Sub Box Build

[ARAMP1]

Okay, so a while back, the el-cheapo pioneer 8 inch sub and 40 watt amp were stolen out of my truck. I've decided to build the system that I always wanted in my truck. It's nothing over the top, just a single sub and two amps, one for the 4 speakers and 1 for the sub.

(My truck is actually a 1990 Silverado, but it's the same body style as the 73-87s.)

As anyone with a pickup truck knows, there isn't a whole lot of room behind the seat. With only a couple inches to play with, I was going to have to go with a shallow mount sub. (I chose a Kicker 12" CVT shallow mount.)



I ran painters tape all across the back wall and started laying fiberglass. This is messy as hell.



After getting a good few layers of a back and a floor of the speaker box, I cut out the internal walls of the speaker box and mounted the speaker ring. You can start to see how the speaker box will be split up. I'll have the subwoofer in the middle, the amps on one side and a small storage/glove box on the other to hold miscellaneous items such as jumper cables, tools, etc.



Stretching an old t-shirt over the sub ring for the first layer of resin. I did this for each of the three areas (sub, amp, and storage sides)



Here's the finished product after several layers of fiberglass and some bondo.



You can see how/where the amps will be mounted from behind in this picture.



After hours of sanding and more body filler and sanding and more body filler, and sanding some more, it was ready for paint.



Well, I decided not to paint it and drop it off at the local LineX dealer. $60 to coat the whole thing and it will be much more durable than any paint I could use. Here's the end result.



Here's what it looks like with the sub, amps, and storage door on it. This is just the test fitting. Everything needs to be wired and I need to find some hinges and a lock for the storage compartment door.





I can't wait to get it all wired up and hear it thump, but it's cold as hell outside, so I'll be holding off for a while.

[bigblazerboy]

that turned out pretty badass. i like the use of diamond plate looks sick.

[Rollinsqrbdy]

Awesome box. Great job. But, a 90 silverado is nothing like a 73-87 body wise anyways. Two completely different bodystyles. Sorry

[ARAMP1]

Thanks guys! It's my first fiberglass attempt and it turned out a lot better than exptected. My next project will probably be an overhead console to house CB radio among other things.

Sorry, didn't specify. It's a 4 door.

[ARAMP1]

Originally Posted by bigblazerboy

i like the use of diamond plate looks sick.

I've kind of got a diamond plate theme going on in the interior.

[joe231]

that is fricken' amazing!
love the way it turned out!

[vern350]

awsome job. I love the truck too....

[Dinos63]

that is a killer box nice work

[lyrikz]

You pulled that RIGHT outta my head. Except the diamond plating. Looks exactly how i wanted mine to look. How thick is that fiberglass in the rear? Is that going to affect sound quality at all??

[ARAMP1]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

You pulled that RIGHT outta my head. Except the diamond plating. Looks exactly how i wanted mine to look. How thick is that fiberglass in the rear? Is that going to affect sound quality at all??

HAHA! Whats wrong with the diamond plate?

I think there's probably about 12 or 13 layers of fiberglass on the front and the back and I threw a few extra bits around the corners of the sub area. It's around 3/8" thick. Here's a pic of the part of the rear I cut out for mounting the amps. As far as sound quality, who knows.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by ARAMP1

HAHA! Whats wrong with the diamond plate?

I think there's probably about 12 or 13 layers of fiberglass on the front and the back and I threw a few extra bits around the corners of the sub area. It's around 3/8" thick. Here's a pic of the part of the rear I cut out for mounting the amps. As far as sound quality, who knows.

No, you got me wrong, the diamond plate is friggin AWESOME and i wouldnt of that of that... ahaha... Your final creation trumped my vision. ahaha

[ARAMP1]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

No, you got me wrong, the diamond plate is friggin AWESOME and i wouldnt of that of that... ahaha... Your final creation trumped my vision. ahaha

HAHAHA! Thanks!

[Ds86C10]

Thats your first attempt at fiberglass???? looks damn good to me man!

[454HO]

Nice work! How are you planning to trim out the cab corners? And how are you going to mount it to the rear wall of the cab, or is it just going to sit there? I would be worried about the cab sheet metal vibrating agaist the back of the sub box when that sub hits it's resonate frequency. Maybe a layer of Dynamat would prevent that. Looks like you may have used some in the pic showing the passenger side corner.

Also, I see the 6x9's in the rear doors. What are the other 2 speakers you have? The dash mounted 3.5's?

[vtwinsport]

That is very cool. Fantastic do it yourself solution if I ever saw one.

[LMDGUY]

very nice job.

[Cherub]

that looks real good

[Tony_SS]

Looks great - thanks for sharing. Love the diamond plate too.

[badblu97]

Looks GREAT!! I have two of these 10s in my new body and LOVE them! The only thing I saw was is there enough airspace for the sub? (kinda late now I guess) But over all it is a beautiful setup! and with the Line-X you can take the box, throw it around, put it back in the truck and thump away!

[tvblazer78]

Looks good man!! Like a pro...

[Hazieview]

I only have one question is that enough air space for that speaker? If so maybe I'll get me a shallow mount. Just curious.... Nice job though! Props!

[AceX]

That looks really good. I'd have used brushed aluminum instead of diamond plate, but other than that, mine would look exactly like that. You'll want to Dynamat that back wall too.

[Prerunner1982]

ARAMP1 glad to see you are still around. That looks awesome..

You wouldnt happen to have a long bed frame sittin around or know of one do ya?

[ARAMP1]

Originally Posted by 454HO

Nice work! How are you planning to trim out the cab corners? And how are you going to mount it to the rear wall of the cab, or is it just going to sit there? I would be worried about the cab sheet metal vibrating agaist the back of the sub box when that sub hits it's resonate frequency. Maybe a layer of Dynamat would prevent that. Looks like you may have used some in the pic showing the passenger side corner.

Also, I see the 6x9's in the rear doors. What are the other 2 speakers you have? The dash mounted 3.5's?

Good points. There is actually a couple layers of dynamat on the back wall/floor. The plan now is to fiberglass up some component speaker boxes for each corner and have them LineXed to match. I had to break it down into parts since one full box would not fit behind in the corners. (corner speakers will go in first and then the sub box will go in last) The el-cheapo speakers in the rear doors will be replaced by diamond plate aluminum like in the front. The sealed box volume for the speaker is 1.0-4.6 ft.^3 which there is around/just a little more than 1 ft^3.

[ARAMP1]

Originally Posted by Prerunner1982

ARAMP1 glad to see you are still around. That looks awesome..

You wouldnt happen to have a long bed frame sittin around or know of one do ya?

Hey, what's going on neighbor!?! Looking for a standard cab, 2wd longbed? I'll keep my eye out.