In this article i will describe the steps i took to design + build a set of custom door pods for my 1981 Honda Civic. These steps can be adapted and changed to create your very own set of pods to suit your own needs.

Materials needed:

1L of Fibreglass resin
20ml of Catalyst
Cheap paintbrushes
12mm MDF 1200x900mm
Approx 1x1m of Fleece or other material - needs to have a bit of stretch to it
Staple Gun and/or Hotglue gun
Jigsaw
Router (not necessary but will make things nicer)
PVA glue
Screws
Largish tin of Contact Adhesive (avoid spray on stuff)
Heatgun or hairdryer
~1.4 x 1m vinyl (Can be found at Spotlight in QBYN for ~$11p/m)
4 cans of Spray Putty
Grille Cloth

NB: In this tutorial the pods have been designed to fit the WOOFER only and the tweeter has been placed elsewhere.

STEP 1: Design

Start off by getting an idea of what you would like the pod to look like, and how you want it to sit on your door. Sketch your ideas down, and choose the one that suits you best. It is also a good idea to draw out the individual pieces you will need.



STEP 2: Create Templates

In this step to create a template, i have sticky taped several sheets of A3 paper together to span the length of the door. I have then drawn my design on the paper, cut it out, and trimmed to fit. Pods will typically be comprised of 2 parts; The base and the Mounting Plate/rings.

Pod Base:


Mounting Plate:


As you can see, the mounting plate follows the same design as the base, however it is slightly smaller, this will give your pods shape and greater angling possibilities.

STEP 3: Transfer templates to MDF + Cut

Pretty self explanatory here, simply trace your paper templates onto the sheet of MDF, get out the Jigsaw and cut out the pieces. I Cut out two sets of mounting plates, one will have the woofer mounted to it, the other will be used to flush mount the woofer + for the speaker grille.



At this stage get out your Mounting Plate. You will need to know the cutout diameter of your particular speaker now. In this tutorial i am using DD 6.5" woofers which have a cutout diameter of 140mm.
Place the woofer face down on the mounting plate and trace around it where you want it positioned. Then find the centre of that circle, get out the compass, set it to 70mm (half of 140mm) and draw another circle. This is your woofer cutout. Drill a couple of holes on the edge of this cirlce, big enough for your jigsaw blade to fit in, and cutout the circle.
Trace the cutout onto your second set of mounting plates and cut.



Position your mounting plate on your base, trace around the woofer cutout and repeat the cutting procedure.

STEP 4: Create Angle Mounting

Now you need to attach the Mounting Plate to the Base and angle it. Typically to do this, you would use several small pieces of MDF of different lengths to angle the Mounting Plate.

In this photo you can see the first angling block used. This will be the LONGEST bit you use as to get the best sound from the pods, you want the woofers angling up slighty and towards the seats.


Now cut several more offcuts and chop them down till you are happy with how the mounting plate is angled. Glue the blocks to the Base, and the glue the mounting plate to the angle blocks.



As you can see i used 4 blocks per pod to get my angling.

STEP 5: Flush mounting

Now in STEP 3 i mentioned to cutout a second set of mounting plates to flush mount the woofer. Get those out now.
This is the tricky part. You need to draw a line the whole way around the outside of the plate, approximately 5mm in from the edge. Once done, drill holes in each sharp corner of the line and cutout with the jigsaw. BE EXTRA CAREFUL in this step as 5mm is not a lot of width and if not supported properly, it can break from vibration from the jigsaw.

Once cutout, glue it down to the mounting plate of the pods.
Put the inner part that you just cutout aside, as this will be used later for the grille.




STEP 6: Apply Fleece

Now get out that fleece. I have chosen this lovely shade of green.

Start stretching the material over the pods. Ensure the FLUFFY side of the fleece is the UNDERSIDE and not exposed. This will make the pod smoother once fibreglassed and less bumpy. Secure the fleece to the underside of the base using staples or hotglue, ensuring that it is TIGHT. Work your way around the pod until the material is stretched to its limits and TIGHT, if its not tight, it will wrinkle once you apply the resin to it and will create more problems later. If you are flush mounting like myself, you will need to staple the material to the inside Mounting Plate also. but DO NOT cutout the hole yet.



trim off the excess material from the underside of the Base.

STEP 7: Fibreglassing

Now that you have the basic shape of your fleece covered pods, its time to Fibreglass them. Ensure you are wearing old clothes that you dont really need, as fibreglass resin is extremely hard to get off.

Cover the area that you intend to fibreglass the pods in, with plastic sheeting/plastic bags. This is to stop the pods from sticking to the surface. If this happens you would have a great time trying to remove the pods once the resin has hardened.

Get out the fibreglass resin + catalyst. Find an empty chinese food container or other suitable container that can be thrown out when you are done. Pour approx 250ml of resin into the container and add the equivalent amount of catalyst as directed on the bottle. Get one of your cheap brushes and stir the mixture, it should change colour slightly.

Turn the pods upside down so you have access to the hole in the base. Apply a liberal amount of resin through the hole onto the inside of the fleece. Not just painting it on, but dabbing. This ensures the fleece soaks up all the resin.

Now turn the pods back over and begin applying the resin to the pods now. Again not just painting it on, but dabbing it in. Continue doing so until the mixture is used up, repeat the resin + catalyst process until it is all used up.

Leave to dry. Typically overnight should be long enough, dependant on the conditions. Hotter conditions and it will typically dry faster.



STEP 8: Sanding & Filling

Now that the resin has cured, you will notice the finish on the pods is far from perfect. When painting or covering with vinyl, the surface needs to be SMOOTH as impections will show up easily. If using carpet, it doesnt need to be as smooth as carpet hides most imperfections.

Get out some rough sandpaper (i found using a disc sander attachment for my drill was the easiest way) and sand down any bubbles/lumps and sharpness. Get out those cans of spray putty and spray the entire pod. For large imperfections you will need to apply "builders bog" to fill it. Allow to dry, and continue sanding. Repeat this step, with each time using a finer sandpaper until the surface is smooth.




Now cutout the fleece on the mounting plate and remove the staples. Sand back the inner side of the flush mount piece as much as possible. You need to do this to get the grille piece you cutout earlier to fit in.

STEP 9: Vinyling

The key to applying vinyl is to keep it warm, as it stretches easier when warm. A heatgun is perfect for this, however a hairdryer will also do the job. Start by painting contact adhesive to the vinyl backing and the Mounting Plate. Stick the vinyl down to the Mounting Plate and get your grille piece and screw it down to the mounting plate. Remember to heat it slightly. This will ensure that the vinyl fills into the edges properly and also that the grille will still fit once vinyled.

Next begin painting the contact adhesive on and stretching the vinyl over the rest of the pod, starting at the corners/bends as they are the hardest part to do. Secure the vinyl to the underside of the pod using staples or hot glue.

It may help having another set of hands in this step so one can heat, whilst the other stretches and applies the vinyl. Try not to overheat the vinyl tho as it will bubble and ruin it. Once done, trim the excess vinyl off the underside of the pod.



Unfortunately i dont have any progress shots of the vinyling process just the finished item with grille piece screwed down.

STEP 10: Grille

Now that the pods are vinyled, its time to make a grille. Dont want stray feet ruining your woofers!

Unscrew the grille piece from the pods. You should have the woofer hole cutout already (although i dont in my pics). Place the woofer in the hole and trace around it. Remove the woofer and cutout around the line you just made.

Go back to your pods and cutout vinyl from the speaker hole. Place the speaker in the hole.



Get the grille piece and test fit it to make sure the speaker fits in the hole you cut out.


If all good, its time to cover the grill piece. For this i used grille cloth which is available from Jaycar. Came in a pack 1.5m x 1.5m. cutout enough to cover the grille. Lay the cloth on a flat surface and place the grille ontop. Using hotglue, secure the cloth the underside of the grille and begin stretching the cloth around the rest of the grille, much like you did with the vinyl. Hotglue it down and trim off all excess cloth.



STEP 11: Installing

Remove your door trims from the car (if you havent already). Place the pod onto the trim in their position. Drill 2 screws through speaker hole, through the pod base into the door trim. Trace around the hole in the pod base onto the door trim. Cut out the hole in your trim.

NB: The step below is only for cars that may have metal restricting where you wish the speaker to go. When cutting any metal in the car, the areas around it are required to be reinforced + engineered. I accept no responsibility for any issues that may occur legally if this is not done.

Now take the trim back to your car and trace the hole onto the metal on your door. Remove the trim and cutout the hole in the metal using an angle grinder or other suitable metal cutting device. File down any sharp edges that may remain and coat the bare metal with paint or nail polish. This will prevent any rusting.

Repostion the pod on your trim and put the 2 screws back in. This will hold it in place when you turn the trim over. Turn the trim over and drill 4 screws through the trim into the pod base. Screw length shouldnt be an issue here as there is plenty of clearance under the Mounting Plate.

Next find some short screws ~8mm long. Screw these through the trim and into the pod base the whole length along. Short screws are important as you dont want them coming through your pod. Turn your trim back over and remove the first two screws you put in as they are no longer required.

You should now have your new pod successfully mounted to your door trim. re-install your trims, install your speakers and insert the grille.



STEP 12: Running wires - For cars without factory grommets

If your car has factory grommets simply run the speaker wires through there. However in the case that there are no grommets (like mine), I have added this section to explain how to do it.

Go down to your local car part supplier, in my case Autobarn. Pickup two packets of rubber grommets (they come in packs of 2) and 2 lengths of approx 15cm of 5-6mm silicone (vacuum) tubing.

Open your doors and determine a suitable area to drill holes. Get the largest drill piece you can find and drill a hole in the side of the door, and another hole in the same spot of the cars chassis. File down and coat in nail polish to prevent rusting. Insert the grommets into the holes.

Next run the speaker wire through the grommet in the chassis, into the vacuum tubing, then into the door grommet. Insert one end of the vacuum into the chassis grommet. Now find a Bobby Pin and put it through the end of the vacuum tubing end inside the car and tape it up. This will stop the tubing from coming out of the grommet when you open the door. Repeat the process on the tubing inside the door grommet.

You should now have a neat and stock appearing wiring grommet.