I found this picture on vivid racing’s forums. Does anybody have any idea where I could get door panels like these? Has anybody ever seen them? I want to know why the F*** the OEM panels aren’t like this in the first place!

I would guess that they are just the stock door panels. The only difference is that they just cut out the stock speaker grill area and put in a better speaker with a much better grill.

But, why does that look photochopped?

They are not like that because it is cheaper to produce the original grill which was molded as a piece to the panel.

those are oem panels with some fiberglass work on them to make it so that the deep speakers will fit. a very nice job if u know how or get someone to do it.

nice looking setup, but if you were going to go to all the trouble to glass a door panel, why would you leave the tweeter in that crap location?

Look at the 05 STi door panels, it looks like someone took the lower portion off that and put it on 02-03 top portions.

My .02

Austin

i see, that makes sense...very creative of them. :)

I'm in the process of finishing up a second set of panels for my car. i wasn't happy with the imaging of the first set so i'm making another. i'll post some pics when im done. it isn't too hard to make a set like that. its just takes some practice and paitence.

Door panels or kicks? Did you fiberglass them? I'd love to see pics of the process you go through as well as the finished product. I'm planning on doing a project like that myself.

Door panels or kicks? Did you fiberglass them? I'd love to see pics of the process you go through as well as the finished product. I'm planning on doing a project like that myself.
I'm making door panels. Kicks wouldnt work too well with me b/c i would proabbly step on them every time i get in and out.
I started by laying down a flat single layer of fiberglass on the area where the stock speaker grill is to stiffen up the area. then i glued some dowels to a ring that i made and played around with the direction the speakers would be facing. next you have to lay down some fleece over everything and soak it in resin and lay a layer of fiberglass mat over that once it starts to dry. the rest is just shaping the panedl with duraglass and some other bondo like products.
i know it hard to see it just by reading it but check out this website that shows you how to create projects.

http://slakin.net/SubBox/
http://ccs.exl.info/frame_installation.html
http://chris.pfharlock.com/glass/index.htm
http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/

i'll post up some pics when im done with my door panels.

Thanks for the info, I can't wait to see your door panels.

One of the links shows my car!
http://slakin.net/SubBox/

I'd llike to do something like this, but with a JL 10w7. I think I'd also like to either do kicks or change the door panels. The door panel sounds a lot more difficult, though, so I'd be interested in seeing your design.

J

Thanks for the info, I can't wait to see your door panels.
I'd llike to do something like this, but with a JL 10w7. I think I'd also like to either do kicks or change the door panels. The door panel sounds a lot more difficult, though, so I'd be interested in seeing your design.

Did you already buy the W7? they are nice but require alot of space and don't offer the best sound reproduction. there are alot of W7 fanbois out there b/c they but out alot of power but its alot of raw beat rather than really good tight bass. listen to them first. you might be able to find a slimilar sub with less space reqirements.

if you plan to make one send me a PM and i'll write up some instructions to follow along with some of the turorials in thoes links.

too bad you cant make a tweeter pod right above the woofer opening...

or can you... ;)

too bad you cant make a tweeter pod right above the woofer opening...

or can you... ;)
its possible.. just more work. the stock tweeter location is pretty good but not as bass ass looking.

hmmmm..... clean or badass????

Did you already buy the W7? they are nice but require alot of space and don't offer the best sound reproduction. there are alot of W7 fanbois out there b/c they but out alot of power but its alot of raw beat rather than really good tight bass. listen to them first. you might be able to find a slimilar sub with less space reqirements.

if you plan to make one send me a PM and i'll write up some instructions to follow along with some of the turorials in thoes links.


I've had one now for about 8 months in a prefab factory box. I've got to disagree with you about the bass reproduction, i find that it's clean and musical. That being said, if I adjust the gain on the amp just a little, I can probably blow the windows out of my car. I've seen a few different w7 configs in these forums, and I'm sort of up in the air about whether I want to go ahead and make it work in my car. If I were to find a normal sub (or pair of subs) that compared well with the w7, and wouldn't require so much enclosure space, I'd sell mine and buy it. I've also considered getting an 8w7 instead.

its possible.. just more work. the stock tweeter location is pretty good but not as bass ass looking.

hmmmm..... clean or badass????


a true artist will do both... ;)

i dare ya... i double dare ya!

take a look at the q-logic kick panels...

http://www.qlogic.ws/servlet/QLogicProductImage?img=65180_a&type=jpg

very simple make of fiberglass door panels.
takes a week at most

dont forget to angle up and point so the two side, if you mount a laser on it, will meet at the roof by the interior light...

those kicks look kinda crappy, they also look like they take up a lot of space

my friend has the laser tool that is used for adjusting speakers to get proper imaging to get the right sound. we are throwing ideas back and forth about the tweeter placement. stock, lower door, sail panel....
we just finished a door on an RX-8 and it looks freakin awsome. i'll snap a pic next time it comes into the shop. it only has the mid bass in the door but it looks so clean.

where's your shop?

where's your shop?
sorry, i say "our" all the time b/c im there all the time. my brother manages Motor Music in Daly City on Misson St. I have my regular job but when i'm not doing that i'm at the shop learning how to make stuff and helping on installs.

Next up on the list is a floating amp rack, screen in the double dinn and head unit in the ashtray, door panels, suede interior bits... etc.. ive started on alot of things but the sub box is the frist thing to be finished.
i just want to end up with a clean and classy car. nothing crazy.

I know that shop, I live on the other side of the bay bridge.

Man that's sweet! I wish I had a place like that to learn all that stuff. You do most of your work after hours?

now i have to. some nights im there untill 2 am shooting the ish with the guys.
i've been working on my car during store hours when it would get a little slow or between jobs but the owner came in and didnt like it. he doesn't mind but wanted me to pay for some supplies that i supposedly used (i bought my own stuff) and the advice of the custom fabricator. no worries, gave him a bill and he was happy.

nice, can't wait to see the photos.

started the door panels yesterday

they are not imaged perfectly but really close. i would have to give them a more extreme angle to get them right.
i decided to keep the tweeters in the stock location to keep it cleaner.
http://www.kickin-it.com/door_1.jpg

Nice one waiting for an update to see how it came out!

today's work
http://kickin-it.com/door_2.jpg
http://kickin-it.com/door_3.jpg

where's the tweeter pods?????

I was wondering that myself...

What's the size of the speakers you're putting in here?

no tweeter pods for now. i didn't like the way they looke on the door. tweeter pods look alot better in kick panels but im not a huge fan of them. if i make something for the pods it'll be on the sail panel.

Still working on this? I want to see more pics? How are they turning out? Are you putting 6.5's in there?

Hey, I was wondering if you knew of a good place to get carpeting and a terminal cup for a subwoofer box. Anywhere you know of in the bay area?

Also, what type of body filler do you use? and what type of fiberglass? I'm almost done collecting materials for what is now turning out to be several potential projects.

i took a break from working on my car for a week but i should be done with the project this week. i dont if i am going to cover them with suede or paint them yet so i am going to hold off on that for a week or two but i want a running system by monday.

you can get carpet at pretty much any stereo store. (not a fry's or best buy)
as for terminals go to radio shack.

i used 1.5 oz fiberglass mat
-Tap Plastics resin
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=37&PHPSESSID=200511201521331480736085
-Tap Plastics hardener
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=40&PHPSESSID=200511201521331480736085
-Evercoat Everglass short strand body filler to build up the shape of the door panels and box over the hardened fleece
-Evercoat Rage Gold body filler to smooth out the panels. Rage is a lighter version of the everglass and is easier to sand.
-Cream harneder for the body fillers.
http://evercoat.com/

i wrote up a quick how to on the process i used. check it out if you want.

http://kickin-it.com/Fiberglass.htm

update.... i took my panels to the body shop today. it turned out to be alot cheaper to get them painted than covered in suede. the labor for suede job was going to run me 300 plus material. the paint job is running me 100 for both. i should have them back on monday and put together by tuesday night in order for my road trip to Vegas for the CES show.

http://kickin-it.com/DSC04724.JPG

Nice job. Can't wait to see the finished product. You have far more patience than I could ever have.

looks good.

Hey thanks for the advice on the fiberglass. I've so far managed to make a stealthbox for my friend's MDX and my wife's civic. Thought I'd get some practice in before I touched my car. I think custom door panels will be in order as well. Interested to see how yours turn out.

looks good.

Hey thanks for the advice on the fiberglass. I've so far managed to make a stealthbox for my friend's MDX and my wife's civic. Thought I'd get some practice in before I touched my car. I think custom door panels will be in order as well. Interested to see how yours turn out.

nice.... now where's my cut of the money? j/k

i'll post some pics up when i get them back from the body shop.

I tried tweeters all over the front of my car and have pretty much gone back to the a-pillars time and time again. Its just hard to beat the path length! That and all the depth behind the plastic of the a-pillar makes it a really easy install.

nice.... now where's my cut of the money? j/k

I'll give it to you when I can figure out where all my money went. Doing it yourself is less expensive than going to a shop, but it certainly isn't cheap.

Finally got them done before my CES road tirip.
I still have to put the pockets back in and tweak a few things but they are pretty much done.
http://kickin-it.com/painted1.jpg
http://kickin-it.com/painted2.jpg

haha i was gehtto and used my stock speakers as spacers. i just cut out the paper part of the speakers and drill after marketspeak to the stock speakers. they work perfectly.