Kick panel pods - Finished!

[jperryss]

Hi folks,
Finally finished up my kick panel pods today. This was my first time working with fiberglass and I learned a lot. I'm confident I could do these a lot better next time.

Materials:
1.5 oz fiberglass mat
http://uscomposites.com/mat.html
435 polyester layup resin (w/MEKP hardener)
http://uscomposites.com/polyesters.html
Black grill cloth (for the speaker grills and to wrap the pods for glassing)
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=260-335
5.25" speaker grills, which did NOT fit my mids! I ended up wrapping them in grill cloth and popping them in place. Friction holds them in.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=260-420

Drivers:
Dayton RS28 hard-dome tweeters
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=275-130
Peerless Autosound 5.25" woofers
http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/ind...15347&pid=2036



First, I masked off the entire area (didn't need any resin-on-the-carpet ruining my day):
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00323.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00324.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00325.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00326.jpg

Here's a shot after two layers of fiberglass were laid and waiting to dry. Here, I learned:
a) Resin can RUN, and go further than you might think.
b) This stuff is messy! It's hard to describe, but imagine trying to give someone a haircut while your hands are coated in super-glue.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00327.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00329.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00328.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00330.jpg

Once they dried, I popped them out of the car. As you can see, I went quite a bit bigger than I needed to, and then trimmed 'em down after. Here, I realized that fiberglass is neat stuff, and if you had the time and ambition you could probably make ANYTHING if you really knew how to work with this stuff.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00331.jpg

In this shot, the MDF rings were mounted (no pics of those, sorry) and the pods were wrapped with grill cloth and coated with resin. This was the end of the first day, I let these cure overnight.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00332.jpg

The next day, I put another layer of fiberglass on. This was harder than I was expecting, because of all the curves. Once that cured, I trimmed out the speaker openings using a cutting wheel and an air dremel. I then shot them with a coat of grey paint. You can see them here, as well as the vent I cut directly behind the woofer:
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00333.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00334.jpg

Finally, I carpeted them and installed the drivers. I found an excellent match for the stock carpet at a local upholstery shop, and it costed me only $6 for a 48"x24" piece, which was more than enough to do both pods. Unfortunately the carpet was really thick and kinda tricky to wrap around those tight corners. Next time I do these, I will look for thinner carpet.

Here's what they look like installed:
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00337.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...s/DSC00339.jpg

I tested these out at different angles before wrapping them, and here's where they sounded the best. Once installed they did not sound as good, my stage seems a lot lower than when I was testing. I was thinking maybe the MDF rings got skewed a bit when the resin hardened, but all of the dowels I used to hold them in place looked intact. I still need to play around with them a bit, but I'm glad the hard parts are done.

As I said above, this was my first time and these came out less-than-perfect (both cosmetically and acoustically). I learned a few things and if I decide to tackle these again in the future, I know I can do better. But for now, they will do!

[Ajaxus]

not bad for a first time! now do me a favor and steam clean those carpets...

[Graxall]

u cuda bought these
http://www.pfyc.com/store/merchant.m...ory_Code=GAINT
and refabricated them for a better fit but thats definately a great DIY job on the speakers!
+1 for creativity..

[Mendoza]

Hmm... shouldn't of rushed the finished product i think it could have looked a lot better then it does. But like graxall said +1 for creativity.

[jperryss]

Originally Posted by Graxall

u cuda bought these
http://www.pfyc.com/store/merchant.m...ory_Code=GAINT
and refabricated them for a better fit but thats definately a great DIY job on the speakers!
+1 for creativity..

Thanks. I thought about it, but my RS28 tweets would've NEVER fit on those Q-forms.

[jperryss]

Originally Posted by Mendoza

Hmm... shouldn't of rushed the finished product i think it could have looked a lot better then it does. But like graxall said +1 for creativity.

Hey, I admitted they were ugly!
These were more an experiment (on several different levels) than anything. I wasn't expecting them to come out perfect. Now I know what to do (and not do) if/when there is a next time. In the meantime, they sound a lot better than the having only tweets up high and 6.5s in the doors, so they will stay.

[Mendoza]

I hear ya man every audiophile has to start some where. I am sure they sound a lot better with them in there ugly or not.

[caraudiodave]

well i commend you for trying. next time, put several layers of bondo over the 'glass to smoohte it out a bit, then cover it, itll be much easier and look smoother.

whenever i make kick panels i always trim back the stock plastic pieces and fiberglass directly onto those. you can do that by cutting the plastic, cutting some carpet back, and then making the rear portion. that gives you more volume and eliminates the need for a port and makes them more low profile.