Amp mount location for 205 Sport

S

Slacker

Member
Apr 23, 2008
143
Oxford, CT
Boat Info
2006 Searay Sport 205 w/ Monster Tower and Kicker Amp.
Towing w/ 2018 Mercedes GLE350
Engines
Merc 4.3L MPI Alpha (220hp)
I purchased a Kicker MX350 Amp for my 205 Sport and am haivng a bit of an issue figuring out where to mount it. Anyone mount a similar amp to their boat and where did you put it?
 
Slacker,

The Sea Ray 205 Sport is wide open under the port helm console.

Mount a marine carpet-clad, resin-coated birch panel to the fiberglass mold that supports the bow cushion. Then mount the amplifier to the panel.

Just be cautious as to where you place the panel mounting screws as the pattern must fall within the scope of the bow cushion.

David
Earmark Marine
 
I used plastic Seaboard for mounting a water pump onto a bulkhead...similar to what you want to do with your amplifier. I glued the Seaboard onto the bulkhead with Sikaflex 291. The advantage is you do not have to use wood (which can rot and hold moisture) and you do not need to use fasteners to hold the wood or plastic which requires drilling through the bulkhead. After the glue cures in a few days, drill pilot holes into the Seaboard to mount your amplifier with a few stainless sheet metal screws.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pr...e=USPlastic&category_name=72&product_id=26636
 
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Slacker,

Using mounting hardware is advised in your particular application because someone may need to access factory hardware for removal of the bow cushions.

Seaboard, KingStarboard, HDPE, ABS are all useable polymers.

Your amplifier mounting panel will be 1 1/2 feet off the sole and behind the glovebox. Resin coating (poly resin is okay, epoxy resin is best) a solvent-based plywood (not MDF and not anything constructed with water-based adhesives) will last indefinitely. Also, marine carpet has a rubber backing that provides a barrier. MDO, Medex, Norboard, Extira are all acceptable exterior grade materials.

Use the option that is readily available and most convenient for you. A polymer is clearly the way to go if you can purchase two square feet and not the entire sheet.

David
Earmark Marine
 
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I was just looking at this last night and I agree there is a ton of room under both consoles. I was looking for how I would remove the bow seat back cushions and I found the two screws on the bottom of the cushion but didn't see anything coming through the wall? Maybe I misunderstood your suggestion.

I like the idea of mounting everything under there though, it might be a pain working around the ice chest but other than that it's a perfect spot.
 
browneye253 said:
I was just looking at this last night and I agree there is a ton of room under both consoles. I was looking for how I would remove the bow seat back cushions and I found the two screws on the bottom of the cushion but didn't see anything coming through the wall? Maybe I misunderstood your suggestion.

I like the idea of mounting everything under there though, it might be a pain working around the ice chest but other than that it's a perfect spot.
Click to expand...

Looks like I found the perfect thread. I spent a few hours last night installing new 6.5's and then went to install the amp under the port side behind the cooler and glove box as well. I hadn't though about gluing against the back board there yet. Mine has carpet on the panel towards the bow of the boat and the back part to that piece is the rear of the seat for the bow (so drilling and bolting it out of the question).

So you guys recommend removing the carpet and then gluing on there, huh? I have almost a full sheet of 1/2" marine plywood left, so I guess I could cut that up and resin it like I'm going to do the MDF sub box I'm working on. I have all of my wires run and this is the last major piece I am trying to get done before this weekend.
 
EarmarkMarine said:
Slacker,

The Sea Ray 205 Sport is wide open under the port helm console.

Mount a marine carpet-clad, resin-coated birch panel to the fiberglass mold that supports the bow cushion. Then mount the amplifier to the panel.

Just be cautious as to where you place the panel mounting screws as the pattern must fall within the scope of the bow cushion.

David
Earmark Marine
Click to expand...


Ah, so you're saying to just put screws up high enough that the end of the screws go into the back side of the cushion. Not a bad idea especially since I don't have a few days to wait on glue to cure. That may work too as long as you get the screws in the right spot and don't go too long on them.
 
glocklt4 said:
Ah, so you're saying to just put screws up high enough that the end of the screws go into the back side of the cushion. Not a bad idea especially since I don't have a few days to wait on glue to cure. That may work too as long as you get the screws in the right spot and don't go too long on them.
Click to expand...

I was taking that as he was recommending removing the bow seat back and screwing through from the bow that way the screw heads would be hidden behind the cushion and you also wouldn't have a screw stabbing those people sitting in the bow seat.

I'd love to see any pictures if anybody has completed this project.

Where are you planning to put the sub and what size are you going to use?
 
browneye253 said:
I was taking that as he was recommending removing the bow seat back and screwing through from the bow that way the screw heads would be hidden behind the cushion and you also wouldn't have a screw stabbing those people sitting in the bow seat.

I'd love to see any pictures if anybody has completed this project.

Where are you planning to put the sub and what size are you going to use?
Click to expand...

That sounds better to me! I thought it was glued on there, but I guess I'll have to see how I could take it off of my 200 Sport as well.
 
Yes, I believe the bolster cushion on the 205 is strictly front-loaded. Remove the two lower screws and the cushion may slide up and off a couple of friction clips. It gets hard to distinquish between all the boats.

In any case, you can run screws through an amp panel into the fiberglass mold. Control the screw depth so that the screws do not penetrate the cushion back on the opposite side as this could impede the cushion removal. The main concern with locating your pattern is so that if the bow side gelcoat is fractured it is concealed behind the cushion. Keeping the pattern relatively small stays within a flat portion and avoids the radius of a curved mold.

You can use six to eight #8 screws to support the weight (considerable stress on a choppy day).

Use a pilot bit to pre-drill the fiberglass. Use a tube, sleeve or stop to control the depth. The holes in the amplifier panel should be pass-throughs so that you're not threading into both materials causing the screws to bind, strip or the soft stainless to break. Countersunk bolts from the other side would work also by removing the cushion.

Another useful technique is to pre-mount four 1/8-inch double-nutted bolts to the panel for amplifier mounting. Its alot easier to just add washers and nuts to a fixed stud rather than negotiate screws while supporting and positioning the amplifier overhead.

By the way, if you're concerned about gelcoat spider cracks then slightly countersink your pilot hole on the gelcoat side so the threads tap through the fiberglass but don't fracture the brittle gelcoat.

Hope this helps.

David
Earmark Marine
 
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Thought I'd post my results from a few hours of work tonight. I removed the bow cushion and had trouble figuring out how to get the part near the center off. Turns out that there was 1 screw going in to it from the back side where i was mounting the amp. I drilled 5 holes and screwed 5 #8 screws into a 15x10" piece of marine plywood that I cut out on to the back side. It feels very stable. I couldn't get it to budge at all. Since there was carpet on the backside where I was mounting the amp, i just pulled the carpet back to screw in the board, and then put it back on top of it before i screwed the amp in. That will give better protection to the board for weatherproofing.

All in all, i'm pretty happy with how well the amp fit there. Thanks for the tip!

Do you really think I should add a couple more #8 screws to the board? I guess it wouldn't be that difficult to do since I have the board mounted and I know how to take the bow cushion off now!
 
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browneye253 said:
I know you took pictures to share with us.... right? :)
Click to expand...

Well I was working until 11:30pm trying just to get everything done since i'm running out of time before the holiday weekend. My point and shoot camera is in the grave yard but I guess I'll pull out my SLR and try to fit it under there for pics, ha.

I'm continuing work on the sub box tonight and I think I'll add a couple more screws to hold the amp.

Sooo.. yes, i'll snap a few tonight.
 
Thanks! I think I have a pretty good idea of how you did it but a picture's worth a thousand words.

What size sub are you going with and where do you plan to mount it?
 
Well I took pictures but was working in the garage on the sub box until after midnight so forgot to get them off my camera before leaving the house this morning. I'll post them tonight.
 
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I just remembered the pics... oops!!! :smt021


Here is the amp mount:

amp1.jpg

amp2.jpg



And headunit:

headunit.jpg
 
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Thanks for the pics! I'm going to try and do the sub install this weekend or next week. Which deck to you put in there? I've been looking at other decks because the one that came w/ the boat doesn't support the wired remotes.

Where did you end up putting the subwoofer?
 
browneye253 said:
Thanks for the pics! I'm going to try and do the sub install this weekend or next week. Which deck to you put in there? I've been looking at other decks because the one that came w/ the boat doesn't support the wired remotes.

Where did you end up putting the subwoofer?
Click to expand...


I went with Sony 60UI i think it is. Does iPhone 3G, MP3 CD's, wired remote, wireless remote, etc. Pretty nice for $160 shipped on ebay.

Sub is going underneath starboard dash behind wheel. Got it all sealed up last night, tonight putting carpet on it and then am going to mount it tomorrow. Already hooked it up to test and it sounds amazing!
 
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