Building speaker pods

Work Shop Articles about Car Audio
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troyrotor
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Building speaker pods

Post by troyrotor »

ok well i havnt got many pics but ill explain as best i can.

well here goes.
this is what were making.
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well first of all we need to have a plan, so for this example. im wanting to put a set of 6.5 inch splits in my front door cards and a set of 6x9's in the tailgate.

we need a base to attach the pods too so this will be what ever you want it to look like. i wanted just the speaker and twitter in the front bottom corner of the doorcard. so i used a triangle sort of shape. i wanted round corners. for the rear i wanted to fill the entire area the stock door car fitted, the back was a bit harder as the base had to be curved to suit the shaped of the tail gate. just look on the net at other styles to base your design. if you were doing a sub box you would build the base and leave the rest to be covered. make sure the base is quite strong as when tightening the material the sides may rise and not fit properly as mine did using 4mm ply.

next is to decide where you want to place the speaker. i figured out the tilt i wanted, this was important in the tailgate as i wanted the speakers to aim towards the headrests in the front. i think the bottom was out around 4inches and 1 at the top.

so we need to have speaker rings to fit the speakers, i cut my own out of mdf but you can buy the spacers from most car shops. if cutting your own make sure the outside edge is nice and smooth as any lumps or valleys will largely effect the finish and will require more bog.

now position the speaker rings where you want the speaker to sit using some mdf as spacers. and glue the rings in place and trial fit on the car to make sure you happy with it(pics from google)
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with the tweeters i did the same thing but added a smaller ring above the speaker ring. make sure both sides are the same too.

once your happy with the location and angle and all that its time to cover. i used fleece which is tracky dack material its pretty strechy and quite thick so when soaked with resin it didnt require fibreglassing.

so using the fleece stretch it over the ring and staple it on the back of the base. by stretching in different places you will find you can change the curves. obviously the tighter you pull the flatter it will become. try pulling in different directions to get the effect you want. (any stretching material can be used, i used bike pants for my guages as i needed to follow some small tight curves)
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if your happy mix up some fibreglass resin and soak the crap out of it, ensure the fleece is soaked fully to get the full strength. any extra around the edges can only help join it to the timber better so dont be cheap. if you used a thinner material or making a sub box you will require to use fibreglass to make it stronger. use a chop strand mat as it is easiest to mould over shapes. i would say 2 layers for small pods and 4 or 5 for a subbox. just go by your own judgement on that.

once fibreglassed we need to smooth out the finish, i wanted to make mine slightly thicker so i used bog rather than sanding the fibreglass back to much as this would also reduce the strength.
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for my fronts i first glued the pods to my door cards and bogged the edge between the pod and the door card smooth.

sand and shape as you want, follow standard panel work methods for smoothing. now its ready for paint, i used a white acyrlic for mine. but you can either paint, carpet of vinal. whatever you want. and dont forget to cut a hole behind for the speaker magnet to fit through into the door. with mine i made a mould that would fit into the hole and around the magnet to seal the chamber from moisture. and for better sound and less vibrations in the door.

and here is the end result.
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this is the dash i fibreglassed. i filled the sections i didnt want and covered in fleece and bogged. turned out ok i reckon
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Last edited by troyrotor on Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Metalhead_07
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Post by Metalhead_07 »

Nice write up... Just got a question with the door trim how did yu make it so the bumps from the clips didn't show up?
Cheers
Woody
troyrotor
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Posts: 1016
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:03 am
Location: gold coast RIP MANWELL we will always remember you

Post by troyrotor »

oh right i forgot to add that in. its pretty complicated.

my door card is made of 2 x 4mm mdf. ive used the original clips (can buy at repco etc.) on the stock door card the stock clips work by having the clip on either side of the card and then covered by vinal/carpet.

because i wanted the smooth finish and obviously no tops of the clips sticking through. so i put all the clips in the right locations sticking through this was to be the hidden layer.

i then used a router to skim around 1mm deep at every location where the clips would sit. so i wouldnt have a lump under the top layer. i then glued the two together.

the bottom layer didnt go all the way to the bottom of the door, only to the small lip where the originals stopped. the top layer than ran the entire way down. i ran a couple screws into the door behind the speaker too.
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Metalhead_07
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Post by Metalhead_07 »

Hey with the pod you made for your tailgate have you got any close up photos of how it is mounted.. Is it just screwed to the tailgate or something else..
Thanks
Woody
troyrotor
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Location: gold coast RIP MANWELL we will always remember you

Post by troyrotor »

well i tried to mount it using the stock clips but the board i used as the backing didnt curve enough so i needed to pull it in a little.

ive just put a screw in each corner and 1 in the middle. make sure you reinforce the area where you put the screws otherwise they will rip out when you shut the boot
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Cazz
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Post by Cazz »

Just a quick question, If I make these style pod's for my doorcards, Do I need to do the fabric and resin stuff before I send it off to be carpeted?

Can it be carpeted once these are on?

Can these pod's be carpeted so it matches my door card?

Cheers.
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You put you left foot in, You put your right foot in , You take your left foot out and you slide it all about!
troyrotor
Long Term Member
Posts: 1016
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:03 am
Location: gold coast RIP MANWELL we will always remember you

Post by troyrotor »

do you mean the fabric and resin i did behind the speaker? If so... That was to create a sealed enclosure it keeps water from inside the door killing your speakers, it also plays a large part in sound quality, the sealed enclosure helps with resonance and also gives the speaker diaphram back preasure much like having the right size exhuast system, if its too big the speaker wont work correctly and may cause the speaker to blow, if its too small its like having a restriction agaain causing the speaker to fail.
So if your are planning to do this definitly do it before covering with vinal or carpet cause you will make a huge mess.

As for covering yes vinal and carpet are fine and you can definitly make them match. Just make sure if you vinal them the surface is perfect as if you were going to paint, any imperfections will show through the vinal.
Carpet doesnt have to be as perfect but if you want a good job have a good base tp start with
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