Loud & Low 8th Gen Civic - UBL #3 - The Final Chapter - Up to date

[scooter99]

Ok, let's do this!!!!

Yes it was a crazy busy weekend, and not to even talk about the heartbreak!! Let's not go there.

So I wasn't planning on getting any work done Sunday night, because of working and the football games, but after that horrific game last night, I had to go cry in my shop!

Last week I was going to be getting a circle jig to use for the sub enclosure and then also to make my speaker rings for the meezo mids. Well USPS did their thing, and I didn't get it. Ended up going back to sender. So, because I wanted to get the subs prepped and ready to be mounted this weekend, I needed a circle jig. SO, I decided to just make one. Got out my trim router, and pulled off the plexi plate for mock up.

On a sheet of 1/4" mdf, I traced out the panel, and then squared it up with the mounting holes. Then I drew a line with my speed square for both edges of the panel. On the other end I rounded that off as well. No reason for it really other than just to have a nice soft edge.

Then I drilled out the mounting holes, as well as the center cut out for the bit.

Cut it out with the jig saw, and mounted it to the router to measure for the sub hole. I also measured out for the mids mounting hole.

Drilled a couple holes for the screw pin.

Then I drilled out a center punch hole for the test run.

Using a spiral up cut bit I did the test sub hole.

And it fit like a glove. Not tight, where I had to press it in there, but not loose either. It doesn't move around in there. It's literally sitting perfectly in the hole.

Now it's time to do the real thing . Double baffle, 3/4" birch, for 1 1/2" of cut out.

Marked out where the first sheet finish would be.

Did a few passes, and right before getting through the first sheet, I stopped.

Cleaned it out and screwed the two circles together. This ensures me that the top piece won't move, which is where the screw pin is inserted, while I go through the bottom piece.

After getting both holes done, as far as I could because the depth only went to 1 1/4", I flipped it over, and finished the job.

[scooter99]

One holed done.

Both holes done!! It's only leaned up against the enclosure, but that's in place.

Drew out the grid, approx 2" square on each grid for screws. This will be glued and screwed together.

After the grids were done, I figured out after pre drilling these holes, that I screwed up and made more work for myself. ON the other side, I didn't take a picture, it was so smooth and perfect and ready for paint. But I ended up drilling all the way through both panels in the field, when I only wanted to drill the first panel. My intention was to pull them apart, then drill the one panel, but I never pulled them apart. Sigh. Oh well. Nothing a little Rage won't fix. Just takes time. Got plenty of that right!! GRRRRR!!!!! After this I just called it a night and went to bed.

This is Monday's work. I decided to get my oldest daughter off the couch today, while her sister and mom worked on her report for school. I got the panels out of the trunk, and the spray paint out for her to work on.

Empty trunk.

My helper brushing things off clean, and getting ready for the painting.

Back piece.

Side pieces that the battery racks go on.

Here she goes. First coat of black.

While she did that, I stepped over to my cutting bench, saw horses and 2 x 4's, and started sanding the port extension.

Sanded and ready for some primer. This was done with 100 grit paper. If I was going to just paint it, I'd go down further with higher grit paper. But I have something else in store for this baby.

However, it still needs to be semi smooth so I hit it with a coat of filler primer.

Second coat on

Look at my little girl all proud of her work!! Way to go sweetheart! You did great.

[scooter99]

Third coat on. That's a look of, "I hate painting, it's sooooo slow" if I've ever seen it! LOL.

Murphy making a guest appearance! LOL

Now it's time to do some magic on the sub baffle. I had to pause a moment before I did this. I didn't plan on the second sub baffle being outside the enclosure, but after running the numbers again, and looking at the design, I had originally drew it up to be outside not inside. But the numbers previously showed it being inside the enclosure. Why does this matter you ask? Well because I've already cut the deck out and I didn't know if the port would fit in the hole with it pushed back another 3/4". But after a test fit, with the baffles in place, and the enclosure up against it, it fits just fine! I had to take 1/4" out of the outside corners of the deck, but that's because I didn't cut it straight apparently. OOPS. It's good now. So we pulled this panel apart.

And then I taped the edges so the glue wouldn't cause any issues when it gets brushed on.

My baby girl starting on the glue brushing.

Then we flipped the other side on the glued side and I put the 4 screws back in to hold it in place.

Then I proceeded to put the tons of screws in the panel.

Next it was time to work on the back panel. This is getting cut out to follow the rest of the back, and then a plexi panel will cover the rest of it.

Cut it out rough with a jig saw. Actually I let my daughter cut it out with my help.

This is what the cut out will be. I toyed with the thought of following the port ends all the way down, but I didn't.

Got the roughly cut backing put back on and ready for the router and flush trim bit.

After I got that done, which apparently I forgot to take pictures of, it was time to work on a piece that I've had sitting in my garage for months! Big thanks to Kyle and Laura Blackwelder! You guys rock!

[scooter99]

The goods!!!!! LEXAN FTMFW!!!!!! WOOT!

When I spoke with Kyle about this, I gave him a round about measurement. HOW'S THAT FOR A GUESSTIMATE!!! 1/4" to be cut off on the width! HELL YEAH!!

So what you all didn't see here, was the piece that i had cut before, the back panel, I re cut and re did. I didn't like the screw pattern on it, and decided to do it over. I took a long time measuring this and calculating it out to get the holes where they needed to be.

Here is where the back panel and the floor panel connect. These are 10-32 inserts.

And they'll be screwed together with 10-32 screws, obviously!

Next come the 1/4-20 inserts. These will connect the back frame with the rest of the enclosure. But still having threaded inserts so that all the screws could be removed as many times as needed.

THIS PART SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!! Never drilled anything like this before. I've done thin stuff, and it's always a guessing game as to whether it's going to break or not. This was my only piece of this, and if it breaks I'm FUKT!!!!!

I made sure it was anchored down in place with these clamps. This ensured it won't move around at all.

Then drilled them out!

It really worked out very well. These were all pilot holes though. I still needed some bigger holes for the screws to pass through.

Then I drilled the panel so the inserts could go in.

Starting to look like swiss cheese but it'll make sense soon.

So the inserts I put into the enclosure walls, was for the back panel to screw into. The inserts I put into the back panel was for the lexan to screw into. Starting to make sense yet?

Attached with some of the screws. I do need more screws for the back panel. The one's I had bought, aren't long enough. I had enough of some longer ones to put it on, but not enough to get them all on.

[scooter99]

View from the front. Starting to really come together.

I taped up one side, this was the inside. I had to lay it down on this side to counter sink the holes from the outside.

Then I pulled the plastic on the outside, so I could get that done. I started to do it without pulling the plastic but the bit kept grabbing the plastic. SO off it went.

Before

Got it attached with a few screws. Then I pulled it off and I taped up this side, because I'm done with this piece for now.

These are Spax screws. Similar to the ones I'm using on the rest of the box, except these are 3" screws and have a much larger head on it. These will hold the sub baffle on the enclosure. Every 2 inches all the way around, and double on the top and bottom.

Temporarily mounted the subs, and admittedly stood back and got a bit happy. I'm getting close!

I did that because I needed to drill for the mounts. Pilot holes here, although you may not be able to see them real well. But if not, you can see the back side which also makes me smile! LOL

Got the holes drilled, now it's time for inserts!

While cleaning up, I decided the port could use some black paint. So I touched that a bit. This is just one coat. I'll do another tomorrow.

So that' what I got done this weekend. Really most of that was today, and a little last night.

Really the basics of the enclosure are done. I could throw it in the car and put it together right now. BUT, I still have some filling to do on the sub baffle, the side walls, and some other spots. Then I need to paint it. Plus I have some other things I want to do on the inside. I also need to make some brackets for the port extension, do a notch out around the under side of the port extension so I can put weather stripping in there and have it seal nicely as well as not leave a gap between the extension and the enclosure top.

What I'd like to find, are 1/4-20 allen head screws, or just phillips head screws would be fine I guess, that are about 4" long. Then I could drill the port in place, and no brackets would be necessary. The screws would just simply screw into the enclosure lid via threaded inserts. That would make life easy.

I also need to do the rear deck panel still, and install some magnets into the top of the port extension, and body fill over them. So, lots of details left to do, but it's getting real close!

More to come in the next few days. Gonna try and do an hour or so a night, and deal with those details. We'll see how that goes.

Thanks for checking in!!

[scooter99]

So OSH is my new go to place for hardware. I have found everything there that Home Depot or Lowes didn't have. Love it! So I found my long 1/4-20 screws. I bought 4" but they are too long after thinking about it. SO tomorrow after work I'll go exchange them for some 3 1/2" ones.

Getting started, here's the port exit on the top of the enclosure.

Here is the port extension. I know looking at it from here, the upper left corner doesn't seem like it's round, but that must be an illusion, or I'm blind, cause it round in person. I don't know. Anyway, this has to go on that somehow, and side brackets are just going to flat out be a pain in the ass to deal with. I may do side brackets to anchor to the rear deck, for stability, but aside of that it was not going to be fund to do them on the enclosure and screw them in.

So I got the port placed on the enclosure

And used some clamps to hold it in place.

Did some measuring where the holes would be drilled.

Using one of the counter sink bits I had, I drilled a few pilot holes. Without the counter sink part. Then stepped up with a bigger bit to get the hole size I needed.

6 screws to go in place. Still have to drill out the enclosure part though.

[scooter99]

But to finish up the top, I want the screws to be flush with the top. So I used the countersink bit to make that happen.

Next, I needed to drill the holes for the threaded inserts. Now I had to tape this up, to monitor the depth. Why? Well because the back 4 holes, are all over the port. I didn't want to drill holes into the port, and have the screws or the mounts entering that area and possibly causing noise. So the two threaded inserts I have, one from Home Depot and the other from OSH, are two different sizes. The HD ones are longer. They're 3/4" long. The ones from OSH are 1/2" So those will be used in the back 4 holes, and the others in the front two holes. The front ones will be covered on the inside, I still have a piece to put in up there.

So i got those drilled out

And put the inserts in! And feeling inside the port, it worked like a charm!

Here's the problem. As you can see, there's about a half inch sticking out there. SO these are a little long. I could cut em off, but why when I can just as easily exchange them. It's not like I'm in a hurry so, it's no big deal.

I am SO VERY HAPPY with how this is turning out!!

Little re paint job. The only thing left to put in here now, is the grill magnets. But those may not go on here anyway. may build a little side wall all the way around this, and then have the grill go on that. That was my hour for tonight.

[scooter99]

I figured.

Ok let's take a look at my hour for tonight. Ok so 10 pictures per post. Let's see what this does. Here we go.

So I had another hour today. I needed to cut a piece to go on the top of the enclosure for the sub baffle. This gives me a double layer of attachment for the sub baffles to screw to.

Right now there's only one layer on the top as you can see.

Cut it up, and it already had the angle on it because of the last piece I cut. Made this quicker.

Clamped it on to make sure it fit well.

Also got some new screws today, 3 1/2". Fit perfectly. I probably went a little deep though, looking at it, with the counter sink bit. I'm not liking the looks of that but not sure how I could fix it at this point. Maybe I can fill it back in and re drill it, I don't know.

Got the holes drilled out for the insert. I learned my lesson this time. I took it out and then drilled the holes. This way there is no filling to do from the inside. LOL

brushed out some glue on the top and the end.

And screwed it down. I forgot to take a pic from the inside to show no screw holes.

[scooter99]

Rubber weather stripping is the next step. This was just a trial run to see what was going to happen.

I decided on two layers, one on the inside of the screw holes

and one on the outside.

Got the port screwed down, and discovered it was about 1/8" gap between the enclosure and the port. So I am concerned about port noise because of this, so I'll be doing something bit different.

I'm going to go ahead and flip this over, and router out a groove about 1/16" into it. Then the weather stripping will sit in the groove and compress tightly when the extension is screwed down.

Here's the bit I have. Pretty perfect if you ask me!!

I had a bit more time after the kids went into the bath. These needed to be filled in.

[scooter99]

As well as this, which if you will recall is why I learned my lesson on that piece above.

I picked these guys up for like $2.00 at Lowes. I was tired of looking for spreaders and these are pretty solid plastic for the cost. I got two sets. This is what comes in one set for $2.00.

So I got the first coat on the baffle. I need to check out the depth of the screws for the subs, which means putting them back in, so that I can decide if I want to fill over the inserts or not. That's why that's not done yet.

Also got a coat on the screw holes in the enclosure.

That's it today. That was my hours worth. Tomorrow is my wife's birthday so I won't get anything done tomorrow night. I'll try for Friday but if not the weekend will show some progress for sure!