[rjstyles69]

Disclaimer : This whole process is itchy and time consuming. You can itch as long as you want at your own risk if you dont use proper protection. By proper protection I mean to say covering your skin which can be exposed to FG.

First and foremost a big thanks to the following members

1 - Satya (blueraven316) for helping me source the raw materials.
2 - Shreyas (shreyasma) who answered every single query of mine with regards to working on this whole DIY thingy.
3 - Raghavendra ( pavan_kadam) took me to his painter to get the paint job done.

Well as the title says its pretty simple and straight forward. My Scorp's center doors needed custom work to fit the components into them. Without the center stage there was a complete disconnect in the acoustics. I drove the scorp' around without compo's in the center doors for a few weeks and realized that something had to be done.

Call up Satya and he says we can do a temporary fitment by removing the bottle holder and installing the compo's. I went ahead and did so, however to my eyes it looked appauling. He says FG is the way to go.
Apparently to get this done I would need to leave the door pads with him for atleast a week.With the kind of weekend travel bug that I am, it was next to impossible for me to do so. Thats what the idea of DIY struck my brains.

Did a lot of research and a gazillion questions to both shreyasma and satya I was ready to begin with my project. I knew this was gonna take time, patience and was gonna cost me loadsa shouting from my better half. I said what the heck, lemme try and convince to her. I showed her some threads from here and a few threads from other automotive forums , voila she was convinced and gave me the green signal.

I will try and finish this in two consecutive posts so that it could be easy to follow. The whole process is documented step by step with images and is self explanatory.

Well here's what went in with the cost details

• MDF board (2ft x 4ft) = 120/-
• MDF Spacer Rings x 4 = 400/-
• FB Mat = 120/-
• Resin (1 kg) = 100/-
• Hardener = 35/-
• Accelerator = 35/- (Blue Colored liquid)
• Paint brush x 5 = 125/-
• Surgical Goves (5 pairs) = 125/-
• Acetone 1/2 liter if you don't want to invest on new brushes.

I picked up the resin, FG mat, hardener and accelerator from Swathi Chem' in Comm' street. Below is the map to get to the place.

Address

Shop No. 4,
2nd Cross, Ramamurthy Complex, K. Kamaraj Road, Bangalore - 560042

This is how the compo's were installed. Spacer rings sandwiched on one another and the compo's mounted on them.

In this image you could see that the gap where the spacer ring is accommodated is same location where the bottle holder was fixed.

Remove the compo's and am a little disgruntled . Darn the door pads have been cut and looked absolutely shoddy.

With no other options I decide to go ahead and make the speaker pods differently by using exact measurements. Initial idea was to use masking tape and make a mould using FG on the door pads.

Ok time to move on and then I tried my hands at carpentry too.

Once the skeleton was made using the MDF board and MDF spacer rings went on to cover it with an old t-shirt. Please note ensure that you get something that really stretches. I would say fleece works really well.

Cut the enclosure opening after applying super glue . Even Fevicol SR 99 works well.

From now on its gonna get cumbersome. Get your gloves, ensure you are wearing an old sweatshirt or a full sleeved shirt which you dont fancy using anymore.

Initially mix resin and the hardener in the ratio 4:1 and stir the mixture properly. It would turn into a dark shade of blue. Next use very little accelerator and an ideal ratio would would be 4(resin) :1(hardener) :1 (accelerator). Once you have added the accelerator, stir the blue mixture till it turns green.

(Please mix them in small quantities coz I did a mistake of mixing a large quantity initially and even before I could finish one coat on the pod the whole thing turned into pulpy mass like jelly.Mix them in small quantities and don't over do it.)

This is how the pods looked after the 1st coat of resin . Leave it for a day or two in proper sunlight.During my 1st attempt I wasted 2 brushes on 1 speaker pod. Its ok, you get better at it over time.

[rjstyles69]

I forgot to add this earlier, ensure that you buy the close knit type of mat since its easier to work on. Its called something like 303.Check the images below , you prolly could get a fair idea what you need to be looking for.

Now comes the part where you gotto have loads of patience. 1st and foremost cut the FG mat into small strips to be applied with resin on the mold that you have fabricated. With the resin and gloves in your hand its pretty tough to cut FG strips. So keep the strips handy.

This is how my speaker pod looked after 3 coats of FG. After each I left it to dry for a day. Actually I never had time and hence left it to dry for a day.

Now it was decision making time. Some DIY threads said that you could directly go in for body filler and paint it. Apparently I decided to add another layer of an old t-shirt to make the painters job easy.

With the t-shirt on the existing layer of FG with a coat of FG this is how it looked.

Now I ended up in a dilemma. I wanted get the CF stickers on the pods after getting the body filler job done. CF stickers turned out to be darn expensive and the el-cheapo one's on JC road was way too cheap in looks. So decided to give it a pass and called pavan_kadam for help.Spoke to the dude who readily offered to take me to his painter and get the job done. Thanks pal I owe you one. Paid 1 grand for this job of matt black with a clear coat.

I knew this was not gonna be a direct fit coz with the added layers of FG and 2 coats of resin on the mould the size had increased by 1/2 an inch atleast. Went ahead and got it installed from EVO and here is how it looks.

See those gaps, needs to be filled using body filler some time soon and finish the project. Spent about 2k on the whole job and I am pretty satisfied. I am sure I can do better with my next project. The feeling of accomplishment is PRICELESS .

Thanks for your time reading my banter folks. Have a wonderful Christmas.

[AbhiJ]

Looks great buddy.

The detailed step by step description is really helpful..

[PAVAN KADAM]

Hey Riju,

This looks good on the Doors.

Need to hear how good they sound now.

[JayD]

Looks great Riju, but i think it would look better integrated if it was in the same colour as the doorpads.

P.S: I completely agree with you, the feeling one gets when doing something on your own is priceless.

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Shreyas (shreyasma) who answered every single query of mine with regards to working on this whole DIY thingy.

Anytime Riju Saar, good to know that the rubbish I spoke has helped you

The outcome is super cool!

But talking about the sound, did you make a hole at the back of the pod so that the midbass gets fired into the door?

Its again is upto your listening preference. But according to what I experienced, the components did not produce some frequencies correctly in the small sealed enlosure. May be because they are designed to work in a big enclosure (doors). I'll leave it to the gurus to comment on this.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Hey Riju,
This looks good on the Doors.
Need to hear how good they sound now.

Work is still pending pal. You sure can audition it the next time I come to meet you. BTW thanks again.

Originally Posted by JayD

Looks great Riju, but i think it would look better integrated if it was in the same colour as the doorpads.

P.S: I completely agree with you, the feeling one gets when doing something on your own is priceless.

Jay honestly I also preferred the same. However for now this is incomplete till I finish up with final stage, which includes filling the gaps with body filler and repainting it.

Originally Posted by shreyasma

Anytime Riju Saar, good to know that the rubbish I spoke has helped you

The outcome is super cool!

But talking about the sound, did you make a hole at the back of the pod so that the midbass gets fired into the door?

Its again is upto your listening preference. But according to what I experienced, the components did not produce some frequencies correctly in the small sealed enlosure. May be because they are designed to work in a big enclosure (doors). I'll leave it to the gurus to comment on this.

shreyas thanks man. Well you are spot on, they don't fire pretty well in this kind of an enclosure. The rear of the pod has to be cut so that the compo's sound good.

[NetfreakBombay]

Hey, awesome DIY job.

One question, which material are you using for "Body Filler" to fill gaps?

[benbsb29]

Riju, great work there! I really loved the idea, as well as the execution.
Hows the sound quality to your ears now, following this?

[akbaree]

Good information here. And that's gr8 work. Congratulations.

And yes to get the maximum out of the components, please go back to the specification. More often than not, the component speakers for automotive use are designed to perform best in large enclosure like a door or free air. IMO giving that extra volume and damping the door pad (if not already done) will go a long way in improving the sound quality.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Hey, awesome DIY job.

One question, which material are you using for "Body Filler" to fill gaps?

Buddy there are so many names in the market. Some call it Metal putty,Metal paste and bondo.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Riju, great work there! I really loved the idea, as well as the execution.
Hows the sound quality to your ears now, following this?

Sounds pretty tight now except for the fact that the rear of the pods needs to be cut so that they fire into the door's hollow space.

Originally Posted by akbaree

Good information here. And that's gr8 work. Congratulations.

And yes to get the maximum out of the components, please go back to the specification. More often than not, the component speakers for automotive use are designed to perform best in large enclosure like a door or free air. IMO giving that extra volume and damping the door pad (if not already done) will go a long way in improving the sound quality.

Sure Sire. I hear you !!

[yajaman99]

Riju, great job and it looks fantastic, need to have an audition of the same.

[aamir_subzero]

Oh my god . I would have to say brilliant work and the detailed thread is just a brilliant find just what i was looking for . Hopefully i can try my hand at it . Would appreciate some help from your end if possible .

[pramodkumar]

Guys,

I am sitting on top of some meters i brought for my lancer some time back planning to make the pillar pods, Please let me know where can i source the raw material for making the pods.


Pramod

[Piyush_Vroom]

Great work.. Very well done !!! and a very accurate description...