advice for custom cover for front speakers...

MTXMAN

Guys i have a 96 saturn SC1 and if you follow the other posts you know that i'm going to put in Diamond Hex component sets. They're nice looking speakers that i'd like to show off but my factory mounting location is a decent amount of area that would need to come off and i need advice on how to fabricate a fiberglass panel for it... here's a link to a pic of what my door panel looks like...

http://www57.pair.com/lane/forsale/panel1.jpg

btw i'll probably try and get a hold of the black grills from the mm6 to use as speaker grilles instead of the diamond grills which are a standard black mesh (bleh )

BradimusMaximus

Thats kinda need, I have a 95 SC2 and I've been working on custom type pods for my speakers in the front. I've done away entirely with the factory part of the door that holds the grill. I used the old dust/water covers and have them bonded to rings of mdf. I used two rings on each side glued together and cut and sanded a bevel so that the speakers now angle up and towards the listener. I also used some super thin foam insulation I had around for a gasket between the speakers and the new mounts. And sprayed undercoating all inside of the things to help dampen back there. And it seals up the MDF from possible water vapor inside the door.

It sounds pretty nice but so far I haven't got it worked out to look all that pretty. Though the 6 and 3/4 pioneer REVs I got in um sound pretty. I'll probably need to glass the door to get it lookin nice too. I'd love to see what you did if you ever get that done.

PoweredByDodge

dude i had no idea you were dumping all this stuff into a saturn.

you're gonna have a hell of a time getting a 2nd alternator bracket for a sidemount engine (sidemount being that the drive belts go 'front to back' instead of 'left to right') ... also - i doubt u have much room under the hood - little cars are usually put together like a big Leggo thing... fit together like a glove in there...

but, more importantly than that, you had better dynaliner / mat / or something the whole inside of that car or that thing is gonna rattle like nobody's business.

I had a couple saturn's apart in my time, and if i noticed anything it was the lack of any good anti-road noise stuff. as well as the fact that the panels are put together in a manner that lends itself to rattling with excessive vibration - as two 2000 watt subs would do (boom bitty boom boom).

might want to maybe get a couple gallons of rhino liner truck bed liner or rustproofing and go over the whole insides of the door panels and just about everywhere u can get -- i'd be tempted to remove all interior panels, spray, and reinstall panels.

BradimusMaximus

I had room underthe hood of mine for a 140 amp alternator. I agree with the sound dampning part though. Road noise is a **** and if I had more power to my sub it would rattle like a ****. the panels just behind the front doors I've treated with undercoating already anyway. The only real advantage of undercoating that its cheap and better than nothing. But more because I have cut and placed into them 3 way memphis 6 x 9s. And I've reinforced the rear deck with mdf and am leaving the factor rear speaker holes opens to essentially let my sub vent into the rest of the car. It helps. I need to make pretty much a big grill now for the rear deck though. And I need to finish the bondo and paint work on the panels for the 6 x 9s. So much to do and so little time. We won't even get started on money. The saturn is not so bad to work with. And not so many people are pimpin out their satties.

I found a 3000 dollar DIY bolt on super charger kit that gives a 4.5 PSI boost and uses stock internals. Waaaay more power and it replaces your airconditioner. One day...

MTXMAN

lol, i value my air too much for that ;D.

PBD i was thinking i'd probably need to cut a hole in my hood and mount the 2nd alt at the top then put a domed cover over it( i know it'll make me look performance when i'm not but oh well)

PoweredByDodge

... a... hole... in ... you... hood..... ..... ... k

you just passed the point of "i'm as crazy as vince" ... you're now into "i'm crazier than vince" -- which is unseen territory as of yet.

sntnsupermen131

speaking of which vince, do you have any pics of your system, i dont think ive ever seen it before
my money order for my amps was recieved yesterday and possibly shipped yesterday...should be here around tuesdayish
-Cody

MTXMAN

when it comes to sound i am one crazy sonofabitch :D

bty i just dumped my girl so now that she's not expecting an engagement ring i can bump up my system plans :D:D

PoweredByDodge

dude if i dumnped my girl i'd be 2500 bucks in the hole for audio equipment --- i gave her way too much car audio for free!!!!

... hence i gotta keep her.


.... cody - dont have any decent pics you'd wanna see yet -- frickin woman wont give me her new nikkon camera to take shots with -- that andthe inside ofmy truck is cigarette stained everywehre....

i promise i'll getpics of my truck, her car, old man's truck and caddy within the month and post on my not-yet-so-finished website

MTXMAN

yeah the biggest single thing i bought for my girl was a $140 emrald neclace which she gave back so i was pretty happy about that ;D

Emerald

Originally posted by MTXMAN
,,,,,,,btw i'll probably try and get a hold of the black grills from the mm6 to use as speaker grilles instead of the diamond grills which are a standard black mesh (bleh )

Just get MM6's

MTXMAN

umm.... i already have them actually and as good as they sound the diamond audio Hex series is a definate upgrade, no offense to polk, i love their gear but they arn't exactly the peak of highend here, i'm just moving up the chain as my budgets get bigger ;D

PoweredByDodge

you know u might wanna look at the kicker 6.5" speaker grilles -- they're mini versions of the sub grilles -- however a "generic" company makes mock versions of them - seem em at a few 'outa the back of a volkswagon' sales and online... look mean - show off a lotta the speaker, and are paintable...

imma see if i can find you a link in the next few days.

Jstas

You want the speakers to be visible, correct?

If so, you are going to have to do so custom work and it may not be easy.

Do those door pokects come off? If so, you might want to try this idea. To get it looking "pretty", you don't want to butcher up the plastic door panels. They are costly to replace. If the door pocket/speaker grille comes off, take it off.

Get yourself some expanding foam and cooking oil spray. Cover the inside of that door pocket with cooking oil spray and then squirt the expanding foam insulation into the back of the removed door pocket. What this will give you is a negative of teh inside of the door pocket. That will be your mold for the fiberglas. The cooking oil keeps teh foam from sticking to the plastic. if you don't want to used oil, lay some thin plastic down in the panel and spray the foam into the plastic. That would be even better because then you could leave the plastic on the foam.

Anyway, lay your fiberglas. It really is easy, just messy and tedious. Take your time and follow directions, you'll be ok. I'd do like 3 or 4 layers of glas fabric. It isn't going to support any real weight.

Now get yourself som MDF. It'll work great as a spacer. Cut some rings to mount to the door of the Saturn to push your woofer out to lay flush with the new panel. Or maybe recessed slightly if you like. Next, take the new door pockets you just built and cut the hole in them for the speaker. Find a grille you like, either that kicker that was suggested or see ifyou can get a 6.5 inch grille someplace else. When you get the grille, take the mounting ring and mark holes where you will drill pilot holes for the grille to be mounted. Drill those holes out large enough to accept a small bolt. On the other side, run a flat washer, a lock washer (if you can find one small enough, if not a star washer will do) and a nut and mount the grilles to the fiberglas grille/door pocket.

Put that aside now. Now take the MDF and layer it to get a decent space if you have to. Bolt that to the door frame using teh stock speaker mounting holes so you don't have to drill new holes. You may need to get longer screw though but you can find something at a hardware store that will work well enough. You should probably coat the MDF with a polyurethane to keep it weather proof. Also, dynamat the MDF on both sides, where the spacer meets the door and the speaker meets the spacer. Now, run your wires and mount your speaker.

When installing things, this may be difficult but it should look snazzy enough. Next, find a color paint or dye to match your interior and cover the new speaker grille/door pocket to match or a contrast if you like. Since teh speaker is mounted, all you have to do is mount the door panel and then the door pocket deal you just made.

If you cover the grille with the same paint, it will all match and look like one piece. You may have to sand the fiberglas before painting to get it looking even.

This is all going on the idea that you want to showcase yet protect the speakers and that the panel and door pocket/speaker grill are removable. You can always find junkyard pieces to make this work too. It is some work but it will be worth it in the end. Take your time with whatever you decide to do though. Rushed projects look like crap.

If that isn't what you are looking for then I'll try again.

MTXMAN

Jstas that's perfect man, i'm thinking about going ahead and doing something similar now for my mm6 woofers in my rear deck (i know it's odd but the woofers are in the rear deck for bass response and the tweeters are in the front for soundstage) one other thing though, what type of paint will work best for fiberglass?

that and i'm definately not gonna rush, i have no problem taking my time and making a couple test grilles first ;D i definately don't want my car looking like trash... no wait i forgot, i already drive a saturn... oh well i can at least avoid making it even less cool ;D it's almost as hard to get respect from your friends when you drive a saturn as it is when you drive a KIA (Korean Industrial Accident) but hey at least it's not a ford ;D.

on the up side as soon as i get my degrees and my psychology career starts paying off it's muscle all the way :D

Jstas

Uh...hmmm...goto an auto parts store and look for car paint that will bond to plastics and fiberglas. I know they have it. If not, a marine supply store should have paint that will stick. Just make sure you rough up the fiberglas surface with a fine grit sand paper. That will give enouh of a texture to help the paint stick.

MTXMAN

cool thanks a lot for the help. btw for another interesting post from brett check the car kit thread in the off topic forum...

Jstas

Yeah, I know, I saw it. They think that I made you up as an "alter ego". Just let them think that, I don't care. They are digging thier own holes.

MTXMAN

ya know if he would look at my other posts he would see that i'm actually verry nice and glad to help people, he just rubbed me the wrong way so with the stressfull month i've had i felt i'd be a good stress relief to f with him, which it has, these posts have been rather fun for me acutally