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Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:28 pm

Upgrading my radio in the westy from stock to something a little more advanced. stock was fine but i hated the buzzing noise from the tape deck motors.

anyways, The rear speakers have a shared ground, am I OK to split this ground wire in two and use for Rear Left (-) and rear Right (-)? I figure that will just mono the rear speakers, but perhaps there is some other reason it shouldnt be done?

Question 2.1: I bought a Boss Bass 600 and wanted to place it under the driver seat. I saw someone remove their seats on another thread and there was picture of the area under the seat from the top down. When i removed my seat today, i noticed a surface under the seat that I can't remove. I looks soldered. So I can't access the area from the top. Is there a trick to removing the surface that i'm not getting?

Question 2.2: IF that surface can't be removed, then the only way I could put the amp under would be to slide it from the front. So i'd have to cut the metal at the front like they show in so many threads. Question is, what tool could I use to do this myself? I don't have 50-100$ to spend on a new tool to cut sheet metal. Is there some kind of hand saw that would fit the awkward angles?

Cheers Samba!!!

Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:35 pm

Yup, gotta slide the Boss in from the front. At the time I did mine I didn't have an angle grinder so I used my dremmel tool and a cut off wheel. Tool awhile, but it worked. I went a step farther and re-attatched the piece I removed with a piano hinge and some rivets to form a little door.

PM me if you run into any other issues as I have done this install.

p.s. Do you have swivel seats? You will loose the swivel function unless you modify the speaker box. I have yet to hack into mine but I will next time the seats are out.

Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:46 pm

As for that rear speaker wire, I would advise running new wires with dedicated grounds for both channels. Modern head units aren't designed for the common ground wiring of our Vanagons. do a search for rear speaker wires, and you'll find lots of threads on how to run the wires. It's not that hard.

Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:56 pm

Thanks Hiram, ill look into that.

SC-surfer - no as far as i know the front seat doesnt swivel. the PO put non-stock seats there. Another question for you SC, since you just slid it under there, doesnt it move back and forth/sideways as you drive the van? The instructions for the bass 600 say the unit should be bolted/secured down with something. how did you get around that?

Also, which end did you put facing which way?

Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:02 pm

I put the wire connections in the back-toward the battery box. As for securing it, I slid it in with a layer of thin foam underneath to create a snug fit. No problems or resonance so far. Pretty low tech but it worked. I did put the rubber feet on it if I recall as they raise the bottom of the sub just a hair so it isn't sitting on the floor of the box.

Hope that helps.