My suggestion, if you are going to cover in vinyl:

Use the Acetone to deback the vinyl. It will make life much easier when trying to stretch it over that shape...

Box looks great! Are you going to SBN this weekend? Would love to see it.

 

I wonder if there is any advantage to aiming the sub forward vs backwards.

 

Which kind of vinyl do you mean? The cheap kind with the fuzzy back? Or..? I was thinking of just calling up an auto upholstery shop and getting something from them...
What is SBN?

I'm sure the two would sound very different.. but I've never heard either =/

 

The vinyl that we use is from any fabric store like Joanne Fabrics or Hancock Fabrics. It comes with a backing on it and you can use cotton swabs with acetone and rub it lightly on the back to pull the backing away.

SBN is Spring Break Nationals which is going on this weekend in Daytona Beach. It is a car audio show and competition.

www.springbreaknationals.com

 

What does the backing look like? There seems to be a lot of types with different backings...

I hadn't planned on going to SBN or anything.. Are you guys going?
I wont have my DLS front stage in for a while...

 

The backing is white small cross pattern and if you put acetone on , it disolves the glue that keeps the backing attached.

I will be at SBN with Team Audionutz. We will be competing Saturday and Sunday. There should be a pretty decent showing this year.

If you want to see some crazy installs, that is the place to be.

 

Man! I can't believe all the work, time, and effort put into this. Kudos on your determination....

 

Now all you need to do is replicate that box about 10 times, and start selling those things!!

 

UPDATE 3/24/08

So on my way home today I dropped by the store and got this..


I started to use it.. but it just wasn't removing enough material... So then I turned to this...


Okay..this thing is AWESOME. I originally had it with 40grit, but I had to switch to 80 because I immediately sanded a huge gash into it with the 40. BE CAREFUL. If you slipped and fell you could sand a 5" hole through the planet.

I was able to get the gash out and then went over the whole box to take out the rough stuff.. then smoothed over by hand and with the sponge...Here is the result..


Now.. theres lots of pits/imperfections that I had to take care of.. in comes the glazing putty.


I waited about 45 minutes for this to dry..and came back to this... (yes I realize it looks exactly the same but I took the pic so you get to see it).


This stuff sands EASY... in no time I had a nearly perfect piece.


There were still a couple of imperfections so I filled those..


And after some final sanding I washed all the dust off/out..


Tomorrow I will install the hurricane nuts and start contemplating the vinyl.
Let me know what you think!

 

looks amazing.... keep it up

 

Hehe it would drive me nuts to know im close to the end...

 

very nice progress pics. This thread is becoming addicting to read

I think its a good question to ask if it would have sounded better facing towards the back. I think many people face subs towards the hatch window so that the sound waves amplify off of it and its louder. Not sure, could be wrong. Either way, its going to sound incredible.

 

Nice progress. Intirely too much work for me to handle. I give you props for the dedication...

 

Nice camouflage color-scheme enclosure!!! Would look sweet in a HMMV!

 

It would blend right into a forest covered in vomit.

 

That is def a lot of work...If i can't cut it, sand it then paint it...I usually lose interest fast. - nice dedication.

 

I have heard that it is much louder firing into the hatch.. I am always willing to sacrifice to keep storage space and comfort though... which is also the reason I didn't do kicks. =/

 

looking good! i'm tuned in for the vinyl covering. by the way, you said "hurricane nutz" !

 

UPDATE 3/25/08 Night

Short update for today.. Unfortunately I was unable to get some vinyl today. I called about 15 shops before I left work today and only found one that had 4-way stretch vinyl.. they closed at 4:30, and I reached them on the phone at 4:23 =/. I did get a couple of things done though...

I decided not to mount the sub or terminal cup until after vinyl as I didn't want to get any contact cement into the holes..

So whats left? I cleaned the work area up and swept up all the dust from the past few days. Then I started to prepare the sub and terminal cup to go in.

Here are the wires to connect the terminal cup..


Fold them over the terminals..


Soldered..


Heat Shrink..


Here is the other end.. I tin the leads with solder to keep them from fraying.


I need a little connection to wire the voicecoils in series... again the ends are tinned to prevent fraying.


Voice coils wired..


King of the mountain!


Hit the sides and back with a little paint to clean up the look after install.. those areas will not be covered in vinyl.


Also went out and bought some contact cement for when I do eventually get some vinyl..


Well thats it for today!

P.S. 8000+ views on this thread!

 

Those are some good amps!