2015 Volvo V60 T6 R-Design

Update time, so since day 1 I never really liked using the factory tray to mount the amps, DSP etc. While it was not terribly flimsy, overall it was not that strong and due to the various bumps and such, was very restrictive as to where I could mount anything. Finally started to address that this past weekend...

First up, a cardboard template.

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With that done, transferred that over to some 1/2" ply and cut it out.

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It's a tight fit, but then I don't want it flopping about. There are 2 factory bolts that I am hoping to utilize in order to bolt it down, likely with some kind of a metal bracket on both sides. I've got some sound deadener and MLV on the way, also have some leftover CCF from the doors, so before it gets mounted I plan to install that beneath the board. I've got some black carpet on the way to cover it with (might have to trim it a little to fit with the carpet on, depends how thick the carpet is) and I am also debating adding sides, although not sure I will.

The other thing that bothered me with the previous installation, the wiring was a mess. OK, it was functional and no one could actually see it, but it was a mess. I am hoping with a blank slate to be able to tidy this up some. Ordered some firewall grommets and am trying to figure out how best to mount everything where I can easily access controls if needed, but also that it looks neat and the wiring is clean. At the moment I have this.

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But, not set on it... open to suggestions... There is a space almost directly beneath the Volvo badge that the factory air compressor / fix a flat was, it's deep enough that I think I could put the power / ground distro blocks there and just have those completely hidden.

Eventually, I may also add some lighting and then replace the factory false floor with something with a plexi window / vents or something.

The other update is that I added an Android Auto / Car Play type add on to the factory head unit, while it works well and having access to multiple streaming apps, Google maps is nice. The problem is if I don't have the engine running, the screen shuts off and it also introduced some noise to everything. You can't hear the noise while playing music, but it's there.

So, that's where things stand today.
 
I prefer exposed wiring/distribution, with a removable beauty panel that goes around the amps to cover it up. This way you can show off your hard work, but then go stealthy.
 
BigAl205 said:
I prefer exposed wiring/distribution, with a removable beauty panel that goes around the amps to cover it up. This way you can show off your hard work, but then go stealthy.
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That's sort of what I am thinking with regards to longer term, replacing the false floor. I could make it a 2 piece whereby the first half has a window to see what is below, but is hinged to lift up for access.


Notloudenuf said:
Hey man that's nice and all but this is a Car Audio website so we need updates on your garage. :D
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Haha how rude of me... here you go...

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Zero progress at all. Sucks. The snow we got last Monday got about 1/2" or so of ice on top of it. There was about a day of above freezing temperatures where some melted, then it froze again. Yesterday and today have been above freezing, but at this rate it's going to be a few more days until all this melts, then another week for the ground to dry out, at which point it will probably snow or rain again.

Stupid winter.
 
A little more progress today, drilled various holes for wiring to go through, then covered in carpet. Final layout will look much like this, the power and ground distribution blocks are mounted to the underside.

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I'm going to add a quick disconnect on the main power and ground wires, so that if I need to remove it, I just disconnect and lift it all out as one piece.

Hopefully I can get the wiring neat and finished this weekend, then just waiting for the disconnect to arrive.
 
Making some steady progress, got the amps and DSP mounted, ran power, ground and RCAs on the back of the panel, keeping the front neat and tidy.

Not much to see on the back, distribution blocks and wiring. I'm hoping to find a way to tidy this and secure it a little. May add some short legs to raise the board up a little, just to give them a bit of extra room.

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Fronts coming together nicely, need to add ferrules to amp power connections, figure out speaker wire routing and then it's mostly finished.

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With the trunk empty, decided to lay down some sound treatment on the metal.

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[FONT=&quot]Progress, progress... Added a layer of Noico foam on top of the butyl tiles, while not crazy quiet back there it has made a noticeable, though as expected, not a huge difference (I have a Magnaflow muffler, it's definitely quieter):[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Finished connecting everything on the floor itself, at some point I would like to do something a little neater with the speaker wire, but don't want to go cutting any before I know with certainty what I want to do:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]With the bottom done, I considered cutting a window / vent into the factory false floor piece. But, while I can get one cheap enough from eBay.co.uk (about $100) shipping would suck, the part new is over $300, so I figured I won't cut into that but instead make a new one.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The front (or back, depending on your perspective) opens up for easy access to the amplifiers, at some point I plan to install a light under there to illuminate the Volvo logo / amps. I had to add some bracing under the back (or front) piece as it was bowing with the subwoofer on top. I'll likely add a little more, just for added security. The other thing is with the panel open, it does contact the subwoofer, not the cone, but the mounting ring, so not a huge deal, but I may install something to prevent it opening that far.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Next I need to find some matching carpet, install a handle of some kind and see if these clips are available separately (or, likely just unscrew and re-use these):[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I then plan to order a small piece of plexi to insert as a window into the hinged piece. During daily use, I have an all weather trunk mat, but for shows, competition and so on I can remove that to have the window visible. The problem with this idea though, is I don't own a router, so I'll have to figure that out.[/FONT]
 
naiku said:

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With the bottom done, I considered cutting a window / vent into the factory false floor piece. But, while I can get one cheap enough from eBay.co.uk (about $100) shipping would suck, the part new is over $300, so I figured I won't cut into that but instead make a new one.
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I ran into this problem too. I cut my OEM trunk trim so it would fit with the previous iteration of my subwoofer setup, now I'm regretting it.

The price to purchase the OEM trunk trim for my car is only about $120, but every place I've found it wants $300+ to ship it :hand:
Oh well, guess I don't need the OEM trim right now anyhow.. It'd just be nice to have it in case I ever sell the car (and return it to stock).

Nice work!
 
Chris12 said:
It'd just be nice to have it in case I ever sell the car (and return it to stock).
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That's one of the other reasons I decided against cutting it, at some point I'll need to return the car to (as much as possible) stock, the biggest thing is keeping the various large trunk floor pieces somewhere in the meantime. Another reason I decided against it was it's some sort of plastic, maybe fiberglass, so likely not the easiest thing to cut without making a mess of it.
 
Ordered everything I needed to swap out the amps, looks like that should all be here by Wednesday, so pulled the Alpines earlier and mounted the SIQ amps:


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I'm likely going to mount the distribution blocks on the top this time, with the much MUCH heavier SIQ amps, I'd be concerned about the weight pushing down on any wiring underneath, plus having to run the extra wire, I figure it made more sense to go on top. Thinking of putting them in the colored blocks on the image, the orange dot at the top is the ground location, so about a 2' run to the distribution block on that side, the battery run comes in on the right, so the power block can be there.

The yellow rectangle at the top is where I am thinking, hoping, to be able to mount the DSP. Have to think about that though for a bit.
 
A productive few days, Wednesday the new power and ground wire arrived, as well as all the distribution blocks. Initially, I used the same grommet as the 4GA, while the 1/0 fit, the grommet was not going back on and the wire being against bare metal bothered me. So, reluctantly I pulled it back out and searched for a new way to get through. Eventually, discovered a large grommet with factory wiring passing through and enough room to the side for the 1/0. After careful poking a hole, then really really carefully drilling, I managed to get the wire through, now secure in a rubber grommet. Getting it to the trunk was fairly straight forward, but I need to remove the B pillar as the seat belt is not retracting properly. First time working with 1/0 gauge wire, that shit is annoying, refuses to bend, twist or do anything other than what it wants really.

With that done, moved onto getting all the wiring sorted on the board. I ended up adding a small piece at the top for the MiniDSP which seems to work out nicely. Here is the final layout, just missing speaker wire.

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At that point, it was ready to go back into the car. Hooked up all the speaker wires, fought a little with the ground wire (added bonus, a little ground noise I had is now gone) and nervously since I had pretty much pulled everything, turned on the ignition. Some nice little clicks from the SI amps, green lights on all 3 and the little LED's inside all lit up. Felt nice pulling off the protective covers and seeing all the shiny pieces.

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For now, I just approximately set the gains, using an existing tune from the old set up it sounds fucking killer. The sub is loving the additional power and definitively got the wife approval factor (had her sit in for a quick demo). Tomorrow, I'll likely work on a new tune although I am reluctant to start, even though I have 3 presets spare, the one sounds good, sort of an if it ain't broke situation.

One issue I ran into was the factory false floor no longer closes properly, towards the middle of it is a section that is raised about 1.5" or so that hit the top of the amps. Not a big deal, I just set the wooden one in there with no carpet and put the plastic trunk mat over it to conceal it some. I also added some metal bracing, seen here.

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Nothing fancy, just to give that area some strength as the subwoofer sits on top of that piece. I ordered a piece of plexi the other day, hopefully that will arrive later this week, think I have also found a decent carpet match that I can be happy with as well. So, get that finished in the next couple weeks and then this can be done!

One thing I kept saying while working on this the last few weeks, I cannot wait for my garage to be built. While I have room in the existing one, it's a constant struggle moving around without knocking into something (usually my bike handle). Having that extra room is going to be glorious.
 
So, the carpet sample card I ordered has still not arrived, however I did get them to send me a sample of the 1 color they had in stock, as luck would have it, it's a pretty dang good match. So, went ahead and ordered a yard of carpet, that arrived earlier this week and so today I started wrapping the floor pieces.


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After I wrapped this piece, I realized that I needed to order 2 yards. I'm about 8" too short with the remaining carpet I have left to finish the floor, but, lemons into lemonade, I figure with the spare carpet I'll re-wrap the subwoofer enclosure since that is a much darker black, that way everything should match nicely. I think I need to trim a small amount off the 2nd piece of the floor, it fits, but barely and I suspect when I add carpet, barely fitting will become not fitting. I also removed the hinge for now, it was on the top, which would have made carpeting tricky, I may eventually put a hinge underneath, but we'll see.

An LED strip should also be on it's way, so that along with the plexi and this should be all wrapped up in a couple weeks. I'm unsure on the plexi window yet, I do want to use it, just not yet wrapped my head around mounting it without buying tools I don't already have (and learning new skills, those are also useful).
 
I see the finish line!!!

The remaining carpet arrived early yesterday, so went ahead and wrapped the remaining floor piece as well as a press fit type of panel that lifts off to show the amplifier beneath:

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There is a slight difference between the 2 batches of carpet, it's less noticeable in person (thankfully). There's a small piece near the tailgate opening in the center that I may try to pull and smooth a little, it was getting close to the edge there so did not wrap around as much as I would have liked.

As you can also see, the lights came in, for now they are just plugged into that 12V outlet in the trunk. Unfortunately, that is constant 12V so I have to unplug them, it's not a big deal though. At some point I may hard wire the lights to a switch underneath the panel, but given they will likely only actually be used at meets and not all the time, I may just leave it plugged into that outlet when I want to use them. Last thing left to do is to remove the carpet from the subwoofer enclosure and wrap it in the matching carpet as the floor, I'll probably work on that later this week.

Overall, pretty happy with the end result. In the past I have never really bothered with trying to make things look all that neat/presentable in the trunk, just gone for functional and since it is typically hidden, not really worried about how it looks. So, for me, I'm happy with the result, if I were to do it again, there are a couple small details I would likely try to improve on, but that's just me being picky.


Of course, one thing I do need to figure out next, since installing the SI amps I have developed a new rattle somewhere in the passenger door during piano notes!!
 
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