Fiberglass Door Speaker Pod (02 Tahoe)

Making a place to mount multiple speakers in front door grills. Adding a 5.25" speaker with the 6.5" on the actual speaker grill because there isn't room in the stock location.

Supplies used:

Dremel with circle cutting tool

A Dremel metal cutting bit or grinder

Bondo Fiberglass resin

Fiberglass Mat

Bondo Body filler

3 Chip brushes

sand paper

Needle and thread

Utility knife or X-Acto knife

DAP Weldwood contact cement

Some stretch vinyl from Hobby Lobby.

Remove door panel and remove speaker grill.

Cut speaker mounting rings. (I used thinner fiber board and a Dremel with circle cutting tool.) These rings are actually available on ebay also if you don't have the means of cutting your own.

Then brace and mount the rings on the face of the grill and secure them using hot glue or a fast setting epoxy.

Once that has dried cut out the metal grill inside the circles using a Dremel or grinder.

Fold in the speaker grill tabs and cover the grill with t-shirt material and stretch it tight. (I used a needle and thread on the back side to gradually pull it tight)

Mix and Brush on the fiberglass resin into the material (make sure to give it a good coat because where it is thin it doesn't cure quickly). Then let that cure.

Flip the grill over and cut away the extra cloth up to the edge (A utility knife may work, a Dremel removes it easily)

Then cut and place pieces of fiberglass mat and coat them with resin to reinforce the structure. Then let that cure.

After it's cured, sand out any rough spots ( It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth since we are covering it with vinyl). You can spray it with primer, as I did here, and it will show the texture better. Then use body filler to smooth out any imperfections.

OPTIONAL - Here I reinstalled the grill and placed a small bolt long enough to attach the grill to the body panel just to make sure it's secured. It seems to be secure enough without the bolt though so it's up to you.

Be sure to use a flat topped bolt and sink the head of the bolt into the grill where it will be flush so it won't make a lump when you cover it. I drilled a hole where it will be covered by the ring of the speaker so I didn't have to worry about it.

Cut vinyl pieces to fit over grills (the vinyl I used I found at Hobby Lobby and it was a super stretchy vinyl for leggings and it worked really well. Really easy to work with. If you use a different kind make sure it's a 4-way stretch vinyl)

Brush on a good coat of weldwood contact cement on the front of the grill and around the back side to hold the vinyl, and also brush a light amount on the inside of the vinyl. Let it set up and then cover it.

You'll have to take a razor blade and cut out holes around the tabs as you get it wrapped around the edge. Then trim off the excess.

*It's super easy to work with and get all the wrinkles pulled out, just be sure not to press down the vinyl too hard until it's in the right place. The pressure locks it down.

Then cut out the holes for the speakers.

Install the speakers and reattach the door panels.