My interior build... (Page 5/20)
RCR APR 13, 07:30 AM
Nolan: No I have not picked up the video. A lot of people over there say the videos are a must, but with a lot of reading on the site and a little practice, I'm not sure what the videos will show you. Certainly not worth the money to me.

Thanx Bobadoofunk...

RCR MAY 09, 12:25 PM
I've taken a lot of phots, but I don't have anything to post yet. The build has been slow, as usual, but progress is there. First off, the subwoofer enclosure is all but done. I had a little issue with paint the other day. I ran out of paint before it was finished. I bought the same brand/color/etc. When I sprayed the last coat on, it all cracked and checked. WTF. So I had to sand it down again, re-prime, and re-shoot the color. No problem second time around. The only thing left is to drill a hole for the wire and hook it up. I'm debating whether to connect the wire direct to the sub, or to put a terminal strip on there...

The amp rack is moving slowly. I purchased 5 fans to use in the front compartment and on the rack. Two will be used behind the headlights to push/pull air into the compartment. 2 or 3 will be on the rack, moving air around the amps. The fans should be here Friday, so hopefully I'll have it figured out by next week.

I also re-started my door panel project. Hopefully I'll have pics of that forthcoming.

Bob
Sourmug MAY 09, 02:50 PM
WE NEED PICTURES!!!

Nolan
Fiero1Fan MAY 09, 03:23 PM

quote
Originally posted by Sourmug:

WE NEED PICTURES!!!




I second that!!!
RCR MAY 09, 07:21 PM
Did someone ask for pictures? Let's see...Oh, here they are..

First pic was supposed to show the wrinkles in the paint, but instaed, it really shows the metalic grey, so:


On to the amp rack build...
Here I'm laying out the positions of the amps.


This one shows the skeleton that will give it some shape. Nothing too radical (well, not radical at all) since this is the first attempt at doing this. I'm using 1/2 MDF for the whole thing.


To keep the cloth and resin from sticking to everything, I covered the skeleton with masking tape, and used wax paper on the large areas.


Here I've stretched my spandex over the entire thing. I wraped the edges over the rack, hot gluing them to the masking tape to allow easier removal once it was hard.
RCR MAY 09, 07:29 PM
This is another view of the wrap, trying to catch the shadows to show the shape. The fiberglass can top on the right is being used to leave an impression in the cover. I need this to clear the power brake reseviour(sp?). The top happened to be almost the exact size and shape of the brake cover. Once the resin hardened, I removed the cover and coated that blank spot with resin.


And here it is covered in resin:



A couple of layers of 1.5 oz matt and I've also cut out the amp holes:


And here I'm test fitting one of the amps.


That's it for the racki pictures. I'm expecting some fans by Friday, so hopefully I can get them mounted and on to the finishing.

[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 05-09-2006).]

RCR MAY 09, 07:53 PM
And more, as I open the chapter on the door panels. I was going to wait until I was further along, but since I mentioned it...

Here is the door panel we all know and love. I felt it was no longer compatible with the dash I put in, so it needed some radical re-styling. In the spirit of Roy(MrFixit) and Jon's(Jscott) Firebird interior swaps, I thought I'd go the same route with the door panels. Unfortuneately, they don't match up to well to the dash, so I decided to reuse as much as I could and build my own.


Stripped:


This pic shows the door panel with the components mocked up. The center portion will be cut out and probably upolstered in grey suede. The Fiero panel is a bit too "textured" so I had to cut it apart and flatten it out. I also had to fill the openings where the stock door latch comes thru and I cut out where the new latch will go. This is actually pretty similar to how Roy did his.



Here I'm ling up all the pieces:

I was planning on reusing the bottom of the panel, the door pull, and the speaker box/storage tray.

Here the center is gone, and the panel is mounted to a piece of plywood to keep it flat.



My first thought was to wrap it in hi-density foam, but that looked aweful:


So I decided to try poly foam. I shaped the foam and covered it with Kilz latex primer and drywall compound. I also droped the idea of using the bottom of the original Firebird panel, figuring it would be just as easy to form my own.
Here is a shot with the first pieces of foam:


And here it is with all the foam and drywall stripped off so I could do it again:

My intent was to use the drywall and foam to make a mold. But with all the glassing I've done recently, I've decided mold making is not for me. These will be one-off pieces, so I didn't want a bunch of drywall compund in my doors, so it had to go. I picked up some "yellow" foam at Home Depot, so this was a good opurtunity to give it a try.


Here is the new mock-up with the urethane foam. Nice stuff to work with, but I hadn't realized that it was fiberglass reinforced. Just something else to stick to my fingers as I sand...


I've done more sanding and shaping, but the camera needed a recharge so those pics will be later...

Thanx for tuning in, now back to your regularly scheduled program...

Bob
RCR MAY 09, 08:01 PM
PS, Cudos to Cliff. The PIP worked perfect today.

thanx...
Sourmug MAY 09, 09:15 PM
So I take it that the components you are using on the panels are from a firebird? I like the idea. Keep it coming.

Nolan
RCR MAY 09, 10:40 PM
Yes, the speaker pods, door pull/arm rests, latches, switches, and overall look will be like the Firebird, with a small twist.

Bob