Now that the sound bar looked like a piece of junk i had to do some modifications.  There was no way i could ever take out the factory paper speakers and do anything with them other than toss them in the garbage.  I also figured i'd upgrade the front speakers while i was at it.  The sound bar required fairly major modifications to make it look decent without the padding.  I removed all of the sticky glue and welded up the seems.  My welds were not the greatest because i could not get the paint out from between the metal and it caused contamination.  It was also tricky to weld (millermatic 180 mig) because the metal was very thin.  I had the welder turned down all the way and it was still too hot.  I added a bead of construction adhesive to the seam on the inside to add strength to the thin metal.  After a bunch of grinding it was time to try out some bondo for my first time.  It was really easy, but takes some time to lay down multiple coats and sand it.  It really helps to have a few clean containers because once you use one for bondo it's toast.  Some extra spreaders would have been handy because mine got junked up with bondo and made grooves when i tried to smooth it out.  Instead of making it "perfect" and turning a simple weekend project into a month long project, i called it a day and cracked a beer.  Lots more sanding (power and hand) to get it smooth before paint.  I put 2 cans of auto body primer on it, 300 grit wet sanded, and then 2 cans of black gloss.  It was looking great then when i decided to add a coat of clearcoat.  This cause orange peal across the paint, but it was still good enough for me. 

Here are some pictures of the finished result.