some install ideas

[Mooch]

Instead of cutting parcel shelves as seems to be the topic of the day (!) there are many better ways to mount your rear speakers.

1. Make a decent custom fibreglass parcel shelf. The beauty of this is that your imagination can run wild. Design something wild or subtle, its up to you. Its just patience and small $.

Cut out your parcel shelf with atleast 16mm MDF. Then taking your speaker, cut out 2 rings of craftwood so that they each fit flush around the edge of the speaker and that they fit the speaker in snug.

Set them both to the desired angle and secure with little blocks of craftwood and hotmelt glue to the parcel shelf. Now lay masking tape every inch or so around the perimeter. ie: from the ring to the parcel shelf.

This tape becomes support for the chopped strand mat. Follow the instructions on the fibreglass resin can. You can buy a "fibreglass repair kit" from the hardware store for about $25 which is plenty for this task.

Cut the mat into strips of about 2inches wide and 3 inches long. use scissors that are decent but not your mums good sewing scissors.

Mix up the resin with the catalyst. Do not come into contact with the catalyst or it'll eat thru ur skin to the bone. under 15deg celcius needs 2% and over 1-1.5% should do. It'll give you about 20 minutes working time. Only mix up 1/2 the resin and do one pod at a time.

Use an old paint brush to wet the mat with resin, soaking it thru. then lay it onto your ring, over the tape and onto the parcel shelf. Stiffling the mat into the MDF with the paint brush (sort of like dabbing it with the end of the brissles). Do this for the entire way around. Obviously the front of the ring will touch the parcel shelf but the rear could be as high as 2 inches.

Make sure the mat is thoroughly wet thru with the resin. It shoud look semi tranparent. It will be fully hardened in about 24 hours. To trim it you'll need to use a jigsaw/angle grinder - use your judgement as to which you would use for your application.

A smear of bog all over to mould it in nicely, when the bog is cured past the cheesey stage, use a rasp to shape it.

Finish off the bog when it is hard with 60 grit paper, and then trim it in whatever fashion you desire - ie vacuum moulding, cloth or vynal.

I'll do number 2 way tomorrow. sorry for the length!

Just thought i'd plant the seed.

Ciao
Mooch