The Chronicles of 95riosnake's OCD Machine

[Number Tew]

Dude that's awesome. Dan's a stud too lmao

[95riosnake]

Haha, I'll have to take some Tew-esque shots sprawled out across the hood of my car, lol.

[Number Tew]

If you think you can swing it ;p

[Tony]

haha! cool pics! congrats on the happy marriage

[95riosnake]

Thanks Tony, she definitely gets frustrated with my obsession with cars sometimes, but she knows it's what makes me tick so she lets me do my thing :thumb:

[Psychorugby]

Thanks Tony, she definitely gets frustrated with my obsession with cars sometimes, but she knows it's what makes me tick so she lets me do my thing :thumb:

My wife is the same way. She knows I am going to do what I want, but she still appreciates me running it by her. Thank goodness she likes cars (a little) and wants me to build her something - either a FFR MkII roadster, a Porsche 356A (probably kit) speedster, or a 1963 Mercury Comet convertible.

[Drake]

Here's a couple pics of my old man, I have an incredible amount of respect for him. First of him doing what he does best (building a car trailer from scratch "Because nobody makes one nice enough for what I want"), then a couple from my wedding.

your dad looks like a boss giving no f**ks at all.

[95riosnake]

your dad looks like a boss giving no f**ks at all.

Haha, he doesn't mess around lol.

[stprorolla49]

Good god...looks unbelivable man, quality work!

[Steve-Oh]

I approve this thread! :hat:

[95riosnake]

Ok so, here's this weekend's progress. I got a little less done than I planned because I took yesterday off working on the car to drive down to my parents' house in WV and start building a new work bench for my garage. My current setup of a piece of OSB on top of some saw horses isn't cutting it anymore lol. My dad has a fully-decked out wood shop, and a truck for picking up full sheets of plywood so it just made sense to make the trip there. I'm going back next weekend to finish it up.

Anyway, onto the progress on the car:

Test fit the box in the spare tire well, overall it fit nicely

But it did need a little dremel action to clear some ribs below the trunk latch

Dropped the sub down in place to get the full effect, still thinking about possibly adding a beveled 1/2" thick ring around the sub to give it a flush mount look, not sure if I'll do that or not yet.

Next, the new trunk panels came out for some trimming to fit over the shock tower brace brackets.

More dremel action

Panels in place, finally looking proper, rather than hacked like my old ones.

The trunk floor panel templates I made a few weeks ago then made a reappearance. Now that I had the trunk side panels in place I could make a few last minute changes to the templates for a perfect fit. As you can see, making the templates is no scientific process... I traced the stock trunk carpet about 1" larger all the way around, then just kept cutting away areas and notches... sometimes adding some material back with the help of some duct tape when I took too much, lol.

Traced out on the 1/2" MDF

Cut out and ready to go in

As you can see in the next pic, by splitting the trunk floor into two panels, it lets me get a nice snug fit all the way around. A one-piece panel wouldn't be able to slip under the shock tower brace brackets, and aside from that issue it would be very difficult to get into the trunk. The cutout near the rear seat area is to clear some weird bump in the trunk floor that would prevent the panel from laying flat. I'll be making a trim panel that will cover that area.

Also a few goodies showed up this week so I thought I'd share some pics :bananen_smilies102:

First off we have a badass little Rockford Fosgate PBR300x4 amp to power the new kick panel components and my rear deck speakers. This thing is impossibly small so it will easily mount just about anywhere, and it puts out 86 x 4 which will be perfect for powering my components. :thumb:

My dusty iPhone on top of the amp to give you an idea of its size:

NVX 8-gauge power wiring kit and RCA cables for the amp

My rear 6x8's have been semi-blown for a couple years so I figured it was time to step up the rear sound stage while the trunk area is being reborn. Rather than going with 6x8's again, I'll make some adapter plates from MDF to run these 6.5" components from Precision Power. These are their PC2.65C two way components.

These things are beautiful IMO, almost a shame to hide under the rear deck.

Lastly we have a little chassis stiffening for the cobra as well! My friend Tom Clark (Sinis Built) posted some pictures on facebook of the Stiffler's FIT System going on his pro touring 79 Pace Car build and I was intrigued. I wondered whether they would fit with the SpinTech subframe connectors I already have, so I gave Brian Figg at Stiffler's a call. Brian is an awesome dude with a background in mechanical engineering, and a super nice guy. After a bit of brainstorming and a little BS'ing about mustangs, we felt very confident that they will work, and since they sell each component of their FIT System separately, I was able to buy just the webbing braces and stiffening rail for the pinch weld to add to my existing SFC's. There may be a couple issues to deal with where my side pipes exit out the side of the car, because my exhaust is 100% custom, but the only way to find out is to have them in hand. I have some plans to make these things look incredible under the car, they won't be black when installed. Stay tuned for that, I won't be starting the FIT braces until after I'm finished with the trunk.

[Jeremy95GT]

Awesome progress on the box man... I'm jelly... I also have semi blown rear speakers, I'm currently looking around trying to find some good speakers

Jeremy

[95riosnake]

Awesome progress on the box man... I'm jelly... I also have semi blown rear speakers, I'm currently looking around trying to find some good speakers

Jeremy

Thanks man!

I got the speakers from sonicelectronix.com, they have awesome prices so I'd recommend checking them out.

[Brian]

Dan, I hate you...... really I love you...... damnit......

I can't wait to see the Stifflers FIT system installed. I'm jealous you got one before me.

[OnyxCobra]

Can I ask how much those parts of the SFC cost? I already have the base Kenny Brown SFC and would like to add either their Matrix brace or these.

[Yeahloh95]

very nice dan i cant wait to see it all done system is turning out really sweet

[95riosnake]

Dan, I hate you...... really I love you...... damnit......

I can't wait to see the Stifflers FIT system installed. I'm jealous you got one before me.

Yea I am pretty anxious to get started on it, but I am forcing myself to finish the trunk first. I know if I have the option of welding or covering wood with suede, I'm always going to pick welding and the trunk will never be finished lol. I've been kicking around doing the FIT system for a while now, very nice stuff!

Can I ask how much those parts of the SFC cost? I already have the base Kenny Brown SFC and would like to add either their Matrix brace or these.

The stiffening rails for the pinch weld were $75

http://buystifflers.com/stiffeningrail94-04Mustang.aspx

and the web braces were $225

http://buystifflers.com/webbrace79-04mustang.aspx

He said their web braces and stiffening rails are compatible with most of the SFC's on the market, so they should fit your KB's no problem. I just called him because I had a few questions for him regarding my application because the SpinTechs are a little different than most. They have a kicked up area toward the back where the exhaust passes under, and they are made of 1x2 steel tubing which is a little lower profile than a lot of other SFC's out there.

very nice dan i cant wait to see it all done system is turning out really sweet

Thanks man! Your trunk was the inspiration to step mine up, our stock trunks leave a lot to be desired lol.

[95riosnake]

I got a bit more accomplished today, decided I'd start working on getting the rear components mounted.

Pulled the interior trim and the old speakers.

Then made a template out of cardboard for the adapter plate. The plates will attach underneath the package tray with sheet metal screws, the speakers will screw into them from the bottom, and the tweeters will attach to the top of the plates.

Marked out on the 1/2" MDF, ready to cut

Finished adapters

Here's how the speakers and tweeters will be attached

Shot them with a little satin black, I wanted to get everything mounted but I need to pick up some sheet metal screws to attach them, so I'll let these dry overnight and pick up some screws this week :thumb:

[Det_Riot]

Ball so hard motha fuggers wanna fine me. This is legit shit

[smallblocksn95]

if you need any installed pics of the fit system while your doing it let me know, ive got the system on my car

[Jeremy95GT]

Dan, thanks for the info on sonic electronix, just made myself a purchase so now I can actually listen to music with a lil bass lol

Jeremy

[Steve@CJPP]

Dan this shit is sooooo nice I can't wait to see it when it's all complete.

[95riosnake]

Ball so hard motha fuggers wanna fine me. This is legit shit

Thank you sir! :usa2:

if you need any installed pics of the fit system while your doing it let me know, ive got the system on my car

Good to know someone else on here has it installed already, if I have any questions I'll hit you up!

Dan, thanks for the info on sonic electronix, just made myself a purchase so now I can actually listen to music with a lil bass lol

Jeremy

No problem, I have bought from them several times over the years. They always have the best prices, WAAAAAAY cheaper than Crutchfield. I believe blwnbyu pointed me in their direction a few years back.

Dan this shit is sooooo nice I can't wait to see it when it's all complete.

Thanks Steve! This project is already snowballing a bit, it started out as just moving the battery under the rear seat, and has turned into a full blown trunk renovation lol.

[Psychorugby]

When you get bored, I have a car in need of your attention. As of September, I will have a few spare bedrooms too!

[95opal]

lookin good dan

[Tony]

dan the man with the plan!! awesome work dude!

[Number Tew]

Go away! Too nice!

[95riosnake]

Thanks guys, I'm glad this thing is taking shape now. It seemed like I was working on the fiberglass forever lol.

[69clark]

Dan looking good. This thread beats trying to look at this pics when you send them via txt. That amp is insanely small. I got a system I need to install soon, looks like I should be hiring you.

So besides the stereo equipment is this just a stock v6 mustang?....

[95riosnake]

^ yea pretty much Tom, I just unhooked a couple vacuum lines for a lumpy idle and my PS pump is going bad, so it makes cool blower sounds

* COUGHmakeyourselfanintrothreadalreadyCOUGH *

Edited April 10, 2013 by 95riosnake

[69clark]

^ yea pretty much Tom, I just unhooked a couple vacuum lines for a lumpy idle and my PS pump is going bad, so it makes cool blower sounds

* COUGHmakeyourselfanintrothreadalreadyCOUGH *

ah, this is an sn95 forum, no one needs to see another rusted out fox body, lol.

[Det_Riot]

ah, this is an sn95 forum, no one needs to see another rusted out fox body, lol.

We accept builds of all kinds!

Side note, do you still cut stickers for the svo side skirts?

[95riosnake]

I found a few minutes to go down in the garage and mount the components in the adapter plates tonight, very happy with how these turned out :thumb:

ah, this is an sn95 forum, no one needs to see another rusted out fox body, lol.

Haha, nice try... start blowing some minds around here and post up a thread with pics of that machine when you get a chance.

We accept builds of all kinds!

Side note, do you still cut stickers for the svo side skirts?

He still has the templates as far as I know.

[95riosnake]

So this weekend started out with a trip to my dad's house again to finish up building the new work bench. I won't show any pictures of the work bench until I have it finished so I can just show the pictures all at once though, so stay tuned for that.

While I was there though, I took advantage of my dad's extensive collection of scrap metal to make an extension for my jack. I have a ridiculously low profile jack, in fact it's the only one that will fit under my car without driving it up on boards. The downside is it doesn't have a high enough max lift height to let me put the car on taller truck-style 3 ton jack stands to give me have plenty of room for welding in the FIT system and reworking my side pipes. So I decided to make an extension spacer to give it 6" of extra lift. This way I can jack it up normally and put it on the shorter 1.5 ton jack stands, then put the extension on and jack it up higher to use the higher 3 ton stands.

Started by cutting a piece of 5" diameter 1/4" wall pipeline tubing and cleaned it up, then torched out a couple 6" diameter plates from 1/2" steel and ground the edges smooth, followed by a 1" hole through both.

Here's the basic concept stacked up

The existing jack plate will sit down into the top of the spacer like so

Found a huge 1" grade 8 bolt, cut it to length and welded it into the hole of one plate. This creates a pin that will slip down into the hole in the jack.

Stacked the pieces back together and clamped them in place

I then welded it all up with my dad's MASSIVE industrial-sized Lincoln welder, this thing is no joke...he said he's welded 1" thick steel with it! I'd love to have a big boy welder like his, maybe someday lol. Anyway, all welded up...

Painted and ready to go!

Ok so back to the progress on the car... I got the components mounted and they look great.

The rear package tray cover had always bothered me. It's been pretty badly faded the entire time I've owned the car. So it's about time I change that.

Supplies:

Cover masked and wiped down with acetone

After drying, looking mint!

A little cutting of the fabric under the speaker grills to clear the tweeters

Worked on mounting the Rockford amp under the rear seat delete. I chose to mount it above the floor so I could have easy access to the wiring connections and gain adjustment. I had a spare bracket from the remote charging terminals I used in the trunk, so I drilled a few holes through that and attached it to a rectangle of 1/2" MDF to mount the amp to.

Mounted in place under the rear seat

After that I just worked on wiring things up, I'll be continuing that tomorrow so hopefully I'll have an update with the wiring complete!

[OnyxCobra]

lookin good dude, how does that rear tray come out? mine looks just like yours used to and I've wanted to paint it for a while.

[95riosnake]

It's kind of a PITA to remove, you have to take the headrest pad off then a couple plastic push pins, the two corners of the cover that point toward the front of the car are actually underneath the top part of the rear passenger arm rest panels. To remove it correctly you have to take the arm rest panels out first too, but I just flexed the package tray cover and the arm rest panels until there was enough room to get the package tray cover out.

[Jeremy95GT]

Amazing.... Such a boss

Jeremy

[95riosnake]

Well, didn't get around to working on the car at all today. Needed to spend some time with the wife instead, lol the car has been getting too much of my attention lately. Plus I'm waiting for some wiring supplies to show up (4-channel RCA cables and some other spools of wiring), so I wouldn't have gotten very much accomplished anyway.

[Number Tew]

Lmao, can't be just like everyone else and stack 2x4s on top of the jack, nope, gotta make a fancy extension ;p Looks awesome man!

[95riosnake]

Lmao, can't be just like everyone else and stack 2x4s on top of the jack, nope, gotta make a fancy extension ;p Looks awesome man!

Haha nope, I usually go the overkill route anytime I do just about anything lol.

AAAAAAnd... now I can stack 2x4's on top of this for even more height... 8" or so of 2x4's would be sketchy as hell without the spacer, lol.

Edited April 15, 2013 by 95riosnake