I was getting bored and I have been seeing some really interesting door pod builds lately, so I got inspired to re do my front door pods. I currently had them in some pods like the ones I featured in the build tutorial on my Page 5. I will build them out of mdf framework wrapped in fleece and fiberglassed. I will try to make this tutorial as complete as I can so everyone and anyone can duplicate it.

**Materials Needed** (I will update as I go along in the build)
MDF (I used 1/2")
Elmers ProBond wood glue (the best shit out there)
Jigsaw
Router
Cut Off Tool (rotary tool)
Palm sander
Straight cut router bit
Roundover router bit
Flush Trim bit (with bearing on bottom of router bit)
Circle jig (I used a Jasper Jig)
Clamps ($3 cheapie specials from Harbor Freight)
Drill with a 1/8" drill bit
Dust mask
EZ Lok threaded inserts (internal thread 8-32)
Body filler
Glazing putty
Fiberglass resin
Fiberglass matting
Sandpaper (ranging from 80 grit for rougher sanding to 400 grit for fine pre-paint work)
elbow grease
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Okay, so starting off I constructed the speaker rings. I had to make 2 rings, the lower ring is for the speaker mounting and the upper ring is the trim ring to flush mount the driver.

Here I measured off the required distance needed for the lower ring. The outside measurement needs to be 8" and the inner is 5 5/8". Its important to note that when making a cut with a Jasper Jig on an OUTSIDE cut, you need to make sure to add compensation for the router bit. I used a 1/4" upcut spiral bit, so I need to add 1/2" and put the pivot pin on the 8 1/2" mark on the Jasper Jig. Make sure to use a piece of scrap wood underneath the piece you are cutting. This way when the router bit cuts all the way through, you wont accidentally cut any good wood underneath or your work bench.

MDF is marked with necessary measurements for the outside cut
Then I used the drill and a 1/8" bit to drill the hole in the center for the Jasper Jig pivot pin

Here I am placing the Jasper Jig pivot pin in place on the MDF.
Double checking (before I cut anything) to see if the bit lines up with the outside dimension of the speaker ring... yup it does and now its time to cut!

Here is the first outside cut. I will make several passes, each time adjusting the bit lower and lower until its all the way thru. You can see the scrap wood under the MDF. I always use the same piece as evident by the multiple router cuts on it :)

This is the inside cut. I never toss the leftover MDF pieces from the middle of the rings. I utilize these to make smaller rings, like tweeter rings (which I will show later on). Now I need to make a flush trim piece that will sit atop this lower ring to give the driver a flush look.

Now its on to the flush trim ring. The outside is cut the same as the lower ring. However the inside cut needs to be the same diameter as the speaker's outter dimension. Mine happens to be 7.25". So I made the inner cut to match that. This ring will sit on the other ring I cut earlier. I test fit the rings with the driver to check fitment.

Once I am happy with the fitment, I add some ProBond wood glue to both rings and clamp the two pieces together to bond them. Once that is done, I test fit it again with the driver to make sure its all good.

Having completed the driver rings, now its on to the tweeter rings. For these, I used the leftovers from the driver rings to make these rings. I used the same principles with outside and inside cuts. Expect on the tweeter ring, instead of making a trim piece, when making the inside cuts, I just moved the pivot pin on the Jasper Jig out by 2 holes (so making the hole 1/4" bigger) and made a small depth cut to create a flush trim for the tweeter. Then I proceeded to cut the inner diameter hole.

And finally, with the speaker rings finished, I can begin to work on the door pod itself. Here I mocked up the general look of the speakers on the door.

I began working on the baffle itself, which is the lower MDF piece that will make up most of the backbone of the pod. It will be used to put the speaker rings onto, as well as where I will fasten the pod to the door (via threaded inserts). I used a master template to make these baffles.

Master template; template on MDF wood; outline traced; outline cut leaving excess of 1/4" wood around edges(so I can finish them off with the flush trim bit)

My new router bits I received from RouterBits.com. They are Whiteside bits, which are pretty good quality bits. The Flush Trim bit was already installed into the router, so its on the pouch you see in the pic.

Then I add the master template back onto the cut piece of MDF, clamped it down to hold it in place and proceeded to trim the excess edges down flush with template. When using the flush trim router bit, you need to make sure to position the roller bearing (which is your cut-edge guide) onto the template, and line up the cutting edge of the bit to the piece you are working on.

Here you can see how clean and exact the cut is from the router bit with the master template. The other pic is the completed baffle.

I needed to cut some mounting holes into the baffle as well, cause I wanted the pod to be more streamline and not have the driver stick out like a soar thumb. I had to cut some holes in the baffle to accomodate the speakers. I also angled the driver for better imaging.

Began cutting the mounting holes for the drivers and tweeters

Again, here I will save the leftover bits to use when making smaller diameter rings.

Test fitting the rings again. I like to measure twice and only cut once, so I do a lot of re-measuring and test fitting!

Here I glued a spare piece of 1/2" mdf onto the baffle to give the midbass driver the proper imaging. This allows the driver-side speaker to fire across to the passenger and the passenger speaker to fire towards the driver. (wow that was confusing)

**Updated 6/8/07**

I had only a small amount of time to work on this today. I had actually wanted to do more, but a small problem occurred whilst I was working on my truck (that litte incident will be discussed on page 11.) I had a chance to install the EZ Lok threaded inserts into the speaker rings, which I can mount the speakers to.

Using EZ Loc threaded inserts (from McMaster Carr) size #8-32 and a 6mm drill bit to make the pilot hole, I marked the speaker mount locations on the rings. I then proceeded to use my drill-press, I made the pilot holes for the inserts. I then used an allen wrench to drive the inserts into the wood.

I worked on these again today for awhile. I was able to set the angle on the rings and I used a brad nailer to hold them in place on the mdf baffle.

Here you see the brad nails

Side shot of the angle on the mid bass ring for better imaging purposes.

Mocked up with the driver and tweeter cup.

I continued my quest with the fleece. I stretch wrapped the fleece around the MDF frame and stapled it on to hold. I then proceeded to add a coat of fiberglass resin. I let the resin cure, and repeated with another coat of resin, but this time I added fiberglass matting around the area of the mid driver to give it strength. I didnt bother with the area by the tweeter since it was strong enough. Plus once I add the body filler, it will strengthen it further.

Here I used my rotary tool fitted with a flush trim bit to clean up the mounting rings. The last picture exhibits how sharp fiberglass can be, so be careful with it!

I also used the rotary tool to clean up the back side of the pods as well.

Here are the pods after I using the filler and sanded down with my palm sander.

After using the body filler, I used glazing putty to fill in all pinholes. I like the Glaze Coat product since it very flowable and can even be used with a paint brush for application. To thin it out even further, I used Evercoat Plastik Honey, which can be used on all body fillers and glazing putty. I rough sanded after with 180 grit paper, then followed with 220 and 400 before primer coating.

pinholes all filled and ready for primer

I then applied the top coat after 4 coats of high build primer and a few rounds of 400 grit paper. After several layers of top coat, I tossed on a few coats of clear. Here is the outcome.

Finished the second pod...Test fit the speakers and all looks good. Just need to use some rubbing compound on the clear coat to get a real good shine.