# 03 VW GTi door pod rebuild IDQ8D4



## req (Aug 4, 2007)

nothing special here, just making a more on-axis thank stock mounting location for my IDQ8s. i had a huge obtrusive pod in there before that i made for some seas drivers, but i folded the cone of one of them hah. so i got an amazing deal on these idq8's brand new and im finally making pods that fit them.

im going to see how large they are as far as sealed goes when im finished, if they are near the .10cuft midbass enclosure recommendation size on the IDQ PDF, im going to have a listen with them like that for a while, if not im going to cut vent holes in the back and get them IB into the doors. they should be about 40 degrees off axis or so, eric stevens said they should be good up to 60 degrees, so i should be fine.

any suggestions are welcome.

just redoin the door pods. im not going to explain the pictures, ask questions if you want to. they are going to be IB prolly about 40 degrees off axis.

so heres a few pics of the car and some other stuff and the start of the pods i did yesterday morning.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)




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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

so basically i had to stop because the spkr rings i had - i was giving them a nice roundover on the outside, and a counter sink on the inside for a flusher mount, and i got the cops called on me because i was being too loud at 0100 in the morning haha. so until further adieu. sorry 

and yes, i put a chopstick in one for support. it was an experiment and i ended up just putting like 5 more layers on the second one instead of the chop stick. it was faster. if you try to put something in your glass like that - i suggest using some form of string or cloth.


and its currently the following morning, that means i can make noise again - and its pouring rain. how nice. guess ill have to hold off on my fiberglassing until it stops. awesome luck huh?


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## liljojo4711 (Oct 11, 2008)

u could take it into the garage. looks really cool though.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

dont have one. i live in an apartment, and the humidity is no good for fiberglassing anyway


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## Kenny_Cox (Sep 9, 2007)

progress looks good! damn neighbors.


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

good stuff.. Glad to see another local... and from the looks of the pictures, I think you live in the same apt. complex too...


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## CAMSHAFT (Apr 7, 2006)

Looks good so far... will they be "IB".......?


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

yeldak99 said:


> good stuff.. Glad to see another local... and from the looks of the pictures, I think you live in the same apt. complex too...


im livin in mariners cove off independence.



and they will be sealed if there will be .10cuft, if not ill IB them into the door.


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

req said:


> im livin in mariners cove off independence.
> 
> 
> 
> and they will be sealed if there will be .10cuft, if not ill IB them into the door.



Damn... we literally are neighbors... I promise it wasn't me that complained though. We'll have to get together some time when I get new equipment. I've got everything pulled out of the car at the moment.


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

yeldak99 said:


> Damn... we literally are neighbors... I promise it wasn't me that complained though. We'll have to get together some time when I get new equipment. I've got everything pulled out of the car at the moment.


You might be Andy's newest best friend now!


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

Megalomaniac said:


> You might be Andy's newest best friend now!


anything is possible... we only live about 200 feet or so from each other...


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

Megalomaniac said:


> You might be Andy's newest best friend now!


dont get jealous mir.


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## bass_lover1 (Dec 10, 2005)

Always been a fan of your build, I remember following your IB build log over on CA.com with anticipation for the next update.


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## lithium (Oct 29, 2008)

so how will you be attaching these to your doors?


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## fish (Jun 30, 2007)

Nice, clean work. I also like your IB sub setup.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

on my old pods, i made a bracket that goes across the speaker hole (you can see the aluminum bars in the pics above) and i used heavy duty thred clips (not sure of their actual name) that clip into the holes i drilled. then i got some machine screws that i use to fasten the pod to the aluminum bars. it gives me a nice solid support. im just going to drill holes in the back of the fiberglass and use a nice fat washer with some rubber grommet of some kind to seal it and help vibrations. the back of the pod will be covered in some kind of thin cloth to prevent scrapes or the like, and ill prolly use some kind of foam window seal strip on the aluminum bars between the back of the pod to prevent those from vibrating and make a nice tight seal there.

then ill fill and smooth out the front and around the edges with some kitty hair, and wrap in black high quality vynl, it is not as glossy as the stock vynl in my car, but it is a very close match.

i have a sewing machine so hopefully ill be able to get a nice stich pattern to match the stitching in the VW. but it will be my first time doing anything like that so im hoping it will turn out as nice as im imagining it.

ill get more up in the next few days - its been raining all day on and off here, so im not going to be laying in my door jambs getting it all wet. its bed time now. work at 10 am tomorrow (thank god its a late start)

thanks for the good words guys!


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

Got to meet Req today. Its good to find another SQ junkie so close. I'm glad he has alot more knowledge than I too, I'm going to be a sponge in teh coming months. Fascinated with the build and most definitely looking forward to hearing/seeing the end result.


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## LegendJeff (Jun 28, 2009)

Really like that IB setup in the trunk... Interested in seeing the pod vs. IB decision in the door.. Keep up the good work


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

yeppers, hopefully this weather will clean up so i can get some real progress done. i really need to find a good woodworking store so i can get a new jasper jig that can do bigger than 7" holes. maybe ill just contact marv again and get some baffles made...


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

i plan on getting this kit to replace the one i got, its urethane instead of fiberglass like the one i have. theres a crack in the bottom middle of the fascia and the edges in front of the front tires are starting to spiderweb, not to mention the mounting points to the fenders are not that great either.
99-05 VW Golf GTI R32 Body Kit

for reference - this is what it looked like this morning;









and this is what i got done today.


































basically all i did was get some turtle polishing compound and a 3500rpm random orbital buffer. then i buffed it about 3 times or so. then i got some meguiars carnauba cleaner wax and buffed it 3 more times. then i got meguiars black gold wax and put a nice healthy wax on it. looks 100x better than it did before. its still faded a bit in the middle of the hood, and i have a few anomalies in the composite, but im satisfied with the result. what do you think?


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

The Meguiars Gold has no Durability at all  it will look just like it was in a week.


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## nirschl (Apr 30, 2009)

I'm also originally from VB. Lived out in Salem Woods corner of Princess Anne and Independence. My parents now live off of Rosemont Rd. Small world

Great work thus far!


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

thanks for the compliment mir. any suggestions? ill be in key west flordia for about 12 days starting friday so i wont be able to rewax it until i get back. you better get me a suggestion by then, but that was all i had in my car care bag at the moment and i had to wax it you know


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

still waiting on some stuff in the mail to finish these door pods, so im the meantime i did some tweaking with my install.

i installed a new (longer + better quality) optical cable and re-routed some wires and put some more zipties where they should have been for the last 2 years. i didnt get any pics of that, its just wires - so im sure its no big deal.

and then i re-wired my subwoofer wiring. i have an IB setup and the wires on the bottom were re-wired to a single 2 ohm load (idqv2d2 x 2) from a previous pair of 1 ohm loads and i had to do it on the fly so i cut some wires and spliced and it was not pretty. so i took some wire i had laying around and some heatshrink, techflex, and solder... then redid all the wires.

the best part is that i tucked the wires in the reverse-flushmount groove around the basket so its all stealth wire! i cant believe i didnt think of doing it that way before. im stolked at how it looks. heres some cellphone pics!!!


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

looks good man...


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

sorry it took so long.

i ordered some flushmount MDF baffles for the IDQ8s so that i could get them upon my return from key west, and there was a diameter calculation error, so i had to get them remade. this is why it took so much extra time.

i apologize for not getting pictures of the mounting of the MDF rings, i just used chopsticks you can get for free at any asian food place (or maybe a few bucks for a handful) and i only used 2 packs of them for this project. break them (i used *****) for the correct length you need and use CA glue and accelerator to get them in place. i recommend CA glue over hot-glue because hot-glue is NOT sandable and is NOT a good combination with any sort of epoxy (fiberglass resin). CA glue acts just like super fast drying epoxy, so its a great tool.

then i stretched purple fabric i got at Jo-Anne Fabrics that is really super thin and stretches quite a lot in 4 directions. this is super important. stretching stage will make your contours come out nice and solid, make sure you stretch it HARD, like almost enough to rip the cloth. the harder you stretch the less amount of sagging you will get with you apply resin.

and i glue about 1~2 inches at a time while i stretch.start on a long side of your project on the rear-mould that you made, glue 1" section along the edge and stretch the cloth HARD to the opposite side and glue 1" section there - not along the back, but right on the edge of the rear mould. then rotate and repeat until the whole edge is glued. then cut the excess off 

super easy.

heres pics.














































heres some random ones, my 120gb zune with my ghetto aux input (using #1 analog input on the pxa-h701)










and this is the last picture ill take of my amp rack that will be different in 2 weeks. i have lots of tech flex to use 











the pods are about 1\4~1\2 inch from the bottom of the door jamb\floor trim piece and about 1\4~1\2 inch from the bottom edge of the dash\knee bolster\glove box areas. but they are about 2~3 inches less obtrusive than my last set of door pods and they have a flush mount too. these should be MUCH nicer than my last ones 

i plan on wrapping them with some nice quality black vynl. after i fill them with clay and stiffen them with fiberglass and sand them down ill worry about covering them later. i got a 9 hour drive to NY and i need to have door speakers lol.

these should hopefully be playing music by tomorrow night.


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## vwtoby (Oct 28, 2005)

think ill try copying ya for my mk3 jettas doors...damn vw for their PITA door design..

keep it up, looking good..


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

whelp. they are installed. and threaded insert nuts are awesome for putting speakers in.

its way too dark out to take pictures, and i still need to lay a skim coat of filler on the pods, sand them, and wrap them in vynl, but im headded to NY tomorrow and i need to have speakers for a 9 hour drive.

ill have pictures up tomorrow, i am very satisfied with the results of these pods versus my last ones. about 2~3" less depth and much more solid than the last set plus they have a flush mount baffle unlike the last set! i put about 1\2 inch of kitty hair on the insides on the pod walls to stiffen them up really well. used an entire can of the stuff (small can).

i cant wait to see what these look like with vynl.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

The new rings work out for you?


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

they were perfect!

arent you hebrewhammer???


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## 12vTools (Jan 15, 2009)

Glad you liked the rings Req
=)


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

heres a pic before they went in


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## 2kchevy (Aug 8, 2007)

glad to see you still around Req. Always have done amazing work. Your car has changed a lot since the last time I saw it though. haha.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

I'm winslow

Randy is the "other hated guy" and hebrew hammer.



req said:


> they were perfect!
> 
> arent you hebrewhammer???


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

LOL gotcha!!

well ill meet mr g0a on the 24th in greensboro. so ill shake his hand when i get there, i hope i can have a finished product when that goes down for him to see.

thanks chevy!!! nice to know you are still around as well!


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## 12vTools (Jan 15, 2009)

Oh you can call me Joey =)
no mr needed
glad that the rings are on a good home =)


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

req swung by a little while ago and let me listen.... All I can say is amazing. Those IDQ sound wonderful.


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## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

req said:


> heres a pic before they went in


...you know.
We want installed picks. 

Nice work, very nice.


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## savagebee (Sep 12, 2006)

thehatedguy said:


> I'm winslow
> 
> Randy is the "other hated guy" and hebrew hammer.


you guys are gonna have to put that in your sigs or something


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## 2kchevy (Aug 8, 2007)

req said:


> thanks chevy!!! nice to know you are still around as well!


duh


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)




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## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

wicked! thanks for sharing. How do they seem.sound to your; for what is more or less an IB install?


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

does not sound like there are subwoofers behind me. when yeldyak got in my car, the first thing he said was how much up front bass there is.

they seem a bit boomy in the sealed enclosure type. ill prolly cut em up to IB them soon.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

luckily my amplifier\subwoofer package is modular so i can take them out quickly. im about 90% done tech flexing the wires in the trunk. after i come back from deployment i will re-wire the rest of the wires, but i did not have enough time\materials for that yet. and ill prolly throw down some sound absorbent mat.

all ive got left to do is make my 5 channel phono cables. the best part about the phono cables, is they are made of military grade solid silver aircraft triax wire. it has a jacket, silver shield, jacket, silver shiled (i use this as my negative conductor), dielectric jacket, silver center conductor. even though they are very stiff, they should be super awesome quality. i believe the wire is somewhere in the range of 500~1000 dollars a foot!!! (and no, i cant sell it)


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

Radical, military grade cables, tell Monster to go F themselves!


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## ECM (Dec 23, 2007)

Military triax cable looks like 1553 data bus cabling!


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

before:










after:


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## John Reid (Jun 6, 2008)

Hey, I see you have two of the IDQ 15"s... I got a pair a while back, still haven't gotten to install them yet (they will be sealed to ID spec in the trunk side walls of a '09 VW Sportwagen). Will be seeing around 350 watts each.

How do you like them? I suppose the bass extension/output is good? I used to run 4 old Soundstream 10"s IB, so this will be a switch for me.


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

Raise the floor and route the wires behind it


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## helosquid (Jan 7, 2008)

John Reid said:


> Hey, I see you have two of the IDQ 15"s... I got a pair a while back, still haven't gotten to install them yet (they will be sealed to ID spec in the trunk side walls of a '09 VW Sportwagen). Will be seeing around 350 watts each.
> 
> How do you like them? I suppose the bass extension/output is good? I used to run 4 old Soundstream 10"s IB, so this will be a switch for me.


I would love to see your install, I am working on a 2010 Jetta Sportwagen. Will you be starting a build log?


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

im satisfied with the bass, they get louder when in sealed enclosures thats for sure. i had them in ~1.2 cubic foot each sealed and they sounded darn nice. never had the 15's ported, but i did have a 12 ported to about 35hz in ~2 cubes. any box type these subs sound great in. thats why i like them so much.

i just got all the amps back in and all the wires are sleeved' and all my EQ\TA\XOVER settings are back to zero. *ugh* time to redo it all!!! 

everything else is easy compared to that lol. only thing thats left to do is vynl the door pods when i get back to virginia. hopefully i can do a satisfactory job at that...

it will be my first time using vynl.


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## 12vTools (Jan 15, 2009)

just be careful with the heatgun,
Req Dont stay in once place too long

and only use weldwood contact cement nothing out of a spray can =)


And those rings must have worked well for you, The pods look good =)


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## Derrick_B (Oct 15, 2009)

Nice. I really like how clean the cable management is. Keep up the good work.


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## John Reid (Jun 6, 2008)

helosquid said:


> I would love to see your install, I am working on a 2010 Jetta Sportwagen. Will you be starting a build log?


Not to hijack this thread, but, yeah, I'll put together a build log when I actually have something to show for it!:blush:

The car is a monster to take apart, that's for sure. Putting tweeters in A-pillars, 4"s in kicks, 8"s in doors, and 15"s in the back. PM me if you want, we can talk about it more.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

right on joey, ill scoop some of that stuff when i go out to get my filler. i know exactly what you are talking about.

thanks for the props, i had a bit of a scare when some of the speakers were out of whack - seems i labeled two of the wires wrong and i got em switched around. just soldered some wire leads to the end of a AA battery and used that for a speaker popping device. worked really well!

i have to tech flex the wire that goes up to my subwoofer, but i do not have my drill. i may do it today, i may not... i guess i have time. oh welll i ll go do it. *grr*

thanks for the comments


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

Lets see pictures of your new B&W towers I heard you bought!


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

shhhh!!! those are at my parents house. i only took one out long enough to rub on it. then i put it back.

ill be unboxing them on monday... love you too.


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## 12vTools (Jan 15, 2009)

b&w what what?

I had some CDM-1s years ago.


did you get the Nautilus? =) =) =)


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

no i cant afford those things. i got some B&W CDM7SE towers for a steal on ebay, basically brand new condition with original packaging! they should be awesome


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## Audiolife (Dec 19, 2008)

Looks great except 1 thing...horn covers


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

im not done yet!!! i bought some grill metal but it was way too stiff. im gonna wrap them in cloth.


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## Audiolife (Dec 19, 2008)

I have an idea to make your cover look flush along the front dash edge (top of horn body). Take a piece of masonite that is cut as wide as the mesh grill is going to be. Then place it across the top of the horn body sticking out. Then take a sharp penciland trace the edge of the dash on the masonite then cut off what you traced on a scroll saw and CA glue it to the top edge of the mesh grill before you stretch the grille cloth over it. This will make the grill contour off the dash.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

ill look into it dave, but currently i have to finish building my door pods. im about 90% done.

i got lots of sanding completed today. i filled\sanded\spot filled\sanded both pods tonight and then proceeded to take a shower. lol.

my roomate is back with his super awesome cannon camrea - so expect hi-def pictures tomorrow. its too late to mess around with that crap tonight. i need to go to sleep.

so - i need to find an upholstry shop round here, or find some high quality contact cement for upholstering vynl or leather, and then i need to do a little edge conforming of my doors on the VW and the pods. then i need to sand them a little more, then i proceed with the vynl wrap.

specifically this contact cement by DAP\weldwood

ill have pics up tomorrow. stay tuned (even though nobody cares anymore)


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## 12vTools (Jan 15, 2009)

Glad you like the Landau glue Req =)


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

by the way - i was pointed in that direction by joey and his expertise!


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## 12vTools (Jan 15, 2009)

=) aww thanks 
That is the best glue I have ever seen though
Never had a failure yet =)
been using it for years
Brush or spray it is sweet


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

I still think they look like crap and you should start over!!!!


just kidding.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Some people here say you can't brush it on with good results...but we know that isn't the case.



g0a said:


> =) aww thanks
> That is the best glue I have ever seen though
> Never had a failure yet =)
> been using it for years
> Brush or spray it is sweet


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

i did. just gotta let it tack up first.

i have some good vynl (well i thought it was good)... well it IS good, but its not as extreme of a 4 way stretch than i thought it was. basically the areas you an see look great, but the area on the bottom of the pod is wrinkled to hell (not big ones). little miniature wrinkles in the pattern because i had to squish all the extra fabric together.

any advice? the landlau stuff works great, and i got a supplier of it (custom upholstery shop like 3 blocks away) that will sell me a pint for $5!!

what guys! 

on to pictures!


































































the vynl was harder than i thought it would be, the stuff i have is not as stretchy as i id of liked, but i just barely managed to get it on there without a seam. it took about two hours PER pod. but again - it was my first time. im sure its much easier on less curvy projects. on the bottom edge there are a lot of miniature wrinkles in the leather type pattern - kind of hard to describe, but you cant see them unless you lay on the ground and look up. so im satisfied. if i had stretchier stuff then i could have gotten away without them. maybe ill try and find some better stuff and redo it.

so alls thats left is to install them. i painted the speaker baffle black with some rattle can paint just in case i could see any through the edge. when i put the speaker in to test and fit and all that, i left it in over night to take it back out again and paint it black) - and some of the glue from the vynl was on the baffle and the speaker was locked in place!!!! it took me a while, but with a pick tool i got in a screw hole and pried it out of there, boy was i lucky that it was not stuck for good! that was quite a scare. so hopefully i will be done and installed tomorrow for some last minute tuning *jeez*

well off to bed.


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## 12vTools (Jan 15, 2009)

Did you use a heat gun to strech the vinyl ?
If not you can get more workability out of the vunyl that way
just be sure to keep the gun moving at all times 
I recommend blasting some heat on a scrap piece so you can find the limits of your particular vinyl

Usually the vinyl will get really shiny right at the time it is ruined. Then you will see the grain start to fail and the vinyl collapse in on itself

it is then ruined =)


Pm if you have questions=)


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## 12vTools (Jan 15, 2009)

Oh and Great Job BTW 
They look great.


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## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

good work on the pods, that much compound and radius curve pod, would never be easy to do seamless.


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## galegorafa (Jul 22, 2009)

Nice work man...


About IDQ's 15"
How is the bass response?
Quick, slow?


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## Kenny_Cox (Sep 9, 2007)

I think they look great! the last time I tried to wrap something in vinyl it came out like complete garbage. The little wrinkles look barely noticeable, and in car, I bet they aren't at all.

However, you know they are there, is that going to bother you?


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## honza440 (Aug 22, 2009)

looks nice


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

thanks man!


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## kizz (Jun 22, 2009)

doors look good! Just wondering how you attached the pods to the panel, i need to do something like this in my car. goofy doors....


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

kizz said:


> doors look good! Just wondering how you attached the pods to the panel, i need to do something like this in my car. goofy doors....


sorry this took so long, lol, only a year or so haha. 

i just cut some aluminum the length of the original speaker hole, and used some rubber rivet screw type thing (called a wellnut) to attach them and decouple the door a little from the pod. it works really well to dampen some of the vibrations from the pod to the door. if i were to do it again, i would enlarge the stock opening in the door and the door card, make more of a custom fabbed bracket that goes closer to the window so that i could get more depth for my speaker and have more of a flush pod than what i have now. and thats always a choice for up the road.



















you can see that i marked out where the bracket was on the aluminum before i started glassing. the epoxy will wick the sharpie ink from the aluminum foil right into the composite and transfer your marks! its quite nice. then i drilled holes on those locations and used some large machine bolts with big fat hex heads and some washers and rubber grommets to seal it up nice. taking it all off just requires to remove the speaker (hopefully using hurricane nuts on the baffle to prevent stripping the mounting holes), undoing the machine screws, and then quick connects on the speaker wire! it could be less complicated, but its hard to hide mounting hardware on a door panel


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## Audiolife (Dec 19, 2008)

looking good req


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## NHXRUNNER (Dec 22, 2010)

Impressive. One of these days I'm going to get into some fiberglass.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

thanks dave, and NHXRUNNER 

i really need to do something to the stereo. its winter and cold and i have no place to work, so we will see what happens when it warms up. thanks for the good words!


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