DIY Speaker Cab refinishing

[retinal orbita]

So I got this Peavey 115 cab FREE when I bought my Peavey Centurion head a while back. It looked like total shit, shitty 90's carpeting, metal grill, cheap wheels, total garbage. Speaker works though. So it's sat for a while in my space as a place for my toolbox, pick and beer. I brought it home last week, ripped the carpet off (I read a bunch of forums about cab refinishing that talked about heat treatments, etc), but I was able to tear this salty fucker apart with my bare hands.

Anyway, I'm planning on sanding it down and using some kind of sealant black paint on it and building a new grill cover out of a sheet of plywood - maybe painting a cool looking skull on the top? Just wondering if anyone has any tips for making an evil looking cab in terms of paint. No way I'm using that expensive special paint that looks like tolex, that's for talkbass people! I want it to look evil and gruesome, but also I like the size so it will fit in the trunk of my car so I don't have to lug a 215 around!

2017-12-10_05-58-19 by noah gadke, on Flickr

[BetterOffShred]

I would certainly make sure you got it down to fairly bare surfacing so whatever you put on sticks. Maybe Rhino lining? That might look slay. Are you saying you're removing the speaker mounting panel and putting in a new one? If you do a grill cover over it maybe metal mesh type stuff, it's been working for Soldano

[JonnyAngle]

I've heard good things about Duratex.
https://www.acrytech.com/product/speake ... kit-black/

From what I've heard, if you don't get the panels clean and flat, the imperfections will show through tolex, paint, stain, everything