Door Pods
 

I was planning on having these made.. but since I have copious amounts of free time, I guess I can try my hand at fiberglassing my own.

I just want to learn some basics off veterans, before I start. I'm currently waiting for my membership on fiberglassforums to be validated...


So... what do I need to know? How do you guys go about doing this?


I'm guessing:
Remove current speaker pod
make mounting points/baffle??
Spray glue fleece and stretch it to cover
Coat with resin
Cover with more fleece/resin??

also.. i've heard that people use bolts on the back, to anchor the new pod down... and i don't see how/where they do that?


If I do successfully make a pair (functional and asthetic) I may make molds out of it, to be able to produce some a little quicker. If people are interested. Just don't hold your breath.

possible interest, i am sill stock stereo though, i want to go like, 8 speaker, amped with 4 tweeters and 1 small sub later on though, so these might be a good investment

Why?:lol:

idk, cuz i dont know shit about car stereo's, i tried installing some into my old escort, that was a HUGE fail, they just sat in the door...... not even bolted.... i suck:lol:

ok.. so after drilling out the rivets on one of the doors... i think i might get how the bolts work.

take the door itself, put some mat down, put the bolts through that (still in the mounting holes) glass it, then fleece over top and glass it again? gives a good backing w/ mounting points?

but if i was to do that.. how to i attach said backing to the front half that'll hold the speaker?

also... do i just make a ring baffle to sit underneath the fiberglass, so the speaker has a mounting point? How do i know what angle i want the speaker tipped at?

Sounds like what I did cherry.. just drill holes where you want studs in the back, put the screws in, glass over top of them, then you can slide it into holes in the door and put nuts on the rear to hold it.

so.... how do i affix that piece to the actual frame portion that'll hold the speaker?

Here's a pic of my mounting bolts:


I just had the panel laid onto the door when I drilled the holes.. that way those studs go right through the holes ready to get their nuts put on.

Also, instead of fleece, use something more like spandex (but a little thicker). Fleece makes the object loose some of its shape and also sucks a lot of resin. You stretch the fabric, coat it with resin, then let it cure. Once it's hard you take your fiberglass mat and start wetting layers of it onto the hard shell you created. For audio panels I'd do 2 or 3 layers prolly.

Our pods are separate pieces. They fit onto the door panel with plastic pegs which @ assembly get melted over to permanently attach it.

So to take the pods off just drill the pegs out. Thats your punting points then.

1/2" MDF seems to be material of choice when it comes to small panels. Get the base correct, use some small carriage bolts with the square that digs into the wood. Then cut speaker rings. Stretch GILL CLOTH over the assembly and resin it up. Then fiberglass from the inside if possible. Dont use Fleece- takes to much resin and is to thick.

Keep plenty of paper towels and ACETONE to clean your hands with...

2-3 layers... of mat?

and for direction.. i've seen sites say the passanger speaker should point toward the driver's ear, and vice versa... any truth to this?

Yea.. it'll end up about 1/8" thick then.. give or take. Basically just until it isn't flimsy, lol.

Also.. latex gloves work miracles if oyu don't want to be cleaning your hands.

ok... so fleece is out. gill cloth? where do i find that?

and i'm not so sure what you mean about "get your base correct"?? you lost me there.

It's the cloth they use for speaker grills. In all reality, anything that's super stretchy (in 4 directions) and thin will do fine.. just go to a fabric store and browse the clearance stuff.

I think he means cut out a piece of wood for a good base and get the shape you want and make sure it mounts up good before you start fiberglassing.

about how much resin/hardener per pod? (how much should i buy)

so... i gotta make the whole skeleton outta mdf, then stretch the fabric over it, resin the fabric, then 2-3 layers of mat, on the inside?

would it be better to have a bigger wood ring, mounted just above the actual mounting ring, so the whole thing sits flush?


so.. with the pod removed, what do i do to make a funtional skeleton for the setup? its rather curvy... i figured i'd lay it over the existing to get the shape... but that seems to be opposite of the advice i'm getting here. (btw, i'm at work.. so i can't research it much beyond what i'm getting here)

here's the reverse mount I was talking about


vs flush mount


basically reverse will cut off what you see at the surround.. and flush just sinks it into the panel, you'll still see the screws

i'm ditching the pocket. no reason to keep it. (i have different glow ideas in store)

well... i want to use the original speaker grill... so i'm thinking of recessing it, so when the grill is on it, the grill will be flush. (so the speaker will be recessed back like 1.5")

Ah yea if you want a grill flush is the way to go.

Make and shape the base. Attach it to the door until it looks right. Make your rings. Use Dowel rods and hot glue to get the rings where you want. Reaasemble and check it in the car for it/function.

Grill cloth can be bought at Joann Fabrics. $10 a yard, 54" wide though (54"X36")

thats where i get confused.

so i lay cloth down inside the hole (where the plastic pod used to be) put the bolts through it, and put resin on that... wait for it to try, put more fabric(or do i use mat here?) over the heads of the bolts and re-resin?

then after that is dry, i make the skeleton over that, and then mat on the inside and the seam where the two pieces meet?

how do i go about leaving a hole for the back of the speaker to fit through, when i'm matting the bottom?


my main confusion isn't on how the skeleton/speaker part is going to be done, but how i'm going to affix the bolts into the setup, so the entire assembly can be removed, if need be. If i'm covering the outside, and wrapping around, i'd think the threads on the bolts would be covered. but if i mat in two halves, i don't know how i'm leaving a space for the speaker.... if any of that makes sense. Its gotta be something stupid that my brain just isn't putting in proper order.

although i did just see on a site, that after the original cloth was resin'd they drilled holes where the bolts go, and recessed them in.. then matted over that. that... doesn't seem right. how would you fill the recessed holes where the bolt heads are?

No, you want to try and use wood to fasten to the door panel itself.

So door panel, wood, bolts, skeleton, fabric, glass.