Homemade Speaker Box

[gonebad2]

Just finished a homemade enclosure for subs for my Son's project truck. Thought I would try a different approach than the standard particle board covered in carpet. I made the frame out of 1x2's. Made a "skeleton" frame then stretched fleece material very tight. Painted it with resin to make a good pattern then started laying resin and matting until everything was 1/2" thick. Hard blocked it with a long board until everything was flat and true. Shot the primer and paint today and just "set" it in the truck (it's getting real late). My Son and I plan on finishing the mounting tomorrow. The center section will have a piece of 1/2" thick smoked plexiglass with the sub amp mounted to it. My upholstery guy made a panel that covers the area above the box. It's thick waterboard covered with the same tan leather as the rest of the interior. The rest of the system components will be hidden in a matching center console that we are building to mount between the seats. Just thought I would share this if someone is looking to make something a little different. It was very easy to make although there was some time involved. The cost was also pretty cheap. Workin real fast now......Need to have it done for him by Hot August Nights.

[jef5150]

that looks really clean !! do you have pics of the "framing"? jeff

[Blue4x4]

how about a pic of the truck??? Don't you live in Carson City?

[gonebad2]

Jef5150, unfortunately they got deleted from my camera. I was so upset when that happened. From now on, I'm going to save all of them to disc. The framing was real easy. I slid both seats back as far as they would go, and started taking measurements. The top and the bottom were framed like rectangles. I made those first. Then attached the uprights and internal bracing that was totally covered in matting and resin. The only way to put the frame together is with a nail gun. Otherwise, the wood will split. Hey Blue, yeah, I do live in Carson City. I think you have been to my house. Were you the guy that helped with the transmission? I changed my avatar pic. It used to be of the truck. I'll try and post some more pics of the truck for you. I was off the board for about three months, selling parts on ebay. Getting soooooo burned out on it. COD Garage in Minden went out of business. I bought pallet loads of NOS parts. I have listed and sold some of them. I rented a storage unit for the rest of them. My Wife has listed some lately but I think I'm going to hold off until next year and start getting to work on some projects in the garage.

[useRc10]

want to make me one? looks good

[gonebad2]

Blue, here are the pics I promised you. Got alot done since I last posted a pic of it. About all that is left is to paint the body panels. I got all new Goodmark sheetmetal so it should go pretty quick. Very little or no bodywork will be nice. Normally, I would do the bodywork but I am running out of time for Hot August Nights. Finished up the speaker enclosure. Now I have to start the center console to match the enclosure to mount the rest of the system components. My Son's out of school so he can start putting in his "sweat" equity. I'll post more pics as we progress.

[69 Short Fleet]

Looking really nice, pls keep us posted! Doug

Nice Looking!!!!!!

[gonebad2]

Jeff, I'll post pics of the "framework" when I make one for userc10....lol

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Nice looking set-up I have been kicking around idea's for my blazer and just can't seem to get anything that I like guess I will have to build it.. Can't wait to see the pic's of the frame work...

[nick2184]

What kind of equipment is involved in painting the resin? What do you think it would cost a person to build a speaker box like yours? thanks. btw, the truck looks sweet

[gonebad2]

The only time resin was painted on was the original coat on the fleece material to get the rough shape of the enclosure. Fiberglass woven cloth was soaked in resin and used on all of the interior surfaces until it was built up to a thickness of about 1/4". Then on the outside of the box, I handlaid chopped fiberglass matting that was soaked in resin until it was about 1/4" thick. That's how I got a consistent 1/2" wall thickness.Then used a hardblock longboard with 36 grit paper.It was then, sprayed with gelcoat after it was pretty true and flat. Hardblocked again. then shot last gelcoat. I had to use a little body filler for a few low spots but it was'nt that much. I used a Sharpe Blue gravity feed gun with a huge tip to spray the gelcoat ( very very messy by the way..put plastic down on the garage floor when spraying the gelcoat). After the gelcoat cured, it was block sanded again with 180 grit. Then was primed with PPG K-36 primer surfacer. Then guidecoated and hard blocked with 400 grit wetpaper. Next, one last coat of PPG K-36, final hard block with guidecoat and 600 grit wetpaper. Basecoat color (PPG DBU canary yellow) shot two coats. Two coats of PPG acrylic urethane clear and you are good to go...... Here is a breakdown of the approximate cost if anyone cares besides Nick:

3 Gallons Evercoat Resin....$110.00
Glass Cloth and Chopped Matting...$60.00
Misc supplies: wood, brushes, acetone, sandpaper $40.00
Primer; Primer Hardner,High Temp Reducer. Basecoat; Activator, Clear, Hardner $225.00

Oh Man!!!!! I wish I wouldn't have added that up...I guess it was a little more than I thought. Total cost not including my labor, 10" Pioneer Subs and a few other pieces of hardware to mount the enclosure....$435.00

Thanks for the compliment. My Son is chomping at the bit to drive this thing. We've been working on it for almost two years....BTW it's a 67 GMC short fleet. It should be done in about three more weeks.

[1970blazin]

That is some $$, but it looks REAL nice. I don't think I have ever seen a speaker enclosure that looked so nice. You have your hands full to get done for Hot August Nights--- don't hurt that back of yours :-) Your son is one lucky boy- I am sure when he is older he will look back at working on this truck with you as great memories!
Diane

[gonebad2]

Thanks Diane, hope things are going well for you... Have'nt talked to you in quite a while. Me and the boy are having a blast doing this. He is learning real fast and amazes me almost everyday. I'm passing my body and paint skills onto him. Hopefully he can use them in the future. He starts college in the fall....These are good days. He and his buddies are really looking forward to cruising Hot August Nights for the whole week...I'm sure they have big plans.