85 Monte Carlo Kicker beginner build.

[kjvsop]

I've been bouncing around car audio forums and so far this one seems more to fit me. My build is in progress so I guess I'll post what I've done so far. Maybe it will inspire another G-Body owner.

I have very little experience with car audio.

I tried to research about a year ago and ended up with a bunch of junk in my Crown Vic. I thought the price of car audio had gone down drastically since 10 years ago and I bought Boss subs and a Pyle 4000 watt amp.... I was disappointed. It might as well have said 40,000 watts if it claimed 4000..

Well I bought a car I've been dreaming about since I was like 14 (I'm 29) and decided to put a little more effort into it.

It's a 1985 Monte Carlo lifted with 24" Rock Starr Dynasty. It has a 350 out of a 70's Nova. Black leather bucket seats. It was lifted for 26's but I only have 24's for now.. The car had almost everything I wanted for a very fair price.

Anyway.. After being let down by my Crown Vic install, and the brands involved, I joined a car audio forum and told them my budget and goals and asked for suggestions. Their only advice was sound dampener.

There is so many brands that I've never heard of. I didn't know who to trust. So I went with a brand I knew, Kicker. To satisfy my OCD I am trying to do Kicker everywhere possible.

A few things I should mention.

I don't have a lot of spare time. I have never built anything. I even had to buy basic tools and power tools to the install. I am not a baller lol

I will try to post as many pics of the progress as possible, but I often work on it at night and all I have is crappy cell phone pics.

I went with a prefab box because I don't have the confidence yet to build a decent box myself.

This is everything I have so far:

Kicker

Loaded Dual Solo Baric 12" L7's 11DS12L72

ZXS1500.1 Mono Amp 12ZXS15001

PKD1 Dual 1/0 AWG Amp Wire Kit

PKD4 Dual 4 AWG Amp Wire Kit

KI26 6 Meters (19.7 ft.) 2-Channel K-Series RCA

KI21 1 Meters (3.26 ft.) 2-Channel K-Series RCA

KIYFM Y-Adapter Interconnect K-Series RCA

ZX650.4 4-Channel Amp 11ZX6504

KS693 6x9 3-way Speakers

KS693 6x9 3-way Speakers

KW1620 20 Ft. 16 AWG K-Series Speaker Wire

ZXS 1500.1 birth sheet

ZX 650.4 birth sheet

[kjvsop]

The previous owner had some awesome work done to the car. IDK what was up with the car audio in it though.. And some of the wiring was horrible. Like 2" scraps of wire taped together 7x with 5 different colors. Other wires were covered nicely with tubes or whatever.

Started to take every thing out

I used some cardboard to make templates. I got some pallets from work and ripped the plywood off for the amp rack, floor and side panels

Cleaned the trunk up a little bit and ran the power wire.

I ordered some vinyl fabric and when I got it, it was not as described. I got stuck with it and ended up using it anyway. I'm sure I'll end up redoing everything in the near future. I will probably build a box as well.

Amp rack

Bottom

Made the floor panels and put everything in the trunk.

I used the 8 AWG wires from one of the amp kits as the speaker wires

The box is awkward and ugly. Can't wait to try to build my own... lol

[oldsoundguy]

The fact that your doing the install yourself and learning how to do it is cool by me..

[kjvsop]

I got a mesh grill to put behind the 'bezel' thing above the amp rack and I'm going to do LED's behind that. The goal is to hide the back of the seat without blocking between the cabin and trunk

I did the Big 3 with 4 AWG

Actually mounted my fuse holder for the first time ever lol

Found a spot to jam the bass remote

I am mounting the 4 6x9's in the rear deck. I've cut the metal and started on the bezel made from 1/2" MDF. I'll post pics when I make a little more progress.

[Ahmed Johnson]

That fucking car is right. It's very nice

[kjvsop]

I've been working on rewiring a lot under the hood and deleting wires throughout the car.

I still haven't decided which HU to go with. I want to do a double din. I'm open to suggestions. I would like to keep it around $400

I would like to have decent EQ on the HU. 7 band I guess?

Touchscreen that is scrollable

I would prefer front USB but back is ok

Thanks

[kjvsop]

The fact that your doing the install yourself and learning how to do it is cool by me..

It's kind of overwhelming. Members builds and progressive pics make it look effortless.

That fucking car is right. It's very nice

Thanks. I'm ready to get it finished and back on the road.

[oldsoundguy]

I was into audio back in the late 80's and haven't done it since last winter. Doing my own build. I know what you mean about other guys making it look easy. I have done a ton of reading and research. I like that part of it though. Then putting it to the test is the next part that is fun.

So to put into simple terms is have fun and build it yourself. It is very satisfying when you do a project and it turns out better than you thought it would.

[Wicks]

One hell of a clean start.

Don't worry, nobody is confident on their first box build. All you need is a saw, wood and glue.

Go for it. You'll get some great experience without a lot of investment.

So...four 6x9's in the rear deck and that's it for highs?

To each their own, but if it were me, I'd put those 6x9's in the doors and cut a big hole in the rear deck for the trunk to vent into the cabin.

Maybe even rotate the sub box around to see how it performs at different orientations.

[SIDE SHOW]

sell the 6x9's man and get some splits for the front and a nice set of 2-way coax speakers for the rear shelf