GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Well its my summer project. Got a jump start today, the first day of my summer. Heres the first layer pics.

I used some Pam as a release agent, i think you can see i lined the door backing with aluminum foil first. I layed some resin down next with no hardener and then layed the mat and resin w/hardener. Its curing right now. I want to go ahead and put another layer of glass on tonight but i might go ahead and wait till the morning.

Ill finish it up with a layer of fiberglass cloth with the stock mounting brackets installed under the glass cloth. Should be pretty strong and light. Then ill drill holes for the window seals and smooth the front of the panel followed by a gel coat. And last I will cover the panel in a decent black vinyl and reuse my armrests. let me know what you think, and any tips would be appreciated. Ive done a little bit of fiberglass work before but theres always tricks to learn.

VAN454

Nice work, I look forward to seeing the finished product.

stage20

iTrader: (3)

thats pretty sweeet right there!!!
endless possibillites for covering them.

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Ill have some more pics for you guys tomorrow. Today, I got a second layer of glass for reinforcement. I think im gonna leave it that thick because if you think about it, the panel doesnt really need to be all that strong. The door handles use metal in the doors for their strength so Im just concentrating on keeping them light.

Anyhow, next I separated the mold. Kinda messy as the front was covered in 1 or 2 day old pam and aluminum foil. BUT it did separate REALLY easily. I tried to work out most of the aluminum foil and tape that was stuck to the panel. I eventually started sanding the front of the panel and bought some thin strand fiberglass body filler to smooth out everything.

Last thing i did tonight was cut the holes for the door handle and the armrest. I think its gonna turn out really nice once I work some filler magic. I plan on finishing up the first stage of body filler tomorrow (as I did half the panel today) and then getting some evercoat gold body filler and touching up the final imperfections with a skim coat of that easy sand filler.

Im also contemplating gel coating the final product and then making a mold so I can reproduce them at will. Its a possibility. Ill add some more pics tomorrow!

jim91gta

That looks great!
Clean and factory like.

Have you thought about building out the lower part where cupholder is to fit a speaker?

I am doing similar with the speaker addition(your fabricating is a thousand times better,LOL)

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

haha funny you mention that. Yeah i was contemplating doing that just yesterday except i was going to add a 8" sub to each door. However, I plan on building a delete box in the backseat area and I wanted to have two 10s angled behind the front seats anyways, plus I think the door rattle enough as is and dont need subs making it even worse.

But the idea of a couple extra speakers would be good too. I kinda want to keep it factory looking though. I originally started this project simply to replace the worn out backing to these panels. And customizing has crossed my mind. I dont want to add too much weight either as I am trying to slowly turn my car into a turn track racer.

jim91gta

It can look factory. My 1991 GTA came with cupholders that bulged out.
The depth is the same as the handrest. I use Boston Acoustic Pro's 6" in door and tweeter in dash.
I am trying to Fiberglass over the armrest and keeping that depth to the bottom.
I am also trying to follow the armrest up and go flush with the dash. Make a tighter looking factory type look.


As far as subs go after I do the Door panels I am going to remove the rear storage hatch on drivers side and Fiberglass in a 10" sub Pointing across to pass side). roughly 11" cube. I currently have an Infinity 10" sub there now and it is clear and hits hard. No idea what to do with amps.

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

New pics, the height diff you see is because of the way i tucked the vinyl and not to mention the actual vinyl is kinda thick in the first place. Just try to picture the backing board laying there. I think Ill strip the rest of the vinyl cover off later and just have the blank backing board.




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Also, I need to mention where i am at. Right here youll see that ive started and am about half way through with using some thin strand fiberglass bondo to smooth stuff out a bit. Im gonna smooth everything out and then second layer the deep divets remaining with a second coat of the glass bondo. Then ill hit it with the evercoat gold to finish the remaining rough spots.

i agree that you can make some speakers look stock in the door panel but I was originally intending on just reproducing "stock" looking door panels. Plus, i think subs would rattle the doors to death and be more of a neg. than a positive. However, some quality speakers would be nice.

VAN454

Here's a pic of my fibreglassed door trims to show you how I did my speakers

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Cool man that looks really nice. Ive been thinking about it more and more and I really am leaning toward finding some shallow speakers for a decent price and inserting them right where you did. I dont listen to a lot of heavy base music more rock and roll so I like it loud. Ill try to get some more work done on mine tomorrow morning and post some more progress pics. Did you use some wood to make the speaker mount?

VAN454

Yeah, it's done with MDF and fibreglass, the speakers don't need to be real shallow, you just need to space them out a little bit.
here's a couple of pics to show you how I did it



BTW, I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but now is the time for you to do this stuff to your trims if you want speakers in the doors

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

great thread! subscribing...

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Hmmm...I REALLY like those door speakers. Doesnt seem too difficult. And it would give more space than kick panel enclosures. I wouldnt have enough room for my feet with the kick panels. How do they sound in the doors like that? I know the 4th gens are there, so probably as good as them atleast.

I wish I had the "deluxe" door panels in my 86. I have them in my 87, but the color is wrong.

Gonna have to look into this.

J.

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

Wow. I'm really liking that idea for the my door panels... I have the deluxe door panels and have been thining of ways to incorporate the door panel speakers and I believe I just found the best way!

I wouldn't worry about the color, my door panels were the same tan color as VAN454's, but I got some of that vinyl dye/interior spray paint from autoparts and gave it about 3-4 coats and now they are solid black! they look just like factory black!

VAN454

I think it is a good place for the speakers, it sounds great. I have the tweeters at the base of the A-pillars. It isn't too hard to do if you are handy. Perhaps I should do a thread on how I did it instead of hijacking someone elses thread.........

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

You have my vote....... I know it would help me for sure. Especially if any mods need to be done to the door itself. The only thing I know Ill run into is my doors have the elastic pockets in that location. So I either have to sell the perfect ones I have now, and then paint the tan not-so-perfect ones from my 87. Or...modify my current panels and ditch the pockets.

Ill look forward to the write up!

J.

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Whats the best place to find the MDF? Ive got a buddy that has wood working talent but he's never messed with MDF and Im not certain if he knows where to get it from. Home depot?? maybe? I think I am going to go ahead and mount some speakers in the doors...im not sure wether i want them low or right above the armrest though? Either way it shouldnt be too hard to do as long as I can get my friend to cut the wood for me.

Im gonna try to finish up my sanding tonight but my compressor is sadly small and isnt running my sander very well so im doing most of it by hand.

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

Mine had the pockets too, but they are actually "stapled" on and easier to remove than you think...

spartyon

You can find mdf sheets at Home Depot, Menard's, Lowe's, etc. You don't really need 3/4" mdf for rings like these. 1/2" maybe even 1/4" should be enough.

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

great thanks!

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Heres some new pics I should be getting close to primer after today!

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Speaker enclosure handled. It fits a 6.5" speaker or woofer i guess (my door rattle enough). Used fleece to cover the MDF ring and then glassed it over. I have sinced almost finished smoothing everything out with RAGE filler. Its almost ready for vinyl.

Tmic87TPI

iTrader: (3)

wow thats awesome man, can't wait to see it all finished

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the compliment. I was a little worried with how the enclosure breaks the lines of the door panel but Im going to shape it to where the lines kinda flow into the enclosure and lvl out in order to keep it lookin nice. I think the angle of the speaker turned out really nice too. It points straight at the opposite person. Should be really nice for sound.

Orinackra

wow that looks crazy, and I thought 4th gen panels were alot of work. I cant wait to see it on the car, should look really nice.

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

I havent had the chance to work on them much lately, been real busy with summer school but hopefully ill work on them some more this week! Im still smoothing things out a bit right now. Then ill have to wait till i get the money for a primer gun and primer to finish it up before vinyl.

357transam

iTrader: (1)

any news on this? im really interested to see the end results as i was thinking about doing glassed door panels.

toxik IROC

iTrader: (12)

jumpin on the thread....

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Sorry guys, still havent worked on them lately. There is still a ton of finish work to be done. I got a little bit burnt out but I am making it my goal to start working on them again tomorrow night after work. All that is really left is to smooth the filler out and then I can get the surface ready for primer.

Ill try to post updates soon! Thanks for bringing it back up it provides motivation for me!

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

Any updates?

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

Ive been all over the place lately and havent had much time. I have done some work since the last pics and ill take some pics here in a few min and post them so you can see how things are progressing. I am going to be moving to San Antonio for 4 months due to a coop job with toyota. It will be some time before anything is done.

Hopefully though, i will make enough money that when i get back i wont have to work a part time job anymore and ill have lots of extra time for my projects. Thanks for staying hungry guys ill try to get some work done soon!

wildcatkit52

Did you ever finish these things???

GodSpeedGTA

iTrader: (1)

No, I never did. I stopped because the work involved was becoming extremely time consuming. Additionally, esp. with the speakers, they were gonna weigh 2 to 3 times as much as the stock ones. Since it was my first time molding, I had some mistakes that were gonna require tons of work to fix correctly.

Not to mention, I had not even started working on the other side. I still have the panel in my garage and maybe at some point I will try to finish it or redo it knowing what I know now. I think with some better techniques (molding) I could cut the finish time in half. Anyways, thanks for checking in on it.