custom door pods

Hi everyone,

I am going to venture into my first fiberglass projects! It's exciting, but a bit daunting as well...

The two projects I'm looking forward to doing are: driver and passenger door pods for a two-way system and a (most likely) sealed sub enclosure. But, I have a few questions if you don't mind...

I have been looking at US Composites for ordering the supplies I need, but, I'm slightly confused on picking a resin (epoxy or poly?) and which one works the best in these applications. I have seen members here (as I have perused the threads about a year and a half or so) use the B-440 Resin, and if I remember correctly others have used the 435 Standard Poly Resin or the 404 Tooling Resin. What are your thoughts about any of these? Are any easier to work with than the others? Or am I simply over-complicating this in my mind?

Also in terms of the mat: What do you recommend for weight? The door pods and the sub enclosure will be relatively straightforward design-wise. No compound curves or anything like that...well, none intentionally anyway.

Also, like I said I have been lurking around these forums for a while now and am confident in my fabrication abilities (I'm an architect), but saw the videos posted for the Fiberglass Fabrication I & II DVD's for sale. I have gathered together a notebook of these posts and other info on fabrication with fiberglass. Does anyone have these or seen these DVD's? Are there any tidbits of info on them that haven't been covered in these threads or in Velocity Motors "How to make a fiberglass enclosure" thread? Essentially, I'm asking if they are worth the almost $70 price tag. As I said I'm an architect and I feel that having this fiberglass background will help with any projects in the future that may need something unique. Then I could, hopefully, offer that as an option to a client.

My car is a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Any other thoughts or tips for me as I begin this fun project?

Thanks everyone in advance and sorry if I babbled on!

Jeff

Hi all,

I have a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and I am considering fabricating some custom door pods to house a 6.5" and a tweeter. I'm thinking something similar to this: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp~TID~83508~KW~Steven+Kephart~PN~3~TPN~3    Not to steal from you though, Haem!!  The stock look is what I'm after. I understand how the team did those pods, but I'm curious...Those pods, essentially turn into a sealed enclosure, right? Since I don't have a dedicated mid-bass, only a single 6.5" per side to cover the frequency range, do you guys think this would help boost my mid-bass. Or would it muddy them out? I am searching for a very musical, dynamic and fluid transition between the tweeters, 6.5" and the the sub, while keeping it as balanced as possible. I hope that makes sense! The mid-bass frequencies are my favorite, as I feel it really brings the music to life - so, I'm looking to boost that as much as I can. Or, are there any other options, like the aperiodic enclosures that I've seen on here (even though I don't understand that concept at all)? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Here is my arsenal:

Tweets: Seas Prestige 4 Ohm     https://www.madisound.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1466     

Mids: Silver Flute 4 Ohm     https://www.madisound.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=846       

Sub: TC Sounds Epic 10" DVC      https://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=293-656    

Amp: Alpine PDX-5

Thanks in advance!!

Jeff

I have pretty thoroughly looked and read through the details on all of your components and that should make for a good SQ set-up.

I have some questions that you hopefully already have the answers to.

What head unit do you have?

Are you planning on a passive or an active crossover set-up?

That sub would be much better off in a ported box. Have you considered that?

I would just put the Silver Flute's in the door with no enclosure. Just use sound deadening, damping and blocking materials and they should sound fine.

I found this POST on proper vehicle sound reduction to be very helpfull.

DON'T buy the 440 premium layup resin!!! I did and it takes an eternity(sometimes DAYS) to go off even when I DOUBLE and TRIPLE the MEKP.... I would go with the 435 just because they say its the most popular for Automotive.

I also bought their 1.5Oz mat and it is easy to work with. For a sub box use at least three layers of the 1.5oz to achieve a 6oz weight.

I also HIGHLY recommend a fiberglass roller from them (US Composites). I wish I had one several times.

I, after having used it twice, do not recommend using polyester fleece for anything because it is very hard to get all of the air bubbles out and enough resin in. Instead use any thinner stretchy polyester fabric that you can find and use mat to strengthen it.

I used Evercoat Super Everflex light-weight body filler because it was cheap ($20) and sands really easily.

I'm still working on my stuff right now and just bought some Slick Sand also by Evercoat for finishing over the body filler.


Well That turned into a book...oh well. Hope some of that will help!

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Dodge Magnum in progress:
Pioneer DEH-80PRS - PPI Amps - Dayton Subwoofer(s) - Exodus Anarchy's - Vifa Tweeters - Kinetik Battery