I'm a little pissed today and i work on the vert when im pissed so i just went out and tore the enterior out and all the stereo stuff and started re-doing it all. Mazda was nice and made me a nice bracket under the spare tire cover to mount a fuse box, capacitor, and relay. All i had to do was improvise a little. Removed the back plate from the amp behind the drivers seat and bingo! Im moving the amp into the space under the carpet in the trunk. I'll get pictures later when its a little more organized looking and not wiring everywhere. I still have yet to buy another amp though after my alpine blew, got to soon https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub..._DIR#>/sad.png

Mounting the amp is trickier than i thought it would be, rob I know you have yours done this way any pics? So far I have the speaker wires and rca wires back to the amp. Im working on the power ones but with out my fuse block and everything in place its tricky on length of wires. Mazda was nice enough to give a grounding location within 3 inches of the amp though so thats nice.

by space under the carpet you mean the area that looks like a spare tire should be sitting there right?



I actually bolted a piece of wood to those 2 brackets coming out of that well area, there are even holes in it so you dont have to drill into the car.



yes you can also run a ground wire there as well.



I actually bolted mine first then used a 90 degree screw gun to screw my amp down to the board, but being as you want to mount other things then you should probably mount everything on your board then bolt it to the car, pre-drill and plan everything according to your installation needs.

Amp is all thats being mouted in that location everything else is going in where the spare tire actualy is. The brackets you speak of, you mean the ones for the luggage straps? Ill probably end up using alum on what ever i make to hold it so should be interesting.

brackets im talking about are under the carpet in the back,where it looks like a spare tire could be, thats useless space- mount the amp there

Please forgive my stupidity because I know nothing about stereos or amps but, does placing an amp underneath carpeting allow for enough airflow to keep the amp cool when in use? Or does it get that hot?



I thought the amp had to be out where air can flow over it to keep it cool.

It isnt in a very tight space and completly surrounded, rob has had this setup for a while now with no problems as well?

I think the topic title needs to be changed to "completly stripping vert". Found out that the gas shock on the trunk is leaking and has been for some time, stained the carpet so that will need to be replaced now as well. Found a little rusting in the spare tire area, basicly where the tire would be sitting if it were in right now, so i guess ill redo that while its apart. Carpet and seats are coming out tommorow so i can do more work and probably find more rust starting. I noticed on some interior pieces they are cracked so i might try and fix them. This is never going to end!

I have had a amp mounted there for almost 10 years, even when I daily drove the car I never had a problem

I found the leak in my top! its the damn drain tube on the pass side. The water is running under the plastic pece that goes by the seat belt and everything. How hard is that to remove, i havent looked yet since i've been busy but it will need to come out now.

lol, you think thats the only leak?



if you take the spare tire cover off you can see where the drain tube runs, trust me a new tube will not do anything.



anyone who says thier vert doesnt leak isnt leaving it outside all the time when it rains. THEY LEAKED BRAND NEW

My car is outside all the time, i have almost all the interior out and more is coming out now. I hosed the car down yesterday to help out finding leaks and so far thats all i can find. The only problem i've really had is it always puddling behind the pass seat and when i sprayed a little water in the drain spot it all ran in and puddled there. So for now makes sense, while its all out ill do it again and see what else i can find.

I thought I found all leaks once, then it rained really hard one day and I was schooled on how hard it is to actually find leaks, nothing duplicates mother nature except maybe a pressure washer

Anyone know how to remove that damn peice that covers the motors and seat belt and everything? I got all the screws lose and everything else but something on the front is still holding it around where it goes over for the door seal, i thought it was a clip but i cant seem to get it lose and the panel is already cracked so i dont want to break it the rest of the way trying. The FSM isnt helping me much.

Ok i finaly got time and took the panel out today. Found out that the pocket isnt allowing any water to go through the drain tube for some reason. I can see the drain tune connecting. I put my hand into the pocket and cant feel a hole for the tube either was it installed properly? How is it suppose to be.

are you talking about the outside pocket on the top? if thats it those tubes get clogged frequently. dont try to pressure it out bc it will pop the tubes off, which may end up being your best bet anyway, to take them off and blow them out or something.

yeah thats what im talking about. The fabric that the pocket is made of doesnt seem to have an opening for the tube i can feel where the tube is though but its solid. So all the water that runs in is now just leaking out into the inside of the car.

the tubes are clogged somewhere, or there is a break in one of them. follow the lines it should be pretty simple to find it since the tubes are clear

im looking at where the tube connects to the pocket no water even attempts to enter it. Something is messed up somewhere. Im going to attempt and run wire up from the bottom of the car through the tube and see what happens. When i bought the car it was said to have a new top so im wondering if it was done right.

has it always leaked like that?

aparently i could just never see where the water was coming in from until i had the interior out now i can see all thats been going on. Luckily i havent seen any rust starting back there from the water.

if you use a flashlight ad spread the pocket a little you should be able to see it

Just got the pass. seat out and everything and lifted the carpet out, besides the bad smell i have a little bit of rust on the floor panel. Ill get that painted and fixed up and throw the old carpet out. The cover for the ecu was rusting a little on the bottom edge so i removed it to paint. ECU looked fine water has never gotten deep enough to harm it. So now whats the best way to remove the carpet and does anyone have a good condition one for sale, if nto its none for a while.

you can probably get one thru mazda, dont know price but they should b able to find you one

they dont actualy make carpets for verts so if i did that id have to get a coupe set and cut it. Im not sure whats involved with doing it but ill probably get a new black coupe carpet when i can afford it but right now i cant. If i can find a deal on a good used vert carpet ill pick it up right now though.

dont throw out the old carpet, clean it, remove the padding, thats what smells and install new padding



you would be a fool to throw out the carpet a new one is only going to get wet again

Are you meaning that flute **** they glue to the bottom? that **** has been gone since the first time the top leaked.

The carpet is out now, hopefuly some pics of all this later. I guess tommorow i'll start to paint.

Is there any special things i need to paint the floor panel? Like a special primer or something.

EDIT: never mind got some primer that didnt require sanding, and fights rust ect.. Paint is done now all i got to do is start running wires and re-assemble, so basicly all thats left is everything..