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cool man cant wait to see how that turns out :metal::metal:

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After some sanding and primer, I guess it looks pretty straight...
Attachment 1043119


That bit-o-pizza box, is the pattern for my side panels where I will mount the 5.25" speakers.
Like my Tempest I wanted to do a bit of a pop up to angle the sound up and out from under the dash.... usually my ears are not down there, especially if I am driving. (and if by chance my ears ARE down there when I am driving well I am probably not worried about how the sound is....because I am probably doing more crashing than driving.....you know, just sayin)
Attachment 1043120

Since I wanted to be sure the visual effect for these side panels was effective, you can see they go pretty far up under the dash.
Attachment 1043125


Oh? what is that pencil drawing on there you ask?
Well my speakers didnt come with covers to protect them, so I thought ......gee whiz..... why not just cut something cool out while I am jacking around with this stuff! After all, if I dont like it, I can just cut it out in a circle and nones the wiser !!
Here is the whole project as it sits in the cab right now while I work on these side panels.
Attachment 1043126

This is again a test cut for the detail on the speaker guards, just to see how well the plasma cutter would handle the job since I am doing this all by hand and dont have a CnC table or anything cool like that!!
Attachment 1043127
Hmmmmmmmm I think I can work with that !!

As always guys, thanks for looking !
I have a 4 day weekend and have plans to get some more stuff done !!

Re: Not Another Rebuild Thread....
 

Looking good! Really like the idea of a dash extension, wanted to do something like that like 13 yrs ago when i used to drive this truck but didnt really know how to go about doing it. Wish I had one of those plasma cutters after seeing how well they work in one of your last videos.
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Awesome work Murph... Those speaker grilles will b Sick!
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thats gonna look sweet man!!! that looks like a pretty tricky cutout!! im not very good with a plasma though.. its weird i can draw, tattoo, and paint really good and smooth but when it comes to a torch and a plasma it looks like i have Parkinsons disease :/

Re: Not Another Rebuild Thread....
 

Dash looks great and straight to me,speaker covers are going to be sweet as well, i too seem to get the jitters like coulter said when it comes to cutting
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Your dash extension is growing on me.
Really dig the speaker covers. I usually have to go back with a flat/round file to clean up my edges after free-hand plasma cuttin.
Im still shooting for getting picked up on one of those truck build thingys.
Bomp vs Murph
Truck Build
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/mi...smiley-053.gif

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Bomp vs Murph get my vote!!! Sounds like a cool build off!
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Somebody help me before I steal someone's ideas again!

I don't know why my computer stopped getting the thread updates, but I just know saw this great idea! Since I'm putting a '66 dash in my squarebody, this dash extension plan is a perfect addition that will help me immensly!

Thanks Murph! you are the man!

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Dash extension looks nice!!

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Cool stuff!

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Looking good sgt. Put a couple of 1000watt subs and a couple of 1000 watt amps under the seat and you can blast some old school Metallica and pop the windows out. :metal: :metal: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Again the build is looooooking goooood. Stay warm up there.
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Re: Not Another Rebuild Thread....
 

I think for this build, the plasma cutter and the welder would run neck in neck for my vote as the best tool I got for it. The welder would probably win as there are other tools I have that could do the same thing as the plasma, but man I sure do love that cutter !!

Thanks Taz, I am going to post more pics right now on their progress.

Hey man, your steel rod bug bit me hard, just wait till you see what I have done with that. Thanks for sharing that one, you rock !!

Thanks, the wife even had some input on the speakers that I will be exploring today, we will see how that plays out. How is it going with your performance improvements?

Hmmmmmmm I am not sure about a competition buddy.... all my stuff is just fluff, yours is the real hard core stuff that engineers would pay attention to! I get kinda wrapped up into one-on-one competition and I can be a sore loser. Which is why I made a 4 Army Chess Board..... I am ok losing in groups.

It would be really cool to see some sort of show like that....hour long with 4-5 builds showing 5-10 minute segments on their builds each week, with an additional last segment as a follow up on a particular point of interest.
Yeah I would watch that.
I understand Top Gear is coming back to the History Chanel too....

Let me know if you have any questions TZ, would be happy to help!
And steal away, I am going to try to remember to give props to everyone I stole from.

Thanks Alan, I am so envious of Greg that he gets to work with you !!

Thank you Dino, that means a lot coming from a master builder like yourself !!

Only an 820w amp this time around, I figured with just a small cab and with deadner lining, plus carpet and the Herculiner, I would go conservative with the audio power. That is not to say I am not going to engineer it to the best of my ability though.
I am fully planning on engineering some stuff just to enhance the sound quality !!

***************************************************************

So from the previous pic of my pizza box template you can see I had a basic design in mind for these. The cross hairs, with a star in the center, and spear heads in the 4 quadrants calls back to some of the numerous builds I have looked at in the year+ I have been on this site.
And again, if I wasnt able to pull it off, I knew I could just cut it out and move on.....

Having been a while since I last drew something that had to be symmetrical and circular without the oval distortion of perspective, it took me a minute to remember that if I started with a dead reckoning of center for my speak face plate, (achieved by simply drawing a line from corner to corner and volia! X marks the spot!!
Then for the template, a square representation of the face plate, with dead center marked on it as well, I can do a pinwheel template.
This means I dont have to worry about cutting out all 4 quadrants.....just one....and rotate it to align with my markings on the face plate.
The theory is that they will all come out identical since they are drawn from the same cutout.

This photo is my template.
You can see the penciled dead reckoning X in the center, with a small finishing nail to act as the axle for my pinwheel, and the North-South alignment markings in felt pen.
Attachment 1044680

A small hole drilled in my face plate for the nail to set into, and then it is just a matter of rotating the template a quarter turn and making the drawing.
Sorry I got a little ahead of myself in the photo documentation of this so this next photo is a bit further along than what I just wrote:
Here you can see where I intentionally over sized my template pattern to allow for the 1/8th inch off set of the plasma cutter nozzle.
Then again, I was able to use the pizza box as a cutting guide, and buzzed these out with the cutter.
Attachment 1044681

And Taaa-Daaaaaa !!
In this you can see the initial drawn in idea.
If you look at one quadrant, and think of the sides as an L and a J facing each other, I did these with the pizza box. Then from the bottom of the L to the top of the J I used a straight edge because freehanding curves with the plasma cutter is easy enough in this manner, but the points of the spear heads and star it was too sloppy. The X-ing these out achieved a cleaner cut.
Attachment 1044686

This is after some Dremmel work, and some flat file.
For Coulter: man it took me a while to relax with the Dremmel and stop thinking of it as a tool, but to look at the cutting edge as a drawing tip, or eraser if you will. As soon as I did that, the clean up of my rough cutouts went a lot quicker, and I started getting more consistant results.
By this time I have also welded on the pop-up sides under the face plates.
Since I wanted as clean a look on the outside as possible, all the welding was done from the bottom (or inside as it will be when mounted).
Attachment 1044696

Here you get to see my pretty ugly welding ......ahhhh ...... skills?
As you have seen, some of my plasma cuts got a little away from me, one such is the cross hair in this photo that you can see I had to repair.
Attachment 1044697

Re: Not Another Rebuild Thread....
 

that is so cool

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nice man you got them cutouts looking really good!!!

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.....But wait !! There's More !!

Thanks, with the plan I have for them, I dont have to clean them up to factory perfection.
You'll see.

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The test panel I made for the dash controls with the slugger bits, has proven to be a very nice template for guaging future uses for the bits. I found myself trying to determine which bit to use to create the center hole in these speaker grilles, you know using a caliper and doing math.... bleh.
Then I hit on the idea, how about if I just visualize it with those holes I have already cut?
When I decided on the 9/16 hole, I shot some primer thru it, and that is what you are looking at now.
Both have the suggested spot of paint, the one on the left has been drilled for the slugger bit guide.
Attachment 1045412

By comparison now, the one on the right has had the center hole cut in.
Attachment 1045413

As you can tell, I use a LOT of primer !!
I find it evens things out so I can get a clear photo, which helps to put things in perspective.
I learned with doing my artwork that your brain can be programmed to belive something is right, if your hands made it. To test my art work I usually flip it over and look at it thru a back light. This changes the entire pattern of the subject to my conscious eye, and no longer looks like what I have been staring at for the past few days.....
I find using the camera does much the same thing in doing stuff like this to the truck.
Attachment 1045414

And because you cannot really tell it from the dead on front shots, I did bowl the cutouts....
Attachment 1045416

Next up:
I had been wrestling with the knowledge that I would have a seam on the leading edges of my console side panels where they are to bolt up to the center piece. I had been trying to think of some way to dress it up. Then I saw what Coulter had done in his build on his fender cut out,
(here:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...449548&page=22 ) and volia!! I had a possible solution!
So thanks man, but I think I kicked the sleeping dragon on this one....
Attachment 1045428

So in the next episode of McMurphy's Frozen Garage..... "To Mesh, or not to Mesh"

thanks for looking guys !!!

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very cool man you are really talent with the metal fab cant wait to see the inside of your cab when its all said and done with all your custom pieces tying it together!

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Looks great Murph. I know what you mean about the perspective of your art work, I use a mirror.:metal:

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nice work murph, like the speaker grill idea.

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is this what it looks like when you look into your scope?

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Tell you what Kro.... When I get it all done, before I bolt the seat in for the last time, I will shoot a video of it!

I used a mirror once or twice, but if it is just thin sketch paper, I will make corrections on the back side....

Thanks Clem !! Always nice when you check up on me :metal:

Almost... LoL .... I have a luminated center dot Bushnell at home on my aught-6.... almost looks like that !!

I will post up more photos later today, maybe tomorrow if I get too deep into the build tonight.

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So about meshing in something....

For those of you who may recall, I got this roll of mesh at Lowes/Home Depot in the HVAC section, it is ventilation screen they use to keep bugs and rodents out with.
I used it on my hood, and my fresh air intake.

Here you can see I dont throw away templates until the project is complete. I used this as a sizer for cutting the mesh.
Attachment 1046608

Then it is a small matter of folding the edges to fit the hole.
You will always want to over size these, as it is the saw-tooth like edges that help to keep them in place if you do this right and they have a bit of spring loaded flex in them.
Attachment 1046609

I started off using this body hammer, but soon switched to my smallest ball peen (or is it pean?) hammer as the egg shaped end proved much more effective.
A trial and error later led me to throw a towel under the grille as I worked this mesh as a bit of cushion. Then it was just a matter of tap tap tap working the mesh down to the center (lowest point) then outwards from center to the edges.
I found this was one thing it was best to do with beer... as slow, slight, and steady won over hard and fast...
Tap tap tap ..... just like Happy Gilmore on the putting green !!
Attachment 1046611

After a while it will stretch and mold into whatever pattern you are doing it against and you will start to get closer to what you wanted.
Attachment 1046612

Then finally the Taa-Daaa !! and the applause goes off in your head, and you realize it is time for a fresh beer !!!
Attachment 1046613

And that gentlemen (and any ladies that may be looking !!) is how you mesh, or not to mesh it in !!

Thanks for looking !

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looking good man!! i like the mesh!! the round bar trim turned out nice man :metal::metal:

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What Vision!!! Very Nice!

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Thanks Coulter, but it didnt......couldnt.....stop there!
In the next day or two I will show you what else I did with your idea man !! But for now, see below !

Thanks Don, I can honestly say I would never have been brave enough to muddle thru my own ignorance in this stuff if it were not for the safety net of helpful people on this site !!!

I know you are just itching to get some stuff done on your rig!!

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So the speaker grilles done, it was time to mount up the side panels to the console, this was done by welding connector nuts to the inside flanges of the center piece.
I was lucky enough to have some brass screws (seen in the photo) that matched the size and thread of the actual bolts I am going to be using. A note on this kind of welding--- I found the brass screws were less likely to get welded to the inside of my connector nuts than the stainless bolts were.

Coulter--thanks again man, your trim idea was perfect for this!
If you can look closely enough, the top end of the trim goes beyond the top edge of the side panel, and I bent it, then shaved it, so that it looks like it is coming directly out of the dash extension.
I never got into the the Steam Punk genre past the anime, but this really got the brain gas going !!

This photo is the panel mocked up just before I welded the nuts into place. You may notice I made yet another heater vent extension. If you scroll up you will see in the cardboard mock up that I would not be very happy with the heat blowing down on that speaker..... so I wasted an hour on another mod.
Attachment 1047012

This is just a close up of the new extension. I toyed with the idea of making some sort of heat control for it, and directional flue, but decided I had more pressing issues to attend to.
Attachment 1047013

After I got all the above mentioned progress done, I started on actually mounting the speakers inside the grilles. Nothing really of merit there, except I thought this photo would be noteworthy.
For making holes of the nature pictured, using this conical file bit was awesome! You may be able to tell in the pic that I made perfect holes, without the bit grabbing the mesh like a drill bit would have. I was so happy with this I thought I would share it.
Attachment 1047014