How to build door pods 2 - Merging builds with the door card

Amit · 09-05-2005, 04:43 PM

This tutorial is a continuation of my previous door build tutorial. Many the same techniques have been used so I havent gone into as much detail on certain sections so I advise you read the first tutorial here.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=73733

In this tutorial, I will show you how to build speaker enclosures for your speakers so that they are blended into the door card for the OEM look. The door cards used here are from an Audi S4 but similar techniques can be used on any modern door card.

Rebated mdf speaker ring (see previous tutorial)
MDF battons
Glue Gun
Fleece material
Staple gun (not essential)
Fibre filler
Regular filler
Spray Primer

Here you can see the door card as it started with the existing grille and speakers removed. The original card here is made up of two bits. The frame, and the material covered panel which is stuck to the back of the frame by hot melt tabs. We carefully cut the tabs away so the central panel could be removed.

What you need next is a backing piece to form the back of the pod. In this case, as our surface was flat, we used a bit 4mm ply which we cut to shape. We cut the backing piece to form a nice flowing curve to match the top curve. If you dont have a flat surface, you would have to take a mould of the surface from FG and cut that to shape as per pervious tutorial

This next picture shows the speaker ring in place just to give you an idea of the shape we are going for. The backing piece needs to extend further than the side of the ring so that when we stretch the fleece over it, we have a nice gradual slop upto the speaker ring.

Next we need to attach the backing piece to the frame of the door card. We covered the central panel with masking tape to protect it from the filler. We also roughed up the plastic on the frame with sand paper to provide a better key for the filler to stick to. The backing piece is then stuck to the frame with a healthy amount of fibre filler.

Now that the backing piece is firmly stuck to the frame, we can remove the central panel from the frame.

We then cut away the excess plastic from the door frame that would get in the way of the new speaker. The way this was done was, place the ring in the correct position and spray a light coat of primer round the inside of the ring. This will mark out the central hole so you can cut it out with a jigsaw.

Next you need to attach the speaker ring to the frame of the door card using the mdf battons and hot glue. Cut the battons to give you the required angle. Attach the ring to the frame in atleast 3 places. Here we have used two battons along the one side to give an angled face

Then you need to stretch your fleece tight over the build and secure it using a combination of hot glue and staples. Stretch the material tight so you dont have any creases. Then completely soak the fleece with resin. The fleece really needs to be saturated so the resin soaks through into the other side. Especially around the points where the material is touching the frame as the resin will seap through the material and bond to the frame below.

Amit · 09-05-2005, 04:44 PM

Once the resin has set, you need to cut out the centre. The best way to do this is cut out as much material as you can with a sharp knife, then to get the best finish, use a router with a guide straight bit (laminate trimmer) and wizz round the ring so that the bearing runs round the inside of the ring. This will give you a perfect circle opening.

This is basic part of the build done. We now need to clean away any excess material to give a nice build that isnt going to interfere with any existing parts of the car. As we going to run our speakers free air, we can now cut away our backing piece of wood that we used to form the shape, and any plastic from the old frame that no longer serves a purpose.

Also, as our build merges into the door pocket, we need to block the open portion of the build so that the rest of the door pocket is still useable. We did this by cutting a block of mdf so that is fills the hole and then stick it in place with hot glue. Then the complete rear section of the build was covered with a thick layer of fibre filler. (not shown in the pics)

Now we need to start finishing and blending the front of the build into the original card. For this step, we put the central panel back in place to give us a better idea of the final shape. An angle grinder was used to smooth down the transistion lines between the build and the frame.

A combination of fibre filler and regular filler was used to build up the low spots and to soften the blend between the frame. Fibre filler was used on edges as it is stronger than filler.

Amit · 09-05-2005, 04:45 PM

The complete build was then sanded until smooth, and more filler was added and sanded back as needed.

When we were happy with the final shape and finish, we gave the build a coat of primer. When everything is the same colour, it is much easier to see were more work is needed to fill imperfections and low spots.

Another round of filler and primer later, we are left with the complete builds ready to go to the trimmers.

Big thanks to Jaz (McC) for his help.. and sanding skills

Amit

Woosey · 09-05-2005, 06:11 PM

beautiful! could have posted tehm up finished like

regarding the hot melt tabs.....how do you remove them? what do they look like? ive got some doorcards with material in that i would love to use on the car IF i can change the material insert!!

thanks

chris

Amit · 09-05-2005, 06:21 PM

They are currently at the trimmers.. not sure when they are going to be back so I thought I would post up the pics while I am waiting. I will post final pics once they are back.

The hot melt tabs are basicly plastic pegs on the insert that fit through holes on the frame, then the ends are melted in place to stick the insert to the frame.

Look around the edge of the insert, or post up a pic and I will point them out.. they will look like melted plastic. Cut them off with a sharp knife or drill the tops of and push the panel through.

Once re trimmed, you can glue, screw or FG the panel back in place.

Amit

Keviño · 09-05-2005, 07:45 PM

very good work..

did you not feel it would be beneficial to bulk out some of the back with fibreglass gunk..

also, where you glassed onto the plastic - you keyed the surface with sandpaper. it would have made a stronger join if you drilled a few holes through the plastic for the fibreglass and resin to take into.

all in all, excellent post.

Amit · 09-05-2005, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kw_maher

very good work..

did you not feel it would be beneficial to bulk out some of the back with fibreglass gunk..

also, where you glassed onto the plastic - you keyed the surface with sandpaper. it would have made a stronger join if you drilled a few holes through the plastic for the fibreglass and resin to take into.

all in all, excellent post.

As I said in the faq, we did bulk out the back with the rest of the fibre filler but I didnt get a picture of it.

As for drilling.. yes it would of helped, but as we used staples around all the fixing points for the fleece, I didnt feel the need to.

Amit

winslow · 10-05-2005, 03:50 AM

I hope you have better luck with fiber filler sticking to plastic than I've had...cause it will eventually crack back out.

Other than that looks good.

marko · 10-05-2005, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winslow

I hope you have better luck with fiber filler sticking to plastic than I've had...cause it will eventually crack back out.

Other than that looks good.

me too, not such a big problem if your trimming them but if painting them i would make sure the vinyl is well keyed or removed down to bare plastic 1st. should be ok adhearing to bare plastic.

Amit · 10-05-2005, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winslow

I hope you have better luck with fiber filler sticking to plastic than I've had...cause it will eventually crack back out.

Other than that looks good.

The fibre filler was only used as a quick bond to hold the backing peice, and also to build up thickness on the build.

If you look at the pics, the places I used fibre filler for bonding have been cut out once the build was set.

see this pics

You can see that the stuck portion has been cut out. At a later part in the build, the rear side was completely covered in a thick coat of fibre filler over laping all the joins. This means that the plastic portions are sandwiched between two layers of FG further adding to the strength.

The strength in the bond of the build to the frame comes from the resin soaking into the well keyed vinyl, but mainly from the staples that hold the cloth in place and once the resin is set, form a mechanincal join between the build and the frame as well as the chemical join from the resin.

I am happy that the join is more than strong enough.

saccone86 I dont do them as a full time business, but I am available to do builds at a price. These were done for someone else.

Amit

Euphoria · 10-05-2005, 11:24 AM

just wondering, do mids sound better in proper door pods (like above) compared to just putting them in the stock locations? apart from the fact that you can aim them , wot are the other benefits? does it improve the sound/bass?

Amit · 10-05-2005, 12:00 PM

Benefits of these is you can fit bigger better speakers, you can aim the speakers, and you get much better sound from a solid mount over the usual flimsy oem mount.

Any Mods reading this.. FAQ?

Amit

Orca · 10-05-2005, 12:16 PM

Will you sound deaden the interior of the builds?

Top tips from Amit. I wouldn't have had a clue where to start with mine if it hadn't been for Amits previous door build FAQ.

Amit · 10-05-2005, 01:23 PM

yeah when they are back from the trimmers, they will be dynamated

Amit

danjackson999 · 11-05-2005, 01:35 PM

hi mate

that is one brilliant tutorial.

my door acrds are the same as yours and have a sort of crackled effect.

what i want to know is can these be sanded back so they are like smooth ready to be painted. because i want to paint the door cards the same as the outside of my car when it goes in for the spray job. will i need to use plastic primer?
or am i best off using a layer of filler over the whole door card to smooth it off?

Amit · 11-05-2005, 02:46 PM

best bet is to use an acid etch primer on the card to get a good base.. then cover it in spray filler primer and sand it smooth.

Should be fine to paint them.

Amit

Well guys.. here they are back from the trimmers.

There is the odd place where he could of done a better job but in general the look pretty damn good!