bsharer

I got this aftermarket premade subwoofer box and subs from a coworker for free. I quickly tested it out and it sounded better than the 12" sealed box I had just sitting under the helm. It looked to be a tight fit and thought Id give it a try. I have basic wood working tools. Jig saw, sand paper, square, etc. I borrowed an electric handheld router, 45* bit and straight template bit. My basic goals were: 1. Hide the ports and cover up the box entirely 2. Have as much leg room as I possibly can 3. Come up with a finished layout that matched the rest of the interior 3. Keep it simple

I needed a quick and cheap way to remove the engine, trans and v-drive fluids. 5 gallon bucket w lid small hose fitting to attach hose to bucket inside and out vacuum cleaner/shop vac something for the vacuum hose to attach to bucket It does not need to be overly complicated. Any shop vac or house vacuum with a hose attachment will work. The suction hose/fitting you use needs to seal to the bucket. The flange/pipe/fitting you use to connect to the vacuum hose doesn't have to be completely sealed to work. It helps if it is a snug fit before you turn on the vacuum so you don't have to hold it on the bucket when getting everything set up. I found that allowing some air to enter into the hose from outside the bucket when the vacuum is on will allow the vacuum motor to run cooler. My hose slips over the fitting and rests on the flange of the fitting allowing the outside air. I guess it depends on your shop vac or vacuum used and if you are trying to maximize overall speed of the fluid extraction. I tested with both a 1.5hp vacuum and a 5.0hp vacuum. They both worked, and would pull fluid through the 20' roll of hose that I used. The 5hp distorted the lid more, pulling more vacuum, and pulled the fluid through faster. You just have to keep an eye on the fluid level in the bucket obviously. This is super simple so there is no baffle between the fluid you are collecting and your vacuum source. Here is what I ended up with. A push lock fitting on the outside for the suction hose to connect to, a rubber washer under that, and a fitting inside the lid and rubber washer under that to pinch the two fittings together. You can always put an smaller adapter hos,e on the end of the hose you would generally use, to fit into smaller tubes. A male threaded PVC fitting on the outside & a rubber washer under it, and a female PVC fitting on the inside with a rubber washer under it. You should only need one rubber washer to seal the vacuum hose fittings, but I used two to take up the gap when threading the two fittings together to pinch against the lid. I threaded on a 90* fitting to the inside of the lid on the fluid side so it will drain against the side of the bucket to reduce the chance the fluid would get sucked over to the vacuum source. I drained the engine oil and transmission fluid and there was no sign of any oil film on the vacuum fittings or in the vacuum hose.