Midgate enclosure - glass storage and trim

I've been browsing through several threads and haven't found quite what I'm looking for.  Lots of good boxes on here but some of the threads are old enough that pics are removed. 

I'm looking to put together a box for a single 12" sub.  Simple enough, and building the box is no trouble.  I'm looking forward to the project but wanted to see if I could get some plans or insight before beginning.

The glass today stores in  a couple "groves" with spin locks in the upper corners.  I want to retain this functionality if at all possible and to simply build into the area behind where the glass stores.  I know the entire midgate needs replaced and making that entire wall is no big deal.  The questions I have are...

* do the latest that hold the midgate closed (at the top of the gate) simply remove and reattach to the new wall that I build?
* is there any way to remove the plastic pieces and reuse them just for the sake of keeping a similar look?  Or will the latches and stuff need to be out in the open and visible?
* is there way to retain the glass spin locks??

If I remember right that wall is 53.5 x 21.5 inches with some rounded edges.  The floor hinges look straight forward.  The box itself is straight forward and I have an idea for distributing weight over the top of my bedslide.  My largest concern is how to retain the glass storage and gate locking capabilities and those are the things I'm struggling to find pics of.  My hope is to load this thread up with pics so that I can get ideas for how to do this.  Any actual plans would be helpful too.

I'll simply bedline the box to keep water off of it.  I don't have any trouble with my bed leaking so I'm not too concerned but will play it safe.  I park in a garage at home and work.

TIA!

Andy

Andy,

aharper said:

* is there way to retain the glass spin locks??

Click to expand...

Building a new midgate and box for you subs isn't terribly complicated if you have a bit of carpentry skills, however, maintaing the glass stowage area may be more than can be desired.  in the event that you figure out a way to store the glass on the new gate, regardless of placement, your glass will be over the sub, even if you space it out far enough that under full excursion the sub surround or cone won't hit the glass, I'd still be concerned with cracking or damaging the glass from the pressure generated by the sub.

aharper said:

* do the latest that hold the midgate closed (at the top of the gate) simply remove and reattach to the new wall that I build?

Click to expand...

Yes, you just need to pad out enough to mount re-mount the existing latches on the new gate.
see my pictures here, page 7
http://chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php/topic,73523.150.html

aharper said:

* is there any way to remove the plastic pieces and reuse them just for the sake of keeping a similar look?  Or will the latches and stuff need to be out in the open and visible?

Click to expand...

You may be able to re-use the plastic, you may like the clean look of whatever you build better though, I didn't retain any of them.

Just looked through your thread and your right, no trim will probably work best for a cleaner look.  Do you have dimensions for anything?  Or once I get it apart will everything be pretty straight forward?  I have some build experience and am fine with the carpentry of everything, just want to take advantage of someone else's experience where possible.

Looks like the latches and hinges just bold right onto the new board, simple enough.  I'll think through the glass thing.  There would have to be some serious bass/movement to break the glass and what I play isn't going to be that loud or demanding... I'm more interested in building clean for low-mid volume than going really loud. 

I found the sub I want on another forum and am waiting for a response to buy.  Once that works out and arrives I will begin the project.  I'm not seeing this being more than a weekend's worth of work and am looking forward to it.  I'll start looking for carpet and the connector now.

I do not have any dimensions, sorry.
I simple removed the old gate, set it on a sheet of MDF, traced it and made a rough cut with the circular saw, then trimmed with the jig saw until it fit. I then added the additional pieces for the hinges and latches from there

Just following up on this.  This project is turning out to be more simple than I thought it might be.  The new gate is installed.  The back is primed and bedlined.  The box is built other than waiting on the sub to cut the opening.  The sub should arrive this week.

I bought some carpet from Home Depot.  I am not yet sure if I am going to relocate my amp/cap into the midgate yet.  My guess is that I will decide to do it so I went ahead and bought some couplers this past week to extend the wiring.  So far so good, other than I found I was missing a hinge when I got into everything.  Simple project that should be very rewarding in the end.

One last follow up...

I still need to do some minor work to this, remove some temporary staples, etc.  For added safety in the bed I put some right angle trip over the top of the box and caulked it all up good just to make sure that water couldn't seep in front of the box somehow.  If it does manager to get in it will simply shed to either side of the box which was primed and bedlined. 

I also need to add some brackets to hold the glass in place back there... I'll do that as I need to remove the glass sometime in the spring.

looking good so far!