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Date:         Tue, 11 Aug 1998 18:20:54 EDT
Reply-To:     FrankGRUN@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Frank Grunthaner <FrankGRUN@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Subwoofer/Stereo Details in '82 Westfalia
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

My Westfalia restoration/reengineering excersize is nearly complete with the successful installation of the subwoofer for the stereo system. I contemplated many possible locations including a fourth order bandpass install in the unused part of the Westfalia storage cabinet next to the water storage tank. That didn’t work because of wall rigidity problems. The final solution has worked very well, so I thought I would post the details to the list.

The final solution: I mounted the subwoofer in a custom cabinet I fabricated beneath the driver’s side swivel seat. Got the idea some time ago from someone’s question on the list. To begin, I cut a 9 inch diameter hole through the tiedown plate and through the swivel mounting steel. Trusty sabre saw and five blades. I then bent up the rearward facing lip on the small storage area, so that it was parallel to the bottom of the well. I rerouted the relay (refrigerator) and the seat belt switch lines to lie in grooves I cut in the top of the speaker box woth a router. I then cut (carefully) the front thin sheet metal that closes off the underside of the seat base. Later, I elastically glued the carpet to the front wood box surface, so the final installation is indistinguishable from stock.

The box was fabricated out of 0.75 inch medium density particle board (MDPB). I first built a box into the storage well. For the bottom, I filled the well with a single piece of MDPB. For the rearward side, I put a single piece with enough clearance to slide in the top cover and screw it in place. The front of the well uses a piece of MDPB which comes to the floor level of the under seat well. The sides use pieces which come o.75 inches above the seat well base. A larger sheet then forms the base of the under seat well part of the enclosure, going from the front edge to the front-of-well piece noted above. Two long and thin MDPB parts form the long cabinet side walls, going from the front to the rear MDPB piece. A front end wall is fabricated of the same thickness. These two boxes are assembled (screw and wood glue) separately and then inserted into the cavities. I predrilled the upper and lower assemblies so that they could be caulked and screwed together in the well (but could be disassembled at a later date if necessary). The upper box screwed to the front storage well board, the two sides, and laterally into the rear part. I also clearanced the lower seat well board with a router (0.375 inches deep) in the size of the speaker magnet in order to fit the proper speaker height and depth. At this stage, I caulked all interior seams, routed the speaker wires through the cabinet, and filled the assembly with fiberfill.

A full top cover is made from a single sheet and slid into place just clearing the upper side of the metal seat well. This top with aligned hole for the speaker is then screwed in place with a series of countersunk number 12 screws. The rear was easy, but the sides and front required a set of guide access holes, which I drilled through the sheet metal of the seat base. I then made a spacing collar of two disks of 0.75 inch thick MDPB. This spacing collar was caulked and screwed into the top cover sheet. The 8 inch Pioneer subwoofer was then screwed in place and a grill safety guard added. I modified the swivel locking spring with a leaf spring mounted to the top of the box. Finally, I bonded the front carpet back in place.

Some more details: I mounted the subwoofer amplifier (300 watts bridged) under the passenger seat well, saving the storage well area. A plastic guard frame protects the amp wiring from the tools, etc in the passenger storage well. To mount the amp, I again cut access holes in the seat well base metal, then brought up stainless steel socket cap screws from the tire area. Plenty of air ventilation.

The Stereo consists of a Sony cassette deck and changer controller (ESP line) without amplifier section, but with four low level outputs. I use a four channel amplifier (300 watts RMS) to drive four 5.25 inch Boston Acoustics coaxial speakers. One in each door in more-or-less the stock speaker location, and two in the rear Westfalia cabinet. For the rear, I cut and modified the stock Blaupunkt grills the mount flush internally, then added the BA’s with appropriate cone clearancing. The four channel primary amp is mounted on the internal shelf under the dash, behind the glove box. Same area holds the crossovers and subwoofer logic. A 10 disk Sony CD changer is mounted vertically in the Westfalia stove/storage cabinet against the back wall touching the drivers seat back. Some cabinetry mods, but nothing serious, except for a rubber water guard. Also use power antenna.

Performance: Good clean sound more than adequate for classical and oldies. Subwoofer cutoff starts around 35 Hz. Upper bandpass starts to cutoff around 175 HZ. Similar low frequency blockers for the Bostons.

Sorry for the length. Hope this helps someone.

Frank Grunthaner


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