My Camaro Sub Project - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

cashby02 · 01-31-2019, 06:52 PM

Well, I got this new (to me) 2014 Camaro and I love it (all trucks prior to). But not having deep low bass makes life seem so small (had a 15” since HS), so I began this project to restore function of my Kicker boom set.

Nothing about this project was easy from the moment I sized up the trunk. The fat Camaro rear-end is very spacious but the interior shape is like a loaf of bread smashed between two oven racks on one side.

I mapped out the interior topology and went with a bolt-together sealed box design that would fit through to trunk opening piece-by-piece. (The Chevy emblem shape of the box was a nice bonus).

Bolting together the three box pieces in the trunk was an awkward pain in my butt. But this was entirely due to my surgically precise box design (no space was waisted).

Look how close this box is to the 6x9’s!

After everything was up and running I was sad to see that the amp - even at low levels - put too much strain on my cars electrical system (dimming lights). So I decided to upgrade to a secondary battery (and soon a higher output alternator).

I want my amp to only pull juice away from a secondary battery. After some research, I decided to go with this 500 amp relay/isolator. Installation required a “true ignition source” to activate the relay when the car is both starting and running. The goal is to only let the two batteries bridge during crank (to allow the secondary battery to help start the car) and while the engine is running (to allow the alternator to charge the secondary battery). When the engine is not running or starting, the two batteries are completely disconnected so as to protect the main battery from the ridiculously powerful and power hungry Kicker amplifier (and any other power hungry upgrades I make to the Camaro in the future).

Used approximately 12’ of + and - 1/0AWG wire and 25’ of 16AWG wire for the relay/ignition.

For safety, it’s important to fuse each + wire just before contact with any battery and/or capacitor:
1x200amp fuse for main battery,
2x200amp fuses for secondary battery,
1x100amp fuse for capacitor/amp.

The only modification made to my Camaro was when mounting the relay near the main battery. Installing the pioneer media player for my beloved CarPlay did not require any permanent changes.

There it is! After taking my sweet time doing this upgrade (two weeks), I have my bass back.

Lemme know your thoughts.
cashby02

BAD DAB · 01-31-2019, 08:32 PM

Nice

Crusin · 01-31-2019, 09:02 PM

Pretty sweet. Did you notice any difference from just having the boxes under the 6x9's? Or, have you always had the sub on?

cashby02 · 01-31-2019, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crusin

Pretty sweet. Did you notice any difference from just having the boxes under the 6x9's? Or, have you always had the sub on?

If you’re wondering how the 6x9’s sound with the sub turned off, they sound just fine. Not any different from what I remember them sounding like before I put the box in.

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Leo72793 · 02-01-2019, 01:53 PM

To be honest, you went a bit far with the true ignition :P not truly needed. But doesnt hurt. The CAP is pointless imho. BY the time you use the power in it, it tries to recharge and can cause the amp to not have enough coming in. I have a 1200w 6ch amp on my setup ( and soon a 1000-1500 sub amp ) and never needed one. Nice box design!.

witenite · 02-01-2019, 03:28 PM

Nice work!

SSkat · 02-01-2019, 03:49 PM

I had the same sub from a long time ago and wanted to do something similar but ported. Nice work.

cashby02 · 02-02-2019, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo72793

To be honest, you went a bit far with the true ignition :P not truly needed. But doesnt hurt. The CAP is pointless imho. BY the time you use the power in it, it tries to recharge and can cause the amp to not have enough coming in. I have a 1200w 6ch amp on my setup ( and soon a 1000-1500 sub amp ) and never needed one. Nice box design!.

I’m not using the cap to help supply faster DC to my amp, I added it to reduce electrical noise put out by my class D amplifier and other added electrical components. It’s like Dynamat for your DC electrical system. Not something you usually hear to know it’s helping. Makes my ECU a happy camper.

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Leo72793 · 02-03-2019, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashby02

I’m not using the cap to help supply faster DC to my amp, I added it to reduce electrical noise put out by my class D amplifier and other added electrical components. It’s like Dynamat for your DC electrical system. Not something you usually hear to know it’s helping. Makes my ECU a happy camper.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i have 2 class D amps on mine, with no issue. I have a Helix DSP, LC-6.1200 a a LC-1.1500 and no issue at all with noise. Im not sure how people keep getting noise with their setups lol. Granted i replaced my engine ground, and upgraded my battery to an AGM, and cleaned the ground points, no issues in any car.

01-31-2019, 06:52 PM	#1
cashby02 Drives: 2014 Chevy Camaro 1LS Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana Posts: 10	My Camaro Sub Project Well, I got this new (to me) 2014 Camaro and I love it (all trucks prior to). But not having deep low bass makes life seem so small (had a 15” since HS), so I began this project to restore function of my Kicker boom set. Nothing about this project was easy from the moment I sized up the trunk. The fat Camaro rear-end is very spacious but the interior shape is like a loaf of bread smashed between two oven racks on one side. I mapped out the interior topology and went with a bolt-together sealed box design that would fit through to trunk opening piece-by-piece. (The Chevy emblem shape of the box was a nice bonus). Bolting together the three box pieces in the trunk was an awkward pain in my butt. But this was entirely due to my surgically precise box design (no space was waisted). Look how close this box is to the 6x9’s! After everything was up and running I was sad to see that the amp - even at low levels - put too much strain on my cars electrical system (dimming lights). So I decided to upgrade to a secondary battery (and soon a higher output alternator). I want my amp to only pull juice away from a secondary battery. After some research, I decided to go with this 500 amp relay/isolator. Installation required a “true ignition source” to activate the relay when the car is both starting and running. The goal is to only let the two batteries bridge during crank (to allow the secondary battery to help start the car) and while the engine is running (to allow the alternator to charge the secondary battery). When the engine is not running or starting, the two batteries are completely disconnected so as to protect the main battery from the ridiculously powerful and power hungry Kicker amplifier (and any other power hungry upgrades I make to the Camaro in the future). Used approximately 12’ of + and - 1/0AWG wire and 25’ of 16AWG wire for the relay/ignition. For safety, it’s important to fuse each + wire just before contact with any battery and/or capacitor: 1x200amp fuse for main battery, 2x200amp fuses for secondary battery, 1x100amp fuse for capacitor/amp. The only modification made to my Camaro was when mounting the relay near the main battery. Installing the pioneer media player for my beloved CarPlay did not require any permanent changes. There it is! After taking my sweet time doing this upgrade (two weeks), I have my bass back. Lemme know your thoughts. cashby02 Last edited by cashby02; 10-10-2019 at 01:20 PM.

01-31-2019, 08:32 PM	#2
BAD DAB Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS Black & Silver Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 8,228 View My Garage	Nice __________________ STAINLESS WORKS HEADERS-TUNED BY JANNETTY RACING-C.A.I. INTAKE-TAYLOR 409 WIRES-SOLO AXLE BACK EXHAUST-ELITE CATCH CAN

01-31-2019, 09:02 PM	#3
Crusin 2010 Camaro 1LT/RS Drives: 2010 Camaro 1LT/RS, 2017 Silverado Join Date: Jan 2019 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 39	Pretty sweet. Did you notice any difference from just having the boxes under the 6x9's? Or, have you always had the sub on? __________________ My 2010 1LT/RS New Jasper Engine, BBK Long Tube Headers, Ceramic Coated w/ High Flow Cats, K&N CAI, Halo Headlights, Generic Oil Catch Can

02-01-2019, 01:53 PM	#5
Leo72793 Drives: 2011 2SS/RS Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Jacksonville FL Posts: 1,190	To be honest, you went a bit far with the true ignition :P not truly needed. But doesnt hurt. The CAP is pointless imho. BY the time you use the power in it, it tries to recharge and can cause the amp to not have enough coming in. I have a 1200w 6ch amp on my setup ( and soon a 1000-1500 sub amp ) and never needed one. Nice box design!. __________________ •2011 Camaro SS 2SS/RS A6 •MRR M017 1le Replica Wheels •Vararam Ram Air Intake •Speed Engineering Longtube Headers w/ Magnaflow HF Cats •Bo White PnP Stage 2 TB •GPI SS2 VVT Cam w Cometic thin gaskets 10.69 compression •Xpipe w/ Res Delete and NPP Exhaust •Tuned By Anonymous Calibrations •Gen5DIY Mylink Conversion W/ Backup Cam •Morel 3 way custom speakers, Infinity 860w Subwoofers in trunk baffle •Helix P6 6ch amp w/ 8ch DSP and P1 Sub amp

02-01-2019, 03:28 PM	#6
witenite Drives: 2010 2SS non RS Join Date: May 2014 Location: Virginia Posts: 3,253 View My Garage	Nice work! __________________

02-01-2019, 03:49 PM	#7
SSkat Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 268	I had the same sub from a long time ago and wanted to do something similar but ported. Nice work.