What happened to my truck!??
Thread Starter
|
Champion
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,411
Likes: 1
From: Minot AFB, ND in person, the 'burgh at heart
not sure how many people are even following this anymore, but in case anyone is, heres todays progress.
Went and got another gallon of resin and a few other various parts for the build, including talking to the embroidery guy who is gonna do the embroidery on the cover. I'll leave that as a surprise for another day.
I got home and worked on more 'glassing. I did 3 thick layers on each side before I ran out of resin again. Hopefully its enough, cause i aint gonna spend another $75 on resin lol. Its gotta be close to 1/4" so we'll see.
When doing each layer, i cut all the fiberglass peices and laid them in place with as few gaps as possible, also trying to be careful not to overlap too much because the resin has trouble soaking through two layers of cloth at a time. Each layer got staggered, so there werent any horribly weak spots. This was the 3rd layer by the way.
While that was all drying (in between layers) I got to work on the back door speaker install. I finished running the wires through the rubber boot in the door but in my haste, forgot to snap pics of it and now its all hidden. I'll make sure to take pics of the front ones while they're still apart. For the speaker itself, i had to cut the opening bigger. Just used a dremel with a metal cutting disk (took 3 disks per door). Good thing I got a pack of 20 of em for about $5.
Here is the speaker installed. Notice no wires showing, so it looks completely stock.
Finally, after all the resin had dried, I pulled out the box. It came out WAY cleaner than i expected. i had just a little bit of resin left over and I noticed it hadnt soaked through the fleece all the way in a few small areas (total of about 20% of it wasnt all the way soaked) so I mixed up the last of the resin and coated the backside for additional strength.
Went and got another gallon of resin and a few other various parts for the build, including talking to the embroidery guy who is gonna do the embroidery on the cover. I'll leave that as a surprise for another day.
I got home and worked on more 'glassing. I did 3 thick layers on each side before I ran out of resin again. Hopefully its enough, cause i aint gonna spend another $75 on resin lol. Its gotta be close to 1/4" so we'll see.
When doing each layer, i cut all the fiberglass peices and laid them in place with as few gaps as possible, also trying to be careful not to overlap too much because the resin has trouble soaking through two layers of cloth at a time. Each layer got staggered, so there werent any horribly weak spots. This was the 3rd layer by the way.
While that was all drying (in between layers) I got to work on the back door speaker install. I finished running the wires through the rubber boot in the door but in my haste, forgot to snap pics of it and now its all hidden. I'll make sure to take pics of the front ones while they're still apart. For the speaker itself, i had to cut the opening bigger. Just used a dremel with a metal cutting disk (took 3 disks per door). Good thing I got a pack of 20 of em for about $5.
Here is the speaker installed. Notice no wires showing, so it looks completely stock.
Finally, after all the resin had dried, I pulled out the box. It came out WAY cleaner than i expected. i had just a little bit of resin left over and I noticed it hadnt soaked through the fleece all the way in a few small areas (total of about 20% of it wasnt all the way soaked) so I mixed up the last of the resin and coated the backside for additional strength.
Thread Starter
|
Champion
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,411
Likes: 1
From: Minot AFB, ND in person, the 'burgh at heart
Todays update:
well folks, im in the home stretch. Today I finished wiring the front speakers. I couldnt get the pins inside the clip for the old wires out, so i just ran the wire through the rubber boot and between the two connectors. I also added quick connects there so the door can still come off if ever needed.
For the next couple hours I spent putting the ensolite (closed cell foam) down on all the panels. First I did the floor, then all 4 doors.
The list of whats left:
-mount the crossovers on the door, install the tweeters, and run all it's wiring
- figure out where the holes are for the door panels and install the door panels
- trim the fiberglass off the sub box frame, cut and install the top of the box (3/4 mdf)
- mount the amp rack
- run all the wiring
- install carpeting, all interior trim, and sets
If all goes as planned, I should be done by Monday night (about 10 hrs of work left)
well folks, im in the home stretch. Today I finished wiring the front speakers. I couldnt get the pins inside the clip for the old wires out, so i just ran the wire through the rubber boot and between the two connectors. I also added quick connects there so the door can still come off if ever needed.
For the next couple hours I spent putting the ensolite (closed cell foam) down on all the panels. First I did the floor, then all 4 doors.
The list of whats left:
-mount the crossovers on the door, install the tweeters, and run all it's wiring
- figure out where the holes are for the door panels and install the door panels
- trim the fiberglass off the sub box frame, cut and install the top of the box (3/4 mdf)
- mount the amp rack
- run all the wiring
- install carpeting, all interior trim, and sets
If all goes as planned, I should be done by Monday night (about 10 hrs of work left)
Professional
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
From: Outside of Austin, Texas
Ha I look at this post daily for updates! Very excited to see how it all turns out. How much is the sub box costing for all the materials start to finish. Well without the custom embroidery work? I bought the box I have now, and I've always made my own, just feel like I kinda left myself short of the experience.
Thread Starter
|
Champion
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,411
Likes: 1
From: Minot AFB, ND in person, the 'burgh at heart
$150 - resin
$30 - fiberglass mat
$10 - fleece
$30 - wood (frame/MDF top)
= $220 for the box
$50 covering/custom stitching
I'll have about $275 wrapped up in this box. So about the same as a nice prefab
$30 - fiberglass mat
$10 - fleece
$30 - wood (frame/MDF top)
= $220 for the box
$50 covering/custom stitching
I'll have about $275 wrapped up in this box. So about the same as a nice prefab
Thread Starter
|
Champion
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,411
Likes: 1
From: Minot AFB, ND in person, the 'burgh at heart
well todays update wont have any pictures, cause i started freakin out before i took any... i'll explain towards the end.
not really thinking ahead, i covered all the door panel tabs that hold the door on when i sealed the door, so i had to locate them so i could put the panels on. I rolled up a sticky ball and put it on the door tab and placed the panel on the door, then used a dremel with metal cutting disk to cut the squares out. I got all 4 door panels installed. when shutting the door its VERY noticeable how dead the doors are. No rattle whatsoever when shutting them. its just a solid thud. I also mounted the crossovers on the doors and those will all get wired up tomorrow.
Heres where i went crazy... being the complete idiotic moron that i am, i was wearing a tshirt and shorts (cause it was 80 degrees and MUGGY). I decided to trim all the fiberglass from the top of the sub box so i would get a good seal with the MDF. I used the dremel for it, and fiberglass got EVERYWHERE. Not to mention the mosquitos... its a famous quote up here that "the mosquitoes are so big they could screw a turkey flatfooted". Its no joke. They're like the size of horseflys almost. Anyway, since it was so hot, I was sweating while fiberglass pieces were getting stuck to me all while gettin eaten alive by mosquitoes. I started freaking out cause it itched so bad, i ran inside and took a cold shower. Got most of the itch gone, with the exception of the 37 mosquito bites (that i could count).
Moral of the story... when working with fiberglass, wear double layer long sleeve shirts and pants. Even with single layer you'll still get itchy cause the fiberglass gets between the fibers of the clothing and scratches the skin.
Finally, it looks like i COULD be on schedule to finish this thing up tomorrow. All thats left is installing tweeters (1 hr), running all the wiring (2 hrs), mounting the amp rack (5 min), cutting and mounting the top plate of the woofer box (2 hrs), and putting back together the interior (1 hr). Hopefully the next update will have completed pictures
Thanks for ridin along
not really thinking ahead, i covered all the door panel tabs that hold the door on when i sealed the door, so i had to locate them so i could put the panels on. I rolled up a sticky ball and put it on the door tab and placed the panel on the door, then used a dremel with metal cutting disk to cut the squares out. I got all 4 door panels installed. when shutting the door its VERY noticeable how dead the doors are. No rattle whatsoever when shutting them. its just a solid thud. I also mounted the crossovers on the doors and those will all get wired up tomorrow.
Heres where i went crazy... being the complete idiotic moron that i am, i was wearing a tshirt and shorts (cause it was 80 degrees and MUGGY). I decided to trim all the fiberglass from the top of the sub box so i would get a good seal with the MDF. I used the dremel for it, and fiberglass got EVERYWHERE. Not to mention the mosquitos... its a famous quote up here that "the mosquitoes are so big they could screw a turkey flatfooted". Its no joke. They're like the size of horseflys almost. Anyway, since it was so hot, I was sweating while fiberglass pieces were getting stuck to me all while gettin eaten alive by mosquitoes. I started freaking out cause it itched so bad, i ran inside and took a cold shower. Got most of the itch gone, with the exception of the 37 mosquito bites (that i could count).
Moral of the story... when working with fiberglass, wear double layer long sleeve shirts and pants. Even with single layer you'll still get itchy cause the fiberglass gets between the fibers of the clothing and scratches the skin.
Finally, it looks like i COULD be on schedule to finish this thing up tomorrow. All thats left is installing tweeters (1 hr), running all the wiring (2 hrs), mounting the amp rack (5 min), cutting and mounting the top plate of the woofer box (2 hrs), and putting back together the interior (1 hr). Hopefully the next update will have completed pictures
Thanks for ridin along
All Star
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 982
Likes: 0
From: Lynchburg, VA
I thought someone warned you to wear longsleeves when doing that fiberglass? 
Very very cool man. It will be a good long time before Id be ballsy enough to try something like this. Hell, I want/need new door speakers all around, and I'm nervous about trying to take the panels off, haha! Much less guttin the WHOLE damn truck, nah, not for me, not yet anyways. Again, mucho kudos to you bro, can't wait to see the finished product (although it'll probably just look as stock as when you started, which is what you're going for I think)
Very very cool man. It will be a good long time before Id be ballsy enough to try something like this. Hell, I want/need new door speakers all around, and I'm nervous about trying to take the panels off, haha! Much less guttin the WHOLE damn truck, nah, not for me, not yet anyways. Again, mucho kudos to you bro, can't wait to see the finished product (although it'll probably just look as stock as when you started, which is what you're going for I think)