Easy way to make tweeter mounts

[sigma6]

Just thought I'd share a little trick I came up with...

I had to locate some compact tweets into a rounded corner of a kickpanel, but wanted it to blend in down there rather than stick out like a sore thumb. I thought of buying solid wood and cutting that to shape but figured it would take forever to get the shape right and then be too heavy to stick there. I wanted to use double-sided tape rather than glue or screw the wedge in there.

What I came up with was floral sponge that florists use for flower arranging. It's slightly porous and when you poke holes in it they stay poked. Best of all it's rigid unless crushed and it's really easy to shape with a hobby knife.
I cut the wedges to fit into a corner and have a flat surface to fix the tweeter to. Once I had the shape I wanted I made notch in one edge to hide the wires, since I wanted to run them under the kickpanels and out of sight. You could make a hole through the wedge with a chopstick if you wanted to come out the back.
Next I 'painted' the wedges all over with woodworking adhesive. Two coats will leave a skin on the wedge thick enough to resist denting and a surface that tapes and glues will stick to easily. The sponge is porous so it takes up the glue very well. The finished texture is somewhat like vinyl or interior plastic parts, so a shot of paint to match your interior will hide it really well. I had the best results with matt spray paint, and used black to match the tweets. Looks just like a plastic trim piece. :)

[toolfan91]

Have any pics of this?

[sigma6]

Have any pics of this?Eh, only installed unfortunately. I'm one of those obsessive/compulsive types, so once I get started into a project there's no stopping for food, sleep, photos or anything. :p

I will post pix of the finished items later. Promise. :)

[sigma6]

http://static.flickr.com/53/153021661_eb497b60fb.jpg
bigger image (http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=153021661&size=l)

[AzGrower]

Another way I have found to make some mounting cups is to use PVC pipe, it works really well, and after its covered in vinyl (like in a door pod), it looks like its part of the tweeter itself.

[dennisp]

Does this stuff melt in direct sunlight?

[internecine]

im sorry, but diy or not, that looks horrid.

[AcidicDreams]

im sorry, but diy or not, that looks horrid.

you ride one of these around all the time... don't you?

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f356/AcidicDreams/highhorse.jpg

[MrH]

DIY is all about how it sounds and experimenting. Not every body can live up to someone elses high standards.

[sigma6]

Does this stuff melt in direct sunlight?No.
im sorry, but diy or not, that looks horrid.Thanks for taking the time to offer your opinion.
1. I posted this to let people know about a material they might find useful in their installs, not to point out my (lack of) skills in forming that material.
2. Those pods are tiny, and lurk in some pretty dark shadows. I would have spent more time on them if they were up on the dash etc. Sorry they're not up to your standards. I'll try harder next time.

[dodgerblue]

i admire your response

[niceguy]

Not bad at all, esp considering its location. Are you liking the positioning?

Actually, you finally inspired me to get around to making some mounting 'cups' for my RE comp tweets to go in my '93 Altima. I have some Peerless surface mount tweets that stink but the REs are flush mount only.

I figure some resin over the green foam (already shaped and ready to insert tweets) will give the base enough strength to apply some velcro or something to the plastic sail panel inserts...Well see.....

Again, good job....another good example of ingenuity and the DIY mentality......If it doesn't work, make it work :)


Jeremy

[sigma6]

Thanks Jeremy. The position was the best I could find down there, it was just the most difficult to make a permanent mount to. 45* degrees of that either way was easy to mount but one way I had side bias and the other way the stage was too narrow and rainbowed. I could have bought the adjustable angle mounts but they look fragile and easy to catch with a foot...

[niceguy]

I carved out some green foam yesterday to fit my RE comp tweets but I guess the edges were too thin around the tweet because I added resin and it kindof melted parts of the rim of the 'cup' I was making....oh well, I may end up making another and using it to hold the tweet in place while I glass or bondo it to the sail panel....

Jeremy

[B&K]

Sigma,
You just saved me a lot of frustration, I am using your technique to temporarily mount tweets for aiming purposes. Mine are going up higher so cosmetically they will change, but this is so much more secure than any temporary setup I have used before and easy to.

[AzGrower]

hmm, you do know there is 3/16" mdf sheets available in 4x4 size right? This would make a nicer structure and more solid as well. You wouldnt need to add resin or anything, just cut it with your jigsaw and holesaw...easy as pie.

[niceguy]

AZGrowr:

I've seen 1/4" hardboard at HD....is that what you're referring to?? I used that to seal and stiffen my van door panels....much better than plywood!! No flying splinters when cutting :)

And do you mean using the MDF to make small mounting rings, pods or what exactly??


Jeremy

[AzGrower]

AZGrowr:

I've seen 1/4" hardboard at HD....is that what you're referring to?? I used that to seal and stiffen my van door panels....much better than plywood!! No flying splinters when cutting :)

And do you mean using the MDF to make small mounting rings, pods or what exactly??


Jeremy

Yes that the 1/4 hardboard I meant. If I look at the original picture, I see a triangular shaped "pod" for the tweeter.

http://static.flickr.com/53/153021661_eb497b60fb.jpg

I dont see where that would be more difficult to produce that same shape with the pressed wood. A simple jig saw and a drill with a hole saw bit would make that same mount in about 3 minutes of work time. Plus no need to be using the wood sealer or resin to add rigidity. For some really odd shapes, what I do is first make a template using some poster board, and once I get the final shape that works for me, I trace that to the 1/4" hardboard and cut away with my jigsaw. I just dont see why more people just dont stick to the basics instead...saves time and is much easier.

[niceguy]

I see your point but in a case like this that spans a curvature, wouldn't foam be easier to simply carve out that would fit in the space? It seems like any flat wood product would have to span the recess and make it hard to mount it on the left side, since there's no flat plane that runs parallel w/the tweeter's axis....Maybe I'm thinking too hard... :D


Jeremy

[MIAaron]

Expanding foam works great for forming to complex surfaces.

[sirbikealot7]

what kind of car is that?>a 90's impreza?

[rekd0514]

Doesn't look good, but it works for tempoary installs. :)

[Arc]

I was thinking about this method earlier. I am going to use it to make the shape of my a-pillars. SInce I am going back to school I won't have access to many of my tools here at home, or space to work.

Don't use resin on it. It will melt it away, same way that it melts plastic cups...lol. Just use some glue like he suggested.

[azngotskills]

I think im going to use the expanded foam approach for my a-pillar and door pod shapes. Shape the foam and use it as a mold, fiberglass and resin over it, pop the foam out, then finish glassing. Seems simple enough in my eyes (but im asian and I have small eyes.....ya ya bad joke i know i know) ;)

[rekd0514]

^^^ He just said resin melts it.

[azngotskills]

resin doesnt melt expanded foam, its melts that florist foam stuff

[niceguy]

Well hurry up and post pics once your done :) I need to redo the driver side tweet pod I made from a piece of beveled PVC...RE tweets are just too deep to surface mount in an Altima....

I was thinking of the expanding foam too...So messy though. Perhaps mask off the area (like when glassing) and then create a foam mold?

Jeremy

[sigma6]

what kind of car is that?>a 90's impreza?It's a 2000 GF. It's all the same from '93 to '00.

[robbyho]

The florist foam will melt when soaked in resin. It should hold up fine when coated with body filler though. Floral foam is easy to press shapes into and much easier to shape than any other kind of foam, so this is a great idea. Can be bought at craft stores.

two thumbs up!

Rob

[Vash]

Hey not to jack your thread but it sorta inspired me to bring my 26NA down from the stock door location. Have you tried it in this position (look at my pix)? It sounds amazing in my miata. Anyways, good luck!

[sigma6]

Have you tried it in this position (look at my pix)? It sounds amazing in my miata.I did try that, but it didn't image right and the stage was low too. Or rather, it didn't work right during the half a day I played with EQ there. Maybe with some more tuning... who knows?

[The Blue Blur]

eh. might as well show my less lazy, but just as quick/cheap/dirty method for temporary tweeter mounts.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/TBB712/build/plasticcup.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/TBB712/build/wrappedcup.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/TBB712/build/P3170146.jpg

I got the inspiration for this amid a rush to finish my system before a big car meet. Didn't make it, but It amused me. I took a plastic party cup and cut it down to the height of my tweeter and the quick disconnects latched behind it. I cut the flat top out and folded the rest of the bottom ridge inwards to clamp on the tweeter some. I wrapped the whole deal in fabric and then used a metal clip to hang it from the plastic trim. Then I used the floor mat to hold it in place (mine don't move). Funny enough they ended up really on axis from me doing this.

[Hi There]

I got the inspiration for this amid a rush to finish my system

"As the snow flies
On a cold and gray chicago mornin
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
cause if theres one thing that she dont need
Its another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto..."

J/K, man, I've done stuff like that to make a deadline too (It's funny if you know how the song goes). My worst was the "peel and seal works as good as butyl" sound deadener in my old Ford Fucus. :D It's good to know there's some good DIY'ers out there unafraid to try new things. Half the folks on the internet (myself included, sometimes) want to make folks feel like they fell out of the womb with fiberglass rash and a Haynes manual under one arm. Thanks for sharing what doesn't work.