Fiberglassing dashboard, speaker pods

Melted fabric definatly knows sources. Theses all might be great. I worked at select for a short time as an instructor and the dvd's they offer are very informative. I don't know about the other companys he posted links to but might be worth a checkout.

There are some materials that you don't really need to get from these companies as they tend to overprice. For example you can get fleece at any local rag shop or fabric store. Other materials are readily available at home depot, lowes etc. For pods that don't really require ultra thick enclosures an old tee shirt has done great for me and dry with a smoother surface then fleece or "mold fabric" and stronger then grill cloth. You can reinforce any flimsy areas with fiberglass matting. 

you can buy resin at most autoparts store beware as but the stuff does have a shelf life. The last time I bought resin from an autoparts store I guess it was a return. some rocket scientist must have just opened the can and dumped the entire tube of hardner into the resin as the first 1/4 of the can was pretty gunky and solid. They took it back but still it was time and travel inconvience.  Selects resin is date coded and they also offer resins that don't have the strong odor. Although I love the smell it is strong and depending on where you are glassing it could be an issue.

For anything you plan on wrapping with vinyl if you have the need for something flexible I have had great results with selects "Heat formable vinyl". Other then stitching this stuff will strech like taffy when heated properly with a heat gun, great for tight areas. You must use the special glue they sell for this which requires an glue gun. The great thing is you can spray the vinyl, then spay the piece.  after that it doesn't matter how long you wait to wrap it since heat activates the glue. Once the piece is wrapped do not let it cool until you are satisfied with the results because it will stick and hold its shape indefinatly. 

anyhow good luck with it and post your progress.

This is my passenger front door

This is my rear passenger door

Like i said i want to put some speaker pods in my doors to hold my component speaker. Im going to have the whole door wrapped in leather to match the interior im getting. So now that u can see the door does anyone have any advice that you could offer me on how to make my vision come true. Sorry the pics arent A1 im in the process of getting a better camera. Thanks

The rear door has tons of room but the space on the front door seems limited. You might want to consider doing kicks as the pods can aim upwards and forwards.  Because the distance between the left and right speakers will be more equidistant from the listener the staging will be better.

If you have your heart set on the front doors you will obviosly need to modify or remove completly the arm rest and modify to house any switches and the door release handle.

Make  templates out of cardboard to get the shape you want. copy this onto wood, space out your ring mount(s), wrap, resin, reinforce, sand/fill/sand and cover with vinyl.

Thats about it in a nut shell.

ok , just use the same technique and put the 5.25's wherever you want.

as far as just wrapping the dash in fleece and resining it,  I don't think it would work like that. You must do some framing and have good surfaces to staple the fleece to. 

I have never tried to just coat a dash with resin, sand/fill and paint it. If this could be done it would be easy for you. But I don't know if the dash material is porus enough for resin to stick well. Might be worth a shot if you are doing the custom dash anyhow you don't need to worry about ruining it.

Maybe someone else has tried that and can post if it works or not.

I don't have alot of experience using "sculting foam" and am not sure if it can be used for what you wish to do effectivly. I imagine if you can get the scuplting foam to properly adhere to the surfaces you wish to apply it to, and have the skills and tools to mold it smoothly, then it may be feasible.

Perhaps someone with experience doing it this way can be of more help. 

Now other then framing it out and basically forming a new dash shape over the old one, on some older cars I have restored and wanted to keep a more original look I have simply removed the damaged covering and repaired any flaws with resin and bondo or used these materials to achieve the shape I desire..

Then bring it to a local upolstry shop to stitch a new covering on it. (I have never paid more then 150 dollars for this service so it is a bargain compared to a new dash in most cases). I wish I had the know-how and equipment to stitch vinyl and leather but I don't. I can wrap virtually wrinkle free if the surface is perfect but in cases where it is physically impossible to stretch the material properly, it will require stitching or look horrible.

Like I have posted to others in the past, if you plan on totally redoing the interior and/or dash anyway why not just try your ideas and see what happens?  Start small. In the worst case you wasted a little time and money on materials. If it works out ,you have found a way that works for you and in the longrun that is what really counts....Good Luck.