Kickpanels

[K-Dawg]

I've got a set of 6.5" CDT components that I'm going to be installing in my SHO soon. I would like to put them in kickpanels, but it seems that a Taurus is not designed for this to happen. The parking brake lever is really giving me fits with my design. I've considered trying to replace the foot lever with a hand-pull-type like some import trucks have or maybe a handbrake. Another problem is that I don't really want to stick my foot through my midrange on the track. doh
I know there are a few around here with kickpanels, but I haven't really seen any pics. So hit me with your ideas and pics so I can see what others have done. thumb

 

[jelloslug]

They make (or made at one time) Q-Form kick panel pods for Taurus/Sable applications. I saw some on ebay not too long ago.

 

[K-Dawg]

Yeah, but those are pretty flimsy. And I doubt that these woofers will fit in them. I've also heard that they are still in the way of the brake lever.

 

[SHO92]

The first thing you should do is find out if the speakers are meant to be on-axis or off-axis. If they are off axis, you might be better with just keeping them in the doors. I have JL XR 3-ways, so I had to have a kick panel enclouser, or make custom door panels, which I'm not ready to do yet. Unfortuneately they are supposed to be off-axis, so my kick panels don't sound as good as the could, but relocating the parking brake and cutting some metal would be involved, and I'm not sure how I'd go about doing the parking brake yet. With all that said, I have full use of the parking brake, and the kick panels don't take up much room. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it here so you can see. You lose the dead pedal area, but I haven't once tried to put my foot there since I did the kickpanels. For track events, they are easily removable, as is my entire install. You can see a few under construction pics on my website, I've redone a lot of the install though, so the pics don't represent how it looks now, except the sub enclosure. I get a finished pic(minus final paint) tomorrow.

 

[Blue-By-U]

The Q-Form kick panels only accommodate 5 1/4" speakers.

 

[30footSHO]

Blue-By-U:
The Q-Form kick panels only accommodate 5 1/4" speakers.

Big deal. 6.5" speakers aren't that much better for fronts. I almost would rather have 5.25" speakers; I find the clarity is better. You already have midrange coming out the 6x8" (or 6x9" if you did some modification) so what's a little less thump up front? When I still had my full setup with subs, I had all four components crossed over at 160 Hz, so there really wasn't any bass coming from either the front or rear channels---just the subs.

Of course, not everybody has built-in crossovers in their decks.

Dave

 

[SinisterSHO]

I had wondered this myself, I find myself always putting my foot where a kick panel would be. I would like to put a set of components in the doors, but money is an issue.

What is this on and off axis stuff you speak of?

 

[K-Dawg]

Bill, doesn't look too bad. My friend runs those components in his Jimmy. You're only using a 4" in the kick. Try trying to squeeze a 6.5" down there. I think I might have an idea on how to do it. I might not be able to use the full sweep of the brake lever, but it should work; we'll see.
CDT says that they should do fine off-axis in the doors, but I would really much rather have them in kickpanels.

30ftSHO, I'm not going to be running a rear-stage ever or even a sub for now. I want to get as much up-front bass/midbass as possible out of these.

 

[SHO92]

Yeah, I didn't think of the 4" taking up a lot less space than a 6.5 in the kicks. Here is a pic of them all glassed and primed. As you can see the parking brake still clears the kickpanel. I had wanted to integrate them into the factory piece similar to the Q-forms, but you run into the same problem as the Q-forms and the ebrake not functioning properly. The guy I bought by old 92 from bought a Cobra afterwards and installed the Q-Forms. He took them out right away becuase they came too close the the clutch pedal. He didn't even have the foot brake to deal with. If you have an ATX SHO, the Q-forms may not be a big deal because theres no clutch and the p-brake isn't as important. The Q-forms were not designed with an MTX in mind.

Steve: Off-axis speakers are ones that are designed to fire across the car, the one on the drivers side points towards the passengers side. the listener would be at a 90* angle to the speaker. On-axis means that they are meant to be fired at the listener.

Dave: You shouldn't be using rear speakers to add to your front stage. Midrange and highs coming from the front with midbass and subbass in the rear is not an optimal setup at all. You want as many speakers in front of you as possible, many people are even installing subs inside the dashboard or center console to achieve this. I don't like running oval speakers to begin with either, but thats a different matter.

<small>[ November 20, 2003, 03:20 PM: Message edited by: SHO92 ]</small>

 

[Blue-By-U]

30footSHO:

Blue-By-U:
The Q-Form kick panels only accommodate 5 1/4" speakers.

Big deal. 6.5" speakers aren't that much better for fronts. I almost would rather have 5.25" speakers; I find the clarity is better. You already have midrange coming out the 6x8" (or 6x9" if you did some modification) so what's a little less thump up front? When I still had my full setup with subs, I had all four components crossed over at 160 Hz, so there really wasn't any bass coming from either the front or rear channels---just the subs.

Of course, not everybody has built-in crossovers in their decks.

Dave

I stated this for informative reasons only. Did I ever say it was a big deal? No.

SHO92, thanks for that last post. I was going to invest in some kickpanel enclosures, but now that I know the e-brake and clutch pedal travel are hindered by the bulky plastic, I'll stick with the stock speaker mounts.

 

[30footSHO]

SHO92:

Dave: You shouldn't be using rear speakers to add to your front stage. Midrange and highs coming from the front with midbass and subbass in the rear is not an optimal setup at all. You want as many speakers in front of you as possible, many people are even installing subs inside the dashboard or center console to achieve this. I don't like running oval speakers to begin with either, but thats a different matter.

I suppose ovals aren't exactly the greatest, but most people still use them anyway. What's your main objection? I'm just curious.

I thought the sound of my subs was just fine, as long as they were secured as rearward as possible. This is just opinion, after all, but I would rather have the highs and mids up front with the subs in the rear anyway. Besides, I couldn't fit them in the cabin with the big-ass box I had.

Say, are those some custom fiberglass enclosures? Looks pretty good.

Dave

Alex: relax.

<small>[ November 21, 2003, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: 30footSHO ]</small>

 

[quadmasta]

ovoid speakers are less strong structurally. Here's a little science experiment:
1. get two pieces of construction paper
2. fold one into a perfect cone (circular at the mouth) tape the seam and cut the pointy end off
2. fold the other one into an ovoid cone (like a 5x7 or 6x9 tape along the seam and cut the pointy end off
3. get a small piece of wood big enough to cover up the hole you just cut
4. place the cones with the larger end towards a flat surface (say, a table)
5. begin to add small amounts of weight to each one and see how they react
tip: use a large glass and slowly fill it with water

you'll notice that the ovoid cone doesn't take the load evenly and may even collapse. While playing music, this is similar to what the speaker's doing. Ovoid speakers are less strong and therefore will distort because of a deformity to the cone at higher volumes. This is why most speakers you'll find in high end car auto sound competitions will be round. There are a few exceptions such as the Kicker L7 and the Bazooka Triangle but for the most part, round speakers sound better because they're stronger

 

[SHO92]

Quadmasta makes some very good points about oval speakers. My main reason for not liking them is the lack of quality manufacturers and the way they are offered. Any speaker other than a 2-way(midrange and tweeter) component is just a marketing scam. Any 3-way or sometimes even a 4-way speaker, the ones with the super tweeter, is a joke. All those extra "speakers" a blocking a lot of output from the main 6x9 or 5x7 speaker. Those speakers were originally designed to fit into a specific area, not to reproduce sound.

Dave, yes they are custom made, you can see some of the early part of the construction of them on my website. I love working with fiberglass, just don't have the time or finances to do large projects with it more often.

<small>[ November 21, 2003, 10:53 PM: Message edited by: SHO92 ]</small>

 

[quadmasta]

Polk has a dB series 5x7 component and I believe that Infinity has 5x7 components in Reference, Kappa, and Kappa perfect. There are TONS of good quality 5x7s, but for the same price, you can usually get a set of 6.5" components thumb

 

[MilTownSHO]

Here's a picture of the ones that came with my 92, they are custom built not bought

 

[K-Dawg]

Nice!

No E-brake?

 

[MilTownSHO]

K-Dawg:
Nice!

No E-brake?

Nope, the previous owner had removed it, since it would have gotten in the way of the kickpanels... headbang

There's no speakers in them right now, I just have them in there because I don't have the panels, so there would be holes without them in.

<small>[ November 24, 2003, 11:24 AM: Message edited by: MilTownSHO ]</small>

 

[SHO92]

Miltown, that is probably pne of the best ways to have kick panels. From looking at the pictures of the drivers side, it looks like the speaker magnet occupies the area where the e-brake mechanism would normally be. That was my original idea, it sets the speakers as far away from the listeners and the other speaker as possible. I'm still looking for a way to just relocate the brake somehow. I don't want to have to use a solenoid because I don't want to rely on electrical power keeping the brake engaged.

 

[quadmasta]

SHO92:
Miltown, that is probably pne of the best ways to have kick panels. From looking at the pictures of the drivers side, it looks like the speaker magnet occupies the area where the e-brake mechanism would normally be. That was my original idea, it sets the speakers as far away from the listeners and the other speaker as possible. I'm still looking for a way to just relocate the brake somehow. I don't want to have to use a solenoid because I don't want to rely on electrical power keeping the brake engaged.

zip ties? thumb

 

[3.8Lwagon]

what about using a line lock but installed in the rear. or two for all 4 tires.