What you wish someone had told you BEFORE you built your first wall.

[hispls]

I have about 600$ worth of lumber, epoxy, and related supplies being delivered soon, and getting ready to do a c-pillar wall build. I've built up one sub for testing and will have coils to build up the rest next week.

First attempt at a wall from scratch, so I'm asking the guys who have done it before, what did you learn the hard way? What pitfals should be avoided? What do you wish someone had told you before you started building?

[n8ball2013]

Measure 3 times cut once.

Never be too proud to say im in too deep amd need help

build to last not to he good enough

if you have to ask if its good strong stout thick enough its not.

plan first cover all bases then build. You see far too many wall builds that dont take in how to seal off the wall and end up foaming it all in or coming up with an ugly way to seal off.

[tacomaguy1]

Have a good plan

If you are questioning if its strong enough, make it stronger

[hispls]

Measure 3 times cut once.

Never be too proud to say im in too deep amd need help

build to last not to he good enough

if you have to ask if its good strong stout thick enough its not.

plan first cover all bases then build. You see far too many wall builds that dont take in how to seal off the wall and end up foaming it all in or coming up with an ugly way to seal off.

Very sound advice. Somewhat unrelated, I will be attempting to build a log home next year using "scribe cut" method of joining. I plan to seal off by scribe cutting a layer of 3/4 to mate tightly with the sides of the Jeep. I definitely want to be able to get this out if necessary and spray foam is NOT on my list of materials!

Plan B will be to glass up the edges, and I do have a plan to do that and make that removeable.

Thanks fellas, keep the ideas coming.

[n8ball2013]

Another thing if you do multiple layers tongue and groove them basically. Dont cut your pueces to be one thick layer. Stagger your edges in order to give moore surface area for your glued surfaces

[Purplehaze]

Another thing if you do multiple layers tongue and groove them basically. Dont cut your pueces to be one thick layer. Stagger your edges in order to give moore surface area for your glued surfaces

This is very important, I see it done all the time. You gain so much more strength by staggering your cuts to fit together. Glad I took the extra time to do it, it made things go together really easily.

Also everything n8 said in his first post. Follow that advice, it is very important. Everything single little thing he said.

[hispls]

Another thing if you do multiple layers tongue and groove them basically. Dont cut your pueces to be one thick layer. Stagger your edges in order to give moore surface area for your glued surfaces

It will all be behind the rear seats so there won't be a piece that's much larger than 4 feet by 4 feet. I've purchased some Advantech OSB and I'm told by some guys who have the 160's to back them up that this laminated together with resin and coated inside is very solid.

The fellow at US Composites reccomended against marine grade polyester resin for this application but suggested a 3:1 epoxy for laminating the sheets together for both strength and that it doesn't need to be in open air to cure properly. I've also bought some thick clear coat epoxy (like what they do bar-tops with) for sealing the interior. I have high hopes.

[Ahmed Johnson]

Measure 3 times cut once.

Never be too proud to say im in too deep amd need help

build to last not to he good enough

if you have to ask if its good strong stout thick enough its not.

plan first cover all bases then build. You see far too many wall builds that dont take in how to seal off the wall and end up foaming it all in or coming up with an ugly way to seal off.

You must not be a union worker, lol.

[hispls]

Got a nice package from US Composites (some epoxy resins) and a stack of wood delivered this week. Also got all my softparts together (still need to clean up some 15" frames though). Hope to at least build all the woofers this weekend.

Any other tips or guidelines? I see a lot of you guys building and re-building walls. I really do NOT want to do this more than once!

[Kevin M]

If you're the kind of person who builds a wall in your car you will want to build another one.

Never work alone. Mounting woofers, the top of the wall and the baffles are a pain in the ass to move on your own. Its going to cost more than you think. Sealed walls really aren't worth the effort unless you have a ton of cone or stupid power. I would find a way to build it so I can adjust port length after everything is up and running. We all have a tuning in mind when first building but the in car response will change everything a little. It's nice to have the ability to change tuning on the fly. Take the time to finish the wall or front baffle. Whether its paint, stain, leather, or fur. Don't put all that work into it and leave it unfinished.

Learned those when I built my 2 walls.

We have a thread of around 30 walls somewhere in the subwoofer section. Might help you get ideas.