A-Pillar Tweeter Pods 2

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annapolis-maryland
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73 Mustang Convertable
A while back I posted a thread on making Tweeter Pods. That turned into using my F350 as a test bed & practice run.

https://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-a-pillar-tweeter-pods

(I just noticed that the links to the pics in the above thread were broken. I think that I fixed them now.)

These sound GREAT and I do love them, BUT, they do look like an add on to me although nobody else seems to notice them.

So for the Stang, i decided to to try to remake the entire A-pillar over so that I can blend in the Tweeter better. Hopefully giving it a more factory-ish look.

Here is the first day(s) of progress. I thought that I could make the initial molding without putting any cloth in, but they didn't have any structure, so I added cloth in a couple stages. IF I had to over again, I would have added the cloth on the first step and did a better job of wrapping the cloth.

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Covered the pillars with aluminum foil, I think that heavy duty foil would have worked better.

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After glassing.

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My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to get the glass off of the pillar. But it only took a little careful coaxing.

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These are a little rougher that I like but I think that I can work with them. If not, I now know that I could remake them rather easily and faster the second time through.

The plan is to put more glass & cloth on the inside and then figure out exactly where the Tweeters will go and start building up the outside so that they are blended in. I found some nice Alpine tweeters that are smaller and shallower than the Kickers I used on the truck.

 
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Here is a couple of great videos on this subject for you to digest. I love this guys videos. He knows his stuff and makes some awesome videos as well.

A Pillar speakers part 1


 
Great videos, sure makes me look like the amateur that I am. Wish I had seen this when I was doing the F350.

I can't really do this overall technique with the stang because or the scarcity of this trim piece. That is why I am starting by making my own from scratch.

I do like the way that he mounts the tweeters, but it makes them really bulky.

 
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These are turning out even better than I had hoped.

I did learn that an easy way to trim the overhanging cloth is to make sure that you get resin on it and then use a dremel with a small grinding wheel.

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They fit real nice aftet a little fine tuning & trimming.

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Here is about where the tweeters are going.

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Started the holes using the cut off wheel.

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Then used a sanding drum to finish.

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Still need to do some aiming, never really thought about that until seeing the video that was posted,

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I'm not confused, because I think that I can set these in another 1/4" or so, by trimming the back off the tweeter.

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And then not have to actually build up the pillar to blend it in. Or just leave them stick out like they are again without building out the blend.

Sleeping on this.

 
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Well it looks like you have done a pretty darn good job with that.

My only suggestion would be to go over the whole thing with some body filler and that will fill and smooth out the surface texture. Other than that I think you have done a great job.

 
I got a little side tracked. I had originally planned on simply wiring in the new tweeters by splicing into the wires going to the existing Coaxial door speakers. The new tweeters had a built in cross over so that they would only see the frequencies that they respond to, but the tweeters in the Coaxials would also have been active.

I did some research on sound forums, and the general concession was that there would be too much treble doing it this way. It has to do with impedance between the speakers and the amp and the "sound stage" ie, where you will sense the sound is coming from.     

So I was going to just cut the leads to the tweeters in the Coaxials, but then there was more discussions that using component speakers is the best because they were designed to work as a team. They also have more complex (better) crossover networks.

While doing some shopping for components speakers I found some Kickers that are a perfect replacement for the existing 5 x 7 s. they even come with an adapter plate for fitment. I was kind of scared when I started to mount them and saw how much smaller they were, but like I always say, size isn't everything. :whistling:

SO.......................

That is what I finally would up doing. The tweeters are larger than the Alpines I was going to use, good for sound, a little harder to fit. But I also did some testing and determined that the actual direction that I pointed them did not make any noticeable difference how I heard the music. So I can minimize the amount that they stick out to make blending them in easier and less obtrusive.

I will say that even not having them totally mounted, it is a world of difference in sound having the tweeters up high. The sound stage  :cool:  is superior to just having the door speakers.  :D  

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Finally got back into this. Spring is sprung and I need to get these done and everything put back together.

I had originally thought that the speaker would fit down in the hole, but after fitting it back onto the pillar, I found out that it had to pretty much sit flush with the outer edge not to hit the metal. Might be out a little more than actually necessary, but I figured better safe than sorry and have to redo it.  

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Probably not the best way of doing this, but Bondo is my friend.

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Added more Bondo and tapered roughly to shape. I know that they were a little weak structurally to this point, so I wanted to add another layer of cloth.

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Top one is before applying resin, bottom one below is with resin applied 

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YEA.........More Bondo

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Need to do a sanity fit now and then I'm thinking a good sanding, one more Bondo skim coat and then some red glazing before paint.

 
I put them in for a check fit last night, and they fit perfect. AND since today was like the first day of spring here I drove to work and they ROCK........... It is so nice to actually be able to hear the highs....

If anyone asks, I'll say I have them pointing down to bounce off the dash pad so that the sound mixes better  :D .

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Now I have to force myself to take them out and finish them.

 
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Did a final sanding not shown in the picks and took them to the painter today. He is an industrial painter as compared to a car painter. They'll be sprayed with a 2 part epoxy and then textured. Need to wait until he has a paying job in the shop, (so i get a free ride :D ).  Found out he has a 68 fastback that is torn apart for the last 20 years and a 67 fastback that is on the road. He didn't have either at the shop though.

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All primed , figured I might as well have the visors and cross member painted to match

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