Well, i had a day off work today so i got stuck into finishing off my speaker panel installing the system 11 siderails...
The siderails arrived safely on Wednesday (perfect timing) - and the same with my very small order of 8/32 screws from PSPA (Cheers Mark).
The big box o' fun...and the little one too...
I figured that i should get the speaker panel finished first. The grilles had been screened with a red Williams logo that had been scratched off and faded over years of use, so i set out to re-stencil them.
I photographed the logos with a ruler alongside so i could redraw them at the correct dimensions on my PC. While i was at it, i also took a measurement of the E.S.C stamp as i thought it was an important detail to include.
Williams sizing...
E.S.C. sizing...
With the redraws printed out, i set out cutting away the unwanted areas with the sharp blade. As the E.S.C logo was a bit smudged originally, i decided to do the same with my stencil.
Ready to go...
I lined up the stencil on my new panel, and compared it to the original.
Pretty close...
After a couple of quick shots with black, i lifted the 'C' side of the stencil and gave it another quick shot to get that 'inaccurate' look. I was happy with the results.
The deliberate messed up cabinet maker stamp...
That was the easier stencil. I traced out the Williams logo onto some painters green tape, and cut all required parts separately.
All three parts...
I tackled the circles first, so i lined these up and primed the circles with a white undercoat. Once dried i gave a couple of quick shots with the red, and the colour was really set off against the black.
Pretty sharp...
I left the cirlces for a few hours, then applied the same techniques to the 'W' part of the logo. To be honest, i suprised myself with how sharp they came out. I really was just experimenting today, but was happy enough with my initial results.
'W' area masked and waiting...
Surrounding area covered up...
Peeling back for the result...
Happy...
And a test fit...
At the factory, these grilles were stapled in. I wanted to do the same, but i knew that it would be hard to line up the staple teeth with the grille holes...To combat this, i broke the individual staples off the group, and used a tack hammer to lightly tap them in. Worked just as well, and gave me the chance to line up the staples perfectly.
Tools required...
How they look close...
And far away...
Then on went the screened speaker plastic...I bit of windex made this look new again...
The speaker panel is pretty straight forward to reassemble, so away i went.
Nearly ready...
Rear of Speaker panel glamour shot...
With everything secured, it was time to install it into the backbox to see how it turned out.
Sorry about the glamour shot angles, i got excited and just started snapping...
MORE...
By this stage, i was just HANGING to get the System 11 siderails on the cabinet. I had picked up some great double sided tape from an auto shop (thanks for the tip Marty) so i got this applied to the siderails first.
Just as a side note, I had seen the system 11 siderails on the Funhouse flyer, and then on a few HEP (Chris H) restorations. When i saw Martys Funhouse, i was completely sold. They looked great so i decided to revert to the flyer/proto look.
Line up twice, press firmly once is the only advise i can really give when installing siderails, as you dont want to be trying to pull the rails back off if you accidentally mis-align on your first attempt...
With the rails installed, it was time to pull back that protective white backing...
Before...
After...
And this is how the cabinet looks as at 10:30 PM on the 4th of March...I still have a LOOOOOOOONG way to go, but im really having a good time along the way. I hope you guys are enjoying the thread, and i must say a big thank-you for all the positive feedback i've recieved. Definately helps with the motivation, and gives me the confidence to tackle another one...
Standing MUCH taller now...
Thanks for reading guys,
el_timbo
