3D printable speaker grill project


  • 3D printable speaker grill project

    Covid-19 inspired Quarintine project:

    First pass at modeling some taller form fit door speaker grills. I've had some 6.5 Aura component speakers in the doors of my 84T without covers for years because they sit too high for the stock covers.Been meaning to do this for years now and awhile ago tried fiberglass and that hilariously failed.

    Sketchup is a bit primitive when compared to Fusion360, but i can do it quick and dirty in Sketchup. Started with taking photos of the oem grill pencil outlines, imported the images as textures, traced them and scaled them to be roughly accurate then extruded/cut/modeled.
    grill sketchsm.jpg

    4 main parts:
    • grill cover insert, something like the metal mesh of the rear covers
    • top contoured edge trim ring, needs features for holding grill cover.
    • mid spacer ring - height scalable for differing speaker heights
    • base plate ring - matches the uneven contours of the door panel and will have the mounting features.

    With some more work i'll add mount features and make these modular enough to print on my 8X8in. 3D printer (the cover is actually ~9x10 inch)
    Should be able to print on a larger printer without dicing it up.

    Thinking of either pins for alignment or screws, then it can be glued, primered and painted to match.

    will update this thread when i've completed a test print


    84 AE/Shiro #683/Shiro #820/84 Turbo

  • #2
    Second pass:

    Test print of the base plate was pretty successful. Added in mounting bosses in the stock grill location and they line up.
    2.jpg

    Forgot that later model door panel covers are not the same size, will have to pull one and model it for posterity.

    1.jpg

    Model components and respective sectioned versions for printing on a 200mmx200mm printbed, a printer with a bed of 300mmx300mm should be able to print an entire ring without sectioning it.

    The mid ring would be the height scalable spacer if you are using deeper speakers or could be left out entirely. The retainer ring would be to sandwich the speaker grill/mesh material and could be glued.

    3.JPG

    Test prints are in PLA as it's what i have on hand, final version would idealy be printed in ABS, PETG or ASA for better heat resistence. If you live in a cooler climate then PLA might be fine.


    84 AE/Shiro #683/Shiro #820/84 Turbo

  • #3
    Very cool Z_Karma! Looking forward to the finished product!
    Originally posted by Andrew84zx
    tell her your car is so fast it will make her panties fly off
    545 RWHP & 540 RWTQ