Component tweeter installation locations on an FC

[JustJeff]

Pete

If I were you I'd fab up something out of fiberglass resin. First cut and tape some cardboard in the shape that will work best for you. Then paint the resin on it with some woven fiberglass. Leave the back that will contact the trim open. Once it's hardened you can take a dremel bit and sand out the cardboard. You can cut a hole for your tweeter and lay some vinyl that matches the interior.

Thats how I was considering doing mine. Then I realized the pods face the tweeters perfectly. That's when sinking one screw each through my door panels was alot more convenient than fabbing up a panel.

[Pete_89T2]

Jeff - I thought about fabbing something out of fiberglass resin, but concluded that with zero experience working with the stuff, I concluded that I didn't have the time to invest to get it right. Would be a great first project though, since it could be done without putting my car down for work.

Brian - I like the idea of using sheet metal on the backsides of the stock triangle piece as you suggest. In my case, one of the triangles is cracked in several places, so I figured laminating some plastic to the outside surfaces would kill 2 birds with one stone. The other thing to consider is the inside surface of the plastic triangle isn't flat - it has at least one protruding "pin" that you would have to drill holes for in the metal, and if the metal is too thick, there may be problems getting it to seat properly. There's also that rubber pad on the backside that would need to be removed & reinstalled over the sheet metal. Not sure if that's really necessary, but I would guess it's there for sound insulation.

Pete

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

Jeff - I thought about fabbing something out of fiberglass resin, but concluded that with zero experience working with the stuff, I concluded that I didn't have the time to invest to get it right. Would be a great first project though, since it could be done without putting my car down for work.

I've been working with the shit for longer than I can remember and there are guys that do much better work with it than I do. There's really only a few tricks to using it, it's mostly just what works best the way you work. I would definately experiment with it though, it's alot of fun. A few tips though

Always wear gloves and clothes you don't care about

never sand without a respirator (those little surgical masks don't cut it)

when you're done... take a COLD shower, as cold as you can stand and don't scrub... just rinse.

When forming shapes, the first one or two layers, use mat, not woven.

after the shape is there, switch to woven or bi-axial

NEVER let it fully harden if you're laminating.... wait until the epoxy starts to kick... if you can run you're fingers over it and drag it a little, but still leave a fingerprint, that's when you apply the next layer. This gives you a chemical bond, not just a mechanical bond. If you let it harden and then apply the next layer, you're left with a mechanical bond and if it's ever going to delaminate, this is where it will happen.

When you move onto the next layer, wet the first layer by appling a coat of resin. If the pieces are small enough that you can wet them out first, do so, I usually have a scrap piece of wood that I'll roll some resin on, put the PRE-cut pice of mat or woven on, roll that into the epoxy, put it on the piece that's getting laminated, then apply a little more resin making sure all the air bubbles are out.

Don't go with too many layers, flexibility is you're friend.

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

Brian - I like the idea of using sheet metal on the backsides of the stock triangle piece as you suggest. In my case, one of the triangles is cracked in several places, so I figured laminating some plastic to the outside surfaces would kill 2 birds with one stone. The other thing to consider is the inside surface of the plastic triangle isn't flat - it has at least one protruding "pin" that you would have to drill holes for in the metal, and if the metal is too thick, there may be problems getting it to seat properly. There's also that rubber pad on the backside that would need to be removed & reinstalled over the sheet metal. Not sure if that's really necessary, but I would guess it's there for sound insulation.

Pete

The other thing to consider would be, would the sheet metal bump the trim piece out so much that it no longer seats properly? I think that rubber/foam piece is there to keep a little tension on the piece to attempt to prevent it from squeking, making noise, etc etc.

My thought, probably didn't explain it well enough, was to use the sheet metal as a backing plate and sandwich the plastic piece between the backing plate and the tweeter..... but as you pointed out, that still leaves the crack to be dealt with.

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by JustJeff

Pete

If I were you I'd fab up something out of fiberglass resin. First cut and tape some cardboard in the shape that will work best for you. Then paint the resin on it with some woven fiberglass. Leave the back that will contact the trim open. Once it's hardened you can take a dremel bit and sand out the cardboard. You can cut a hole for your tweeter and lay some vinyl that matches the interior.

Thats how I was considering doing mine. Then I realized the pods face the tweeters perfectly. That's when sinking one screw each through my door panels was alot more convenient than fabbing up a panel.

Instead of cutting up some cardboard, smear some wax over the stock plastic, then cover it with some wax paper, TIGHTLY. Apply the resin and mat ( I would use mat for the first layer, and woven for subsequent) one time and let it harden. Pop it out and now you have a mold of the original stock piece. From there, the skies the limit with where you can go with it.