Date:         Mon, 31 Aug 1998 22:50:42 -0400
Reply-To:     The Spam God 
Sender:       The Merkur Owners List 
From:         The Spam God 
Subject:      Amplifier Hole Cover (long but good)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hello everyone! I am excited because i just made myself a cover for the
hole below my stereo where my amp used to go, and it looks incre3dible, i
have to share the details with everyone!
The end effect is a clear plate that has the XR4Ti logo on it, with a
silver mesh in the background, and best of all it all glows at night.
Nest step is to add a 3 way switch so i can shut it off and switch it to
blue instead of red... i think i have too much free time...
This may sound really confusing... but i'll take some pictures and you'll
all understand :)

Materials:
1 sheet plexiglass 8x10 clear
1 pkg red 12V lamp assembly from Radio Shack (272-331C)
About 6 inches of silver mesh gutter cover (the shiny stuff with diamond
pattern)
1 hole in the console where the amp used to go
2 screws that held the amp in place
1 engraving tool
1 XR owners manual

What i did:
First i drew an outline of the size i was going to have to cut the
plexiglass, used a razor and the edge of a table and cut the sheet to the
right size. (you make the cut, then place the cut on the edge of a table
with a book on top of it along the cut and push :P)
Next i traced the xr4ti logo onto the plexiglass (keep the clear plastic on
the plexiglass).
Peal the plastic cover off the opposite side of the plexiglass than you
drew on, this is the side you will engrave on... use the engraver to trace
the outlines you just drew.  I chose to fill in the gap between the outside
lines and the inside letters with etching, a much cooler effect in the end.
Now take one of the red lamps out of the package... run out to your car,
and pop the connectors off the mount for the ash tray light bulb, and
squish them down a bit with pliers and hook them to one of the red lamps.
Take some electrical tape and tape the lamp to the bar in the center that
runs along the base of the stereo, so you can't see it when sitting in the
seats...
Then i took the gutter cover stuff and bent it to make a background for the
faceplate... and put in in the amp hole...
Now you just put the plexiclass cover over the hole, drill 2 small holes on
either side of the facelplate in the dash (at right angles to the plate,
close enough that putting in screws will hold the plate in place) and screw
in the screws that used to hold the amp in place.

Voila... you're done...

If any part of this makes no sense please let me know, it's getting late
now and i'm not sure what i'm typing :P