Parcel Shelf Strengthening, any pics?

[Ben Doherty]

After another epic fail cutting holes for some 5x7's in a mk2 parcel shelf i had to cut through the metal strenghtening bar, and now the whole thing flaps around and sounds gash.

Im going to strenghten it with some strips of wood and i was just wondering if anyone had any pics of how they had done it.

(I used to have an mdf shelf but it looked terrible and i dont really want to go down that road again.)

Cheers guys

 

[volxstu]

If you make an mdf shelf properly i will look great. I used like a textured pain when i had a parcel shelf. Failing that i have used things like checkerboard aluminium. You can cover with carpet or vinyl. This will give the speakers a good mount to baffle and therefore be much more efficient.

 

[smokeyjoe03]

Yeah as stu said, create a proper mdf shelf, just take your shelf out, go buy / find some mdf, use the origional shelf as a template to draw round, cut it out, cut out your holes, cover in carpet or vinyl (carboot sales and sunday markets will sell off-cut rolls of grey / dark blue carpet for a few quid), Drill a few holes for the strings to pass through so it will still lift, fit to your car, ENJOY!

Simple really, should be able to do it in a few hours once you gather the materials.

Remember as well to use spray adhesive (comes in a aeresol can from most hardware shops for about £2.50) and staple the underneath if you want the edges tight.

Total cost will be about a tenner unless you can source some free MDF from skips or local tip. then it will be more like a fiver

The total cost of this was only £7.50, thats for the MDF floor and box, glue, carpet and a pack of jigsaw blades

 

[Ben Doherty]

Just went crazy with the glue gun and strips of wood, its a lot better.

Thanks for the replies guys but im not really that good with a jigsaw and my uphoulstery work is terrible so i think ill stick with my current setup untuil i get a bit more time to experiment.
It did sound a lot better with an mdf shelf but it just looked cheap because of my lack of skill.

@smokey joe -
That looks awsome, i had the same amp and sub for a while (my first attemt at an install)
I actually mounted the amp on top of the enclosure tho, and you could still fit a car full of peoples bags in when we went away to tourneys and stuff - and have music the whole way without the amp overheating and going into cool down mode.

Im gonna get some pictures up soon of my whole intall,
as soon as ive sorted out where to put the tweeters for my comps and the weather brightens up a bit