urq audio installation

[c a l i b a n <caliban@sharon.net>]

	for some reason, in the middle of rebuilding my 
	rz engine (well ok the barrels are out getting
	rebored) i got a flash of inspiration and tore
	out all the audio in my urq and did it anew.

	why?!?!

	mainly trunk space.  the previous install was 
	adequate.  the way it was done was on a vertical
	carpeted board, mounted to the back of the gas 
	tank.  the car came with this in place, the rear
	carpet having been cut to accomodate the wood
	intruder, holes and a bracket in the frame of
	the car to hold the board at the bottom, clips
	on the tank itself on top.  

	given that i have exposed crossovers, i added
	a nice piece of plexiglass over the whole operation,
	so that tossing in a golf bag or ski boots wouldn't
	mangle the works.  this was more or less temporary, 
	until i figured something out.

	also, the magnets of the rear deck speakers stick
	down into the trunk, rendering the sunroof rack
	useless.

	the plan was to build a shelf, suspend it from 
	the sunroof rack by the convenient holes already
	made in said rack.  it seems to have worked out.
	my digital camera is first generation technology, 
	expensive and of poor quality, but jpgs:

	http://caliban.sf.ca.us/ur-q/audio/ is the base
	directory, descriptions follow.

	1: trunk space, tank exposed.  i forgot to take a
	picture of the previous install, which actually looked
	pretty slick with the plexi and copper spacers.  oh
	well.

	2: the amp an xovers on the original board, leaning
	up where they uesd to mount.  soundstream amp, it's
	360w x 2/3/4 - config is 180 to sub mono and 180 to
	stereo mains.  xovers are custom madisound for the 
	mains, vifa mids and titanium tweets.

	3: another view of the trunk.  note the bits and tubes
	on the top of the tank, i believe the circle part is
	the gague input.  had to be careful and not interfere
	with this stuff.

	4: the new shelf board with the amp and xovers sitting
	on it.  1/4" particle board, covered with vinyl hall
	runner.  all from home depot, total cost of this plus
	hardware about $7.  note the hacked up jigsaw work on 
	the back, to accomodate for all the fuel system junk
	mentioned in 3.  this is all invisible in the final
	install.

	5: the shelf in place.  by installing it this way i 
	regained at least 8 inches of trunk space, about 3
	feet one way and eighteen inches another way.  lots of
	volume there.

	6: the finishing touch, i happened to have bought that
	thing this weekend and needed a place to put it.

	7: closer-up view

	8: i had an extra shot left and did not as of yet have 
	a decent shot of suzi.  once the rz is fixed i think i
	am going to tear into that, clean everything, paint it
	all jet black, and look into stuffing a realy oversized 
	motor into it (not to mention disc brakes).

	anyway, lots of labor (8 hours) and it's not as perfect 
	as i had wanted it - i had to incorporate a speacer in
	the drivers side of the shelf to accomodate for the tall
	xovers.  also, i had planned to put all connections to
	the amp/xover system and the car (8 for speakers, 3 for
	power, two for line inputs) into plastic plugs so for
	repairs i could just pop it all out.  i never did find 
	plugs i liked so i tabled this portion.  when i pull it 
	all out again to add this feature i will move the xover 
	a bit to facilitate the fit.  

	one thing the previous owner left me with was the upper
	middle trunk carpeting pretty hacked up, so that tank is
	going to be exposed like that until i locate another...
	got one for sale, listers?

	also note the ugly subwoofer in the last two pix.  this
	is left over from my last car.  works decent in the urq
	if the bass is cranked on the head - not acceptable in
	the long run.  once the mc is installed and the spepension
	is rebuilt i'll have my installer look into this.  the
	final solution will most likely be a custom-molded enclosure,
	to fit into the irregular nooks of the urq.  i need to get
	good bass response, i like drum&bass and techno after all,
	and i also need to have some trunk space.  i think the sub 
	i have is designed to be the sub itself, as opposed to an
	installation that uses the trunk space as the sub.  this
	might call for a new cone or too, as that vifa 12" in there
	now is probably not suited for the latter.

	anyway, i think i'll end this long-winded exploration
	right here and now.

--
 rocky mullin
 http://caliban.sf.ca.us/
 two strokes are faster than four!
 this message was composed using the vi editor.
 '83 ur-q - yamaha rz350 - suzuki ts250 -  chaotic good