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Sub-Box Walkthrough

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sk8dudety
9/17/2007 11:10:48 PM
Alright, here's the walk-through for this sub-box that you asked me for.  It fits nicely between your strut towers in the rear with PLENTY of room left in the trunk.  THIS IS JUST UP TO THE POINT OF FIBERGLASS!! I'll get it fiberglassed tomorrow and will add to the walk-through
 
Here's a quick drawing of the platform frame:

It was a piece of 3/4" particle board as the base, with ripped down 2by4's as the framing itself. When I say the 2by4's were ripped, that means that they were cut long ways, not straight across.  This makes each piece narrower, not shorter.  I did this just to be able to get that much more air into the box.  You'll notice a small piece in the middle, this is optional. I did this so i can staple the fleece there later on to get a more defined shape to the enclosure. Also, under that piece i took the remainder of the ripped down 2by4 and glued and nailed a strip there and caulked it to help each side of the box.  (Sidenote: You'll notice that there is caulk all around the base of the box frame, this is a must do and will prevent you from having any leaks in your enclosure)
 
Measurements:
Base- 34.5" longside, 32.5" shortside, 12" wide
Framing- Bottom board: 34.5" longside and cut the angle on both sides to match the particle board angle. Top board: 32.5" shortside (do the same with the angle cutting here as well.) Side boards: 9.5" long (cut angle to match both bottom and top board).
Middle "Shaping" Board- This can be any length that you want, I chose not to take it all the way to the edge of the frame, that way you would not see it "poking" through as the felt covered it.
 
Now for the Sub "Rings" and pillars:
This is where you need to get creative, and need to set your goal as to just how you want your subwoofers to look in you trunk.  Since I used 3/4" particle board, I had to "double up" on the rings because 3/4" is not quite thick or strong enough for my 12" subs.  This means I cut a total of 4 rings, and glued and nailed them together (So each ring is essentially 2 rings put into 1) The way these are cut all depends on what subwoofers you are using and the width of their mounting ring.  I made my rings about 2 inches wide, This gave me plenty of room to mount my speakers and still have room left over to smoothly feather the fiberglass sanding.  Also, for the pillars, it all depends on how tall you want your speakers to sit, and at what angle.  Each pillar should have the same angle cut on top, with a flat cut on bottom for flush mounting.  I used 4 pillars: 1 rear (tallest), 2 middle (both same height, shorter than the rear pillar), and 1 front (which was the shortest of the 4, obviously).  This is where you get creative and decide on how tall and what angle your speakers will sit.
Once the pillars were cut out and mounted to the rings (keep in mind, every time you attach any type of board to another, make sure to use wood glue AND nails.  I used 1.25" finishing nails) you need to make two little stands for them to sit on. This not only gives your speakers a little more height plus a little more air in the box, but will also stabilize it and strengthen the pillars.
 
Let's put it all together!:

You'll notice that in the middle of each side of the box there is a tiny piece of ripped down 2by4, these were mounted AFTER I lined up my substands to where I wanted them.  These provides your interior mounting point for your substands.  Once you have your stands where you want them then glue them down, clamp them, and the nail them in place.

 
Now here comes the fun part:
This is where you are going to need some fleece (i picked up about 3 yards up at wal-mart for very cheap), and a looooot of staples (not the office kind :-P).  You'll also need at least one other person to help you.  I had one friend help, and even wish I had another there.  Spread the fleece over the entire of the frame, and make sure that you have plenty on all sides to cover it.  Start by picking a spot on the new frame you just built, and attach the fleece there with a couple of staples.  From there continue to STRETCH the fleece over the frame and unload your staple gun into it to keep it from moving.  I emphasize the word STRETCH because the fleece has to be very taught and tight as its pulled over the frame. 

You may get to a spot where there is too much material and you need to cut it.  NO WORRIES! Just cut it and overlap it.  This may seem like a big deal, but it is not, this small overlap will get covered by fiberglass resin and bondo later on, so you won't even know that it was there!  Continue to stretch the fleece over until everything is stapled in place, and you have achieved the shape you were lookin for.  Once you are done stapling, go over all of the staples and tap them a bit, just to make sure that each is securely fastened to the box.  Go ahead and trim off the excess fleece off the bottom of the box.



There you have it, a newly built sub-box enclosure that is ready for fiberglass and finishing!
AlZuben
9/17/2007 11:13:16 PM
you rock!
 
hey, do you make brassieres too?
Sebba
9/17/2007 11:14:03 PM
Bad ass!
 
Not that i would ever use this information... but bad ass : )
davidmitsusrock
9/17/2007 11:14:49 PM
you do a good job...kind of looks like some funky boobies 
sk8dudety
9/17/2007 11:25:22 PM
check it out, i just cut open the holes inside the rings and set the subs in to see how they'd look


 
I'll keep you guys posted after i fiberglass everything
Sebba
9/17/2007 11:26:29 PM
That little wood piece in the middle is annoying me. Remove it lol
AlZuben
9/17/2007 11:27:21 PM
there's a ringing in my ears just from looking at them
sk8dudety
9/17/2007 11:29:08 PM
haha, dont worry seb, when i fiberglass 'em tomorrow i'm molding around that... i had to do it get that specific shape
Sebba
9/17/2007 11:29:51 PM
Okay
RCJr9186
9/18/2007 5:43:52 AM
looks good man.  it really doesn't look all that hard to do either!
sk8dudety
9/18/2007 6:07:17 AM
no it's really not... it especially helps if you have someone to do it with, and good cutting tools...

(it also doesnt hurt to have a dad who used to own his own contracting business, and work on the project with a kid that's goin to school for it hahaha) every little bit helps :-)
 
it's also really just a "wing it" kinda project too... i've NEVER done something like this before, and i just figured out how to do it by watching a couple of episodes of Unique whips haha
RCJr9186
9/18/2007 6:10:46 AM
thats exactly what i was thinking also... i watch that show and it looks pretty damn easy from what i can see.
sk8dudety
9/18/2007 6:37:15 AM
yea the biggest thing is that it's just time consuming, to make all those cuts and make sure they're at the right angles... like we had the substands made already, we did those months ago, but we started the base frame last night at like 9, and it was covered before 11... so it'll take some time, but it's pretty fun to do...
 
heres a pic of the test fit, i'm gonna need to build a small amprack cause it wont fit just sitting on the floor

bestwiseguy
9/18/2007 8:46:20 AM
I love the custom box, but i dont care to much for the subs or amp.  
AlZuben
9/18/2007 9:29:48 AM
being that the tops of the pillars are actually 2 angles, did you make both of the cuts simultaneously or did you cut them twice? This is an important step and requires the most preplanning.
 
You have 2 rotations.
 
1) you have tilted the speakers forward
2) you have tilted the speakers inward towards the center.
 
Most of the guys who read this tutorial are going to cut those pillars a half dozen times and still not get it right.
Could you please go into a lengthy description of how you decided on your angles, how you measured them, how you cut them....and what sort of tool you used to cut them?
 
if you have the time.
 
I suppose you could have used a table saw, tilted the blade and also tilted the angle on your guide to make both cuts at once....but there is actually some tricky math involved to get all four posts cut at the proper angles and lengths.
 
I hope all you guys passed Geometry!
AlZuben
9/18/2007 9:34:16 AM
ok, looking at the finished product again, it looks like there is only 1 angle cut on your pillar and the pillars are centered on the axes of rotation. so, how did you determine the length of each pillar and the angle?
Sebba
9/18/2007 9:35:38 AM
What i do is belt sand it... that way i just keep sanding till i get em perfect lol
AlZuben
9/18/2007 9:46:43 AM
shouldn't you be in school?
 
 
Sebba
9/18/2007 9:49:39 AM
Thanks DAD. I am at school..... lol
AlZuben
9/18/2007 10:01:30 AM
well pay attention, you might actually learn something!
AlZuben
9/18/2007 10:01:43 AM
well pay attention, you might actually learn something!
jpmontero98
9/18/2007 10:37:32 AM
im still not done wiht my sub box...engine and body first
then interior
AlZuben
9/18/2007 10:49:19 AM
wouldn't you rather buy a pajero TD?
 
davidmitsusrock
9/18/2007 11:43:13 AM
ha im supposes to be at school right now as well...sitting at home...too tired today. 
sk8dudety
9/18/2007 12:05:30 PM
guys don't clutter up this thread please... and alzuben... i used a chop saw to get the angles... all i did was make the rings, had someone hold one of them in the car at the angle that i wanted (rough estimate), and measured the bottom of the ring (closest to floor) and the top of the ring (highest point of substands)...  Thats why I said you just need to be creative, it all depends on what you think looks good and what height and angle you want your speakers to sit.  After i got the two measurements, i cut both pieces, 1)one small and 2)one big, attached them to the ring, then set it on a flat surface to measure the 3)side pillars (See picture for markings.  From there I just cut two peices of basically scrap wood for the 4)bottom support/lifters and attached them to the pillars.  I then made the same size/angled pillars for the other ring, took them both and set them in the trunk, spaced them apart from eachother to where i wanted them, measured that, and then went inside and made the baseframe.  The way they are tilted in towards eachother has no effect on how the angles were cut, all you do is spin the substand inward.  Haha, dude you're making this too hard on yourself.  Basically, the only measurements i had for the pillars was the height, the angle i "guessed" on, and just cut that same angle on the other pillars, that simple.

Also Bestwiseguy, I'm not a huge fan of the system either... but my bro gave me the subs for free (they're the oldschool ones which are the best that orion has made, and they were BARELY used, so I couldn't pass up those for free... then I was on a limited college budget and got the amp for 170 off etronics.com... if I was keeping the car I would definitely get a better system for it.  Either way to do hit pretty hard, they're dual voice coil subs and sound pretty good, ESPECIALLY FOR BEING FREE!! haha
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