i need to put .25 cu foot kick panels up front. any ideas anyone with some pics?

 

Fiberglass.

 

ya Thanks Metal I know fiberglass...who sells the stuff, Lowes?
Anybody got some pics?

 

btw this will be the first attempt of mine if I build a fiberglass kick panel.

 

Ok, it's actually ALOT easier than you think. BBOYSteve has built them, check a few threads down, I know he has some pics posted.

 

Here ya go, dude...everything you would need to know HERE!

PM me if you have any questions!

 

yo thanks man! Ya, I checked out his kick panels...alot smaller than what I'm doing but it is good stuff to look at.
btw, I saw some 1/32 milled fibers on eBay. Are these what I use with a resin?

 

okay, I bout some fiberglass mat, like in the link that u provided. Now just need the resin and hardener and Im good to go. Thanks alot Metal Maxima!!

 

I would almost not even consider my kicks truely built kick panels since I just molded speakers into the existing kicks, but it is fiberglassing and involves the same stuff.

That tutorial linked, from my quick glance at it, seems good. there's quite a few of them out and about on the internet....

http://www.elitecaraudio.com/article.php?sid=20 heres one by Steve Head aka Audionutz. Yes there are pics at the end.

I haven't built the "full" kicks for a Gen 4 Max yet. I will be going 3 way front next summer, so will then, but I have poked around down there, and I gotta say that the Maxima looks like a nice, basic, kickpanel install.....

OK, so you're trying to get a lot of airspace....Luckily, if you poke around down there, behind each kick is a HUGE (not actually huge, but to me, opening up a my cars kickpanel and seeing this big hole with a cavity behind it is like "cha-ching"!...) hole back there that you can vent into. Reach up in there and you should be able to take out some factory foam.

Looks like you can get a good bit of space out of that, or even better, use that to actaully vent to the outside (IB) of the car which is where I'd see myself going, but either way, you're in luck. You're definately not going to want to make big azz .25 boxes sitting down there, so make sure you make the most of that space. Some people (hopefully people who don't have such a nice area to vent through/into) will drill holes into the back of the kick and vent it into the carpet, getting rid of that 200 hz peaky kick boom, but you can only do that so much....so use that space back there wisely.

After a few layers of glass when they're thick and solid, coat the entire inside of the kicks with non drying modeling clay (bought a Jo Anne Fabrics, like the colored stuff I used in between my doof panels and baffle) to dampen them well.

Aim/listen while you're building for best results (though a good place to start will be by sitting at the listening position, hopefully all the way back, and having a friend mark off 2 inches down and 5 inches ofrward from your ear that is near the window....and aiming at about that point on the window. Again, doesn't work in ever car/kick install, but this is a general place to start and often works well. Matt Borgart came up with that one, i think...Don't forget when aiming to play with phasing, often the passenger mid is gonna want to be out of phase)....Cover up the under dash area by simply cutting out cardboard to shape, and covering it with carpet. Be sure to have a dashmat as your aiming or if you haven't gotten one yet, at least put a towel up there for aiming.



Good luck!

 

^out of phase...u mean like most of the sound is wasted up under the dash and the cardboard etc.. is used to deflect the cound waves to their proper locations right?
man I can't wait to start this one.
Thanks BBoyStevie!

 

out of phase = switch positive and negative wires

ummm to answer your second question, I guess I'd say "no, just the opposite"...It is to prevent reflections from occurring under there, which can draw perception to that area, lowering soundstage.

 

I've made a couple sets before, my first set was like the how to link posted, I'm trying to get a set made that actually looks good and flows with the trim of the car, I'll post some pics soon of what I'm working on. 4th gen kicks are little tricky depending on what you want and what speaker you are putting in there. Mb Quart RSC are not too friendly to work with when you don't have alot of space.

 

yes, that's what I meant...thanks.

 

I know that Qlogic makes 5th gen kick panels that replace the existing ones. Tony Fernandes has them I believe.

Do they also make them for 4th gens? Just a suggestion before you go about fiberglassing

 

Q-Logic only has them from 2000-2003. Didn't see a listing for the '99. I've got'em in my '03 and really like them.

 

How is the quality of the Q-Logic kicks? What is the largest midrange driver they accept?

 

Vent em to the outside of the car and give em the air they need They'll thank you.

 

Q Logics typically will fir a 5.25 easily, maybe a 6.5 with some modification. Obviously the look is great. Aiming is going to be pretty good but of course not custom aimed with the driver of your choice, best maximized for your listening position....For most they'd really be OK.

One way or another, there gonna need to be thickened/dampened, something....
either dampening material or some fiberglass, maybe some non hardening clay.

To me, expensive for what you get, but I guess to the right person they are a good buy.

 

hey, I'm gonna build the .25 cu ft kicks soon.
as for venting, do i just drill a hole about 1" diameter behind the speaker that I'll be using? (RE xxx)

 

ahhhhh....heard that mid in slammed doors yesterday...sounded good freeair, though I have heard that sealing it in about .25-.3 will yeild stronger and more controlled low end. That would be a great woofer to be able to get into kicks. a bit deep though, right? I'mressive midrange too.

Well I would get back there and inspect that cavity behind the kicks I told you abuot. If I remember correctly, either on the top or bottom of the actual cavity, there already was a little vent hole. I'd take rough some measurements of the cavity. I'm going to guess that you 'll find that cavity itself is.2-.3 or maybe even a little more. If thats the case, cover that little one inch hole so only that cavity is used (may want to dampen the cavity, some mat, non hardening clay, or maybe for this liquid deadener as parts may be hard to reach). After taping off, make your floor/kick area mold. At this time, I'd just glass flat over where that hole is, like put a piece of cardboard over it, but make sure you're glassing flush up against the outside of the cavity. Now go ahead and make the rest of your kickpanel, aiming the baffle using backstrapping/wood to hold the mid and stretch the fleece/shirt/speaker grille cloth over to make the kickpanel shape. Because you're going to have the airspace you need in that hidden cavity, you can keep the kicks as small as possible, maybe leave 1" or so behind the driver, but you're not going to need to worry about "the airspace of the kickpanel, as that cavity will cover that fine. ...Of course do your thickening up and everything....then I'd testfit, make sure it's all good...Then, assuming it's all good and lined up, figure out which part of the kickpanel is directly over the hole into the cavity. Make a nice hole through the back of your kickpanel right into that cavity. Do whatever extra thickening up, dampening w/ modeling clay, do whatever cosmetic finishing to the kick....Then for finaly install, drive a screw or three through the kickpanel, through your metal, holding the kickpanel ultra tight against the shape of your car where it was made to perfectly contour. Your hole will still line right up into that cavity, andnow it's all essentially one enclosure.

This is essentailly my plan for next year when I build kicks for the max. For my application, most likely, I'll be wanting the drivers to run IB. The only difference here would be that while you will seal that little hole on the bottom or top of that cavity to keep your enclosure sealed, I'll be opening it up.

 

4th gens get no respect and no love compared to other vehicles. Try finding(more than 1 pair) aftermarket headlights and good looking kickpanels.

 

ya, those cavities I saw about 2 months ago when i initially put the xxx in my doors,(ran wires through there to get the grommet) but then i decided to go with active 3 way, as an idea given to me by Slickrick, and the xxx had to be elsewhere. and I want to put them into kickpanels now. Thanks alot for thehelp!

 

My pleasure. Take pics and give thanks for those awesome "car audio cavities". I was soooo pumped about them till I went over a frineds house who has forgotten more than I know about car audio. He just bought a used beemer that came with speakers in kickpanels, stock...and about 2-3 inches of depth back there.

Good luck with the project! I'd like to soo how this turns out w/ such deep speakers, but teh airspace is there...