Altering Speaker Pods to fit 6.5"

[Ozza]

Hey Guys,

Bought some 6.5" Jaycar Response splits and coaxial rear speakers. So far I have only put the rears in and I faced a few minor issues. Obviously the pod was going to need some altering being half an inch bigger and this is were I faced some issues. The coaxial rear speakers has a battery like thing one side of the speaker and I couldnt get good clearence on this so I used some 16mm MDF spacers and this seemed to install no hassles. I then realised when re-installing the trim the extra 16mm was up against the trim and speaker grill forcing me to no longer able to put in only one of the lowest trim screws under the speaker grill section as their is a 10mm gap.

To get to the point.... have many people fully altered their speaker pod so it like fully no longer has the back weather shield section like a pic I found below? Should I be fine in doing this as I would prefer my trim to re-install properly and fit snug, or is my speaker most likely to cop it and become disfunctional?



Cheers

[HCVP]

Sand them out by hand, to accomodate the larger speaker Shouldn't take long, just be careful yo dont go too far with it, keep checking back with your speaker . Then re-drill your holes to mount the speaker.

[Ozza]

Sorry dude, Im a little lost with what your saying.
I actually cut one of the mdfspaces back to 9mm and it didnt have enough clearence of the battery bit on the weather shield. I think Im just going to have to ditch the spacers and hack up my pods to be complete weather shieldless like the photo above.

[Dangerous Dave]

sand or gently, GENTLY grind out the area in red and then re drill your mounting holes in the pod...

[HCVP]

LOL, the area marked in red. I didn't think my post was hard to understand. Speaker doesn't fit in pod, sand pod out, make speaker fit.....

[Dangerous Dave]

people some not understand so goodly things simple.

[UFO]

more pics the better imo! he went to the effort to go into MS Paint and draw in the red circle... and for noobs to car audio like me, I certainly appreciate it .

[Ozza]

LOL, the area marked in red. I didn't think my post was hard to understand. Speaker doesn't fit in pod, sand pod out, make speaker fit.....

Well actually mate, I am not that silly. The outer diameter of the speaker isnt the issue! So neither of your posts have any relevance, so next time instead of opening the thread and just looking at the picture and assuming what I am asking, read through before you reply and make comments like im an illiterate noob.

The original picture I have put up is of a speaker pod which has had the weather shield completely removed from it, its just has the mounting areas left ie the finished product to what I am asking. What I am asking is it fine to remove this part or will my speaker get damage really quick? The weather shield is the marked area below.

[holdenboy]

In short, the speaker will not suffer from removing this shield. Many people (and cars) have speakers installed without this shield, and where not talking cheap speakers either (upwards of $1000 splits).

I know thats the answer you were looking for (atleast thats my opinion) but i just thought i'd throw u a suggestion:

In my opinion, youre better off to make up some MDF replacements. I realise you did try this with 16mm and this brought the speaker out too far from the door for the trim to go back on normally. So what i suggest is going with some 6mm MDF soaked in fibreglass resin to strengthen the MDF, this will leave you with the 10mm reduction needed to fit the trim back on and also give you better strength, which means better bass response!

[Philthy]

I see what you are talking about now. Cut away! It wont be as rigid as it should be, but wont kill your speakers. I have always just cut whatever is in the way to make speakers fit

EDIT: What he said ^^^

[Dangerous Dave]

ahhh. whoops.. guess i should pull my door apart and look @ the pod's..

its been 4 years

[VQXTC]

If you want to you can use a piece of ice cream container over the top of the back of the speaker and use a hot glue to hold it to the pod, i have done this before.... works quite well.

Cheers

Simon

[Ozza]

Awesome.

I though I would be best to clarify this before damaging the speakers. Cheers to the above!

[Weekend Warrior]

so to bump this up guys....the whole point in the shield is to stop water etc from getting onto the speaker? is that correct?


Also with the 6mm MDF spacers soaked in Fiberglass....what exactly do you have to do for this?


I have some 6.5" Focal Utopias which have a ****off massive magnet on the back so fitting is most likely going to be an issue.

[holdenboy]

Yes, the shield is designed to stop water getting to the speaker.

6mm spacers - get some 6mm MDF, put your old plastic pod onto the MDF and trace around the base of the pod, also mark out the mounting holes (do this for both sides). Then cut the MDF out, put your template from your new speakers on these pieces of MDF, centre the templates and cut it out. While your there drill out the holes for the mounting screws. Sand back the MDF on both sides just a little bit.
When this is done test fit them to the door, screw them in and test fit the speaker too.
If all is good get yourself some fibreglass resin and catalyst (hardener). Mix it up as specified and paint it on (like paint) with a brush, do this on both sides. Leave it to dry and do another coat.
Once dry your new spacers should be nice and strong...fit to doors, connect speaker wiring and screw the speaker in.
You dont have to strengthen the MDF with fibreglass, but as its only 6mm i would.

[Weekend Warrior]

ok thanks for the help there, sounds like a very good idea!!!


If the speaker does not fit in the factory weather shield pod, is there anything you an do to stop the water getting onto them?

[VQXTC]

If you like refer to my post above.

Cheers

Simon