DIY Fiberglass Pillar Pod

[Mouglie]

I know, why make one when they are so cheap to buy one already made, well i needed a project to work on to kill boredom so here is how to make a pillar pod out of Fiberglass...

here is the original pod that i got to play around with...


i covered the whole thing in foil paper and fiberglassed over it...

wait about an hour for the first layer to dry...


then i glassed some more to build up on it.

[Mouglie]

popped off the mold and sanded a bit...


i then used a marker to see what areas were flexible or weak
and needed more glassing...


and more sanding...


sprayed it in prime just for some quick comparisons...

[Mouglie]

comparisons look alright... ofcourse the one i'm making is bigger
than the original... derrr...


dual pillar pod, anyone?


more sanding and marked what needed more sanding...

[Mouglie]

sanding takes forever... in my case, i hate it!
so i decided to rough sand it and finish it, not the best finish but gives you an idea of how fiberglass works...

[Mouglie]

to be honest, after finishing this pod i kinna feel that its way better to buy one. Fiberglass would really come in handy if you had a custom pod that you want to build or some speaker box, you know, something custom... but if its something thats out there, why copy it? my next project is a body kit for a
2nd gen protege... but i won't be molding that much, just putting pieces together or extending the rear skirts...

anybody have any ideas for some crazy-custom fiberglass designs for their cars just let me know... only one rule, i don't do things for show(or useless in this case), if you want a hood scoop, please make it functional...

and intercooler with out a turbo is like a waterproof teabag... or a wheelchair with pedals, or a condom with sweat holes... you know?

[Adam Payrot]

I might be starting a fiberglass project of my own. In my case, it's going to be 2 corner boxes for 10" subs, and a couple of amp/capacitor racks. These are going to be removeable.

I'm also going to make a permanent section for quick-disconnects so that I can just pop out a few wires to take it all out relatively quickly.

[Nexus Flux]

Were you going to do them in the side pockets of the trunk? I was thinking of doing that but I was going to go with 8" due to depth and weight. I was thinking of going flush with the wheel well, that way the center could get pulled up without touching the boxes.

[Nexus Flux]

Mouglie,
Do you think the weave matt would be better for speaker boxes? Or are the shreds strong enough?

[Adam Payrot]

Were you going to do them in the side pockets of the trunk? I was thinking of doing that but I was going to go with 8" due to depth and weight. I was thinking of going flush with the wheel well, that way the center could get pulled up without touching the boxes.

A guy on CRSX made one for a 10" sub that fit perfectly. 12" would fit too, but just barely. I am going to use the Elemental Design 11Ov2's, they are 5.5" deep I think; the 13Ov2's (12") are 6.25" deep, maybe 6.5".

But yes, I will make a box for each corner by the tail-lights, velcro will hold those in place. The amp racks will "box" in the trunk in the wheel well areas and I will probably design them to help hold the subs in place.

[Nexus Flux]

I was thinking of integrating a mono amp in each box for each sub. The amp would be either surface mount or just recessed to sit flush with the face of the box. Some thing along the lines of the Alpine MRD-M605 or more likely the MRP-M450. That's also why I was planning for 8". The box volume was also one of my concerns.

[Adam Payrot]

I like ED's stuff because they don't need a lot of volume. The only non-ED stuff I'm going to have is the headunit. Fronts, subs, amps, sound deadening, and probably wiring are all going to come from ED.

This box is sort of what I want to do, but I want mine to face more towards the back seat and also not pointing as high up. It is close to 1cu ft. too.

[srivendel]

Very nice, Adam! You doing the installation yourself?

S.

[Adam Payrot]

Very nice, Adam! You doing the installation yourself?

S.

I can't afford to pay somebody to do it... that box alone would cost upwards of $600 at a shop (and I want 2 of them). Add in the amp racks, quick-disconnect, and all the sound-deadening

I figure it's going to cost about $50/enclosure in supplies (and about 12-15 hours of labor each); another $150-200 in sound-deadening, and probably about $40/ea for the amp racks. The amps, speakers, head-unit should all run under $800 or so. This is going to be a multi-step process, but I want to go ahead and get the enclosures built soon since it is cooling off. Hopefully I will have the sound stuff finished off by next Spring

[srivendel]

You're braver than I. What are you doing about fitting a DIN head unit into the dash? I know for Civics they sell kits that mirror the nav-equipped dash, which gives you a very nice double-DIN opening.

So if you were paying someone to do the install, who would you go with in DFW? I used to use Custom Sounds in Austin (and loved their work), but it's nice to go with a loca shop in case things need tweaking.

S.

[Adam Payrot]

You're braver than I. What are you doing about fitting a DIN head unit into the dash? I know for Civics they sell kits that mirror the nav-equipped dash, which gives you a very nice double-DIN opening.

So if you were paying someone to do the install, who would you go with in DFW? I used to use Custom Sounds in Austin (and loved their work), but it's nice to go with a loca shop in case things need tweaking.

S.

Metra/Scosche "double-din" kit (it blocks off the bottom), or I can get the 02-04 base RSX kit, it has a "door" compartment similar to Miata's (would be useful to mount gauges in ). I have really thought about getting a Pioneeer Avic D-1 (has nav, is double din), but I think I'm going to go with a "lesser" one; I don't have $900 to blow on a head-unit. I've also thought about a car-puter with 7" touch-screen LCD, but again that will get a little on the expensive side (surprisingly it would cost a little less than the Avic or similar).

I have been to AutoSound in Arlington a few times. I had them build a custom box for me, and I've had a few friends that have had systems built by them. They support JL stuff, a little too much IMO, so if you go in to listen to different setups, expect them to push JL a little. I would probably do JL if I hadn't found ED; it's a "new" company that makes a very good speaker for SQ. I don't want loud, I want quality I had loud in my Jeep, your ears felt like they were bleeding when I turned it up. Supposedly ED gives JL a run for their money in SPL, and is a little above JL in terms of SQ, but much cheaper. $150 for a sub that competes with a $700 sub.

[Nexus Flux]

I agree with Srivendel and I wish you the best of luck with the box construction. I mean I would like to be able to do it, but I think I would have to get a decent amount of practice before I started foiling my trunk and mixing resin.

I'm going the Alpine route since I already have a nice headunit and amp. The Alpine 6.5" speakers are already in the car. I'm going to try and reuse the small Bose amp/sub and just tune my speakers down to meet at a good level.
I like my CDA-9815. It's a little older but basically equivilent to a CDA-9857.

And just like all the other members of TCB, I'll be doing it myself.

[Adam Payrot]

I agree with Srivendel and I wish you the best of luck with the box construction. I mean I would like to be able to do it, but I think I would have to get a decent amount of practice before I started foiling my trunk and mixing resin.

I'll let you know how it goes as a first-timer It shouldn't really be that bad, just time consuming.

I'm going the Alpine route since I already have a nice headunit and amp. The Alpine 6.5" speakers are already in the car. I'm going to try and reuse the small Bose amp/sub and just tune my speakers down to meet at a good level.
I like my CDA-9815. It's a little older but basically equivilent to a CDA-9857.

And just like all the other members of TCB, I'll be doing it myself.

I had the CDA-9851 in my Jeep, but it seemed like it was blocking the lows. I had 2 Alpine Type-R 12's running 650w each at 1ohm in there, and I don't think they were hitting low enough. It could have been the box though (def. not the amp, it was set @ 20hz), never got a chance to mod the box as they ended up blowing. I have 3 blown Type-R's that I am using to rebuild one 12, I may use it for the lows (20-40hz)and use the 10's for higher up (~40-80hz, I need to see how they sound first).

I think the hardest part is going to be the sound deadening, I will be taking everything but the dash and headliner out. I really don't want to add weight, but it supposedly helps a lot. Plus my car will be pretty loud with the CT exhaust, so it should help drown out any resonance it has.

[Radio-Active]

Metra/Scosche "double-din" kit (it blocks off the bottom), or I can get the 02-04 base RSX kit, it has a "door" compartment similar to Miata's (would be useful to mount gauges in )..

I removed the POS BOSE unit from my car and put in a Pioneer single din unit. The pocket I found was cheaper than Metra and Scoche and is a perfect fit in my Mazda. I paid $13.00 at Town North Mazda and the part number is B02A-66-9M0A from a 2001 model miata. Clips in place beutifully.

Otherwise, you can get the three guage single din mounts from Miata Mania I think.

[Titus]

I removed the POS BOSE unit from my car and put in a Pioneer single din unit. The pocket I found was cheaper than Metra and Scoche and is a perfect fit in my Mazda. I paid $13.00 at Town North Mazda and the part number is B02A-66-9M0A from a 2001 model miata. Clips in place beutifully.

Otherwise, you can get the three guage single din mounts from Miata Mania I think.

Yeah, but the goofballs above think this is a Honda forum.

[Radio-Active]

Yeah, but the goofballs above think this is a Honda forum.

I find it bad to bite the hand that feeds you though(i.e. most of the moderators drive Hondus).