Saturday, September 01, 2001 This is the first time I have attempted to build speaker pods. I have read about building them and thought that I would give it a shot. When done well, I think they really look and sound good. Hopefully mine will turn out okay. I am going to use a wood baffle to mount the speaker, and fiberglass to make the cone shape of the pods. First, I built the baffle, which is what the speaker attaches to. I thought I'd try to minimize cutting by making two at a time. I glued two 5/8" thick pieces of particle board (MDF would probably be better) together, with a piece of paper in between. The paper allows the pieces to be separated after cutting. There are pictures showing the piece after cutting but before separating, and then after separating the pieces. I used a chisel to separate them, and then sanded the paper off. Next, I cut a board roughly in the shape of the existing kick panel and placed it in the car. I am going to try to determine at what angle I want the speaker to be mounted. I used a metal strap, attached to the baffle, that I could bend to the shape I needed. Then, I moved everything over to the the workbench where I could make some more permanent mounts. Building stands for the baffle was a little bit tricky. I cut pieces of particle board scraps that matched the angle of the baffle. Then, I used a combination of glue and screws to attach them to the baffle. I used a larger drill bit to countersink the screws. There needs to be a flush surface because that is where the speaker will mount. I copied the pieces for the stands, so I could build the other side at the same angle. I wasn't quite sure how to mount the pods in the car. I didn't know if I wanted one board with the pod permanently attached, and that I would mount in the kickpanel area to seal up the vent. Or, if I wanted a board to seal up the vent, and then mount the pod to that board. I chose the latter because of the flexibility it gives me. I need some flexibility because this is my first attempt, and I am still not 100% sure of the position I want the pod to be. On the driver's side, I have to make sure there is still room to reach the headlight brights switch in the floor. On the passenger side, there is the heater box to worry about. I am going to have to remove the heater box, but that's okay because I plan to replace it with a newer one that has air conditioning. I figure after the pods are built I will be able to tell how much space they actually take up, and then decide exactly where they should go. Anyways, the last three pictures show templates I am making for the base of the pods. The fiberglass will go from the top of the baffle to the base. I'll be working on that tomorrow. Some things I learned are that I should probably have made the baffles larger in diameter. This would give me more options when it comes time to put a grill over the speaker. Right now, they are the same size as the speaker template that came with the speakers - which happens to be the same diameter as the plastic grill that comes with the speakers.