CDT in kick panels

[magic_wizard 10+ year member]

Installation of the CDT's in my civic is gonna **** (I knew that before I got them), so I'm thinking about just putting them in kicks. Has anybody here made kicks for 6.5 and tweeter? Are the speakers too big? I plan on ordering kicks from kickpanels.net. Will be cheaper than getting them installed in the door, I think, and will prolly sound alot better.

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[BBHP13 10+ year member]

If you go to the fiber glass section, one of the pages is exactly what you are trying to do. Same car and it looks like the same CDT's you are talking about. Check it out.

 

[magic_wizard 10+ year member]

If you go to the fiber glass section, one of the pages is exactly what you are trying to do. Same car and it looks like the same CDT's you are talking about. Check it out.

I don't know if it was the same one or not, but the one I saw was for a 5 1/2. Anyways, I looked on other boards, and it seems like it will work out.

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

q-logic makes some...see if they have your car model. if they don't have your make/model, you can get the universals, however, they need a flat surface to mount to; if you don't have a flat surface...you have to fiberglass a mold to serve as the base of the kick panel.

 

[Acidburn 5,000+ posts]

the sticky in the fiberglass section of this site is very useful, step by step procedure

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

also think about the weather. I know here in chicago we're getting about 20 something degrees (Fahrenheit); don't you have to be in a warm (well, not warm, but not cold), ventilated area? That's the only reason I'm not gonna at least try making some until spring maybe (cause when I do make them I'll be out on the street...no garage)

 

[Pete 10+ year member]

Magic Wizard - I put CDT HD62's in the factory door location in my 95 civic awhile ago and they just BARELY fit if you make a baffle out of 3/4" MDF (use the plastic stock brackets to start your pattern). So it can be done. I am making kicks for it soon too... so I can maybe help you with that too.

-Pete

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

Magic Wizard - I put CDT HD62's in the factory door location in my 95 civic awhile ago and they just BARELY fit if you make a baffle out of 3/4" MDF (use the plastic stock brackets to start your pattern). So it can be done. I am making kicks for it soon too... so I can maybe help you with that too.

Yo, you got any pictures of how you did that? I'm thinking of doing that with my cl-61s til I try to make some kick panels. if you look at my gallery, you can see how ugly and incoveniently mounted they are right now

 

[Pete 10+ year member]

I don't have any pictures of it, no.

But if you take the door panel off you should see a plastic baffle that the factory speakers are screwed into. What you want to do is use those as a template to basically cut a spacer out of MDF that gets screwed into the door where the plastic pieces were origionally.

Then you just added a little over 3/4" to the mounting depth and it should still fit inside the door panel.... I can't say for sure how it will work on the new bodystyle civics, but if that doesn't work then kick panels are the way to go.

Also, if the fiberglassing is done in a heated garage (at least somewhat warm) it will work fine it doesn't matter what season the work is done in.

You should let us know which shop gave you the ******** answers and service to try and save some of the other people that live around your area the headache of going through the same ordeal.

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

Also, if the fiberglassing is done in a heated garage (at least somewhat warm) it will work fine it doesn't matter what season the work is done in.

If I'm on the street fiberglassing, what temperature/weather conditions do you feel are ideal? (e.g. 60-70 degrees F with low humidity, etc)

You should let us know which shop gave you the ******** answers and service to try and save some of the other people that live around your area the headache of going through the same ordeal.

well, it's in chicago - the corner of western & foster. don't wanna say the name; just cause I'm not satisfied, there may be other customers that they have satisfied...

 

[Pete 10+ year member]

summone: anywhere from 55-80 degrees or somewhere around there will be fine for fiberglassing. If its pretty cold out, just use a little more hardener and if its really hot use a little less.

Humidity really doesn't matter because fiberglass doesn't "dry" its a chemical reaction that uses the heat to cure the mixture, just like bondo.

Also, you really only need to do the work in your actual car right at the beginning and the end, so if you can use a warmer garage for those stages you should be able to do the sanding and bondo work in the basement.

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

Also, you really only need to do the work in your actual car right at the beginning and the end, so if you can use a warmer garage for those stages you should be able to do the sanding and bondo work in the basement.

So first I do the actual fiberglassing part on the car, wait for it to harden (couple hours?), then I can go remove the molds and go anywhere and do the rest?

Also, no basement...not even a parking lot...we (me & my fam) live on the top floor of a 3-flat in a rough neighborhood

Finding a garage is gonna be kinda hard too...I'm the only one in my circle of (tite/close) friends with a car, and the rest of my fam ain't that rich either...

 

[Pete 10+ year member]

Yeah you just need to fiberglass the base and let that dry then do most of the rest outside of the car. Take a look here http://forums.caraudio.com/vb/showthread.php?t=38665 you can see where he is working in the car and where it is just anywhere.... but be warned fiberglassing has a STRONG smell so you might not want to do it in the house.

The CDT midbass had a really good sound even when they were in the doors in my car you might want to check and see if they will be easier to install there in your case, I just wouldn't recommend factory tweeter placement (if your car already has them).

Maybe one of your friends or their relatives have a place for you to work on your car underground garages in apartment building work pretty good too, just keep asking around.

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

I've heard having them in kick panels is supposed to give the best performance, so I guess I need an opinion on what I should do:

1. Try to get the midrange/woofer driver in the door, with the tweeter surface mounted on top of the dash (my a-pillars or whatever they are, are heat vents). My car doesn't have an additional tweeter hole (all I have is one 4x6 hole in each door). But am I sacrificing imaging by 1) having the woofer & tweeter that far apart 2) having the woofers face each other in the door and the tweeter correctly aimed, or does it not make a big difference?

2. Build some kick panels

3. Do #1, then do #2 in a couple of months

 

[Pete 10+ year member]

#1 should be pretty easy to do,you could even mount the tweeters on the door panels as well, but up higher would probably sound better. You probably only need to cut two spacers (1 for each door) and use the factory wiring going into the door for now (its a pain in the *** to run wires into civic doors) to connect the midbass to the crossover.

then play around with tweeter placement and different settings until it gets warmer and then you will know better what you want to do or what you want to change about how it sounds.