How to: Build your own custom sub box for your s197
02-04-2008, 08:58 PM
#1
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location:
Posts: 103
How to: Build your own custom sub box for your s197
DONE! bottom of page!
Alright lets face it, you don't want spent a hundred bucks on a sub box and you would rather build it the way you want it, and install it yourself. In doing so you can take more pride in your stang and you get to spend more time with it! If you follow these steps you can create a nice sub box for either one or two subs in less than a day.
Here is how mine turned out, yes there are two boxes there, they sort of look like one with the carpeting that I used. I also ran out of carpeting and I am working on trim panels right now to go all the way across the back like my old setup pictured below with the blue led lights.
HERES THE VIDEO!! [8D]
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BF-SrlmSS3o
New L7s Up there
Old L5
READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS FIRST BECAUSE YOU MAY BUILD A SLIGHTLY DIFFEREN'T BOX THAN I DID!
What you need!
TOOLS!
- Sockets
- Drill
- Table Saw
- Jigsaw
- Caulk Gun (unless you just buy a tube of silcon)
MATERIAL!
- Wood Screws
- Wood glue
- MDF 4x8 3/4" sheet
- Silicone
Alright first things first, you need to head to your local lowes or homedepot and pick up a few things. The total of all the items should be around 35 dollars or less. You need to grab the following.
- 4x8 sheet of 3/4" MDF wood. While you are there you should have them rip it down to two 18 inch strips horizontally. This provides two purposes, one so you don't have to rip them yourself, and two so its easier to transport home.
If you are only doing one sub box have them rip two 22" pieces if you want a larger box I have found its harder to get a wider box into the trunk. Otherwise you can just make one 18" box.
You should be left with two 18" by 8' and one 12" by 8' foot pieces.
On your way to the checkout grab:
1 1/2 inch screws
woodglue
Tube of Silicon Caulk
Check the tubes to make sure they are specifically for wood applications. (Although i doubt it matters)
2inch L bracket
2 bolts about 1/2inch long
Alright, now that you have your supplies its time to start hacking away!
Get your table saw ready with an extra roller support or have somebody help you cut the first few pieces because it is tough to do them yourself.
This is what you need to line up and cut on the 18" sheets. When you are cutting the pieces make sure you cut the biggest pieces you can first with the 18" strips then go back and do the smaller pieces, also measure twice and cut once or your going to end up heading back to lowes for more wood!
2 x 17" (tops)
4 x 17" (sides (trust me on this one, you want to cut these pieces big (instead of 16")incase your box ends up a little cockied)) 17" is plenty big
2 x 15" (fronts)
2 x 10" (backs)
2 x 8" with one 22 degree cut (see picture) ( bottom)
2 x 6" (bottom)
2 x 2.5" with one 22 degree cut (see picture) (bottom)
With one 18" strip you should be able to be able to get both tops: 34" + both fronts: 30 Both backs: 20 and have room for two bottom pieces one 6" strip and one 2.5" strip and still have an inch or two left over.
The next piece you start one your four sides: 17x4 = 68, your two 8" bottom pieces, one 6" bottom piece, and one 2.5" piece. and there you have it all your pieces and you have that 12" x 8' strip left over for trim panels.
To break it down real quick
8 x 12" = 96"
First piece: 96" - (17+17) - (15+15) - (10+10) - 6 - 2.5 = 3.5 inches (you may be able to squeeze in that other 2.5) but you may not because you have to add in that your blade is about 3/16" thick on each cut.
Second piece: 96" - (17+17+17+17) - (8+8) - 6 - 2.5 = 3.5"
Whewm, now that that math is done with and you have all of your pieces here are the pictures of how they are assembled. Go ahead and brush all of the sawdust out of your hair at this point.
2 x 15" fronts
6 x 17" Two at the very top and 4 sides
2x10" Note that the top piece extends all the way across
2 x 2.5 note 22 degree cut
2x8 note the 22 degree cut
2 x 6 both ends flat
ATTACHING THEM TOGETHER! YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!
Unfortunantly its not a square box, square boxes are easy to build and take far less time, well ford decided to make our nice angle in the trunk so we get to deal with making odd pieces fit together.
TAKE THE 4 SIDE PIECES AND HIDE THEM SO YOU DON'T TOUCH THEM UNTIL LATER!
Basically you need to find a drill bit that is just a hair smaller than your screw size. Hold the pieces together and drill a hole on either end of the two pieces you are putting together.
Then switch bits from drill bit to phillips head and screw in the two screws to hold the pieces together.
Drill more holes 2" - 3" apart, then take the two screws on either end out and apply a bead of glue down the center of one piece then proceed to screw all of the screws in.
I made my boxes extra strong so if you don't want to drill as many holes by all means don't your box will just be stronger if you do.
Here is how to do those awkward angles (as you can see it took me a few messups to get right lol!
Take your drill bit and go about 1/2" to an inch away from the edge and drill a small indention straight down into the wood at 2 - 3" intervals down the face of the wood.
Then hold the two pieces together and angle your drill so that when you drill through the top wood you will go straight into the center of the second piece of wood.
Again put two screws in, while you drill the rest, take apart, apply wood glue, then put all the screws in.
Once you have both boxes assembled you should still be able to look straight through them because you haven't done anything with the sides yet! [8D]
Take one side and put it under your box as if the box was sitting like the picture above. Then take a pencil and trace around the inside of the box. Mark the wood so you know which sides which, I scribbled on one side (both sides wont be exactly the same unless you are just that good at cutting with a table saw... then I will bow down to you!
Flip the box over and take another side and trace it then mark it also with L or R or scribble or something.
Cut both of these sides out, put glue all the way around them, then tap them in with a hammer recess them about 1/4 of an inch so when you cover your box with carpeting you have a nice spot to cut and it looks more professional. Then doing the same method as your other pieces put drill screws into it, make sure you remember that extra 1/4" gap when drilling.
Now with both sides on and nice big box go ahead do repeat the above steps and do the other box.
Once both are done and screwed I took all of the wood glue I had left and went around every crack on the box and every single place where to pieces of wood joined. Its ok to use as much as you want and get it everywhere because your box needs to be completely airtight so you get a clearer sound.
Once you are done using all the glue you have left now its time to read up the manufactures website to find the size of the hole you need to make on the front of the box. Cut your hole to the dimensions of the manufacturer, and then premount the sub. If you have wire terminals now is the time to drill a hole in the back for them. They can be found at alot of audio stores.
Now its time for carpet. Go ahead and lay the carpet over the front of the sub, then fold around to the back and put a few staples in it, take the opposite side and fold it around the bottom and put a few more staples in it. The trickey part is the sides, but since they wont be showing it doesnt matter, and you can go crazy and staple them as much as you want. The tighter you pull the carpet the better it looks.
Then cut the hole for your sub and remount the sub, make sure you wire it as you remount according to the manufacturers website. Thats it, your done.
Alright lets face it, you don't want spent a hundred bucks on a sub box and you would rather build it the way you want it, and install it yourself. In doing so you can take more pride in your stang and you get to spend more time with it! If you follow these steps you can create a nice sub box for either one or two subs in less than a day.
Here is how mine turned out, yes there are two boxes there, they sort of look like one with the carpeting that I used. I also ran out of carpeting and I am working on trim panels right now to go all the way across the back like my old setup pictured below with the blue led lights.
HERES THE VIDEO!! [8D]
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BF-SrlmSS3o
New L7s Up there
Old L5
READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS FIRST BECAUSE YOU MAY BUILD A SLIGHTLY DIFFEREN'T BOX THAN I DID!
What you need!
TOOLS!
- Sockets
- Drill
- Table Saw
- Jigsaw
- Caulk Gun (unless you just buy a tube of silcon)
MATERIAL!
- Wood Screws
- Wood glue
- MDF 4x8 3/4" sheet
- Silicone
Alright first things first, you need to head to your local lowes or homedepot and pick up a few things. The total of all the items should be around 35 dollars or less. You need to grab the following.
- 4x8 sheet of 3/4" MDF wood. While you are there you should have them rip it down to two 18 inch strips horizontally. This provides two purposes, one so you don't have to rip them yourself, and two so its easier to transport home.
If you are only doing one sub box have them rip two 22" pieces if you want a larger box I have found its harder to get a wider box into the trunk. Otherwise you can just make one 18" box.
You should be left with two 18" by 8' and one 12" by 8' foot pieces.
On your way to the checkout grab:
1 1/2 inch screws
woodglue
Tube of Silicon Caulk
Check the tubes to make sure they are specifically for wood applications. (Although i doubt it matters)
2inch L bracket
2 bolts about 1/2inch long
Alright, now that you have your supplies its time to start hacking away!
Get your table saw ready with an extra roller support or have somebody help you cut the first few pieces because it is tough to do them yourself.
This is what you need to line up and cut on the 18" sheets. When you are cutting the pieces make sure you cut the biggest pieces you can first with the 18" strips then go back and do the smaller pieces, also measure twice and cut once or your going to end up heading back to lowes for more wood!
2 x 17" (tops)
4 x 17" (sides (trust me on this one, you want to cut these pieces big (instead of 16")incase your box ends up a little cockied)) 17" is plenty big
2 x 15" (fronts)
2 x 10" (backs)
2 x 8" with one 22 degree cut (see picture) ( bottom)
2 x 6" (bottom)
2 x 2.5" with one 22 degree cut (see picture) (bottom)
With one 18" strip you should be able to be able to get both tops: 34" + both fronts: 30 Both backs: 20 and have room for two bottom pieces one 6" strip and one 2.5" strip and still have an inch or two left over.
The next piece you start one your four sides: 17x4 = 68, your two 8" bottom pieces, one 6" bottom piece, and one 2.5" piece. and there you have it all your pieces and you have that 12" x 8' strip left over for trim panels.
To break it down real quick
8 x 12" = 96"
First piece: 96" - (17+17) - (15+15) - (10+10) - 6 - 2.5 = 3.5 inches (you may be able to squeeze in that other 2.5) but you may not because you have to add in that your blade is about 3/16" thick on each cut.
Second piece: 96" - (17+17+17+17) - (8+8) - 6 - 2.5 = 3.5"
Whewm, now that that math is done with and you have all of your pieces here are the pictures of how they are assembled. Go ahead and brush all of the sawdust out of your hair at this point.
2 x 15" fronts
6 x 17" Two at the very top and 4 sides
2x10" Note that the top piece extends all the way across
2 x 2.5 note 22 degree cut
2x8 note the 22 degree cut
2 x 6 both ends flat
ATTACHING THEM TOGETHER! YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!
Unfortunantly its not a square box, square boxes are easy to build and take far less time, well ford decided to make our nice angle in the trunk so we get to deal with making odd pieces fit together.
TAKE THE 4 SIDE PIECES AND HIDE THEM SO YOU DON'T TOUCH THEM UNTIL LATER!
Basically you need to find a drill bit that is just a hair smaller than your screw size. Hold the pieces together and drill a hole on either end of the two pieces you are putting together.
Then switch bits from drill bit to phillips head and screw in the two screws to hold the pieces together.
Drill more holes 2" - 3" apart, then take the two screws on either end out and apply a bead of glue down the center of one piece then proceed to screw all of the screws in.
I made my boxes extra strong so if you don't want to drill as many holes by all means don't your box will just be stronger if you do.
Here is how to do those awkward angles (as you can see it took me a few messups to get right lol!
Take your drill bit and go about 1/2" to an inch away from the edge and drill a small indention straight down into the wood at 2 - 3" intervals down the face of the wood.
Then hold the two pieces together and angle your drill so that when you drill through the top wood you will go straight into the center of the second piece of wood.
Again put two screws in, while you drill the rest, take apart, apply wood glue, then put all the screws in.
Once you have both boxes assembled you should still be able to look straight through them because you haven't done anything with the sides yet! [8D]
Take one side and put it under your box as if the box was sitting like the picture above. Then take a pencil and trace around the inside of the box. Mark the wood so you know which sides which, I scribbled on one side (both sides wont be exactly the same unless you are just that good at cutting with a table saw... then I will bow down to you!
Flip the box over and take another side and trace it then mark it also with L or R or scribble or something.
Cut both of these sides out, put glue all the way around them, then tap them in with a hammer recess them about 1/4 of an inch so when you cover your box with carpeting you have a nice spot to cut and it looks more professional. Then doing the same method as your other pieces put drill screws into it, make sure you remember that extra 1/4" gap when drilling.
Now with both sides on and nice big box go ahead do repeat the above steps and do the other box.
Once both are done and screwed I took all of the wood glue I had left and went around every crack on the box and every single place where to pieces of wood joined. Its ok to use as much as you want and get it everywhere because your box needs to be completely airtight so you get a clearer sound.
Once you are done using all the glue you have left now its time to read up the manufactures website to find the size of the hole you need to make on the front of the box. Cut your hole to the dimensions of the manufacturer, and then premount the sub. If you have wire terminals now is the time to drill a hole in the back for them. They can be found at alot of audio stores.
Now its time for carpet. Go ahead and lay the carpet over the front of the sub, then fold around to the back and put a few staples in it, take the opposite side and fold it around the bottom and put a few more staples in it. The trickey part is the sides, but since they wont be showing it doesnt matter, and you can go crazy and staple them as much as you want. The tighter you pull the carpet the better it looks.
Then cut the hole for your sub and remount the sub, make sure you wire it as you remount according to the manufacturers website. Thats it, your done.
Last edited by LuckyFlyingROUSH; 11-11-2008 at 08:04 PM.
02-05-2008, 06:10 PM
#6
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location:
Posts: 103
RE: How to: Build your own custom sub box for your s197
I have heard alot of subs and out of the ones I have heard my two L7s hit the hardest, I was a block away from my friends house showing my buddy my new install, and he calls me up when I get done and says "Would you stop shaking my damn house!"
02-05-2008, 07:36 PM
#7
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Brandon, FL
Posts: 1,214
RE: How to: Build your own custom sub box for your s197
what angle did you use for the hump? I want to build my dual 10" sub box. starting at the beginning of the hump and going back up to the rear seats. Kinda like this.
02-05-2008, 11:09 PM
#9
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: MO
Posts: 488
RE: How to: Build your own custom sub box for your s197
Great write up! finish off those edges and it should look great. I thought long and hard about making a big box like that. I ended up doing a small fiberglass box in the corner of the trunk for a single L7 and doing a thin amp rack behind the seats with backlit plexi in the trunk. I wanted to easily get to the spare.
