I am building a system for my wife. She recently purchased an 06 HHR 2LT on April 21 , 2013. She had a few request for this build. she wanted to retain the spare tire and not cut up her little car . So this is what I came up with and it will start in the rear with the sub and amp rack..


The amp rack 6061 Aluminum 1x3 and 1x1 tubing . All the welds are either sanded smooth or blind welded .

 

After welding the connections and sanding , I tried to match the finish of the amps I purchased. The Amps of choice are 6 years old , but I found a couple of them on Flea Bay that had been serviced by Phoenix Gold and look new . The amps are the Xenon 200.4 and 100.2. The 4 channel is for the mid bass drivers in the front doors and the new rear sub . The 100.2 is for the tweeters.



Close enough match to the finish ....

 

I removed the two factory located tie down d- rings and used the location to mount the front of the amp rack to the body of the HHR . I had to remove the storage compartment and replace it with a piece of ply wood to get the elevation and stable foundation I was looking for. As seen below , it was pretty straight forward and very solid.


I mounted it on top of the new mat I purchased , later I will make a few mods to the replaceable mat as the install progresses.

 

The next item was to build an encloser to be home to the new sub . My choice for the sub was a favorite of mine . IDMAX12D2 by Image Dynamics with a chrome basket. The only Dual 2 ohm coil chrome sub I could find was once again on Flea Bay , but I paid out of my nose. It was new in the box and dated a 2007 build item. The sealed box was a tight 1.19 cuft . Perfect for this sub.





More glue then screws at this step. After I cut out the radius for the sub , I will add a lot more screws to the baffle plate . The sub will be mounted inverted and will need to be flush mounted.

 

Now that this step was completed it was time to mount the amps to the amp rack. Now is the time to make any changes to the lower box or the amp rack . After I got the amps bolted to the amp rack, we where both happy with the result. With the seats folded down , they seemed to fit right into place . With the seat up, the fit was even better .The carpet for the lower sub encloser and baffle will be in this weekend. So the wood will not be visible under the factory mat.

 

I know very little about audio equipment but I can appreciate the professional "style" of your assembly work. Very nice, indeed !!

 

The sub arrived 6/01/13 via FedEx and I could not wait to cut the opening and get it loaded into the box. I had to make two cuts, the first in the baffle was at 12.625 nch and the second cut into the box 11.125 inch. I used a router with a plunge bit and a circle jig I made at work out of aluminum. The inside of the box was insulated to eliminate standing back waves . It is along explanation about standing back waves, but it creates distortion inside of the box and insulation (stuffing) helps to eliminate it. The mat will need to have a local shop add edging to the area where I cut it for the sub. That will happen this week .

 

Now that the amps and sub encloser have been established , let us move to the front of the car and look at the placement of the tweeters. Nothing has had power on it yet, that will happen later this summer . Have to get these items installed properly first, then we will move onto wiring.
These tweeters are Hybrid Audio Technologies Legatia L1V2 that are hand built in our home town . Their mates will be the Legatia L6v2mid bass driver from the same builder placed in the factory door location .
We will be experimenting with the placement, we feel the factory location will be too low in the a-pillar. They will need to be above the speedometer crown in the dash . We chose the aluminum finish on the tweeters to match the rear build.

 

I have a few pics of the leather interior and will get some of the exterior very soon . This purchases for this build will take about 6 to 8 more weeks as money allows. The build is a progressive work and I will get images posted as it happens . I work on it during the weekends ...


More to come .......

 

Thanks for the reply and comment . Now that I have gotten older, I have patience and knowledge for these projects .........