For the last few weeks I've been building a set of 6.5" kick panels for a guy. As usual the project is taking 3x longer than I planned on, but I'm at a point where I thought I'd post pics for people to see.

The pieces in the pics are going to be used to create a fiberglass mold so that I can reproduce them whenever I need to. The ones that are actually going to the guy will be a carpeted set that comes out of the mold created from these. But, I thought the painted ones looked really good so I took some pics.









Now I've just got to figure out how to make the mold. Because of the goofy shape, I might wind up with a 3 or 4 piece mold for each side.

 

Those look excellent Jim! I wish I'd find the time to finish mine. What brand speakers are those?

 

The speakers are Phoenix Gold. They belong to the person that I'm making the kicks for. I have to admit that I was pretty impressed with their sound during the mockup period. They seem to be nice and smooth, but still offer pretty good detail.

 

wow very nice! Those will look great carpeted!

 

those kicks look amazing. Jim you truly have skills and the know it all to do the job right.

Im debating on installing kicks in one of my cars but it always seems like it would KILL the leg room. Since my left leg always rest to the side....

 

Giving up a little leg room took a little getting used to for me because I always kept my leg over to the left. It annoyed the crap out of me for a while, but I quickly got used to it and found other comfortable positions for my leg. It's definately something to consider before going to kicks.

 

Wow ima start saving for a pair from you.....

 

look very nice, the tweeter location is interesting. an abs looking unit would be really nice. i'm just tired of seeing fiberglass though so don't mind me.

 

Apparently so, since you made your new console out of wood
Lookin good, Jim. I take it you decided to open the rear of the kick panel. I have found that makes mine sound better - I will probably make the holes a little bigger since they still sound a bit muddy. How is the soundstage with those? It seems like it would be below the dash.

 

Kandied,
I don't like the fiberglass look either. From day one my plan has been to make them look as stock as possible, which at least for my car, means carpet. The only reason these are painted is because I need a smooth surface that I can wax in order to be able to make the mold right.

Sesand:

I'm planning to experiment with open vs. closed rear. With most of the high Q woofers on the market, I expect that they would sound better with the rear baffle open. I went another step in my car and removed the rubber that covers the opening to the backside of the kick panel area (where the door lock relays are on the driver side). Next I'm going to fill the entire area and the back of the kick panel with polyfill and a little dynamat.

With my other project that I'm doing, I intentionally chose a lower Q woofer and that may work better with the airspace at hand.

 

i'd say your going in the right direction... what would be the max mounting depth with those though?

 

Good luck finding one that works in 0.0004 ft^3 of airspace. I wonder if it would be possible to make an aperiodic membrane enclosure (is that even possible with a midrange??) - maybe I'm just talking out my *ss...
If you want to eventually reveal your secrets, I'll be listening

 

I calculated my usable airspace to be approximately .1 cubic feet, which gives my driver a calculated F3 of 110hz. I'm hoping that cabin gain will give an in-car F3 of 80hz.

But, once I get the proto built, I'm going to experiment with sealed, open baffle, and 1 or 2 other "tricks" up my sleeve.

 

Those look great, Jim. The wait is killing me.

 

Looks nice. Dunno about the tweeter placement, looks about where I rest my foot. Besides that, the craftsmanship looks good.

 

Space is very tight down there, especially when trying to fit 6.5" drivers and their grills. My first set that's in my car now put the tweeters up higher, which forced the woofers lower. Putting the tweeters lower actually improves foot space a little bit, and also puts the tweeters in a position that's much more direct for both front seat listeners.

 

We need installed pics!!

 

I should be able to do that over the weekend, except that they'll be installed in my gray kicks instead of the black ones. I'm not cutting those up until I'm done with everything else.

 

 

Wow great job.I like the painted look. How much are you gonna be selling those for?

 

I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the painted ones. The prices would depend on the quality of paint that I need to use. I'd love to say that I could do them for $300, but if I can't get rattle can paint to do the job and have to move into automotive based urethanes, it probably won't be under $400. Paint is going to be an expensive option, but it will be available for those few who want it.

 

how much for an unfinished version for us po' folks.... and thats for an unloaded kick right or do they come with speakers??

 

how much?

 

$200/pair for carpeted kicks is going to be the cheapest (and most common) option. I'm not offering them unfinished.

For those who want them, I'll offer them in vinyl, paint, and hopefully a texture finish, but those might be priced on a per-unit basis depending on what the person wants. I expect 95% of the people to want the carpeted ones... and that's what I'm putting into my car.

Yesterday I installed plugs in the woofer and tweeter openings, and right now I'm experimenting with my mold making. My goal is to have a functional set of molds by mid-week so that I can get this poor guy's set done by next weekend. Once I get his done I'll probably pop out a few more so that I can start experimenting with vinyl and texture finishes. When I do, I'll have pics of all the different finishes.

Once I'm done with this set of molds, I'm going to move back to my original project of developing a set of speakers specifically for the kick panels.

Too much crap to do.

 

thats good. i can swing $200 easier than i can $400... time to start saving...

















too much to buy,not enuff money