Wicks' E46 M3 Build. Hertz 3-Way Set from Tony D!

[Wicks]

Got a couple sweet things last night....

SMD VM-1

Had me a look at the guts. Very interesting Mr D'Amore

I also had a Lowes Gift Card to burn.

I had always wanted an impact driver but never pulled the "trigger"

Well watching an episode of "AMPLIFIED" the other day and the guys mentioned how handy an impact driver was to get into tight spaces that a normal cordless drill can't.

I instantly thought of when I was dissembling my rear deck and everything I used on the screws was hitting my rear window and scratching my tint.

So I picked up one of these:

Why Hitachi you ask? Yes, it is green and a lil fugly, BUT it had the shortest working depth (bit attachment to rear of handle) of all the impact drivers I looked at. Plus it is very light weight and I'm rather impressed at how tiny the batteries are compared to my other clunky cordless drills (not Li-Ion).

Can't wait to put it to werk!

Those Hitachi drills will do some damage. I've got one just like it but a little larger and it'll push a screw straight through a board if you want it too.

HELL YEAH it'll do some damage...

My only gripe would be that the trigger is a bit touchy and hard to maintain at a consistent lower speed.

But overall its a great little drill, glad I got it. I bought a keyless chuck for it a while back and now it'll damn near do anything.

[scooter99]

In my opinion man, I'd do the HSK165's and the 8's up front and if you want more then I'd put the 5.25's in the rear deck, although you're probably not going to need them.

Just my opinion.

Ok let's see some progress!

[Wicks]

More filler and sanding anyone.........................?

Took it out of the garage to get a pic of it in the sun.

..and more sanding. Pull up a chair, we'll be here a while........

It looked like I was getting close with the sanding. I bought some filler primer thinking that it could help fill in the scratches and gouges.

NOPE.....not even close. Lots more sanding to do. Also this "filler" primer isn't all that thick, not anywhere near what I was thinking it would be.

Its good though to get a consistent color across your piece and see how the sanding is going.

I tossed the fiberglass piece back in the car and installed my seat bolsters to get an idea of how deep the side edges need to be.

Just cut off the excess and now I know how far out I need to get my sanded edge.

Time to jump on the port extension. Gluing it all together. My plan changed slightly from what we were discussing previously.

All three "spacers" will be glued together and then screwed down to the sub box.

The rear deck lid needs to pivot down in place since there is very little room with the rear window so close.

Therefore I needed the rear deck lid to be as thin as possible.

Here's the port extension with my top ring freshly cut and conforming to the rear deck surface.

While I'm at it, since my box port will now be visible through the rear deck and rear window, it needs a different color then the box interior white:

Since I'm making this port extension removable, I was worried that I might have a small air gap between the port extension and sub-box.

So I used my router and cut a groove into the bottom of the port extension and inserted a round rubber rod which will get compressed and help the seal.

Then I need a ring around the port opening to secure the port extension to.

And a flange around the port extension which I'll use to screw through to the sub box below.

More paint on the port opening and around the wooden braces to help seal them up more.

Starting to make some good progress with minimal setbacks....

[scooter99]

Hell yeah man! Nice work!

Yeah sanding sucks, I'm with you!

[Wicks]

Hell yeah man! Nice work!

Yeah sanding sucks, I'm with you!

Dude,

I have a new found respect for auto-body guys that actually use the body filler on car body panels and need to sand this stuff to a perfectly smooth and straight finish....

So...

Should I wrap this fiberglass panel in vinyl (my vinyl wrapping skills are lacking) or do something else...?

I might have to take it somewhere to get it wrapped since I don't trust my skills and don't want to risk messing it up.

I stumbled on a new technique for covering a surface like this that I'm going to use on my rear deck, but I'm not sure if it will look right on this panel as well...

[nocturnalrites101]

going for 150 on music?

[scooter99]

I don't know honestly. If the money is there, maybe have someone do it?

Or just keep trying until you like it.

Remember heat is your friend with vinyl, just not TOO much heat. Move it around so the heat is dispersed well, and then just smooth it down with your hand.

Honestly, the hardest part about that panel would be the corners of the inner area. Otherwise it's pretty damn flat.

[hdorre]

Honestly, vinyl wrapping isnt hard.. just a bit tedious. I wrapped my sub box, door pods, tweeter pods, and hu's "trim." I used DAP Weldwood and a hair dryer haha

[775Tundra]

I just got into vinyl wrapping with double stitching. Easy concept but it does bring out a respect for the pros

[Wicks]

going for 150 on music?

Yep, I would LOVE to hit that number and while it is possible in a trunk car, I highly doubt I'll get there given the smaller box/port combo I have in order to have some usable trunk space.

I have some high hopes that this rear deck hole really helps me out and redirects a lot of energy being wasted by vibrating my trunk lid, but we'll see.

Gaining 4dB just from a hole in the rear deck sounds a little wishful.

I don't know honestly. If the money is there, maybe have someone do it?

Or just keep trying until you like it.

Remember heat is your friend with vinyl, just not TOO much heat. Move it around so the heat is dispersed well, and then just smooth it down with your hand.

Honestly, the hardest part about that panel would be the corners of the inner area. Otherwise it's pretty damn flat.

Exactly, its those inner corners that are bothering me. My last attempt didn't work very well with my old fiberglass piece but then I was using the wrong vinyl, I believe since it had some cloth backing.

The actuator hole is going to be tricky as well. It's a good inch deep. I don't know that the vinyl would be able to stretch out well enough to cover that contour?

Honestly, vinyl wrapping isnt hard.. just a bit tedious. I wrapped my sub box, door pods, tweeter pods, and hu's "trim." I used DAP Weldwood and a hair dryer haha

Yeah, I'm sure with enough practice I can get it down, but these are some complex corners to play with as my first vinyl experience.

I just got into vinyl wrapping with double stitching. Easy concept but it does bring out a respect for the pros

Ohh yeah, I got some respect for the guys out there that seem to be able to cover anything seamlessly....

We'll see. First off I need to get some decent vinyl to play with and then maybe I'll tear apart my first fiberglass panel I made and practice.