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ABS plastic for Exile Zone Line Driver install


hawaiianstyln

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Wanting to mount the ZLD (essentially an EQ) directly under the helm and I really don't want to cut into the helm.  I assume my only options are to use ABS plastic.  I have never worked with it before but I would need to shape it at the angle (there is a slight angle) at the bottom of the helm, then 90 degree down to make a face.  Once I have the angle or bends I can cut out the exact rectangle so that my ZLD slides into the plastic for a cleaner look.  This stuff hard to work with?  How do you know once you heat it up that it's ready to bend to the shape you want?  Would love to know if anyone has used ABS for their audio install and show some pics for my motivation :)

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FWIW, I made this one out of thin gauge aluminum back in 2010. Covered it in matching vinyl. I didn't have a head unit back then and only used BT through the EQ. The switch beside the Audio Control EQ turned the whole system on.

AudioControl 3.2 EQ & BlueTooth.jpg

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Its not hard to heat ABS and put a bend in it. It softens quick with a moderate heat gun. It is hard to heat up and bend ABS cleanly and evenly. If you just fold it over, the bent is wavy tends to be rounded, rather, then a sharp clean corner. Cutting is easy, treat it like thin wood. 

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On my ‘10, I used HDPE otherwise known as King Starboard to make a flat plate to mount my 420 on to. I used some aluminum angle stock I got from Lowe’s IIRC to make the mounting brackets. One side was mounted to the walk through wall at 2 points on the plate front and rear. The other side was mounted to the bottom of the vertical portion of the fiberglass steering wheel tunnel just left of the steering wheel. I drilled vertically into the bottom of the tunnel and attached the 3 point plate to it. You can’t do pull ups on it, but it will hold more than 50 pounds I bet. It was a bit of a contortionist act to get to, but it is solid, invisible professional looking install.

Edited by wdr
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21 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

FWIW, I made this one out of thin gauge aluminum back in 2010. Covered it in matching vinyl. I didn't have a head unit back then and only used BT through the EQ. The switch beside the Audio Control EQ turned the whole system on.

AudioControl 3.2 EQ & BlueTooth.jpg

WOW that looks super nice!  Giving me ideas now.  I'm going with no head unit as well and just the ZLD and BT

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You will definitely want a straight edge to make your bend all at once.  You could even make an easy little box to put the plastic in and build another piece to kind of press it in to hold your bend.  This will help keep the shape bent how you want it while the part cools.  If you bend it all at once, you should not get any wavy lines (if you bend your line at the same time).  Once you get it heated up, it will get real flimsy.  If you have to put effort into getting it to bend you will want to heat it up more.  Only heat up, where you want to bend the plastic and not the entire piece of plastic.  You can also use a heat gun, but don't get it too close to the plastic.
What are the dimension you are needing.  I deal with thermoformed  plastic so PM me if you need more detail.

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I used 1/4" starboard to make the brackets for my heater box and heater tube mounts. It cuts and drills very easily as others have mentioned. I bent multiple pieces to form the brackets. I used the below method with good success and repeat-ability.

- determine location of bend and clamp between two 2x4's with bend location at edge of boards.

- apply heat to top and bottom of starboard with heat gun to soften material.

- once material is soft enough place additional 2x4 under material and bend upward. I would then clamp this additional board to the 2x4 on top of the starboard. This would hold everything at a 90 deg angle while it cooled. Keeping everything clamped between boards kept the bend straight and the starboard for getting wavy.

 

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2 minutes ago, Hemmy said:

You will definitely want a straight edge to make your bend all at once.  You could even make an easy little box to put the plastic in and build another piece to kind of press it in to hold your bend.  This will help keep the shape bent how you want it while the part cools.  If you bend it all at once, you should not get any wavy lines (if you bend your line at the same time).  Once you get it heated up, it will get real flimsy.  If you have to put effort into getting it to bend you will want to heat it up more.  Only heat up, where you want to bend the plastic and not the entire piece of plastic.  You can also use a heat gun, but don't get it too close to the plastic.
What are the dimension you are needing.  I deal with thermoformed  plastic so PM me if you need more detail.

Good info here, thank you!  My measurements will probably be something around 7-8" Wide by a 2" -ish face plate.  Thinking about mounting on the left side of the steering wheel.  If I mount on the right side near the ignition, that seems to get a lot of drip from rain off the bimini so I want to stay away from that area on the right.

IMG_2401.jpg

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4 minutes ago, minnmarker said:

Here's what I did for a 420BT. Pretty basic ABS and used the Wet Sounds angle brackets.

20170708_131044red.thumb.jpg.a8c7b9d82c02efec953de1caabc9f803.jpg

I think this might be what I'm looking to accomplish.  Did you bend a 90 on the top of that ABS so you can screw the ABS to the helm?

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For my acylic 420 mount that was only the vertical plate that does not have a mounting spot or gear , the install shop made a horizontal acrylic plate behind it and milled both to make a union slot and then screws in pre drilled holes and then secured that plate to dash with brackets I think .  I can send pictures , because it hangs down lower than EQ slot do that it gives material to make the union with horizontal brace and the vertical mount 

It hangs so low I had to mount it to right in the wet drip spot you spoke of for getting out of chair reasons, but it’s also bigger to reflect it’s built in RGB LED, that the shop frosted  the clear acrylic to make it glow like frosted speaker LED rings  

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2 minutes ago, granddaddy55 said:

For my acylic 420 mount that was only the vertical plate that does not have a mounting spot or gear , the install shop made a horizontal acrylic plate behind it and milled both to make a union slot and then screws in pre drilled holes and then secured that plate to dash with brackets I think .  I can send pictures , because it hangs down lower than EQ slot do that it gives material to make the union with horizontal brace and the vertical mount 

It hangs so low I had to mount it to right in the wet drip spot you spoke of for getting out of chair reasons, but it’s also bigger to reflect it’s built in RGB LED, that the shop frosted  the clear acrylic to make it glow like frosted speaker LED rings  

would love to see a pic of that!

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@hawaiianstyln give me an hour or less and I’ll take a pick of back side, I’ll post vid of it in action as well

newyork Fab, an eBay seller made it fir $94 delivered on bid, but all he gives you is the acrylic front plate and a single color LED, snd comes not frosted(i.e. inefficient with light)

Google WS420eq acrylic mount or mount it should come up, though his eBay add picture is terrible 

Edited by granddaddy55
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https://www.facebook.com/100005474021989/posts/930594053799720/

So I was wrong , remember now what they did , removed ignition switch panel , reinforced with some metal or plastic at bolt hole site and screw/bolted  it behind there so mine is verticle 90  degrees to same  vertical surface of reinforced dash no bend necessary , screws on top and front of mount union the horizontal milled plate the EQ is L braced to,

is the bend to angle the zld upwards ? Or necessary to make the union?

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looks like there is a bend at the bottom of the helm of about a 20 degree angle.  Meaning if I tried to flush mount this, the face of the ZLD would be aiming nearly at my face in the driver's seat.  I need to bend that to conform and take the angle away, then a 90 degree bend straight down to get a flat mount.  hope that makes sense.  Those bends seem easy working with ABS now that I've read some of the post on this thread.  Just need to heat it up slowly and whenever I'm ready to make the first bend, hold it over a countertop or straight edge of some sort and bend entire piece all together.

I'm probably making this difficult, but I'm very tedious when it comes to projects like this.  (yoda voice) "A perfectionist I am, look nice it must"

 

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1 hour ago, hawaiianstyln said:

@Ronnie What was this piece for, to screw into the side?

1145819363_2-1-201910-21-05AM.thumb.jpg.20962266c8304b6424a190b72979a155.jpg

That tab bent 90° to mount to the starboard side panel giving you perpendicular mounting locations. One under the dash, one to the side panel. That keeps the EQ and mount from bouncing around.

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2 hours ago, hawaiianstyln said:

I think this might be what I'm looking to accomplish.  Did you bend a 90 on the top of that ABS so you can screw the ABS to the helm?

Nope.  It's just a simple face plate cut to fit the under side of the dash.  I used the angle pieces that came with and attach to the sides of the 420 and just screwed them up to the bottom of the dash - with a screw holding backing plate above the thin dash plastic.  The ABS has nothing to do with holding the unit in place.  In fact, the unit holds the ABS in place.  The brackets hold the unit.

Edited by minnmarker
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I have my ZLD mounted on the left also. I try to keep things simple and mounted a piece of hdpe approximately 9”x12” under the helm and then mounted the ZLD to the hdpe. 

Let me know if you want more details as I’ll be near the boat this weekend. 

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