Modernizing the Stereo, Part 3 - Mounting the Amp and Fuse Holder

So after doing a decent job creating a mount for the distribution block, I decided to go ahead and create the mount for the dsp amp.

This was relatively straightforward and did not require a heat gun to melt or soften anything, but it did require some thinking. The space next to the battery is hard to access properly when everything is in place so I went ahead and removed not just the inner lining but also the strut bars and the rear divider.

I also had access to this space next to the battery from inside:

So first step was to cut the ABS sheet to fit into the space. Some careful measurements and:

Then got out the jigsaw and got this:

Perfect, right?

Given that whatshisface at Worx had added screw rivets as below

to which he attached a metal plate to mount the distribution block I removed, I toyed with the idea of using this plate to partly support this ABS plastic amp mount.

The plate also has those screw rivets in them too.

Ended up like this but...

Meanwhile, yes the problem was this this would only support one side. What about the other side - sharp eyes will see that this space is the access to the fuel pump. So whatever I mount there should NOT drill into that area.

So this was my idea:

Yes, hard rubber grommets of varying heights

Not the final result but you get the idea -
I eventually got it to line up flat, and support the weight of the amp

And yes I used a combination of screws and glue to attach the rubber "legs." I also had to make sure these legs were on a flat surface, away from any bolts or wiring. 

Pretty solid!

Like this!

Next step then was to mount the amp and start laying out how the power cables, speedwire and speaker cables would line up. But then I went back and double checked how it fit and realized some OEM cables were in danger of rubbing against the ABS. So, I decided to make a cut out:

Not only make the cut out but

also move the metal plate even closer to for more support

 

In the end I actually decided not to use the metal plate and used these holes and bolts to mount directly into the rivet screws on the body.

Mounted directly to the body

So then I really started to lay out how the power cables and speaker cables would be attached.  Of course these aren't the actual power cables I used but I wanted to pre-drill the holes for the zipties I would use to secure the wiring. 

And while I had the ABS out, I decided to also make a mount for the main fuse.

Here is the fuse holder, right below the piece I had cut to size and then bent with a heat gun

Here it is, assembled

And I had a hole drilled in the back on the bent part. This was in order to be able to mount near the battery, using the clamp for the battery, as so:

At this point, I was ready to hook it all up... except one small problem.. the Alpine components I had ordered first, had yet to arrive....

Which meant that before installing any new speakers, I would go ahead and lay out ALL the wiring first... as I will explain and show in my next post. Unfortunately I had made a guesstimation error which ended up causing a slight delay...