This started out as a tutorial on my Amp Rack .. with the original idea being that it would describe the construction of the rack .. and ..
nuff said. It looks like it will continue to evolve ....
Floor Finisher Diagram
The area behind the seats is called by Nissan the 'Floor Finisher' ... Floor Finisher Lower, Floor Finisher Upper ... and so on. Note the cubby behind
the driver's seat. Removing the cover hiding the space in the base model you will find a plate (I'm calling it a 'Woofer Plate' .. seems a good enough description)
which Nissan refers to as the 'Floor Finisher Mask'. Using this cubby for my amp rack seemed like a good idea at the time ... and for the most part, been so.
Floor Finisher Cubby - Driver's side
The compartment behind the driver's seat in the Base model is empty. Those cars with the Bose Audio System have the factory sub here. Interestingly, my
Base model comes with the woofer mounting plate for the amp installed. To get to where you can remove this plate, most of the Floor Finisher 'stuff' has to be removed first.
Maximum Lower Dimensions of Driver's Side Cubby
I took some cardboard and cut and pieced it together to get the maximum dimensions available .. basically level with the bottom opening of the cubby. This
doesn't take into account the vertical height. The circular notch at the top right is for the left rear fender well.
In the end I ignored most of this, only using the width and using the 12" depth of the MDF board I used, but I will get back to these dimensions later.
The Amp Rack (Ver 1)
Here, is a very early stage in the project. I have used ¾" MDF boards a foot wide and angled then back enough to follow the angle of the cubby and with
enough space to mount an amp on each shelf. (This was overkill on the board thickness, I think. This was what Lowes had so I went with it. I think that I could have used ½" easily.)
I used sheet rock screws and Elmer's wood glue to assemble the parts. The rack set up rock hard.
I have one of the amps sitting on the bottom shelf, checking fit here. Note that I have had to modify the lower portion of the rack. I found that while all
my fitting using cardboard to enable the rack to sit with all four sides of the lower skit conforming to the uneven interior of the cubby was largely to no
avail. There is simply not enough room with the cubby opening to maneuver the rack into the cubby so the bottom of the rack was ... modified accordingly.
I have both amps placed in the rack along with the capacitor. I'm 'fiddling' with the placement at this time. I the end, the capacitor is mounted on the rear
of the rack. I have also started rounding off the MDF.
I'm satisfied with the layout (or as satisfied as I was going to get) and have finished bondo and primer and sanding ... and all that .. getting ready for
the paint.
Looking from the back. The rack is painted, both amps installed and the capacitor in place. All that is lacking is the wiring.
Finally, basically finished, and viewed from the front.
If you click on the photo you will get a larger version. That black patch panel at the bottom is made up of two phono plug panels I picked up at Radio Shack. When the rack is in
the cubby I can attach speakers 1,2,3,4, W (Woofers) and R(Remote) from Phono cables running from each. Works fine but will try and find something a little more profesional the
next version.
Conclusion
Looks good in the cubby (no pics right now) .. doesn't overheat, works fine .. and I plan to replace it. The problem being .. that it is hard as heck to
access it. I burned a fuze .. and had a really painful experience trying to replace it. My solution? I'm going to rework the design. I'm thinking that if
I go back to my earliest plans where I had computed the maximum dimensions .. and from there .. construct a 'floor' .. THEN .. mount some heavy duty drawer
slides on that THEN .. I can mount the rack so it will slide out for access. That be the plan ....
The compartment behind the driver's seat in the Base model is empty. Those cars with the Bose Audio System have the factory sub here. Interestingly, my
Base model comes with the woofer mounting plate for the amp installed. To get to where you can remove this plate, most of the Floor Finisher 'stuff' has to be removed first.
