Flawless Fitment: February 2021

While planning on my stereo system upgrade I wanted to use an ARC 10" sub that I love. I used it on my SC430 and liked it so much at the time that I bought another sub to use for my one of my other vehicles. I never got around to using it until now for the LX. I can't fit the sub in the factory location because the sub called for a sealed box of 0.75cuft box and the sub being 10" wouldn't have fit in the factory location anyway. Since I had to put a sub box anyway in the rear I figured I could incorporate it in with a drawer system so that way I would have storage, a raised bed of sorts so that with the seats folded down I'd have almost a 6ft bed of to put a full sized bed if I wanted to. The pull out drawers would also be more useful for storage etc.

So I haven't really done any cabinetry work, think the most I've done is make a sealed box out of MDF at some point.

So the basic drawer system is done and needed to make sure that it didn't move around and held down firmly and wont decapitate anyone's head off in any unforeseen circumstances.

Found some strap tie downs that was rated at 500lbs and in a khaki color that kinda keeps the color in the same family and wont look out of place I thought.

That worked great for holding the rear portion of the drawer system in place. For the front portion the strap tie down was a little awkward to handle with the angles that they were in.

The tie down straps were also 12ft long and really long for my application so I trimmed the excess and used the straps to adapt to a turn buckle to them.

Adapted the straps to the turnbuckles by stitching the ends. Did one end did a test fit and cut the straps to length and stitched the other end. The turn buckles are rated at 128lbs each so should be good for this application. In conjunction with the rear straps I don't foresee this going anywhere. But no real world testing so do this at your own risk.

With everything strapped down I moved on to work on the side flaps to complete the structure.

Used a tool called the perfect butt, don't google that at work. With some cardboard, tape, straight edge, pencil and the tool I was able to get the profile lines of the flaps and front drawer trim transferred to wood and got the handles shaped.

With all the structural stuff out of the way I moved on to carpeting the interior to give it a more OEM appearance. Ozite/SuperFlex carpet have excellent properties and makes it ideal for automotive use.

Some of the properties are:

- Non-woven fabric will not fray or unravel

- Excellent colorfastness and UV protection

- High heat resistance

- Exceptionally plush, uniform appearance

- Cuts easily into any chape

- Resists stains, mold and mildew

- High resistance to gas, oil and salt

So I ordered a couple of samples and picked a color that blends in but also one that would also hide some of the scuffs, dirt etc from daily use. Got the roll of carpet in and proceeded to wrap all the parts that needed it. I bought a cheap pain gun and shot DAP contact cement through it to adhere the carpet to the wood.

Carpeted and assembled.

The side flaps were still not attached to the boxes but was a snug fit so it stayed in place for pictures. I ordered a couple of hinges to see what would work and once I found one I liked and attached them.