T48 Build Thread

[miked]

Yep, I'm very lucky and grateful that Bruce offered his expertise and hands to help. We talked about some sanding/finishing tricks too, to hide the oopses, so I'm well-armed for the finishing steps. Now I'll just have to find the time.

I may be getting ahead of myself here, but I need to ask about leak testing. I understand you get a 1/2" or so piece of tubing, you play a 60Hz or so tone and move the end of the hose along the seams, listening for rushing air.

I am assuming you do this with the access cover OFF? What about the jack plate? Can it be off too? I would prefer to leak test the cabs before I sand and paint them. If I have to slather on PL along some seam, it will be much easier if the cabs are still in their bare state.

I will leave the drivers mounted during the painting stages. I will just stuff a big plastic bag in the chamber and cover the driver completely. Of course, I will have drilled the pilot holes for the access cover screws/flanges before mounting the driver.

[sine143]

Miked, first listene with access cover off, all around driver seal and the inside joints. then seal the access panel and listen all around it as well.

[Bruce Weldy]

It says something about this forum that not just words and encouragment can be found here, but people from the forum going and giving a hand for real is plain and simple, golden...

That's what friends do.

In fact, as I stood over his T48 with my sawzall, I asked if he would consider doing some video of my band in October......he enthusiastically agreed.....what a guy!

[miked]

My cab-->[] <---bruce

Me-->

Sure, pal. How much video will you need?

[DJPhatman]

My cab-->[] <---bruce

Me-->

Sure, pal. How much video will you need?

Well, I'm guessing you were squeezing the Charmin!!

[miked]

All four cabs are closed up now! After the fix action last night brought the backs way further in then they were, it was not too difficult to get them on there securely. I still had to use clamps to nudge the backs to their optimal (acceptable compromise?) positions, but I really took my time and was methodical about it.

I laid the cab down, open side up and put the second side on there. Squared up the top, front corner (above panel 5) and clamped that down. Then, I moved the side this way and that, striking a balance b/t what panels stuck out where, what I was willing to live with, what would require the most finishing work, etc. I only have one cab that is totally square. Two nobody will ever notice and one that if you look hard and know what you're looking for, you may see it. That's how I think it will play out. As long as they don't leak, who cares? Anyway, then I clamped the bottom into place too. I then predrilled a single hole at the top and bottom and put a screw in there. Now the side can't move around. I then used clamps to pull the back panel in. Once it was where it needed to be, I predrilled thru every hole in the side panel, into the interior panels.

BTW: BEST IDEA EVER, laying out and drilling holes in BOTH side panels right from the start. Of course, if that second side doesn't go on totally square, you'll have some probs. Screws may bust thru the sides of panels or miss them completely. I found a fix for that.

Here we see the side clamped down, some holes predrilled and a screw holding the top, front corner in place. The bottom of the panel is also already lined up and clamped, being that I've started drilling.


Kept going until all holes were predrilled.


Didn't get a pic of this next, crucial (IMO) step. I removed the two screws and the clamps and took the side off to see where my screw holes drilled straight and true and which ones missed. The ones that missed, I marked on the side panel with an "N" for "nail" in the approximate place where the screw should've went. Then when driving the screws to secure the second side, I'd shoot a 1.25" brad where I marked "n"...and there were a few "n's".

2nd side on. I think I used enough screws. Filling the holes will be big fun. /sarcasm


I got great squeezeout on all cabs. Very happy about that, of course. And yes; I stuck my head into the driver chamber and looked all the way around on all four cabs. There were only two cabs where I felt the need to smoosh the PL around a little bit here and there. I used almost a 1/2" wide bead on every single edge. Squeeze out for days. PL is cheap insurance. I used roughly 1.75 tubes to seal 4 cabs.



Panel 6 sqeezeout


Various pics.



The PL on the side panel is where I did not drive screws b/c they wouldn't hit anything. Though there was PL squeezing up out of some, others had none. I plugged those holes with PL on all 4 cabs.




I want the PL to dry for 48 hours before I remove the screws. That works out well b/c I still need to do the 6/10 braces and some will require a little trimming. I want all the cabs to look uniform, so I need to figure out which cab will have the shortest braces, then cut them all that short.

I hope to at least get the cab edges trued and rounded before I have to stop for a few days. That "just leaves" patching the 360+ screw holes, patching any torn out edges, sanding it all down, priming, Duratexing, leak testing, cab hardware and 10 other things I probably missed. LOL!


More tomorrow. Thanks for looking!

[David Raehn]

Great job!

[Harley]

Mmmm...the shot's not quite enough of the workshop space to see if it deserves the Harley 5 Star....

[PulseMan]

As usual looking good there pal.
So glad you kept the old T48 design alive.
I will definitely use the old design again when I build more T48's.

PulseMan

[miked]

I try to keep the shop clean as I work. I don't like kneeling in sawdust and PL shavings, that's for sure. But my garage definitely does not qualify for a 5 Harley Award. I have 10 pounds of flour stuffed in a 5 pound bag in there. There is crap everywhere. Though I have to constantly move stuff around to make room to work, I am grateful to have the space to begin with.

After reviewing the new plans, I felt much more comfortable going with the old style cab. It felt much more in line with my abililities. I am really psyched to fire these bad boys up!

[Bruce Weldy]

Mmmm...the shot's not quite enough of the workshop space to see if it deserves the Harley 5 Star....

Having witnessed it first hand, I'd say it's the cleanest garage (that gets used as a shop) that I've ever seen.

So, I'd like to officially nominate the shop of Miked for a Harley......

[miked]

Thanks Bruce!

This morning before leaving for work I went out to check on the cabs. I knocked hard on the second side of all the cabs, b/t the rows of screws (b/t panels) and I got that good, high-pitched "tight" knocking sound that indicates solid bracing. I'm getting really excited now! Sooooo tempted to throw a driver in one of them...but I won't.

Not before I get the 6/10 braces on there anyway. Heheheh. 6/10's tonight. Tomorrow morning, the screws for the 2nd side come off and I start truing and rounding the cab edges. I'd LIKE to get ALL the truing/rounding sanding done before I have to stop. Then there's just priming painting left. I will have quite a bit of sanding to do on 1 cab where I've got some panels to blend in. That's new territory for me, so I've got to take it slow, there.

Some more pics/update tonight.

[miked]

I forgot about scraping the PL. /facepalm
BTW, has anyone else noticed that these things get damn heavy after you add the 2nd side?

I'm on the 3rd cab. Some teasers.




Back to it.

[David Raehn]

Oh No!!! Not the faces again. The handholds are staring at me!

[miked]

Oh No!!! Not the faces again. The handholds are staring at me!

Bwuahahah! That's right! ONCE YOU HAVE SEEN THE SMILEY FACE, THE SMILEY FACE CANNOT BE UNSEEN!!!! MWUAHAHAHHAHA!!!

I took a very short break to grab a water. The 6/10 braces are all dry fitted and held in with screws. I just need to unscrew, PL and rescrew (that's what she said....OH!)

Cleaning up the PL from side 2 took longer than anticipated. When doing 4 cabs, your arm gets tired from wrestling that chisel! About an hour from now, construction of the cabs will be done!