DIY: Del Sol custom storage compartment speakers. PHOTOS

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DIY: Del Sol custom storage compartment speakers. PHOTOS

Postby maksimizer » Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:33 am

This is something iv been wanting to do for a long time, was debating on making a custom subwoofer box, or simplying running 2 6x9 speakers as more bass off an amp.

But does it sound good? YES IT DOES.
My stock set up with newer speakers sounded good, not enough bass / my deck did not have enough options.
After I installed these it added A HUGE amount of bass to my car after break in perioud.

I am very happy I ended up doing this instead of subs. Looks clean, sounds clean, and I still have storage space.

Step by step, almost retard proof guide.
(Took me 8 hours total, that includes driving back and forth for bolts / speakers / food time)

No i am not a grammar nazi and there will be spelling mistakes, backspace is not an option unless my typos go full retard.

Tools : Coping saw (U shaped with a THIN blade, no you CAN NOT use a 1" wide saw you found in your dads tool box to do this )
Screwdrivers
Sockets
Drill with different sized bits
Flashlight is always usefull
Tape measure
Marker
Shrink tube / wire cutters / lighter / wire (electrical)
Nuts / bolts / screws (Get them as you go, do not guess sizes.)
Basic knowledge of electrical car audio.
Alcohol so you dont get mad after you spent an entire day doing this / FOOD.
The more the merrier, some tricky spots to remove nuts / bolts.

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1. You want to figure out what size speakers you want to have, 6x9 is the largest size i would reccomend, you can run anything you want smaller, but 6x9 will have most bass.

2. Buy the speakers, do not do this without a set of speakers.
( every speaker will have a different size / dimensions / etc )

You need to remove the entire compartment out of your car, without doing so will make this take way more time than it should. You should be able to find how to do so / already know.

3. Red are the bolts holding the two plates together, you need to separate them to remove the lower arms that hold the cover when you open it.
( You will break the arms if you force them out, they pop out easy once the two sides are separated.)
Green are the two under side bolts holding the cover. These also need to come off.

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Once you have the covers off, take the arms and place them aside.
Put the covers back together so its one piece.
( You will be cutting them later so why make 2 cuts when you can make one; also both cuts should be the same size. )

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Next you want to size up your speaker, meaning figure out where the hole is going to be, this will also vary by the depth of your speaker, and how wide the circumferance is (Green) NOT (Red)
(Make sure the location is good on both sides, top and underneath. Should be flat area ontop.)
(Use a tape measure from the bottom and top to make sure you have clearance and its not going to block anything.)

TIP: Place the speaker as close to the lock of the cover as possible, you want to make sure IT WILL OPEN once its installed. Placing it close to the back / rear of the cover will result in a harder time opening it without the speaker smacking your rear cover and staying open.
( 3rd photo , cover open with speaker installed, you can see a gap meaning its going to open, kind of luck when buying a speaker )

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Once you have your location figured out, flip the speaker upside down, and grab some solder, or any hard wire that you can make a shape with. This is to create a mock sizing of the hole you are going to cut.
(Silver in my picture is solder all the way around (Green) in previous photo )
(Make sure you use something hard and bendable, if you shape it and it unshapes, DO NOT use it, your hole will be the wrong size.

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Now you have your mold, place it ontop of your cover and position it with your earlier measurements.
Tape it down in a few spots so it does not run on you.
If you feel like you bent it, or it misshaped in the process of positioning it, REDO IT / REMOLD IT.

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Grab a black marker and draw on the OUTER edge of the mold.
(Yes black marker will be fine, you can see the reflection of it)

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Drill a pilot hole so you can shove your saw in there.

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Start cuttin that bitch up. TAKE YOUR TIME.
( As long as you cut on the INSIDE, you will be fine, DONT WORRY, if its not perfect, you can sand it out later on.)
(If you cut on the outside BY ALOT, you risk it showing later on / F'n up your bolt holes for the speaker.)

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Yay I can see my saw from here!
(Cut my thump with the saw..... bleeding for half an hour. LOL. TAKE YOUR TIME )

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Woohoo it fits! First try! (second speakers hole i cut a little too small so I had to sand it down so more )
Make sure it fits in COMPLETELY. If it does not sit completely flush, do whatever you gota do to sand it down / cut out more.

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Place your speaker in the cover, and make your marks for the holes you are going to drill for your bolts. YES BOLTS. not screws. The whole idea of those two compartments is secure storage. Those rotten thiefs know how to steal monkey pile. "Screws? Hah. More like my property!" "Its.... bolted? How...... F' it, next car"

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Make sure your FINAL hole if bigger than the size of the bolt.
(You may need to drill a few holes, small > medium > large )

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Got bolts at home? Time to figure out what you are going to use.
No bolts at home? Grab your cover, your speaker, AND YOUR SPEAKER COVER.
(My speaker cover does not snap on, (I thought it did) so I bought bolts according to the speaker + cover, then turned out I had to go back to the store and buy longer bolts to accomodate the speaker + cover + SPEAKER COVER.
TIP : Use washers (flat round things) so you have a more even area of pressure.
TIP : Use nuts that have the rubber inside, or use LOCKTITE on the bolt
(This will make it harder for the bolt/nut to come loose AND OR make that thief unhappy.

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Test fit time!
(Make note, you CAN NOT install the cover back onto the compartment with it all pieced together, you will need to take apart the 2 sides, put on the bottom first with the 2 arms, then attach the top part, then attach your speaker.)
(^ Confused? Go ahead and try to install your cover with your speaker back onto your compartment as one piece. )

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Once you have it all drilled and sanded, TAKE APART your cover. (into 2 peices)
Install the lower part with the arms.
Install the top part onto the lower part. (Install the GREEN, and RED bolts mentioned at very first posts)
Now you can install your speaker onto the cover.

But does it fit?

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Yes!

Next, wire it up as you choose. This was a DIY for install of speakers, not wiring.
I have it set up as subwoofers. Both speakers running to a mono amp.
TIP: Drill more holes as you need and hide the wires underneath your compartment.

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Hope this helps, post some comments for information I should change / add.
I know im forgetting a few things / steps.

Will post some more photos later on (was doing this until dark and will get some good photos another day of it all installed.)
maksimizer
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Re: DIY: Del Sol custom storage compartment speakers. PHOTOS

Postby lxstuart » Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:26 am

Nice write up 8)

Does it not rattle at higher volumes though?
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SmithYo wrote:bollocks to wd40.... bita spit normally works a charm ;)

crazyasswhiteboi wrote:was worth the effort, just needed a little wriggling when putting in...


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Re: DIY: Del Sol custom storage compartment speakers. PHOTOS

Postby SmithYo » Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:30 pm

Awesome. Will be doing this at some point.
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