Unfinished Bitness

This project hasn’t had much traction until recently.  I now have all the parts I need ordered and  received, barring one.  I had planned on having L/R RCA audio inputs to allow iPods, etc to connect and feed the system, but the iPod cable I have is too old and does not work with the newer devices.  Since I have to buy a new one, I thought it might be better to get a bluetooth adapter since they are only a few dollars more than a cable.  I haven’t completely figured out the pairing issue since the adapter will be inside the box, but it will likely mean I have to create a remote switch for the adapter, which means that whatever I buy will instantly have its warranty voided due to it being opened and hacked.

I finally got the .5″ MDF and cut all the pieces out.  Yay for experience from years of sub-woofer box building!  I chose .5″ MDF because the speakers don’t need  the added strength like a sub-woofer would, and to help keep the weight down – it’s already going to be pretty heavy.  Then I started the assembly.  The first step was assembling the front, bottom and sides.

Then assembling the top and internal dividers.

At this point I also marked the locations for all the cutouts.  Speakers, head unit, thermometer, vent, and power switch.  The back is being left off until final assembly.  I may make a section of the bottom removable for wiring access.

The box looks rough at this stage, but it will be sanded smooth, primed, and sprayed with truck bed liner once the back is in place.  The should make the finish rather durable.  All joints will be sealed as well.  You can also see I relocated he thermometer readout to above the head unit.  I did this to leave room below the head unit in case I need to add another vent.  The thermometer probe will be mounted as close to the center of the middle chamber as possible.

Why a thermometer?  Well, the Alpine head unit is V-Drive unit.  It generated a lot of heat when it was installed in a vehicle.  The power supply will also generate a fair amount of heat.  The power supply will be mounted to the back drawing air via its fan from inside the box and pushing out the back.  There is a vent on the top for fresh air intake.  This air will ideally flow over the head unit for cooling before passing through the power supply.  I really have no idea how much heat will be generated internally.  I don’t want anything to meltdown or catch fire so the thermometer is so I can see how hot its getting inside.  If temps stay too hot, I’ll add a second intake vent to the front.

Here I have everything cut out.

Now I just need to work out the bluetooth aux input.  Once I do that, I’ll be ready to proceed further.  But thats still a few weeks out.  Stay tuned!