For those of you who missed it, this is part I: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1997796

This part will detail the mounting of the drivers in the factory locations. I did a little more work last night after some hockey (hoping to see a Pens/Flyers series down the road for those of you who might care ).

The C6 door panels aren't exactly audio-friendly. The tweeter sits way back in behind the grille by nearly 1 5/8 inches.








I had to create mounts to get the tweeters situated in that hole as best I could. I know half a day sounds like a lot, but I had to cut-fit-cut-fit-cut-fit until I got both the depth and the angle correct, pushing the tweeter as close to the inside of the grille as possible and at the same time using an angle at the back end of the PVC to get the tweeter more-or-less as close to on-axis as possible. If I had to start again, it would take me on-third the time since I now know both the tube length and the angle cut.

One of the real pains-in-the-rear was the notching of the PVC to get it to fit around the square tweeter magnet case. Much care need to be taken and a router table is a must for this. I tried first using a RotoZip tool, but I couldn't hold the tool and the part steady enough for good cuts. The next attempts using a 1/8" spiral router bit in a router table resulted in the part shattering in my hands a few times until I got the feed rate just right. To fast and the PVC gets ripped from your hands and/or explodes. Too slow and the PVC melts more than cuts resulting in frayed corners that have to be sanded off and aren't all that straight. I think I wasted about two feet of PVC before I had the technique down. Once I had it right, the end result was a nice pressure-fit that met the magnet case perfectly.






Here's the tweeter installed looking at the back of the door panel. Call it proof that this contraption worked. The tweeter is right up against the back of the factory grille. Since the grille is curved in the center ever-so-slightly, the tweeter dome doesn't contact it. I'll have to trim back the phenolic backer plate a bit to get at the tweeter terminals with a soldering gun, but that's easy enough with a Dremel.

From the front side picture, one can see the flat-black paint did its job. The tweeter is nearly invisible. The only time I can actually see the dome behind the grille is when light hits it at a very specific angle, and I couldn't replicate that with the camera. I'm a stealth guy. I don't want to see anything but the head unit. Those damn yellow cones make me nuts!






The next step is to get the woofers installed with spacer plates to move them forward as well.

 

Ah ha! So that's the reason you're swapping the Focals...j/k

 

great to hear. I am going to be diggin into mine for an active setup and the car is similar enough that I can do this. Only diff is the tweeter mount location. This info will help and thanks for all the pictures. I hear ya about the stealth issues with funky colored cones and what not. It would drive me nuts too

 

Thanks Speakerboy and Komoman

 

Now on to the woofers:

Considering the way the back of the C6 door panel is constructed and the size of the Seas woofer, there’s no point in attempting an angle-mount here. Off-axis response for the top end of the woofer should be only minimally affected, making the angle mount way more trouble than it’s worth. If we were installing a true mid around 4 or 5 inches in diameter, the effort wouldn’t be wasted, but in this case it is. The Seas might allow 3-5 degrees at most. I’m confident a smaller mid could be turned at least 30 degrees if not more.

This leaves only the depth behind the door panel as an addressable issue. From the looks of the snap-holders on the back of the door panel, it appears the woofer can be moved out about 7/8” from the door surface to the front of the woofer frame. Considering the driver flange is about ¼” thick and the phenolic backer is just a hair under that, It looks like a spacer about ½” is possible.



Using several thicknesses of 1/8” ABS sheet plastic (so I had better control over final thickness) I made eight spacers to start. The drill-press and a variable circle cutter are wonderful tools for this.








Now it’s on to the router table and a pattern-cutting bit to get rid of the excess.






Then mounting the trim rings and drivers to the original phenolic backer plate and trimming the backer plate to match the hole.




Into the doors they go to test the fit for additional ABS shims or maybe the removal of one or two. They fit perfectly the first time.





Part III will detail some of the testing process.

 

Very Cool

Keep it coming !!

 

That's some nice work (and good tools as well)...

 

Beautiful work.

Oh, and "Lets Go Flyers!!!"

 

You guys got it all wrong its go Habs
Looking forward to following your progress

 

Excellent work you do there!

Makes me wish you lived near!

 

exactly how does the variable circle cutter work?

 

Sorry, everyone has their cross to bear. Actually, I think we're in for a helluva Habs/Pens conference championship series.

It's like a simple drill bit with a slot the horizontal bar rides through. Moving that bar and locking it with a set-screw determines the diameter of the circle. The blade on the end does the actual cutting. It's good for cutting stuff like this ABS sheet stock, but it's no good for cutting through thicker stuff like MDF or plywood. It tends to overheat because of the thickness of the blade. Hole saws are still the best bet there.

 

Can it cut plexiglas or lexan? Those have always been a pain for me. (takes like an hour to cut, shave sand)

 

As long as you're careful, yes, and a drill press is a must to keep the bit plumb.