Door panels

So I've been lurking on this subject, and I think I'm ready to give this project a shot. My question for the masses is, I plan on cutting a section of my current door panel away to build a pod for 2 6.5" drivers and the crossovers for them, that part I can do, my question is, how do you reconnect the removed section to the rest of the door panel firmly? I plan on stretching vinyl or leather over these pods so I'm a bit confused. Would I simply need to build a bracket to join the two together from the rear?

all you help and comments are very appreciated, I've learned so much in the time I've been here!

Regards,
Paul

Make a new door pannel from fiberglass in order to not cut into the existing door.

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Why do you ask if I ate paint chips when I was younger?

How would I go about making a mold of my panels with the level of detail required to maintain the proper fitment for the wood inserts and the power window controls? Taping everything with masking tape may not leave the proper fitment in place right? I'd love to do this though, least amount of risk involved!

Thanks for the suggestions

drill holoas
(drtunk bpost)

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Why do you ask if I ate paint chips when I was younger?

?? How does drilling holes make a difference!

Eclipse man go here and check out his projects, hes got several that he redid the doors on,   www.hzemall.com  you can also email them and they will help you.  Also go here www.alpineusa.com and check out the rsx they did, its a great project they did the doors on it.

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Learning the trade one fiberglass creation at a time!

Realitycheck, thanks for the links. I've already talked with Tim at hzemall about the door panels. The mazda project he has under door panels actually had two seperate panels in the door, so it made it a breeze for modifying the lower portion for him. My Audi is on whole piece, so I would have to take and cut the section containing the speaker away to end up with a similiar situation. I'm not crazy about making new panels from scratch because I really wanted to maintain the stock look of the car, so molding the doors would be an option, I'm just unsure of the proceedure to achieve a great mold. I would have to take two molds, one of the back of the door and one of the front, join the two pieces and then fabricate my pods. That part is fine, but when it comes to fitting the individual trim pieces back in and the window controls, I question the fitment when I will have to use many layers of chop and mat to gain the rigidity necessary to support the opening and closing of the doors.

I personally would not take on the project of all new doors. Your covering in leather right?  My take on this I dont have pictures though so im just throwing out an idea. Take your door panel off, make your pods the way you want them. I would actually attach the pod to the door skin. Not the door panel. Then if you like your pod cut out the door section to match this. Make it really nice and clean cut, maybe even a 45 degree bevel that is cut to the inside of the panel. That way when you put your door back on it sits on top of the pod. The only problem I see with this is vibration, you might need to work out some kind of velco or something to keep it from moving around.  Walmart has this industrial velcro that is amazingly strong. Your leather if you put a small amount of padding under it, I would think should fill up the little gap you might have.

Also another idea I had is to make your pods that fit your doors attach them to the door skin and then make a trim piece that goes over it.

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Learning the trade one fiberglass creation at a time!

Great Idea realitycheck! I was starting to think on that line this morning after taking a few more measurements and what not. Also thinking about scrapping the dual 6.5" and go with a single 6.5" sub driver that kicks allot of ***. I'm not a huge bass head, but I do like allot of punch so I'm definately going for an SQ system not SPL but the staging in the front is terrible! Anyhow, I'll keep you guys up to date, I begin sound deadening this weekend, so, that's the first stage!

Thanks for the suggestions,
Paul

Anytime Paul.

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Learning the trade one fiberglass creation at a time!