As promised to Dad for all of his hard work, here are the pictures that were taken along the way. This turned out to be a much more labor intensive project than either one of us anticipated, but the visual results were well worth it.
This is a picture of one of the crossovers before the caps were replaced:
This is a picture of one of the crossovers after all the work was done. Note all of the nice bending Dad did on the point-to-point work. We considered it to be such a shame to hide this work inside the cabinet, but oh well:
This picture is a before and after replacement of the speaker post on the crossover board. We never really liked the spring loaded clips, and these binding post from Parts Express were exactly the same size, and of a much better build quality:
This is a shot of the custom built bases that Dad made for the Walsh's. 1 1/8" thick particle board with a black laminate. We also thought that it would be a better idea to have a binding post on the back of the base to connect the speaker cable. This way, should they ever need to have a longer run of cable, or need to be moved, it would be easier to do. They also have fittings on the bottom for spikes. We didn't take any pictures of those, but I'm sure if I ever live in a place where these speakers would be on a carpeted floor, they will most certainly be used:
This is a nudie shot of the cabinet. Dad decided that the entire inside should be gutted, save for the port tube, and start over from scratch:
These are the original horizontal braces that supported the sides of the cabinet. Originally, we were going to reuse these, but after realizing that they were rough cut, cut unevenly, and the considerable effort it would have taken to remove the hot melt, Dad decided to just cut new ones and start over:
These are the replacements. Dad went with pocket screws to secure them to the sides of the cabinet, with a single line of hot melt to prevent them from potentially rattling against the cabinet wall, as well as the unlikely scenario of the pocket screws from coming loose:
This is a comparison shot of the vertical braces. The one on the left is the replacement, while the one on the right is the original. It wasn't really supporting anything (the hot melt had come loose), and well, as all of the other ones were being replaced, why not replace this one?:
This is how nice a Freud Diablo blade can cut. The board on the left is the original brace, and the right one is it's replacement:
This is a picture of the crossover and the vertical brace in the cabinet. We decided not to use hot melt to secure the crossover in the cabinet, but rather 5/8" screws with washers. Dad used a closed cell foam around the opening on the bottom of the cabinet (where the binding posts are) to keep the crossover board from rattling in the cabinet:
If you have been following this thread, then you have seen the picture of the original sound insulation that was in this cabinet. Rather than have one layer of fiberglass insulation, there are several layers. This layer dampens the bottom of the cabinet:
This is the second layer of insulation. I took and cut a 10" X 10" square of R-11 and split into two pieces, so it was half as thick, with the third layer going on top of the braces. Also note how nicely the braces mate with the inner cabinet walls. Also note how the top surface of the cabinets looks, as this was sanded down and repainted (you'll see the new finish in a couple of pictures):
This is a shot of the tops of the cabinets sanded down for painting-and Trixie, the shop mascot:
This is a picture of one after the paint dried:
This is a close-up shot of the binding post after the bases were attached:
