scooter99 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 So I got out today, and spent the better part of the afternoon getting some things done. Per the suggestions from another member, I went ahead and sealed off the a pillars. Let's go there now. Before I could get to any of that, I had to clean up the back side of the pillars first. I had overhang from the cloth, and I had staples poking through the back side too. I'll need to pick up an air stapler for the rest of the job. I used a hand stapler on this one, but it's a pain to deal with! Doesn't always work either. OUCH Cleaned up Holes cut out. New toy. decided I needed one, so I finally just broke down and got one. What a god send! Next, in order to seal everything up, I needed to grid down a bunch of the ribs on the back of the pillar. Also the plastic needed to be roughed up a little bit so the resin would stick to it. Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 Then it was time to wrap em up. Time to resin! That's as far as I got with those tonight. But they'll get at least two more coats on them. Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 So the rest of my day was taken up brain storming and trying to figure out this tablet install. I worked at it for a while, and I think I'm finally on the verge of getting it perfectly fit. I had to drop it down more than I wanted to, and widen it out a little more than planned, but I think in the end, it's gonna work out just fine! Let's get onto the pics. Here's where I started. After looking at it for a while, I decided to move it over about a quarter inch. I was pretty close to the right side and it's pretty thin over there so I decided to give it some room. After that I was pretty satisfied, at the moment, with placement. I did not, however, like the waves on the edges. So I got my new tool back out and went to work. This is what I ended up with. Much better I think! Then I started trying to mock up the sides. Used some construction paper I have sitting here, and was going to use that to make templates for cutting out wood. I was going to use ABS or something like that, but I have 1/8" ply already here, so why not just used that! So after staring at that for another 10 minutes, I decided that the best thing for me to do, since I'm going to have the whole pan and tablet move, was to get that done, then build everything else around it. So, I got to work doing that. Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 So this is the front cover up on the bezel. This gives me an idea of the overall size of the cover piece. Obviously this will get cut out in the middle and basically only reveal about an 1/8" of the black outer frame. So It will give me a full screen to look at. Back on. If you look at the upper right corner this was my problem spot. It was just way to high for my liking! From a creative standpoint, it was just going to be way too difficult to mold in and make it look good. And from a visual standpoint, I was just not happy with the way it looked. So back to the drawing board I went. So what I was running into, was how to drop it down, make it look good, and make the tablet and pan itself drop in behind the front of the bezel. The top cover of the tablet could sit on the front, that would be fine, cause I could mold the surroundings in and that would be fine. Then I looked at it again, and decided that little ridge there in the middle needed to go in order to get it lower. Gone! After that it was a matter of how low do I need to go? So I test fitted a couple hundred more times, adjusting, dropping, raising, sliding, and decided more needed to come out. BUT, before I started cutting more out, I wanted to make sure the level in which I was happy with, holding it there, was going to be good. So the best way I could think of to do that, was to put in a ledge and see where we're at! So I used a piece of the 1/8" ply, a dowel, and some hot glue and built a ledge! Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 So I set the tablet and pan on that ledge, and then put the face on it. As you can see, in the same right upper corner, it's definitely lower. This would be more manageable for sure! This is where the tablet was sitting currently. Good, but not great! More brain storming! Remember I don't have much more room to the top to go, and while i have room toward the bottom to go, I also don't want to push the DRC right out of the whole bezel. So I had to get creative with this thing. I've only got about an 1/8" over the tablet right now, and I think that's a great length, that way the buttons don't get hit, and when it drops back in, retracts, then it would rest against the cover and not the tablet. So what I did was go an 1/8" up, and an 1/8" down. We're there! Home free! I'm very very happy with this! Check it out! It's sunken in baby!! Even was able to shave a bit more, and get the face cover to sink in as well! FOR THE WIN!!!! I know it doesn't look like it right there, but if you look down the line, the back side there is sunken in. This will be able to happen without having to build up anywhere around, for the most part. So next on the agenda is going to be doing the sides. What I plan on doing is making the sides a little bit bigger than they need to be, about a 1/4" ish. Then I can get the tablet in place, with the cover, and then I can sand down the sides to meet the cover. That way it all meets up. Then the right side will need filling. Trying to figure out the best way to do that. I think filler is pretty heavy for that, and there's going to be a pretty good amount of filler on this already. Maybe a little touch of spray foam will do the trick. Sand it down, filler over top to smooth it out. Not sure. Already had filler in there, holes are drilled for it, so maybe I'll just use filler and be done. Obviously I have other holes to fill as well. Going to have some forming and framing to do also. Lots more to do on this, but I'm feeling very on track and like things are going well with it. Not falling into place by any means. This has been mentally tough to figure out. But that's what customizing is all about. More to come soon! Thanks for checking in! As always you can comment or check out the behind the scenes talk on my build thread linked in my signature! Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted January 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Ok so I got a little bit of work done today. Not much, but progress is progress right! First up are the A Pillars. I didn't do much on these, but I did get them sanded down and ready for the filler portion. Still need to fill the insides a bit, and do another resin coat on the back side, but otherwise, they're getting there! Next I got started figuring out he hinging portion of the tablet. I decided to use a piano hinge to pivot from. Trying to figure out also how to do with without showing the actual spine of the hinge as well. I got it. I cut the hinge 1/8" short of the edges. That way I had some room. Room for what I don't know, but room anyway! Predrilled the holes for the screws. That helps to keep it straight when I screw it in. The screws will get ground off from the other side when it's done. This is about the limit of the hinge forward, which is well more than enough for what I need. As you can see here there's plenty of clearance and it's going to sit flush just fine! Actually i could stand to cut another cover plate that's about 1/8" taller for it. I'll do that when I get this more dialed in. Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted January 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 The next issue I faced was that when the pan was in there with the base, the hinge got in the way. So I had to simply alter that from one piece to two pieces. Not a problem and it works just fine! This is not with the pan and tablet connected, but just showing the two parts. I taped them together. There's some room for them to separate, but I think I have a solution for that. Matter of fact I know I do. I'm going to cut strips the size of the edge of the frame to beyond the current cover piece. Then glue the frame together. I'll then router the inside edge of the frame on the cover piece, and then the same on the outer portion so they match up. This will give me about 1/4" thickness and allow me to account for the suede that needs to go in. It'll make more sense when I get it done. You can see in this picture the slight gap that's there. That needs to get bigger and filled in order to allow for the suede on the back and front. It already slides in and out pretty damn well. But the suede will protect it also. Just a backside shot. And this was the last thing I was able to do before I had to stop. I started mocking up the panel for the DRC. Gonna be a tight fit on this one! But I'll make it work. The DRC will be centered on the center of the tablet. Really I should probably get the sides done and in place, or at least temporarily in place, before I start the DRC panel, so I may go back and do those first. That's it for now. Hopefully more tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in! You can comment or follow along with the behind the scenes chatter on my build thread which is linked in my signature. Thanks! Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 I managed to get some work done today. I know I was working on the tablet and some other stuff a while back and I decided to try and switch gears a bit to get this thing moving along. I decided I needed to get the trunk done before I go any further in the front. So I went out today and got that started. I started to redo the rear deck amp rack. If you will recall I was building the old one already and that was before I switched from the LRx amps to the Hertz HDP amps. Basically I used the same rack I already started, but I removed the front panel, and put in a new one which I had to kerf so that it would go along the curve of the base. Next I had to make the cover panel, and some templates, etc. I'll let the pics do the talking. Here goes! Here we have the 3 amps (2 HDP4's and an HDP5), the birch precut from the last build, and some other tools. Here you can see I had to lay out the amps. Then it was time to cover them up so I could start the process of making templates etc. Decided to change it up cause it really effected the outlining with the tape. Got my trusty rigid jigsaw out to cut the templates out. I was originally going to use a rabbeting bit with the router, but after looking at it, and thinking about it, it wasn't going to work. These amps step up in the middle and then there are some other reasons it just wasn't going to work. So, jigsaw it is! Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 I thought these were going to be a problem. They angle out, the bottom or base is wider than the top of the amp. But as you will see later, it doesn't effect it at all. HDP5 HDP4 Lets get the rack altered and built. This was the front piece I had to remove and replace to go out to the curved edge. Right now it's straight as a rectangle. The middle HDP5 amp won't fit this way! Need more room! Kerfs laid out and cut Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter99 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Got it on, and now it's time to trim up the cover panel. First I needed to router trim it, but this won't matter much later. You'll see. Trim bit Not really happy with that joint, but I know it this will need some finishing so I'll take care of that then. Trimmed up! Now that I've got that done, it was time to do some templates. Rabbeting bit My jigsaw cut templates, these need to be smaller, which is where the rabbeting bit comes into play. Cut out. New template on top, old on the bottom. Now using those templates, I put a flush trim bit in, and cut my new final templates for the bottom layer of the cover. PERFECT FIT! Beautiful, I couldn't be happier! This is the HDP4 Facebook Page: S99Creations 2006 F250 Lariat Build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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