Cover for the underside of rear speakers??

[The Flash]

I like to keep my car tidy, and frankly there is one bit of the CAMARO interior thats seems rather unfinished.

When you open the trunk lid, the size of the opening and the angle of view you have while standing conspire to prevent you from noticing how exposed the underside of the speakers really is.

Take a dive inside the boot opening and look underneath the speaker's shelf and you will find that signal wires and the speakers base are exposed.

Given the depth and good physical size of the boot I would not hesitate to transport bulky items there, yet I fear the possibility of accidentally having something getting caught in a wire or getting attached to the magnetic base of the speakers (that's one big magneto right there).

I doubt any aftermarket outfit will bother to make a case or cover to enclose the underside of the rear speakers.

The alternative is taking the CAMARO to a car audio intalling outfit and have them design/custom make a cover which expose oneself to the following:

1) having them keep the car for a few days

2) exposing the car outside to all sorts of dents, scratches, marrings, etc. which will ocurr in an environment where different people are performing work on several jobs simultaneously at a frantic pace (usually having busted several delivery deadlines)

When you show up to pick up your car and point out the new damage to the car exterior, unvariably you will get the "that was already there" response, even if you filled and signed a detailed reception/delivery sheet

3) getting a job that is more like a lottery ticket: it might be neat, it might look bad, it might have appropriated too much trunk space, etc., etc.

4) being hit with an expensive bill , which you can not dodge since the job performed is really a custom job (there is no dennying that).

I wonder if anyone at this forum has looked into this matter and have any ideas or even found a sensible solution to this matter.

Any thoughts will be appreciated, and if you have pictures to showcase your own work please post them.

Thank you,


The Flash

[dillypo]

I'm thinking of just making something out of fiberglass myself.

[Synner]

I've never worried about it in any car I've ever owned and never had an issue. Just make sure the wires aren't dangling and don't put electronics right under the magnet.

If you really want to you can buy 6x9 boxes but they're going to take up space. You'd also need to take apart the rear shelf to install them properly and you'd need to consider how to get them to seal properly which would take some customization. Unless of course you could care less about sound quality and just want it bolted to the rear shelf for "protection".

Google 6x9 speaker box.

A speaker baffle can be used but they're not sturdy.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_237XT69...th.html?tp=660

[xxlbeerz]

Originally Posted by Synner

I've never worried about it in any car I've ever owned and never had an issue. Just make sure the wires aren't dangling and don't put electronics right under the magnet.

If you really want to you can buy 6x9 boxes but they're going to take up space. You'd also need to take apart the rear shelf to install them properly and you'd need to consider how to get them to seal properly which would take some customization. Unless of course you could care less about sound quality and just want it bolted to the rear shelf for "protection".

Google 6x9 speaker box.

A speaker baffle can be used but they're not sturdy.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_237XT69...th.html?tp=660

I have these, but they're too big with the sub box. Wish somebody would make a cheap plate to put the speakers and metal out of sight.

[Topdown]

if your looking for something that covers the magnets, your going to have to take up room/depth. The 6x9's require a certain amount of acoustic volume to perform as intended. if you build a small little enclosure, or otherwise restrict that acoustic volume, your not going to get the sound from the 6x9 that you currently get...

you will need something acoustically invisible, but that wont have the protective effect your looking for.

your best bet is to get something like those foam baffles, cut the bottom out of them, get some fiberglass resin, coat the foam baffles with a couple/few layers of fiberglass, then sand it down and either coat it with body filler, sand it smooth and paint if body color or sand it smoother and cover it with matching carpet.

as long as you leave the bottom of the cut out, you will retain the acoustic volume, you can trim the foam/glass to just deeper than the magnets and if you put enough layers on, it will be plenty strong enough to protect and hide the bottom of the speakers.

[dillypo]

Originally Posted by Topdown

your best bet is to get something like those foam baffles, cut the bottom out of them, get some fiberglass resin, coat the foam baffles with a couple/few layers of fiberglass, then sand it down and either coat it with body filler, sand it smooth and paint if body color or sand it smoother and cover it with matching carpet.

as long as you leave the bottom of the cut out, you will retain the acoustic volume, you can trim the foam/glass to just deeper than the magnets and if you put enough layers on, it will be plenty strong enough to protect and hide the bottom of the speakers.

I might give this a shot this weekend. I was thinking more of a dome enclosure might look better than this random "tube" shape that sticks down though. About what % open do you think I should leave it? or does it need to be able to push straight down?

[The Flash]

@Synner: thanks for the e-mail address and the idea.

@Topdown: So, if I understand you correctly the thing I should keep in mind is that an enclosure I make has to allow for the air behind the speakers "membrane" to move, it should not be restrictive.

Your suggestion then is to take the "baffles" recommended by Synner, cut their bottoms but then reinforce them or make them stronger to provide the protection I seek.

I appreciate your suggestion. I have no experience using fiberglass (the material you suggested) but I got the gest of your suggestion and I think I can employ other hardening resins to get the same effect

This will require some patienece but seem the right & sensible approach to a solution.

I will start ont his and post some pics once I get everything finished


Thank you all,


The Flash

[Topdown]

yes, the air on the back side of the 6x9 is the "acoustic volume". Since they fire into the trunk, the 6x9's run in "infinite baffle" (freeair). Since I dont know the T/S of the OEM speakers (and dont want to lol) I dont know what the minimum/maximum airspace would be for those speakers... so your best bet at this point is to make sure that the air behind the speaker is open... Ie - no bottom to the protective shield

fiberglass is fairly easy to work with, but just about anything that can make that foam strong/rigid should work.

[xxlbeerz]

I actually just want a bar that goes across the front of the trunk opening and covers all the uglies.

[Topdown]

Originally Posted by xxlbeerz

I actually just want a bar that goes across the front of the trunk opening and covers all the uglies.

also do-able... if you angle it from the trunk opening toward the speakers (forward), it could look pretty good too.