The Kick Panels are finished.

Subwoofer Box is wrapped with Vinyl and Finished

I finished the subwoofer box by wrapping it in Vinyl with a little padding underneath to give it a good look. I tested it out, and it sounds great. Here are the pics.

Kick Panels Sanded Smooth

It took about an hour for one and about 2 hours for the other. The passenger side kick panel didn't fit just right so I had to to some shaping and modification so that it would fit in there. Too bad Q-logic doesn't make kick panels for 2007 Mazda 3's...but then again if I bought one of theirs I would spend aroun $150 rather than the $20 it cost me to make my own. They are coming along well. They will be ready for paint as soon as I use my new Ryobi Router and Jasper Jig to cut perfect speaker holes.

I know the panels look really ugly, but that is how fiberglass and bondo look after it's been sanded. They're really strong. I can stand on them and they don't flex at all, considering I made the mold with a tee-shirt and pencils to hold the speaker ring up. You're supposed to you fleece and something stronger.

Amp Rack Construction

I got started on the amp rack. The amp rack is going to be very simple and basic. Because the subs are going to be placed in the trunk in a box, I am not concerned about showing off my amps. I just want the amps to be safe, secure, and accessible. I don't want to mount the amps on the sub box because, the amps need to be more permanent and the subs more as optional. We frequently go on trips where trunk space is needed and the subs have to go, so I want to make the subs removeable and the amps to be permanent. Here are the pics of the beginnings of the amp rack.

Vented Subwoofer Box Update

I made some good progress. I was able to secure the pieces of the port. That was a little harder than I was planning, but I got it done. I rounded all the edges to help reduce port noise. I also made the port with 42 square inches of port area. I made the port way bigger than it really needed to be because my last box had severe port noise. This box will have next to none hopefully. It is tuned to 33-34 hz so it should hit nice and low. I got the top on too. The internal volume is 1.8 cubic ft. and the total volume with the port included is 3 cubes. I plan on putting some polyfill in it and sealing up a couple places before I begin to wrap it. I might put some LED's inside so you can see a glow from the port. It might be a little cheesy so I haven't quite decided. Here's the pics of the progress.

Custom Fiberlgass Kick Panel Update

I made some very good progress over the weekend. I finished sanding the fiberglassed kick panels, test fitted them, and began laying down some body filler (bondo). The bondo process was going well until I dropped one of the drying kicks and had to redo the edge. I smoothed it out the best I could, but it will still require some extra sanding. Here's what they look like with the bondo slathered on. I did a 1:2 ratio of bondo and resin so it would go on thinner and smoother. I did two coats which should be plenty.