1st FG project, lots of pics. Opinions?

And so it began. A 1995 YJ Wrangler with weak speakers... added a couple amps and a pair of 10" JLs with a cap. But I wanted more CLARITY! So, I decided to throw in a pair of 6.5" speakers, and I had to get pretty creative with their placement.

After seeing an ugly black plastic unit called the Centra-Pod from 4wheelonline.com ($129.99 USD), I decided to build my own. Not only would I be able to choose larger speakers, (the Centra-Pod came with 5.25s) but I'd be able to make it look a whole hell of a lot better.

So here's my project pics, and thanks to all of you guys, the project is, in my eyes, a huge success. Crisp clear sound to go with my new boom.

Thanks again guys, and LET ME KNOW if you think I could improve in any way.

Taking a mould of the transmission hump... I was told it was helpful to wax your masking tape with any old car wax. It seemed to work. My base popped right off nice and neat after the resin had hardened.

Here's my MDF rings! I was able to attach them firmly to the base using lots and lots of chopsticks cut to lengths, as well as some hot glue. The hot glue is a great choice because it pops off your rings and base easily once your project is nearing completion.

Here's the base attached to the rings, with the rough excess glass trimmed fromt the edges. It's important builders understand that the shape of the base largely dictates the end shape of your entire FG enclosure. Curves and contours are pretty, but will add tears and frustration when it comes time to stretch fabric. (The tears and frustration will be worth it!!) Also visible is the speaker terminal with its MDF base.

Once my base had its edges sanded smooth, and my rings mounted securely, I stretched black (cotton/lycra) fabric over the "skeleton". I chose this particular fabric for its ability to stretch 4 ways. I love this step! Gives you an idea of how your project is going to look.

Here we are helping the resin cure under some heat lamps in the kitchen. Please note: I "painted" my fabric with resin ONLY before this step to make my fabric harden and give me a form to lay FG on. (forgot to take a pic of that step, sorry.) This is one of 4 layers of glass on the project.

After I felt comfortable with my form's strength, I began sanding! Start out with a coarse paper, as it will take some time. Oh the hours I spent... :) Sanding is KEY to an attractive project. I was told to think of, "how cool it will look and what my buddies will say", and then to remember that while I'm sanding for hours and hours. Here's the form with its high-spots removed, and low spots yet to be filled.

Sanding sanding sanding.... THIS particular bit of sanding is bodyfiller. I purchased some "kitty hair" (bondo and fibreglass) and used it to fill my low spots. I'm pretty sure that regular bondo would be just fine too.

Prime time. After priming you'll notice little pin holes and scratches. Just keep priming and sanding until your scratches disappear, and use some glazing putty to fill in your larger pinholes.

I used a rattle can to lay on 3 coats of black enamel. If you can use a real gun, I'm told it's way better. Looks pretty good to me though....

I wanted my project to be somewhat stealthy, as it will be highly visible in the front of my Jeep, but I still wanted it to be somewhat flashy. I applied some rainbow flake over the enamel and finished it with a couple coats of clear. Fancy Shmancy... Not pictured is the poly-fill I put in the enclosure before I screwed the speakers in. Not too much, just enough to deaden sound a bit.

And here she is. It might look like it's touching the vents and shifter, but it's not. Just VERY tight clearances. I attached it to the transmission hump using velcro on the base, and it works very well. The speaker terminal allows me to disconnect it easily, should I have to park for a long period of time (vacation or something else....) and the velcro lets me yank it out no problem. This is kind of a crappy pic, but it looks KILLER in the sunlight.

Sounds great, adds tons of midrange and crisp highs. Hope this helped jeepsters looking for better sound!

Thanks for reading guys,

Hound

Hi,

All my layers are on the outside.

very nice job.

one thing to try, next time is to make dule rings one larger than the one that mounts the speaker, or with a router rabbet the edge of the mounting ring  so you can staple the wrapping material on the over hanging edge. this will make it so you dont have to distort the area where the speaker mounts. this will give the speaker a good seel.

Dudes...  awesome suggestions.  The speaker terminals do look a little awkward stickin' out like that.  And I really like the flush rings.

Thanks guys.