DRILLING AND MOUNTING THE ENCLOSURE.
I started by drilling out the two holes for the power button and charge port. I didn’t measure anything on this step, just eyeballed the position on the angled face of the enclosure. Fed it through and secured it with the locking nuts.
Next I centered my enclosure on the deck, focusing on the edges all around to check for even spacing. Once I was satisfied, I used 4 C-clamps to hold the enclosure down around it’s 4 corners. If you use the c-clamps upside-down, you end up with a nice built in self standing setup. The clamps will compress the enclosure flush with body of the deck to prepare for drilling the holes.
I used a white chalk pencil to mark the drilling locations on the leather around the enclosure. With a small bit, I went around and drilled out some pilot holes going straight through the enclosure until I made slight contact with the deck, enough to mark the deck and deep enough to rest the final larger drill bit in later. I removed the 4 clamps and set the enclosure aside. I now have “starter holes” for the enclosure and deck in place ready to widen.
Insert screws: M6 x Furniture Hex Drive Flat Head Steel Screw Nut Threaded For Wood Insert. These insert screws are super easy to put in with the hex key built into them. (I’ve done other inserts without the hex slot that require the extra anchor nut/bolt… probably won’t go back seeing how easy this was to work with)
Enclosure bolts : JDMFresh - CNC Billet Aluminum Engine Bay Fender Washer Bolt Dress Up Kit with 6mm x 10mm bolts
In drilling out the deck for the insert screws, I tested the closest looking drill bit size on scrap wood to confirm that the insert screw fit snug. To consistently know how deep to drill, wrap a piece of blue painters tape around tip of the drill bit at leeeassst the same length as the insert screw, you can go deeper if your bolts are longer, but be sure to check the length of your taped drill bit tip against the thickness of your deck. Obviously, you will want the tip to be shorter than the thickness of the deck so you don’t drill all the way through.
There are two schools of thought on whether to drill out the holes perpendicular to the deck, or drill perpendicular to the face of the enclosure. I kind of a did a half and half and it worked out great. This angle of the drill bit was all eyeballed as I hand-held the drill. With the final drill bit depth marked with tape, I followed all my previously marked pilot holes and slowly drilled down until the blue tape started to “sweep” the pile of wood chips away around the hole. This was a visual indicator that the drill bit has gone deep enough for the insert screw.
I applied RED loctite to the outside of the insert screw threads by squeezing the fluid on a q-tip first, then pressed the wet q-tip against the threads of the insert screw. I also repeated this step for the inner walls of the holes I drilled out of the deck. This coated everything evenly and cleanly without having to deal with extra runs and drips. I went back to the enclosure and widened the pilot holes out with the same larger bit.
***Things to look out for: Try to avoid getting red loctite on the inside threads of your inserts, you’ll want to use blue loctite in there. The step to loctite the inserts screws into the deck is not always required, but it will always help prevent the insert from backing out of the deck later. 2 part Epoxy is also applicable to REALLY set this inserts into the deck. Anything to prevent repeat work is smarter to address properly up front 
Once you place the enclosure back on the deck to start bolting it on, don’t keep screwing if you start to feel extreme resistance, you’ve bottomed out the bolt and it’s pressing against undrilled wood, you will simply need to use shorter bolts.
THE ASSEMBLY
I started by securing the drop through baseplates to the deck. This step is easiest to do when the deck is light weight and still bare of any components. I cut some dense neoprene strips to make a gasket between the hard surfaces of the baseplate and deck. I don’t mean to make height adjustments so I didn’t use risers. I only mean to creates a barrier between hard surfaces that may rub and creak so this neoprene did the job.
Here we can see the baseplate sitting nice and flush within the deck. You can see the mistakes I made around the cutout of the baseplate - I’ll share my solution on cleaning that up in bit.
With the hangers off of the baseplates, now was the time to upgrade my stock bushings and pivot cups. Shoutout to Brad and Tracy @Riptidesports for helping me sort out the setup of the new Krank bushings and pivot cups!
I provided Brad with a description of my desired riding style and body weight. This build is meant to be a mellow carver/cruiser for my weight of 175lb. Brad was amazing with his time emailing the information I needed to help me pick the right bushing combinations. The ride is amazingly smooth, nimble and without wobble. I created this diagram as a visual confirmation with Brad to illustrate the final bushing setup before placing the order. I hope other DKP riders will find it useful.
The pivot cups all swapped out. (If you order through riptide, they are “Evolve dimensions”)
Here are the new bushings in place.
Front
Rear
The wheel options for the direct-drive kit allow for both Kegel or Abec style cores. Inserting and removing the wheels from their corresponding adapters requires minimal effort. The supplied adapters feel very well built and the fitment is very precise with zero slop.
My two wheel options on hand are the 90mm Popoca and the 120mm Foamie/Clouds. Here you can see the stark difference in their mass and volume.
The wheels bolted to the hangers, and hangers mounted to the baseplates.
***Things to note : For these bushings, the starting point for KranK adjustment is just tight enough to remove all the slop then you have about 2 full turns of the king pin nut to adjust to your desired ride feel.
I custom ordered my battery through a company called online called Unitek.
The Samsung 30Q 10s4P
The battery was secured to the bottom of the deck using two strips of 3M dual lock tape. It functions like heavy duty velcro…
The same process was used to hold the ESC in place. I chose the Hobbywing ESC and remote combo as I already had experience with it’s quality and performance. It was also the fastest route to a smooth plug and play experience to get my DDs and 120mm wheels up and running. The antenna wire can be seen temporarily held down with the blue painters tape.
The antenna wire coming off of the ESC ends in wide adhesive “antenna band.” I stuck it to the inside curve of the truck cutout and reinforced the solder point with a bead of black hot glue. I chose this location as it is well exposed for great wireless connectivity, while also being well protected from any scrapes/bumps/snags.
Here is the space available for the plugs and wires. I had to rough out some channels for the cylindrical bodies of the charge port and power button, in order to close the enclosure flat and flush with the deck. (This is not required modification for this deck and enclosure combo, it just happened for me this way because of the location i decided to place my power button and charge port.)
All the quick connection plugs for the motors and sensor wires clipped in quickly to the ESC. The power button clipped into the esc. The charge-port clipped into the battery. And lastly, the battery plugged into the ESC. (I had wiring and an LCD battery meter ready as well but decided I did not care to install it. While not as precise, the remote also has a battery indicator so I passed on installing it on the board for now) With everything all plugged in, it was time to secure the enclosure to the deck. In the process of putting in the enclosure bolts, I felt the fender washers were too large and visually distracting…The leather wrap of the enclosure acted as a “washer” between the head of the bolts and the body of the enclosure naturally. So I removed the fender washers from the equation and tightened the bolts in to finish mounting the cover.
The last bit of work was around the drop through baseplates. I went back to mask off the deck around the baseplates and using permatex gasket maker, I filled in my mistakes and gaps to create a solid rubber barrier between the baseplate and the deck.
This helped to cover up my routing overshoots, and make the surface appear visually seamless. Now, debris can’t fall into the gaps and it presents much cleaner! (The permatex is very firm but flexible. It would be very simple to release with an X-acto blade slice around the perimeter of the baseplate. (I would later return to paint the permatex with a coat of black enamal paint.)
THE SAFETY GEAR
My helmet is the Bell SUPER 3R MIPS.
MIPS stands for Multi-directional Impact Protection System. I love how truly ventilated this full face helmet is. In southern California, the weather can be pretty warm year round, and I have never felt stuffy inside this set. The air is always flowing very nicely through all sides, especially the forehead and brow ridge. I appreciate how the flip buckles allow me to quickly release or lock on the lower chin bar. The helmet is extremely light weight for the amount of protection it gives.
Forcefield Sport Jacket 1.
I chose this armored base layer for its flexibility, breathability, and being so light weight.
The shoulder armor and elbow armor are substantial in coverage and rated CE1. The back armor is rated CE2.(CE stands for Conformité Européene, which translates to European Conformity.
CE ratings explained in under 3 minutes.
Bodyprox Knee Pads. Burton Wrist Guards.
These last two pieces are also very light weight and simple for me to wear. The easier and less bulky the protection is, the more likely I am to carry it and use it. Always use it.
After one last polishing pass on the deck, I called it DONE!!!
Thanks to all who participated in the read!!!
I hope at least a handful of new builders find enough information in this thread to feel ready to tackle their own project! Feel free to ask questions along the way!
Please enjoy the following photos I took of the finished board - The Acoustic.
THE RIDE!!!
It is so smooth and so quiet! These wheels are extremely grippy! The direct drive motors are much more quiet than I anticipated. The flex of the ride doesn’t come primarily from the actual deck itself, but more from the DKP bushing stacks. I didn’t know what to expect but I really like the feeling! The “carvability” is very controlled and very surfy with the Krank bushings. (It feels very similar to a mid length 6’5" surfboard I have in my quiver.) The board can lean nice and deep around sharp corners while staying confident and firm in faster straight lines. I experienced zero speed wobble when bee-lining to max speed of 31/32 mph with the 120mm wheels. The brakes are extremely smooooth and predictable! It is what I love best about the hobbywing programming curves. For my personal riding area and style, I prefer my brakes to never lock. You can truly “slam” on the brakes and get a very smooth and powerful deceleration without being bucked off the front. The ride height tackles all the dips, cracks, and bumps of my usual paths with so much ease and SO MUCH COMFORT! I am in love with these wheels. Even in medium speed mode, all the slopes of my neighborhoods were climbed with plenty of torque and speed. I anticipated a loss in launch power with the larger wheels, but that was definitely not the case for me. There is more than enough torque for the way I usually cruise. “The Acoustic” is my perfect board.
I have been riding the deck “gripless.” With the combination of my rubber soles and the gloss surface of the deck, it’s been a fine amount of grip for me. The feeling is similar to basketball court grippy’ness with clean shoes. I fully understand that I may need to update that with glass frit in the future, but right now I love looking at that NAKED Ziricote grain and carbon fiber.
Happy safe riding 
-Don Ta