Well, since my pop passed away last month I havn't really had much ambition or time to work on my stereo so it's been sitting for far to long. This weekend a friend at work asked if I wanted to join him and a bunch of friends for a mountain camping excursion and even though I would've loved to go... I decided to pass and got this done so far.











For the record, a 34" x 22" x 14" box will fit into the trunk of a 3rd gen cavalier through the back! But only if the subs are not installed. I kindof half expected to be cutting metal out from behind my rear seat to get this thing to go in... but by some act of God it fits. Plus as an added bonus my (3) 600watt Alpine amps fit across the back almost perfectly! Gives me that warm and tingly feeling just thinking about it


And before anyone asks me how does it sound, I don't know. I didn't really figure there would be much of a point installing it with the amp/subs I'm running (one of the subs is ontop the box in the pic) and only having a pair of Phoenix Gold 6x9's running off the deck for the rest of the stereo. So the box goes in when the front door pannels go in!

And speaking of which...







So yeah, that's where I'm at right now. I'm at the stage of getting rid of all the low spots in the pannel. And now the problem I'm facing right at this moment is how to finish the pannels

What do you guys think? Paint/Vinyl/other?

Now here is the info

Paint: Very hard, all edges have to be perfect, all pin holes removed, sanded to absolute perfection. It's also a high traffic area so I'm wondering how the paint would hold up over time people rubbing arms on it, sometimes passengers kick it etc.

Vinyl: Needs to be decently finished (probably not much more then where I'm at right now) Edges again need to be pretty decent but not nearly as perfect as paint... so saves alot of time plus vinyl would hold up better to abuse over time. One thing I'm worried about though is the armrest, that would strech the vinyl pretty good and I'm worried it will bubble over time.

I prefer the look of paint, but like I said above I'm worried about it's longevity and how much extra work is involved. Any input/oppinions/comments are always appriciated.

looks good so far, box is huge!

Hey
Looks great. How about a mixture of paint and Vinyl? I personally don't like the feel of my arm sticking to a painted surface so I'd put vinyl in there and paint the rest. Or put some Velux pads on the arm rests then paint the rest. If they get worn, just pull them off and refinish. I'm looking at using a high strength vinyl screen for my arm rests, they'll be free hanging just secured around the perimeter. Did you do that over the factory door panel?
Later, J

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Bought a 1993 Chevy Astro, 43,000km's complete service history right to original bill of sale. What I have put in it?
*Focal 330kx
*uDimension 20vs Denon 3560
*Martin Logan electrostatics from Aerius I
*mids -BMI65
*CD900
Keeping Kimber Hero & Silver streak cables and Goertz AG2 and AG3 speaker wire.