OK, so I'm going to try making some fiberglass lower door panels. I have watched about 2 dozen YouTube videos on "how to make fiberglass door panels" so I think I have a good understanding of what to do. But, I wanted to ask a few questions to those who have tried this before.
I have an extra set of door panels that I have stripped the carpet off of, and I was going to use them as the mold. But in all of the videos I watched the people making the panels used the actual door panel that was going back into the car/truck. So, do I do all this work to the actual panel I plan to use in the car, or do I make the panel on a "donor" panel and then attach it to the good panel?
I was going to make a wooden speaker ring for a 5.25 inch round speaker, I figure while I'm doing all this work, I may as well toss in a speaker pod in each door. But again, I was planning on doing all this work on a extra set of panels. My plan was to have the lower panels covered with black vinyl and I thought that by doing the work on a donor panel, I could fab it up, glass the inside for strength, and then cover it. Once done, I'd attach it to the lower portion of the original panel and install them in my car.
You can make your "pod" the same size as the lower section of the door panel. Obviously the whole lower section does not need to be a pod... Build your pod on a piece of lewan (or is it lawan; whatever, thin piece of rigid wood) as the base, which would be fastened to the stock door panel from behind...
yea I have the fleece, and the resin. I also have the MDF for the speaker rings. One reason I ask about using the extra panel is that is seams I will need to mount the speaker ring to the door panel so it does not move when I put the fleece around it. If I mount it to door panel to resin it, I will not be able to remove it, so it would seem that I need to mount and make the speaker pod onto the finished door panel. I have a few ideas floating in my head, but I wanted to ask the pro's first.
yea I have the fleece, and the resin. I also have the MDF for the speaker rings. One reason I ask about using the extra panel is that is seams I will need to mount the speaker ring to the door panel so it does not move when I put the fleece around it. If I mount it to door panel to resin it, I will not be able to remove it, so it would seem that I need to mount and make the speaker pod onto the finished door panel. I have a few ideas floating in my head, but I wanted to ask the pro's first.
Rob
Rather than mounting the MDF speaker ring tot he door panel, mount it to a piece of lewan (the same size/shape as the lower door panel) and do your glassing as one unit. Doing it this way, you can stretch/wrap your vinyl around the entire assembly and staple it to the back side of the lewan BEFORE bolting it to the door. This way, you will not have a seam at the bottom/top of the door panel... Not to mention it will be nearly impossible to get the vinyl to stick the the door panel (ask me how I know). Vinyl is a pita to glue, expecially if your trying to stretch it. If you do get it to stick, it will not stay stuck in the hot summer...
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09:39 PM
Feb 7th, 2012
qwikgta Member
Posts: 4671 From: Virginia Beach, VA Registered: Jan 2001
yea, thats kind of why im doing this. A few years ago, I removed the carpet and created a panel that was the same shape/size of the lower. I then covered the panel with the black vinyl and after two years, the vinyl came loose. I removed the door panels, removed the lower panel/vinyl and now i have these half done panels. I was going to redo it all again, but if it failed once, it will fail again. I was going to do up the fiberglass idea and had first thought about just painting the lower black, but the amount of work to get the panel perfect for paint looks to just be too much. Covering it with vinyl seems to be easier/quicker than all the prep for paint. one last thought was to create the lower in glass, create a way to attach the panel, take it to a professional shop and have them do the vinyl and then bring it home and mount it.
I'll take pics and post a thread when I start
rob
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06:44 AM
TXGOOD Member
Posts: 5410 From: Austin, Texas Registered: Feb 2006
As ALJR said above if you make the lower panel out of Lauan or Birch 1/4" plywood and staple the vinyl on it won`t come off. I made panels like this a few years ago. Mike
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07:15 AM
HCM2011 Member
Posts: 84 From: Winchester, NH, USA Registered: Oct 2011
I just did some like this recently. Used the top part of the original door panel until the recess and used lewan for the rest. I added a speaker pod to it using wooden dowels 2 inches long and shaped my pull handle out of mdf. Covered everything in fleece, fiberglassed then covered in foam. I still need to cover them in vinyl. Pics below.
BTW, that press board that HCM2011 used is a PITA to staple into. Not to mention if it gets wet, it expands and gets soggy... I would treat it with some sort of water-proofing...
Yes... To attach your pod to the lower door panel, use some T-nuts inside the lauan panel and epoxied in place BEFORE you do you glassing and vinyl covering. It will allow you to mount the pod w/o any screw holes on the front. Just make sure you make the coresponding holes in the stock door panel first, so everything lines up...
BTW, that press board that HCM2011 used is a PITA to staple into. Not to mention if it gets wet, it expands and gets soggy... I would treat it with some sort of water-proofing...
You're right it was very hard to staple. I ended up using a industrial stapler then hot gluing everything. Coated everything in resin so I'm not worried about them getting soggy.
