was me, I would spend a few extra bucks to put rubber or vibration absorbing material under the mount points for the amp.

Also if the bit is not 'bradded' and does not have a 'set', you can use it (general statement / there are exceptions). Drill a whole clean through and then use 4 bolts with washers and nuts to bolt the board to the firewall. Keep in mind that sheering of the metal [and/or bolts depending on the size you use] is possible. Either use a shim, bushing, or get those suckers tight with a lock washer as well.

Save yourself money, time, and effort in the future and do it right the first time.