DIY custom dashpiece/fiberglass tutorial (pic intensive)
02-19-2003
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DIY custom dashpiece/fiberglass tutorial (pic intensive)
Id like to say this isnt meant to be an end all or a simple project, but the fact is, it was more of a learning experience for me than anything else, and so now i offer it to you as a way to get yrou foot into the door of fiberglass, or custom work, or a solution to a problem that many of us have asked before. You will see yourself soon how this experiemnt turned out, my guess is noone here would run this in yoru car, but the fact is, its a fantastic way to get the gears workign and the hands moving.
I didnt have time to write a short DIY, so i wrote a long one [IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] :
So ive seen some interest in fiberglass here, and ive seen some interest in custom dashboards. This is by no means the easiest or best way of doing this, but its fairly basic, and this took me 3 days to make, starting no earlier than 7 PM each time. So given a week, anyone here could easily make their own cutom piece here, even working full time and going to school.
To start, this used to be my dash:
I wanted a change because I had bass ***** to add, and I no longer needed the temperature sensor. (which is now for sale, BTW) So the fist thing i did before and this time both, was to make a cutout, using anything i had lying around. Last time i had posterboard, which is really ideal, because of stiffness. This time, I could only find a folder, and I've been strapped for cash lately, so rather than buy posterboard or anything stiffer, i made do:
You can see here the kit I bough is cut, to fit the gauges from before, and the front is sanded. I didn't sand it the first time, and it stuck out a bit. My goal this time is get it in there flush.
next I taped it on, to get a good shape going. this is really only a mold, so its OK. Later we reinforce it. I chose to put the white side out. In retrospect it was a mistake, and forgot why i chose to do this. Not a good idea, you will see later why:
And now is fully taped
Naturally this can be done anytime, but i figured before going farther, i should make a battleplan to physically arrange everything i have. Should the gauge be on the left? the right? where do each of the bass ***** go? How should i mount them? You'll need a good answer to each question, no point on going through the work otherwise. In this experiment, I had LED's to mount as well, so it was a learning experience for me, too! didnt think about how to mount them at the time, so certainly that should have been properly thought out. afterall, I had broken my rectangular drill bit, how else am I supposed to cut a rectangular hole?
I chose to go with 4 oucne weave, its what I had lying around. For something liek this, weave is a must! matting will puf out and never finish right without days of sanding, and roving is ungly and will have pinholes, etc etc etc.
I cut out enough to have extra, of course.
so most people here will glass first, THEN paint, but I decided to try something really neat. if you paint the weave, THEN glass it, using a clear resin, It looks rather neat. I have never done it, so i decided to experiment.
I taped 2 sides down to keep it in place, and got it ready for glassing. I like to use surfboard for a clear resin, its very thixotropic, yet alot thinner than standard polyester, so its not a PAIN to work with. very good resin, IMO.
So, i mixed in teh proper proportions, and wet the resin. I squeegeed all teh extra off, since I don't want any extra globs on, it'll mess up my smooth finish. right now the weave pokes through, I'll have to take care of that later, no worries!
Here you see the console itself, not too bad.
I mixed way too much! half an ounce will do it, and i wasted a ton of resin!
At this time, ill go through a really neat trick for removing gloves. contains all mess, really a great way to take your gloves off. Gather up all your trash in your fist and turn teh glove inside out around your hand. No mess!
So i mixed a good 1/4 ounce of resin and tried filling that extra exposed weave. Airbubbles are an enemy, enough time must be given to let the bubbles migrate out, yet i didnt want to be filling forever! at any rate, I did another layup:
and another
and another
see why it was a mistake to use the whiteside? I'll compound that mistake later, just wait [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] The tape darkened nicely, but not the white part. un-uniform! oh well.....
So at this point i notice its REALY shiny. so i figured I'd take a pic to accentuate that, show you what it should look liek with teh weave properly filled in:
you cant see it, but I was actually really really inebriated when i trimmed the extra glass with a knife. it came out rather messy, but it goes to show you that we fix all mistakes later on, so if you mess up now, no worries! we'll get it later. you can see how messy it looks in this next pic.
So i notice that some of the paper is peeling off. So I remove teh piece, and peel as much as I could, and spraypainted it black to try to get it to flatten out. later ill soak it in water to get teh rest of the paper off, youll see how that turns out. Oh well, its jsut a fun experiment anyways:
You can see what good that did me:
Anyways, i fit teh panel back onto my console, looks ok so far....
Time to glue the panel on permanently, i used 5 minute epoxy, it was laying around. you can use anything you want, itll stick. you will and it later, so elmers isnt reccommended!
Any gaps, fill them, its ok to use extra, itll get sanded later (also why it was ok to trim it while vastly inebriated)
Well, at this point its time to sand, since it was relatively flat already I started directly on 220. Also I sanded the sides flush with the kit so it would actually fit. All my sanding is done by hand to the face, the only time I powersand is on teh sides, to ensure a uniform sand job. I use a sanding sponge, not a block. Always Always Always Always Always wetsand fiberglass! I cannot stress this enough, you can do serious damage to your lungs by inhaling dry fiberglass powder!
So part of my 220 job is done:....
After a bit mor sanding, I wanna test it in the console.
Im rather dissapointed in parts. The top sticks out too much, and the lower right has a hole in it. I could always fill teh right hole, but by now I am realizing how FLIMSY this panel is! my old carbon apnel was always so stiff, i assumed that fiberglass wouldnt show THIS much of a difference! I'm not happy at all at this point, but will not go back nor start over short of cataclystic failure. I will endure adn repair.
So i get pissed enough at the top to use the dremel and sand it down till its the level of the rest of the console, then go to town on that 220. This is the most time consuming part, the first sanding! very labor intensive. but its definitely lookign better.
Gotta sand till its uniform, with uniformn scratches. not quite there, but im close!
.......aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand now im there!
looking at that last corner, i run out real quick to do it, here is my watercup and used paper and sanding sponge. grips the paper nicely. soon on to smaller grits!
So after I finished with teh 220, i sanded all in one direction. ALL structural sanding happens at the highest grit. You dont flatten fiberglass with 1500 grit! All the smaller grits are MERELY used to remove the scratches of the last paper. So i made all the scratches go in the same direction, lengthwise. Time for 320! with the 320, i went all along the width ("up and down") till the scratches were gone. Its a terrible picture from a scratch perspective, but i tried to get a closeup o you could see all teh 320 scratches, they are all uniformly 320 grit along the width at this point:
Whew, tired yet? half way there! Used 600, then 1500 to continually remove smaller and smaller scratches. We want this as smooth as possible! If you are painting, youll wanna go to 400-600 grit, no smaller, or else the paint will have nothing to stick to. I will be clearcoating, so I go as high as possible!
and then 1500:
pretty shiny, and fits alot better! Itll get shinier tho, guaranteed [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]. I'm still unhappy about that visible path and the lack of texture with my paintjob, but its all a learning experience, right? I did say id never done it before, of course you never get it right the first time, right?
Using a knife, I transfered my master plan onto the now sanded console. its REALLY flimsy. oh well.
Naturally, you gotta test fit all your stuff. Ive never cut holes like this before, especially for the LED's. They got kinda messy, but This wont be the last dash piece i ever make, and ill do better next time, so im not concerned. I think its rather neat to flushmount them like this in the first place, very unique!
Im noticing around the allen bolts, it sinks into the paneling, a bummer for sure. I wonder what it will look like with the ***** on and fully installed in the car, it'll seem more like amembrane in my car than a panel. I'll go over ways to prevent this at the end...
what about the dull finish? Clearcoat! the pic is naturally really crummy, but so be it. In real life, it looks very nice, and it still isnt even done yet! Hopefully there will be even more improvement...
Look at that light reflection! its 10PM here, i needed some good heat in there, seemed like a good idea. Worked well. Never switch directions while spraying over your piece, there will be lots of overspray, and look VERY un-uniform at first, but after like 6 coats (one coat going across and going up/down) it will be very uniform. most paints will be set (not cured) after 12 minutes, and say subsequent coats within the hour. I waited 20-30 minutes between coats, and layered it on nice and thick. The thicker the clearcoat layer, teh shinier the finish. I dont feel like using a whole can on this (normally I would, and did on my centerconsole piece) SO I'll leave it at half a dozen coats or so. I can use the extra clearcoat on omething else, im sure..
After the clearcoat, you get that uneven "i just spraypainted look"
Thats where the 2000 grit paper comes into play! I couldn't get it at my hardware store, but an autopaint store carried it. I'm all set, but thers still KINDA a faded look. what to do?
Here, to get that "I'm still wet" look, regular car wax! after waxing, I was rather impressed, all things considered. I was pretty happy at this point, adn looking at the pictures, I cna see it looks far better in real life. Earlier, pictures looked better than life, and now that it finally looks half decent (only half) the pictures don't do it justice. o well.
I cracked it loading the parts, and the 4 ounce cloth doesnt have enough structure to even hold the gauge in place. Bummer. But thos for me wasnt meant to be the last final panel, I'll do another later for sure [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]
Nothing left to do but load it inot my console
and put it in the car.
I can't get a good picture, its too shiny [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] oh well
Got some more good glass practice in, and certainly learned alot.
Learning experiences:
#1 jesus, needs to be THICKER!! 4 ounce ISNT enough, next time I will do 3 layers of 4 ounce, or a single layer of carbon, like my last dash.
#2 I need to paint either a different color, or use different paint, or make the coat thinner, something. there was no weave definition using satin black paint.
#3 like my carbon piece, I MUST use a 2" hole cutter rather than a marked hole and a dremel to cut the hole. fit so perfect in the carbon, and fits like **** here. I'd definitely be upset about that if I wasnt plannign on making another. Thats what practice is for!
#4 flush mount isnt all its cracked up to be, since sanding inherrently rounds the corners. Next time ill have it stick out just slightly, and the rounded corners will match up nicely, I believe.
#5, no more cutting holes for parts with no trim. and square LED's, just give up while im ahead.
#6 I learned I needa buy some better *****, these are terrible as a match!
#7 If anyone had the patience to read this far, they definitely have the dedication to try this, even with no previous glass experience [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
I didnt have time to write a short DIY, so i wrote a long one [IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] :
So ive seen some interest in fiberglass here, and ive seen some interest in custom dashboards. This is by no means the easiest or best way of doing this, but its fairly basic, and this took me 3 days to make, starting no earlier than 7 PM each time. So given a week, anyone here could easily make their own cutom piece here, even working full time and going to school.
To start, this used to be my dash:
I wanted a change because I had bass ***** to add, and I no longer needed the temperature sensor. (which is now for sale, BTW) So the fist thing i did before and this time both, was to make a cutout, using anything i had lying around. Last time i had posterboard, which is really ideal, because of stiffness. This time, I could only find a folder, and I've been strapped for cash lately, so rather than buy posterboard or anything stiffer, i made do:
You can see here the kit I bough is cut, to fit the gauges from before, and the front is sanded. I didn't sand it the first time, and it stuck out a bit. My goal this time is get it in there flush.
next I taped it on, to get a good shape going. this is really only a mold, so its OK. Later we reinforce it. I chose to put the white side out. In retrospect it was a mistake, and forgot why i chose to do this. Not a good idea, you will see later why:
And now is fully taped
Naturally this can be done anytime, but i figured before going farther, i should make a battleplan to physically arrange everything i have. Should the gauge be on the left? the right? where do each of the bass ***** go? How should i mount them? You'll need a good answer to each question, no point on going through the work otherwise. In this experiment, I had LED's to mount as well, so it was a learning experience for me, too! didnt think about how to mount them at the time, so certainly that should have been properly thought out. afterall, I had broken my rectangular drill bit, how else am I supposed to cut a rectangular hole?
I chose to go with 4 oucne weave, its what I had lying around. For something liek this, weave is a must! matting will puf out and never finish right without days of sanding, and roving is ungly and will have pinholes, etc etc etc.
I cut out enough to have extra, of course.
so most people here will glass first, THEN paint, but I decided to try something really neat. if you paint the weave, THEN glass it, using a clear resin, It looks rather neat. I have never done it, so i decided to experiment.
I taped 2 sides down to keep it in place, and got it ready for glassing. I like to use surfboard for a clear resin, its very thixotropic, yet alot thinner than standard polyester, so its not a PAIN to work with. very good resin, IMO.
So, i mixed in teh proper proportions, and wet the resin. I squeegeed all teh extra off, since I don't want any extra globs on, it'll mess up my smooth finish. right now the weave pokes through, I'll have to take care of that later, no worries!
Here you see the console itself, not too bad.
I mixed way too much! half an ounce will do it, and i wasted a ton of resin!
At this time, ill go through a really neat trick for removing gloves. contains all mess, really a great way to take your gloves off. Gather up all your trash in your fist and turn teh glove inside out around your hand. No mess!
So i mixed a good 1/4 ounce of resin and tried filling that extra exposed weave. Airbubbles are an enemy, enough time must be given to let the bubbles migrate out, yet i didnt want to be filling forever! at any rate, I did another layup:
and another
and another
see why it was a mistake to use the whiteside? I'll compound that mistake later, just wait [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] The tape darkened nicely, but not the white part. un-uniform! oh well.....
So at this point i notice its REALY shiny. so i figured I'd take a pic to accentuate that, show you what it should look liek with teh weave properly filled in:
you cant see it, but I was actually really really inebriated when i trimmed the extra glass with a knife. it came out rather messy, but it goes to show you that we fix all mistakes later on, so if you mess up now, no worries! we'll get it later. you can see how messy it looks in this next pic.
So i notice that some of the paper is peeling off. So I remove teh piece, and peel as much as I could, and spraypainted it black to try to get it to flatten out. later ill soak it in water to get teh rest of the paper off, youll see how that turns out. Oh well, its jsut a fun experiment anyways:
You can see what good that did me:
Anyways, i fit teh panel back onto my console, looks ok so far....
Time to glue the panel on permanently, i used 5 minute epoxy, it was laying around. you can use anything you want, itll stick. you will and it later, so elmers isnt reccommended!
Any gaps, fill them, its ok to use extra, itll get sanded later (also why it was ok to trim it while vastly inebriated)
Well, at this point its time to sand, since it was relatively flat already I started directly on 220. Also I sanded the sides flush with the kit so it would actually fit. All my sanding is done by hand to the face, the only time I powersand is on teh sides, to ensure a uniform sand job. I use a sanding sponge, not a block. Always Always Always Always Always wetsand fiberglass! I cannot stress this enough, you can do serious damage to your lungs by inhaling dry fiberglass powder!
So part of my 220 job is done:....
After a bit mor sanding, I wanna test it in the console.
Im rather dissapointed in parts. The top sticks out too much, and the lower right has a hole in it. I could always fill teh right hole, but by now I am realizing how FLIMSY this panel is! my old carbon apnel was always so stiff, i assumed that fiberglass wouldnt show THIS much of a difference! I'm not happy at all at this point, but will not go back nor start over short of cataclystic failure. I will endure adn repair.
So i get pissed enough at the top to use the dremel and sand it down till its the level of the rest of the console, then go to town on that 220. This is the most time consuming part, the first sanding! very labor intensive. but its definitely lookign better.
Gotta sand till its uniform, with uniformn scratches. not quite there, but im close!
.......aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand now im there!
looking at that last corner, i run out real quick to do it, here is my watercup and used paper and sanding sponge. grips the paper nicely. soon on to smaller grits!
So after I finished with teh 220, i sanded all in one direction. ALL structural sanding happens at the highest grit. You dont flatten fiberglass with 1500 grit! All the smaller grits are MERELY used to remove the scratches of the last paper. So i made all the scratches go in the same direction, lengthwise. Time for 320! with the 320, i went all along the width ("up and down") till the scratches were gone. Its a terrible picture from a scratch perspective, but i tried to get a closeup o you could see all teh 320 scratches, they are all uniformly 320 grit along the width at this point:
Whew, tired yet? half way there! Used 600, then 1500 to continually remove smaller and smaller scratches. We want this as smooth as possible! If you are painting, youll wanna go to 400-600 grit, no smaller, or else the paint will have nothing to stick to. I will be clearcoating, so I go as high as possible!
and then 1500:
pretty shiny, and fits alot better! Itll get shinier tho, guaranteed [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]. I'm still unhappy about that visible path and the lack of texture with my paintjob, but its all a learning experience, right? I did say id never done it before, of course you never get it right the first time, right?
Using a knife, I transfered my master plan onto the now sanded console. its REALLY flimsy. oh well.
Naturally, you gotta test fit all your stuff. Ive never cut holes like this before, especially for the LED's. They got kinda messy, but This wont be the last dash piece i ever make, and ill do better next time, so im not concerned. I think its rather neat to flushmount them like this in the first place, very unique!
Im noticing around the allen bolts, it sinks into the paneling, a bummer for sure. I wonder what it will look like with the ***** on and fully installed in the car, it'll seem more like amembrane in my car than a panel. I'll go over ways to prevent this at the end...
what about the dull finish? Clearcoat! the pic is naturally really crummy, but so be it. In real life, it looks very nice, and it still isnt even done yet! Hopefully there will be even more improvement...
Look at that light reflection! its 10PM here, i needed some good heat in there, seemed like a good idea. Worked well. Never switch directions while spraying over your piece, there will be lots of overspray, and look VERY un-uniform at first, but after like 6 coats (one coat going across and going up/down) it will be very uniform. most paints will be set (not cured) after 12 minutes, and say subsequent coats within the hour. I waited 20-30 minutes between coats, and layered it on nice and thick. The thicker the clearcoat layer, teh shinier the finish. I dont feel like using a whole can on this (normally I would, and did on my centerconsole piece) SO I'll leave it at half a dozen coats or so. I can use the extra clearcoat on omething else, im sure..
After the clearcoat, you get that uneven "i just spraypainted look"
Thats where the 2000 grit paper comes into play! I couldn't get it at my hardware store, but an autopaint store carried it. I'm all set, but thers still KINDA a faded look. what to do?
Here, to get that "I'm still wet" look, regular car wax! after waxing, I was rather impressed, all things considered. I was pretty happy at this point, adn looking at the pictures, I cna see it looks far better in real life. Earlier, pictures looked better than life, and now that it finally looks half decent (only half) the pictures don't do it justice. o well.
I cracked it loading the parts, and the 4 ounce cloth doesnt have enough structure to even hold the gauge in place. Bummer. But thos for me wasnt meant to be the last final panel, I'll do another later for sure [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]
Nothing left to do but load it inot my console
and put it in the car.
I can't get a good picture, its too shiny [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] oh well
Got some more good glass practice in, and certainly learned alot.
Learning experiences:
#1 jesus, needs to be THICKER!! 4 ounce ISNT enough, next time I will do 3 layers of 4 ounce, or a single layer of carbon, like my last dash.
#2 I need to paint either a different color, or use different paint, or make the coat thinner, something. there was no weave definition using satin black paint.
#3 like my carbon piece, I MUST use a 2" hole cutter rather than a marked hole and a dremel to cut the hole. fit so perfect in the carbon, and fits like **** here. I'd definitely be upset about that if I wasnt plannign on making another. Thats what practice is for!
#4 flush mount isnt all its cracked up to be, since sanding inherrently rounds the corners. Next time ill have it stick out just slightly, and the rounded corners will match up nicely, I believe.
#5, no more cutting holes for parts with no trim. and square LED's, just give up while im ahead.
#6 I learned I needa buy some better *****, these are terrible as a match!
#7 If anyone had the patience to read this far, they definitely have the dedication to try this, even with no previous glass experience [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
02-19-2003
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Rep Power: 0 thanks, not something ide try, i like my pocket, but gave me some ideas!
how much is CF? and where to get it do you just need a clear resin or what. never worked with it.
BTW: i read all of it
how much is CF? and where to get it do you just need a clear resin or what. never worked with it.
BTW: i read all of it
02-19-2003
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The LA Clipper
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Nice pics 
I love the playboy button too [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]
Anyway, I noticed the Alice game too, my gf was hooked on that game for awhile.
I love the playboy button too [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]
Anyway, I noticed the Alice game too, my gf was hooked on that game for awhile.
02-20-2003
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neo, your definitely not the only one to think that, but if you read the whole post, youd have kept yoru mouth shut. next time, I hope you educate yourself before you open your mouth, cause when stuff liek this happens, only a bunch of sh-t comes out. kinda like my dashpiece, right?
edit: forgot the carbon. it costs $35 a yard, naturally you dont use that much, but what cna I say, youll always find a use for it. As to what kinda resin to use, you have to use epoxy resin, or else you lose structural integrity. 8 ounce weave of carbon has WAY more stiffness than 12 ounce weave of glass, for sure
one last thing, neo, before you respond again after not reading the DIY. you can take this step by step and do something liek this:
so its not abotu the DIY finished product, its abotu the process which is far more important thna tha product. by far.
neo, your definitely not the only one to think that, but if you read the whole post, youd have kept yoru mouth shut. next time, I hope you educate yourself before you open your mouth, cause when stuff liek this happens, only a bunch of sh-t comes out. kinda like my dashpiece, right?
edit: forgot the carbon. it costs $35 a yard, naturally you dont use that much, but what cna I say, youll always find a use for it. As to what kinda resin to use, you have to use epoxy resin, or else you lose structural integrity. 8 ounce weave of carbon has WAY more stiffness than 12 ounce weave of glass, for sure
one last thing, neo, before you respond again after not reading the DIY. you can take this step by step and do something liek this:
so its not abotu the DIY finished product, its abotu the process which is far more important thna tha product. by far.
02-20-2003
#7
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[hr]Originally posted by: Subrage
thanks, not something ide try, i like my pocket, but gave me some ideas!
how much is CF? and where to get it do you just need a clear resin or what. never worked with it.
BTW: i read all of it[hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: Subrage
thanks, not something ide try, i like my pocket, but gave me some ideas!
how much is CF? and where to get it do you just need a clear resin or what. never worked with it.
BTW: i read all of it
[hr]
02-20-2003
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2k1civic.com O. G.
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Rep Power: 309 thats a pretty good DIY thanks rabbit. how much do u guyz think that would cost me to get done professionally. i would wanna try but i know mines would be craptaculur and id just be wasting money and time.
i know u guys have seen the DIY faceplate thing that me and beamer did. i need to fix my screen!!
its mounted as pictured. i have the same exact radio install kit as u rabbit. what i need is for the sides gaps to be filled in and the screen mounted securly to the kit peice. if that isnt enuff the screen also needs to be tilted slighty downard or it will be impossible to see at normal sitting position. so the gap cover prollie wont fit the screen flushly but im sure u guys got osme creative idea round that?
lol did i make any sense at all? so wut u guys think the diffuculty of a self job like this would be. and how much would a pro charge for somehting like that.
thankz a bunch. hey and if anyone wanna volunteer. i would pay $$
i know u guys have seen the DIY faceplate thing that me and beamer did. i need to fix my screen!!
its mounted as pictured. i have the same exact radio install kit as u rabbit. what i need is for the sides gaps to be filled in and the screen mounted securly to the kit peice. if that isnt enuff the screen also needs to be tilted slighty downard or it will be impossible to see at normal sitting position. so the gap cover prollie wont fit the screen flushly but im sure u guys got osme creative idea round that?
lol did i make any sense at all? so wut u guys think the diffuculty of a self job like this would be. and how much would a pro charge for somehting like that.
thankz a bunch. hey and if anyone wanna volunteer. i would pay $$
02-20-2003
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Quote
[hr]Originally posted by: AzNmiKex215
so wut u guys think the diffuculty of a self job like this would be. [hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: AzNmiKex215
so wut u guys think the diffuculty of a self job like this would be. [hr]
02-20-2003
#12
i boogie for the raindrops
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[hr]Originally posted by: AzNmiKex215
lol did i make any sense at all? so wut u guys think the diffuculty of a self job like this would be. and how much would a pro charge for somehting like that.
thankz a bunch. hey and if anyone wanna volunteer. i would pay $$[hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: AzNmiKex215
lol did i make any sense at all? so wut u guys think the diffuculty of a self job like this would be. and how much would a pro charge for somehting like that.
thankz a bunch. hey and if anyone wanna volunteer. i would pay $$
[hr]
a pro would charge you an arm and a leg,
i'l volunteer to try it, but not now, gotta focus on my own car, but i'd prolly charge you materials cost and thats it
02-20-2003
#13
2k1civic.com O. G.
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Rep Power: 309 lol well i think its hard to work with fiberglass etc.. u guys already have experience with laying down dynamat and building encolusures / carpteting and stuff like that. i have no exprience with any of that stuff.. im only good with wiring.. lol[IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG]
i dont know the first thing about fiberglass / resin / hardener etc..
probably gonna go get a quote at the local audo place once my interior dye job gets finished
i dont know the first thing about fiberglass / resin / hardener etc..
probably gonna go get a quote at the local audo place once my interior dye job gets finished
02-21-2003
#16
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White rabbit - A for effort. It took a lot of time, and we all learned from it, so thank you. For results, well, more could be desired, but you're on your way. Does hifonics (i think thats what you have) - make a remote bass control? That might be better than mounting the unit in your dash. Other question - Do you have kick panels in your car? Did you make them custom? I'd like to know how. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] I want to move my midrange into a kick panel and leave my tweeters where they are (in the upper door near the a-pillar).
Neo - Keep your mouth shut sometimes, or reword. Say like "Good try, but I dont like it." or "Its not for me" now "It looks like ****. hahahahaha" [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
White rabbit - A for effort. It took a lot of time, and we all learned from it, so thank you. For results, well, more could be desired, but you're on your way. Does hifonics (i think thats what you have) - make a remote bass control? That might be better than mounting the unit in your dash. Other question - Do you have kick panels in your car? Did you make them custom? I'd like to know how. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] I want to move my midrange into a kick panel and leave my tweeters where they are (in the upper door near the a-pillar).
Neo - Keep your mouth shut sometimes, or reword. Say like "Good try, but I dont like it." or "Its not for me" now "It looks like ****. hahahahaha" [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
02-21-2003
#17
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Rep Power: 313 yeah izod, 9 do have kicks, and you hit it squaw on the nose, it was meant to be a learning experience, not a follow this and you get this exactly. there are so many variations you could write huundreds of diy's!
my kicks are rather big, due to my speaker choice, DD.
yes hifonics makes remote gain control, those are the ***** above the line drivers.
it was all an experiment in teh first place, next time i mount them in a plate with teh original face.
these are my kicks, I actually have a series of pictures, just liek the dashpiece, step by step form start to finish, If youd like a DIY, lemme know, ive been busy installing a mustang lately, but im sure at some point i can find time to write something up, but I want to make sure there is interest, Ive written almost as many DIY's as grey, and they all get lost in the archives. I want to make sure people would actually learn something/use the diy if I am gonna take the time to write it up.
my kicks are rather big, due to my speaker choice, DD.
yes hifonics makes remote gain control, those are the ***** above the line drivers.
it was all an experiment in teh first place, next time i mount them in a plate with teh original face.
these are my kicks, I actually have a series of pictures, just liek the dashpiece, step by step form start to finish, If youd like a DIY, lemme know, ive been busy installing a mustang lately, but im sure at some point i can find time to write something up, but I want to make sure there is interest, Ive written almost as many DIY's as grey, and they all get lost in the archives. I want to make sure people would actually learn something/use the diy if I am gonna take the time to write it up.
02-21-2003
#18
The LA Clipper
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Rep Power: 321 A kicks DIY I would be very much interested in (even if it is just to read and learn) ...this would be a project that I don't need a garage for and can only do in my kitchen. In the future I hope to have a 3-way system with the mid-range in the kick, mid in the door, and tweet in the stock location. Also, how hard is it to convert the stock kicks into ones that could hold speakers...would I need to glass them?
02-21-2003
#19
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Rep Power: 313 cant fit speakers normally in teh stock kick area, the frame of teh car gets in the way, youd have to get REALLY creative with the way you build them, I dont think youd be able to get away without having to cut the frame......
02-22-2003
#20
i boogie for the raindrops
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[hr]Originally posted by: fonto
A kicks DIY I would be very much interested in (even if it is just to read and learn) ...this would be a project that I don't need a garage for and can only do in my kitchen. In the future I hope to have a 3-way system with the mid-range in the kick, mid in the door, and tweet in the stock location. Also, how hard is it to convert the stock kicks into ones that could hold speakers...would I need to glass them?[hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: fonto
A kicks DIY I would be very much interested in (even if it is just to read and learn) ...this would be a project that I don't need a garage for and can only do in my kitchen. In the future I hope to have a 3-way system with the mid-range in the kick, mid in the door, and tweet in the stock location. Also, how hard is it to convert the stock kicks into ones that could hold speakers...would I need to glass them?[hr]
02-22-2003
#21
Turbo Guru
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Rep Power: 325 Very good, I probably would have gone about it differently but I wouldn't have gone for the carbon look. Great DIY [IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]
[IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG] 
10-27-2003
#26
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Rep Power: 313 i only get four megabytes of webspace, so i swap out pictures often.
i wrote this WAY long ago!
if you guys come to my chat room, id be glad to host pictures of any of my works, from stock car to buildup to carpeting to installation, i run the CAF chat room off www.caraudioforum.com, mystic pops in now and again, lud was a regular (hope you find a home, buddy!) so is custom2k1.
custom has got some sweet pictures too, a solid fabricator
i wrote this WAY long ago!
if you guys come to my chat room, id be glad to host pictures of any of my works, from stock car to buildup to carpeting to installation, i run the CAF chat room off www.caraudioforum.com, mystic pops in now and again, lud was a regular (hope you find a home, buddy!) so is custom2k1.
custom has got some sweet pictures too, a solid fabricator
11-12-2003
#27
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Rep Power: 0 Can you please send me your dash pics white rabbit they are not showing up. montuori@comcast.net
11-12-2003
#28
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not my car, talk to whosyodadday we built that panel months ago.
not my car, talk to whosyodadday we built that panel months ago.
11-12-2003
#29
ish...
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i want to do kinda the same thing.. BUT i have a question..
why does everybody that does place the HU down there makes the piece stick out that far?
why does everybody that does place the HU down there makes the piece stick out that far?
