My slow build log. 1986 Nissan 300ZX Turbo

[milburyl]

Not sure if I can make pods that are kinda"surface mounted" on the pillars instead of the common type that use the pillar itself(cutting holes and drilling, and screwing). I'm not too sure I want to destroy the original trim panel. And the piece is actually made of metal and not plastic, unlike most cars. But, I dont ever plan on getting rid of the car ever, so I'm leaning towards just doing it. Ugh.

[milburyl]

Picked up a jigsaw finally. Wanted to buy the Black n Decker "Matrix?" drill(more like motorized handle), because you can interchange attachments to it. They had drill, router, jigsaw, skilsaw, pointed sander and a few other different attachments for it available., but my budget didn't allow for it right now. Maybe that will be my next tool purchase with the router and skilsaw attachments

[milburyl]

well, i got the mounting rings done, now i just have to start glassing. Never done this before, so i hope i don't screw it too bad. The cutting isn't perfect, but i think i can fix the shape with fiberglass and body-fill.

[bcbrassard]

You been busy, everything looks good. Wheels fit nicely, speaker pods are started and you got a lot of goodies in the mail. Tuned in man!

[milburyl]

You been busy, everything looks good. Wheels fit nicely, speaker pods are started and you got a lot of goodies in the mail. Tuned in man!

Yeah, been doing as much as I can. Hard to get things done with 2 babies at home. I'm pretty happy with how the wheels fit, and generally satisfied with the speaker rings. They aren't perfect, but when I glass them, I should be able to get them more rounded and make the speaker holes a little smaller( I cut them slightly too large). Still debating whether to glass the original a pillar trim pieces or try to buy some off ebay and use those ones instead. They are made of steel and have a foam/vinyl coating on them. Will probably have to strip that completely off before I can glass them. Might try to remove a door panel today to see what I have to work with there. Maybe I can get away with using the factory locations for the midbass and just deaden the door up really well. That would be ideal, but, if the piece that covers the factory speaker on the door is separate from the rest of the door trim, then that would make glassing the midbass alot easier as I can just cover the factory piece and make my own piece that will fit there. Gotta get a door panel off first to see what I'm dealing with though.

[jk13]

For your pillars make a fiberglass mold of the taped off section in your pics, then remove it and mate your speaker pods to it. Then they are removable and you're not destroying the factory panel--like a door pod. The issue becomes how to fasten them if there are not fasteners in that area. You can use Dual Lock or even some crazy magnets from KJ or somewhere similar. There are slalom water skis that use dual lock to hold the binding plates on, that stuff is strong! If you run your pod tight to the top of the dash it'll give you two surfaces to attach to.

Edit: for mounting you can also carpet the backside so it doesn't squeak or rattle and use one mechanical mounting point. Then if you remove it you can cover just the one small hole. Lots of ways it can be done, just throwing options out for you to consider while you're out studying the car. Each one's different.

[milburyl]

For your pillars make a fiberglass mold of the taped off section in your pics, then remove it and mate your speaker pods to it. Then they are removable and you're not destroying the factory panel--like a door pod. The issue becomes how to fasten them if there are not fasteners in that area. You can use Dual Lock or even some crazy magnets from KJ or somewhere similar. There are slalom water skis that use dual lock to hold the binding plates on, that stuff is strong! If you run your pod tight to the top of the dash it'll give you two surfaces to attach to.

Edit: for mounting you can also carpet the backside so it doesn't squeak or rattle and use one mechanical mounting point. Then if you remove it you can cover just the one small hole. Lots of ways it can be done, just throwing options out for you to consider while you're out studying the car. Each one's different.

Thanks for the tips. I like that mold idea.

[milburyl]

So, I am going to try to make a moulding of the a pillars covering about the bottom third and then take it off and mount the trim rings to it using wooden dowels and hot glue gun. Then stretch some panty hose over it to get the general shape and brush resin over the hose to firm it up enough to start putting actual fiberglass on it. Really like the mould idea because I don't have to destroy and strip my original trim pieces. I think I will then use some small bolts to fasten the pods to the factory a-pillar trim. I can live with a couple or three small holes drilled through the trim as opposed to ruining the whole piece building them the other way.

[bcbrassard]

Right on, sounds like you have a plan... now get to fabing up some pods for us to look at! LOL

[milburyl]

Kinda have a little dilemma. I don't have the flush mount trim for the CDT tweeters. In previous pictures, I have them mounted in some Rockford flush mount trim, But I think the tweets look kinda odd because the stick out so far. Suppose I could use the Rockford tweets that actually go with the flush mount trim? Would the CDT tweets be A LOT better than the Rockford ones? Would I hear a HUGE difference? The Rockford tweets will actually tilt when in the trim too, whereas the CDT tweets are stationary. Here's a couple pics of the difference in tweets when mounted.

Also want to know if anybody has used these foam baffles with their midbass before? Did they sound good? Was the "enclosure" too small? Should i cut out a "port" in the foam to allow the speaker to "breathe"?

I have also come across a pair of theses pods that were made for a boat i think. Suppose I could use these as a starting point for door pods? And if I use these as a starting point, should I use tweeters with them too or will it make tuning a lot harder? Remember, I don't plan on competing, I just want a street pounder that sounds darn good too. Eventually, I would like to get another 13W7AE and another 1000/1 amp and run my other set of CDT mids n tweets in the rear factory location too, and I also have a pair of Rockford 4" mids n tweets(BNIB, circa 1999) and Q-Form kick panels that fit a mid 2000's Civic and with a little modification, could fit in kick panel locations. I'm just thinking that with another 13W7AE, that the bass will severely drown out the mids and highs and that I will need to add mids and highs when i add another sub. Anyway, these are the pods I'm talking about.