I usually lurk this board. not tonight, i wanted to share my experience of the box build. I heard somone say you always mess up your first box, and i did this several ways, but it came out OK.

Everything I did was using test-fits and small cuts. I didnt have any dimensions, all i had was an idea of what i wanted it to look like when i finished.

It took me 5 days, working about 6 hours a day on it. Long time? I wanted it perfect. and its not. oh well. And i had the correct tools for the job, just no experience useing them. borrowed my friends shop for this.
Materials used:
Table Saw, Jigsaw, Electric sander, Liquid Nail (ALOT), Screwgun, Screws, NailGun, Nails, Lots of MDF (lots of mistakes) wasted half of what i bought. I used 5X 2x8 sheets of MDF for a total of 10X40 feet of MDF. lots of wood eh. also used Silicone to seal it all up, (twice-ill explain), and probly other stuff i cant remember now, but thats most of it.

the top is angled towards the front. I feel sorry for anyone who had to deal with the angles and problems this presents, little did i know...
I started by making a template of the top, then cut it out of MDF by tracing it. then i decided on the angle i wanted, and attached a piece that followed the angle of the trunk. it was too high, had to cut the sides down because the trunk top hit it.
Say, did you know silicone has a shelf life? Yeah, pissed me off. My friends shop had silicone there, and it was like 5 years old or somthing. the stuff seemed fine, and i silicones the whole damn box inside and out with it. next day, i come back, and its still wet! turns out it all went bad and when it goes bad it just doesnt dry. i scraped it all off and got new silicone and re-did it. blah.
anyways, i just kept cutting and fitting and cuting and fitting and 5 days later i had a box. the whole thing fits down in the trunk good, but still doesnt clear the trunk top. i removed the plastic piece from the top to make it fit, and thats how its goina stay till i figure out what to do.
Lessons learned: Dont put screws near the end of MDF, it will split the MDF in half.
MDF is weak in the middle, if you use too many screws it will split open.
Dont pre-drill holes in MDF, just screw right in. and once you screw in, try not to remove it because the next time it might not grab on correctly.
use alot of liquid nail. my cuts were perfect, but the angles werent. a protractor would have helped a little maybe, but screw it. i had alot of air holes i filled with liquid nail, let dry, then siliconed in.
a finished box is heavy, put some handles on it to get it out the trunk easier. i cant get mine out now without somone elses help.
measure everything twice. no, three times.

Would I have done it if i knew it would take this long? no, i would have found a decent MDF box and bought it, but not for more than $120.00~
It IS worth knowing it was done right, however the man-hours required to make this thing at my pace and level of knowledge was not worth the time, but yes it was sort of fun. I guess I would say I would make it again for myself, but if a friend asked theres just no way in hell. I would help him, but not make it again. I have gone home choking on sawdust (MDF makes ALOT) and its not a pretty sight. Wish i could take pics, but not right now im busy putting a blown 355 in my other car :-)

 

i find that when i dont pre-drill the holes, the wood will split.. thus far, all my pre-drilled holes have no evidence of cracking... glad you decided to make your own box, its something that everybody should do at least once... definitely an educational experience

 

Making your own box is always a great thing to do. If for no other reason, it helps you appreciate why people charge what they do for them. Building these boxes is a far cry from slapping together a wedge to stuff into a regular trunk.

 

Hey kingtalon, maybe im mistaken but they didnt make an 83' iroc, like it says you have in your sig

 

Its a 1983 Iroc Z-28 it came with the crossfire injection (bandaid system) and a 5.0 liter engine. has T-tops, electric seats, basically alot of options even a fold over trunk. in 83 chevy didnt put 350 engines in camaros, this was as fast as it got. and yes, its an Iroc Z-28 camaro. the paint is faded so bad its sort of pink now, and the original hood is long since gone replaced with a cowl fiberglass one. original rims are on it, they are 7.5" wide 15" Rims, and are currently holding 295/50/R15 tires. It now has a blown 355 in it and a TH350 tranny. Also, the original rear end is gone, and it has a 9-bolt posi 3.08 - I plan on dropping it, painting it, and putting fuel injection for the blower on it, then of course adding an overdrive tranny at some point. weee and no it doesnt have A/C or a stereo. The subs are in my 89 RS camaro.
Its got a cowl hood, Flowmaster catback, gutted cat, Weld Rims, Basically every external go-fast add-on to make it look real quick and sound good, but its got a stock L03 under the hood :-) I tell people I will run them with my camaro and they say hahahaha yeah right then i get my other camaro and they are like oh crap

 

snippet from IROC-Z.com

 

Sorry chief, 85 was the first year, and I've got enough documentation (read: Proof) to keep you busy for hours. What you apparently have is a Z28 with IROC stickers on it.

 

well why does it have the IROC rims? why does it have the 5.0 liter IROC engine? Why does it have the Iroc-only options? I think your documentation is screwed up. not to be a dick, but even the registration says IROC on it, and its original. I dont give two ***** either way, Im getting rid of all the paint and tags and stickers and rims and making it a plain-jane camaro with nice paint and nice engine, but I do beleive its an IROC, even the I-carz program they use in auto-parts stores depicts the 83 5-liter camaro as an IROC ONLY option. Remember IROC is a SCCA Racing "modified" car, not just a Z-28 with special rims. But then again, what the hell do I know. I'm interested in what the books say...

 

Sorry man, but the IROC wasn't available until 1985 when Chevrolet and IROC teamed up and continued until 1990 when their partnership ended. Try http://www.iroc-z.com/ for plenty of supporting information. Check the history section of the site, and check any book you can find on these cars. You probably have a Z28, or someone went through some hard work to fake documents saying it's an IROC. The wheels are easy enough to come by. They're a really popular swap on camaros that didn't come with them. The L69 HO 305 started in 1983 and continues through 1986. It was a Z28 only option, but there were also the LG4, LU5, and LB9 305s produced during those years. The LU5 was 83 only, and the LB9 began in 85. Having a 305 isn't any proof of having an IROC considering how many cars came with them. Also, in 1983 you could get a 305 in the sport coupe and berlinettasin addition to obtaining one in Z28sl. As for the parts sotre program, I've seen enough parts ordering systems online to know that it is very common for them to list all 82-92 Z28s or IROCs as IROC/ Z28s, and I've gotten enough wrong parts from them to not take what they say for gospel.

Anyway, here's a few ideas on what you have:
1. A 1983 Z-28 that someone badged up and made to look like an IROC. Then they faked papers saying it's an IROC.
2. A 1985 IROC that for some reason comes up as a 1983. In that case you have some screwy VIN numbers, and they might have been swapped at one time. Not good.
3. A 1983 Sport Coupe that someone made into an IROC clone and faked paperwork for it to increase sale value.
4. A 1983 Z-28 and papers from a 1985 IROC.
Maybe there's some other explanation, but something is screwed up, and I guarantee you that it is not a 1983 IROC. You can take what we're telling you and the information we're providing you and find out what you really have, or you can get pissed off, deny what we've told you, and continue to say you have an 83 IROC. Anyway, I hope I don't come off as too much of an @sshole, because I'm just trying to help.

 

<b>You can take what we're telling you and the information we're providing you and find out what you really have, or you can get pissed off, deny what we've told you, and continue to say you have an 83 IROC. Anyway, I hope I don't come off as too much of an @sshole, because I'm just trying to help.</b>

No, I know your trying to help. Thats why I ever even come to this site, for help or to help other people. Your valuable information has enlightened me and tought me yet somthing new about these cars, and I will have to investigate further. What you say makes sense, and I trust your judgement. Thank you to everyone who has helped me, Im not being a mean pissed off @******* if thats how it sounds, just looking for a method to this madness. Eh, and it was fun building a box just to let you all know again heh :-)

 

http://iroc.fbody.com
http://www.iroczone.com

I'd say iroc-z.com, but most of his tech info was pilfered from my site, and the stuff he didn't take off my site is inaccurate.

Anyway... my documentation is 100% correct. GM wasn't exactly secretive about when they introduced their new models. It's basic common public knowledge. You might have a very nice Z28 that somebody put IROC rims onto. No reason to be upset that it's not an IROC, but continuing to proclaim that it is an IROC is going to make you look foolish.

 

Kingtalon--
I know how you felt about building your first box and having to deal with angles. I started on a Sunday morning with an idea drawn on a napkin and started with four sheets of MDF( pretty heavy stuff). About eight hours later I emerged from the garage carrying a box in the shape of a TRIANGLE. The angles were a pain but I think it was worth it seeing as what a punch the sub packs. I have a single 10" Dual Voice Coil sub in the triangular box. The great thing about the shape of the box is that it fits in the trunk well and nobody can see it I dont know if you guys have learned this or not but if you point the sub down into the well it bounces off the bottom of the well and then hits the hatch therefore increasing the "uummphh" of the sub. It is similar to a bandpass.

Number1- It sounds like I have two 12s in a bandpass and it is a clear bass.
My friend has two twelves in a ported box( mine is sealed) and My one 10 is louder and clearer than the two twelves. At half volume the bass is so powerful that it causes all my mirrors to vibrate and I can feel it in my seat and I can feel the vibrations in my feet when they are on the floor board. It is better than I thought it would turn out.
I just researched box demensions (built to move 2400 cubic inches of air) for the size of my sub and that way I was getting the correct amount of air flow for the sub so it would always ditribute clear powerful sound.


Drew



My box is built out of MDF and held together with drywall screws. In order to keep the MDF from splitting you must pre drill holes and also counter sink the screws that way the force of the screw is ditributed evenly. If you want the box to come out correctly you HAVE to do your research on everything from how to wire the sub to how much air it has to move to the dimensions of the box.

 

just out of curiosity.. is your ten the same brand/model as your friends twelves? otherwise its apples to oranges, and it doesnt mean anything really...

 

NO his subs are competition subs. Now he could easily have them underpowered. I backed my car up to his and we stuck his box in my hatch before I got my sub connected and it just did not seem cause all the vibration and ummpphh mine does.


SX