2005 Monte Carlo: from half-ass to whole-ass

[erinh]

looking forward to seeing the progress.

[pocket5s]

I like where you are going with mids there. By the looks of it it won't be all that intrusive, more along the lines of Erin's setup vs say Cook's (not that there is anything wrong with Cook's..)

[decibelle]

While both Erin's and Cook's installs are quite remarkable - and I did take bits and pieces from their installs - mine will just be my own little thing when all is said and done.

Well I ran out of MEKP today, so I won't be getting anything FG-related done until reinforcements arrive in a couple days. Which is ok though, because I got *most* of the other enclosure done today.



I say most because it needs more layers, a few tweaks and I need to cut the dash a bit more for the passenger side, since what's happening over there is a billion times different than what's going on at the other end of the dash.



Various markings and things to be tweaked. But it'll work!

I also learned a couple of things whilst working on these pieces. First and foremost, that the headaches one is subject to after glassing in a heated, closed-up vehicle cabin with no fresh air is, well, nauseating. And definitely not worth even the short amount of time had to spend in there. To my great fortune, I had just enough brain cells left over today to find my way to Home Depot and pick myself up one of these babies.


'I have this much smart now!

Needless to say, I'm glad I did. Headache free!

Sometimes it pays to be extremely, shamelessly lazy. On my first enclosure I had a quick patch-up to do, but my container of aluminum foil was still in the car, which is about a minute walk from inside (trips to the car get old quick when it takes that long just to go grab one thing and it's 20 degrees outside). So I thought. What did I have - preferably within arm's reach - that might also function as a mold/release agent? Hmm... oh!

Wrapping paper, of course!



At the time, I actually had no idea how well it would work. I just gave it a shot, and it worked so well that I used it to make the entire second enclosure. IMHO it's better than foil because of the size of the roll it comes in, and that it doesn't tear nearly as easily, yet is just as flexible.


Glass on, glass off...


... glass on, glass off.

Best of all, once fully cured, it just peels right off, no paper left behind.

Hoping to start destroying midbass enclosures next weekend if I'm lucky. That WILL be fun...

[claydo]

Laziness.......the mother of invention.....lol, wrapping paper.....no shit. Cool discovery! On a side note, while I know that fiberglassing chemicals and cold don't mix....jeez ally, will your heater not overcome cracked windows? I know you're all young and bulletproof, but that's a pretty toxic brew to work with without ventilation! While the mask is helpful for particulate, I don't know if it actually helps with the poisonous gas emissions. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but all lung cancer doesent come from my bad habit like the surgeon general likes to claim! Anyways, worrisome rant aside, looks like you're making some serious progress, and the results should be awesome. Take lots of pics when you get to the midbass enclosure destruction action......because I know it will be epic, and Ill be looking forward to hearing the final results one day!

[decibelle]

Yeah, wrapping paper. I was pleasantly surprised.

If you only saw the inside of my car. There is so much stuff floating around in there from all the work that's been done in it. Even after I vacuum it all up afterwards, I have no doubt that some stuff has fallen into some little crevices and will never come out, lol. Add that in with noxious fumes from glassing with no respiration protection at all. Yeah, it definitely won't keep everything out, but my lack of nausea today can definitely attest to the fact that it did shield me from a good bit of the nastiness. I have always understood that inhaling the MEKP fumes is terrible, so I tried to limit my exposure. But when it came to glassing in the car, and the headaches I got, that was a bad, bad sign. I am very aware of my mortality, lol.

The midbass enclosure destruction, whenever it does happen, will be filmed. I do think you'll enjoy it In the meantime I'll be getting more done on the doors and projectors. No shortages of projects here!

[pocket5s]

I remember using MEK (minus the 'P') back when I was in the service. We mostly used it to clean our paint guns. But it works great at drying your skin, cleaning out unwanted brain cells, clearing your sinuses, and some other stuff

Going to build better enclosures or perhaps upgrading to a larger driver??...

[claydo]

Yeah, I used to work in a print press factory.......we mopped that damn floor with mek.....washed our hands in it too.....not to mention the toluene, npa, and God only knows what else........cancer was the leading cause of early retirements in that joint.

[decibelle]

Briefly deviating from actual build log again because the whole country is looking at BHam and ATL's snow and laughing hysterically. Well, it really isn't so hysterical when you're stuck in the middle of it. I had no idea just how bad it was until I made it home yesterday evening and the big picture was all over the news. So, from a "ground zero" perspective, here's what it was really like yesterday. In hindsight, I was extremely lucky to have made it back safely.

From elsewhere on the net, this was Bham yesterday:

The fact that I made it six miles home last night makes me one of relatively few people to have done so, according to news outlets. Helps to actually know how to drive in snow


When I first tried leaving Bham, I was stuck in the school parking deck for two hours. Had no idea how bad it really was. Once on the roads, it was even worse.


I had six miles to go before I got home. Traffic lights were useless, people went when they could. I had many periods of time where traffic would not move one inch for thirty minutes at a time.


Homemade snow chains on (what I'm assuming to be) the drive wheel. Smart.


Who needs a coat when you could wear a dragon blanket instead?







Firetrucks got stuck in the ice. These guys said screw it, got their gear and walked to the accident scene.


Bro just don't care.

How many traffic laws can I violate and get away with today, hmm...



When I had to slow down and dodge the two cars was where I met my journey's end, a hundred yards from the apt. GAHH!


Close, but no dice! I'll finish the job tomorrow...


Problem solving 101: sometimes you just have to take things into your own hands.


Here's about half the ground I had to cover.


Some charming young fellow passed me saying, "there's better things you could be doing." We'll see who's still walking a mile to their car this weekend, my friend.


After five trips up and down the hill with the water bucket, I came back to find a couple of folks I'd helped out the last time this happened standing by my car. Said they were there to help me, and pushed my car out of the bank. Honestly, if it weren't for them, I'd probably still be out there. If you've seen the hill to my place, you know, it doesn't play games.





And it keeps going.

But thanks to the extra manpower...


Snow - 0 TornadoAlly - 1

Southerners, step up your game! Follow me and I will lead you to prosperity... or at the very least, home.

Now, back to work!

[erinh]

Looks like you had some fun! Crazy to think that is less than an hour south of me. Glad it didn't happen here. My 40 minute drive home likely would have turned in to a spend the night party at work.

[n_olympios]

Well done woman!

BTW, your videos are listed as classified and the chains do go on the drive wheels.