Building the kick panels

The Kick panels were constructed from GRP.
By careful positioning of the speakers,
I managed to achieve excellent staging and imaging...

Firstly, exact replica kick panels were made by using the originals as a basis for the moulds. The kick panel was first covered in masking tape and then coated in grease, to ensure the original panel would not be spoiled by the mould building process.
An old piece of thick cloth was shaped over the original panel and then glassfibre resin was applied and allowed to dry. When dry the mould was separated from the panel and trimmed to size. I had formed a female mould from which replica kick panels could be built.

The inside of the mould was coated with grease and layers of glassfibre matting and resin were applied. When it was dry the new panel was checked for fitment.
When the approximate speaker positions were decided, I cut a piece of 6 ½ plastic tube to the correct angle to provide a basis for the speaker pod. This will be more clearly explained in the photos.

The piping was then secured with masking tape to the new kick panels I had just built.
The basic shape was formed also with masking tape. (See Photos)
 

The piece of plastic pipe I was talking about is under the MDF baffle, and is just about visible.
You can also see the GRP kick panel I had to build.
 

Under the mass of masking tape, I hope you can see the MDF 'ring' I added to allow firm attachment of the drivers. The masking tape was also covered in grease before being covered in glassfibre. The top half (speaker pod) and the bottom half (replica kick panel) were separated when dry and stuck together with more resin to form the basic GRP speaker pod shape.
 
 

On the left is the finished passenger side kick panel.
On the right is the almost finished panel, to form the curvy shapes and provide a suitable finish, the kick panels were covered in bodyfiller and smoothed to shape. I used metallic anthracite paint, and a clear lacquer to protect the paint finish.