okay all I can say is it looks to me like a wonderious peice of art work, after seeing all that water in there... I have to wonder how did you go about getting it all out of there?! anyway Nice job keep up the work man.

 

Well this project did cost a little bit. I have 100 or 120 bucks just in a 5 gallon pail of construction resin. All in all I think I'm in the 400 to 450 range on materials (MDF, screws, liquid nails, bondo, fiberglass, resin). Course looking at the pure size of this box it would probably cost 1k somewhere at least to have it built, especially cause I figure I have probably around 100 labor hours or so in it. I'll probably double my labor hours easily once it comes time for bondo, spot putty, and other paint stuff.

I'd say if you guys want to try out fiberglass might as well. For 20 bucks you can pick up everything you need at Wal-Mart for a small project to mess around with. Then if you get more comfortable with it and want more supplies I would try local boat stores or even online like uscomposites.com

As for getting the water out, it came out a lot faster than it went in! Used a standard sized sub pump (kind you mount under your house to suck all the rain water out).

I'll have some new pics up in a few minutes... I have already cut/rubbed the fragments of wood off the resin. The box is in the car right now for test fit. It fits fairly ok, I got a few gaps in places but nothing I can't really sand down or lay more fiberglass and put some bondo on to fix.

 

I got a few spots were the fleece didn't firmly bond onto the MDF rings, not a big deal I left a little room between surface ring and the subwoofer so I'll just put a little bondo connecting to the two after I sand it back.







Overall I'm pretty pleased with the shape and slopes. First I didn't like the height of the divider wall but since it's matched to the sides it helps bring all the slopes together and makes the box look like it's suppose to belong there a little more.

I have plently of room for the hatch shocks... I think I'm touching the surface MDF rings on the interior piece on the hatch though... not that big of deal I can just fiberglass a new piece to go there for more clearance. What does everyone think so far?

 

Looks good so far.

Before you know it you'll be up to the fun part.









SANDING!

 

I think it's coming along amazingly! Can't wait to see finished pics.

 

Not related to the box, but I started redoing the wiring job local audio store (same place, same time as old box) did for me...
And I need'd some place to vent....



Get this they used 2 AWG from my battery to fuse log, then 4 AWG from my fuse log to isolator, then I did all the isolator to 2nd battery wiring before I took it in so it was all 0 AWG.

No wonder I was having power problems though, they mentioned it first when I got it they said going 4 feet with 2 AWG wouldn't hurt.... course they used 2 feet of 2 AWG and 2 feet of 4 AWG. So yet again I'm fixing mess ups.

Also for the capacitors the wiring was all messed up. It states right in the directions to put the cap no more than 18 inches from the amp. Well they ran 3 to 4 feet of 4 AWG from the optima to the first cap, then 8 awg from the first cap to the 2nd cap. And no outlet to amps... so the discharge of energy had to go through the 8 AWG wire into the 2nd cap then out into 4 AWG 3 feet into the battery then 3 to 4 feet back through 4 AWG to the amps... what a bunch of crap + I only got 1 charging card back not both they must have kept one for a shop tool... to top it all off one of the caps got the seal broke I have corrosion forming on the circuits which probably isn't good.

 

So hows it comin?

 

Haven't got to make any more progress on it yet. Mainly due to I had to give an informative speach on "Automotive Fiberglass Repair". Hopefully I'll beable to work on it tomorrow... planning on getting the ring area sanded back get my bondo laid on the lips and maybe some on the inside to firmlly attach the lid to the MDF rings. I need to put a little more resin on the fleece cause I missed out on some spots too. Then I can start thinking about getting the fiberglass laid to enforce the fleece. I gotta decide if I wanna use air craft quality again or not... I imagine I'll make the lid fairly thick... I'm guessing I have at least acouple yards worth x 52" of 0.75 oz left so I'll beable to do 8+ layers if I want... tho I probably will have to order more resin.

I went in and bought the extra wiring I need'd. I got 2 feet of power and ground 4 AWG. Then 10 feet of 8 AWG power and ground for the subs. I'm not even going to mess with their 12 AWG speaker wire this time... it's gonna be all power and ground wires.

 

I got 3 to 4 layers on 50%+ of the lid. I ran out of masking tape so I had to stop there. Also I'm almost out of resin though so I'll probably have enough to get 4 layers on the other side. I'll have to wait till I get more money... (no job currently), then I can place an order with uscomposites for more.

I figured out why one part of the fleece didn't bound to the MDF rings... one of my leg supports must have broke loose with the heat and stress caused by the fleece curing. I went ahead and put some liquid nail on the ring and pressed them, I got the leg support mounted again, also I put a nice layer of liquid nail on the inside of the fleece bound to the mdf ring. I slacked off and didn't do any bondo yesturday I'll enforce the lid to ring mounts once I start the paint prep phase of the build.

Hopefully I can hit up Wal-Mart today and get some more masking tape and finish off the 4th layer on the lid today. As long as the wasps don't come back... they built a nest in the towels I had on the saw horses. I guess they didn't like it when I was sanding the fleece back smooth with the rings since I was rocking the whole thing, luckily I got ahold of the air compressor and hit them with some 70 psi air when they came after me.

 

I know what you mean on the no job subject. Philly has to be one of the worst places for employment.

Becareful with those wasps!

Before you know it you'll be done.

 

Ok, I got the 4 layers laid on the other side of the lid. Now I should have 4 layers total... so almost 1/2 way done with it. Bad news is I only have around 1 quart of B-440 resin and a sheet of fiberglass about 3 feet by 52 inches left... so that isn't going to be enough either. So, I'm guessing I'll order 2 gallons of the B-440 construction resin and maybe acouple yards of the new woven for added strength. I just can't decide which one to get. I was going to try the new 6.0 oz S weave cause it increase your breaking point but I'm not paying 6+ bucks for 1 yard by 25 inch. I'm thinking 7.5 oz E weave.

 

I end'd up getting a steal on some fiberglass so I jumped at it. Biaxial type it's a lot heavier than I wanted... 32 oz, but it should still be use able since the lid doesn't have to many really wicked curves. Thing was I bought it off ebay from a store. They must do a lot of fiberglass molds cause this is a variety type pack. It's all biaxial and same oz just that some pieces can be triangle or rectangles and 18" sq or more. But that's fine and dandy for me cause I'll need to cut them small anyways if I want to glass the lid.

Ran me $58.25 for the box (65 lbs) shipped to my door! It's a heck of a lot cheaper this way than buying it in the sheets. This should be more than enough to do the box, enforce the outer sides (had extra area to use) of it again and the front lip. + I'll have plenty left if I decide to do any thing else in the future, since it's supposely 280 sq feet of material. Now I just need some more b-440 resin.

 

Damn good deal! Plan on making your own boat soon? lol

 

Actually I could I guess... Nah, I was thinking extra stuff would be enough to do that extra sub box behind the roll bar if I wanted to. Maybe some components in the sail panel areas. Oh and I've been thinking about a custom console for some time... I imagine acouple layers of 32 oz glass will make it pretty strudy for me to lean on + I wouldn't mind getting ahold of some PVA molding stuff so I can make acouple fiberglass non ac heater boxes.

 

Ok, I went back and test fitted the box yesturday. I had a minor problem the passenger side shock hit the box. I clearanced that easily enough with a hacksaw. Place where I cut had about 1" worth of fiberglass left so there was no break through into the box airspace. So that's all taken care of.

I noticed my fitment on the back side is a little tight, because of the plastic sliders flexing on me and some even broke. I might get some bolts, nuts, and washers. I figure I can use them now instead of those stupid costly nylon slide inserts and plastic screws (then though I have spares). Once the box is in place you won't beable to see them anyways.

I also received my shipment of fiberglass today! And the seller didn't lie it is biaxial and does weigh 65 lbs... doesn't feel like 32 oz though... maybe that's just my mind playing tricks on me though since I used 40.5 OZ woven earlier in the project. I went ahead and go a full layer put on the driver side woofer lid. I also did a partial strip on the front side of the box. I did a 2nd layer on the large area on the lid in the corner since that was the part that was flexing with 3 or 4 layers of mat. I think it should be very hard once it fully cures now. I still have plenty of cloth left, but I have to wait on my resin shipment (2 gallons coming tomorrow UPS). After I get that I should beable to finish off the box lid with 1 layer (2 layers on the lid corners near the woofer) on the other side. I'll probably go back and redo the front since it is pretty long and not supported to well. I figure I'll do 2 layers total on the front lip that should make it plenty strong since I already have 7-8 or more layers of mat on it.

Basically the box looks like it has 10+ large sheets in it... didn't take a full 1 sheet to do the driverside of the box... so I'll have plenty left once it's all done.

All I can say is man this biaxial is a crap load easier to work with than mat. I can even press the brush and drag it across the cloth side and pull all the air bubbles out without stretching or pulling fibers. Even with 32 OZ I still have plenty of formability for curves. I might go back and lay another layer of biaxial on the sides for extra flex resistance. So acouple more weeks it should be done and ready for paint. This project is taking forever.

 

Its going to take long the way your doing it, the correct way. Take your time. In the end it'll be worth it.

 

Ok, I got the other full layer on the passenger side. I also went back and put 1 layer about 5 to 6"s wide on the fender sides of the box. I then put 2 layers on the front side, since it will be unsupported. I also went back and put another 2 layers on the wide area on the lid near the corner. That was the point of the most flex, which I stated earlier. I went back and put another layer at that point on the driver side also. So I have 4 layers of mat and 1 layer of biaxial on most of the lid, except for the large area which was pretty flat and I have 4 layers of mat and 3 layers of biaxial on it. All in all I think it will be plenty strong.

 

Here's the pics! First pic shows the lid and where I used bondo to smooth out the fleece to fiberglass on the sides. It's still pretty rough but a little sanding and it will shape up fast. Second pic shows the overlapped layers. I took a rubber mallet to it and tapped it pretty hard it didn't move at all. So I would say the lid is done. All I need to do is test fit it again.

I have plenty of resin left over so I might go back and put a layer of biaxial on the front side on the slope near the gas tank hump. It's pretty thin in some spots, so one layer would provide a lot of additional support. I don't think it would be enough to mess up the fitment of the box.

 

Looking good. Now down to the dreaded sanding! Before you know it you'll be done. And you'll have something to be proud of.


Just imagine how much a shop would have charged you.

 

Yeah I have 550 total in supplies and materials now on this build. Course I'll have resin and fiberglass left over too. But still that's a ton counting that I haven't figured in bondo, spot putty, silicone, sand paper, primer, or paint.

I figure a shop would charge 1k (super cheap) to 2k (fairly high priced) for a build at this stage.

 

Threw on a quick sand job to take off all the coarse parts. (No need to cause myself more carnage on this project.) Went extremely fast with an electric sander and coarse 60 grit paper. I test fitted the box yet again.







I need to clearance the areas where the hatch shocks bolt on to the hatch. The screws that hold the shocks on barely touch the box on the lip. Not a big deal 2 minutes with a sander I can fix that easy. I need to sand the back of the box a little more where it meets the hatch motor panel cause it has enough extra material right now that it throws the box a little off alignment.

I think I've decided to redo the inside a little bit. I'm going to aluminum foil and tape off all my rings and top surface then I'll lay a layer or 2 of biaxial on the slope near the gas tank from the inside. I noticed it's fairly weak (won't crack, but it does have a very small amount of flex). I might also lay a layer on driverside wheel well hump part from the inside of the box. Basically it's very close to being done with the fiberglass, though.

 

looks big. How close will the subs be to the glass? Good work.

 

Yeah, it's fairly big now. I imagine it weighs around 45+ lbs. It's almost to big for me to handle by myself, just due to the weird shape. Really it looks bigger than it is.

As for the glass there's plenty of room. The grilles should just barely touch the plastic trim at the bottom of the glass if all my measurements were right. So there will be a grille thickness at the very back all the way up to 5 or 6 inches at the very front. Neat thing about the design since it followed the hatch seal it made a wedge type shape for the box and my sub mount rings I leveled them flat. I'm hoping that will reflect the sound off the hatch and push it out of the wedge shape towards the dash.

I went back and add'd 2 layers on the inside of the box near the slope. I left about 3 inch strip without any biaxial since I'm already rubbing the basket on that part. I put a full layer on the driverside hump too. I had to do that from the outside though. Not a big deal cause I used cardboard there before so it should have had room left.

 

Bondo phase is getting close to completion. I still have a few spots that need to be redone (mostly front lip and corners that don't met the hatch seal). The lid is pretty much done, until I get ready to spot putty the box. I went ahead and used a little silicone tonight on the inside of the rings where they mount to the fleece lid. Hopefully that helps them from rattling to much. Of course here's some new pics (more on my site).

 

Looks like its turning out very nice. btw You have an alarm right? Not that anyone would be able to pull that thing through the hatch glass anyway .

 

No alarm yet. Helps I never take the car to any big cities. I might install one eventually. If someone does I do carry full insurance and it should be covered under my home insurance.

 

get a viper alarm, they have a 1 year warranty that if anything is stolen they will cover up to $1500 on whatever was stolen.

 

Well I think I have the bondo done. I worked a little more on it today getting it matched up even with the seal on the sides. So I just need to buy some spot putty and I can start on that. In the mean time I worked on the rear seat subwoofer box idea so more. Here's some pics of the quickie cardboard mockup.





I don't know if I like it or not. Man, it's gonna be close to the headrests. Probably around 12 inches away at most. Not going to allow much room for the sound waves to expand and it's gonna be right at the riders ears but really that's about the only way of doing it.

 

Ok, I think I have my spot putty done finally! I did notice I have some cracking spot putty around parts of the mounting rings where the fiberglass joins to the MDF. I went ahead and put some bondo fiberglass on the inside pretty thick in those areas.

I'm gonna mix up a milkshake too I think. I figure 1 gallon bondo with 2:1 ratio like you said, b()bert should be enough to get a good thick coat on the inside of the box. After that's done I'll get some truck bedliner and paint that on too. If I do 2 or 3 layers of that on top of the milkshake it should be nice and firm. I got some cheap rubberized under coating to spray on the box outside (parts I'm not going to paint). That way have a decent looking box if I pull it out of the car.

 

That thing is gonna be built like a tank.

I see it now . The year is 4004, all human life is gone from a nuke.In a large feild aliens find a large subwoofer box surrounded by what they think used to be a car.

be sure to keep the pics comin.

 

Ok, I got a little more work done today. I found out from a guy that I chat with the under coating I used (2.50 a can walmart special) will melt in sunlight if it touches hot metal. I guess he had major problems when he sprayed it on all the sheet metal inside a trunk before... jack, spare, carpet all glued itself in... So I went back did some digging in the garage and found some old bedliner ($40 gallon, generic rhino liner from walmart) I went ahead and painted that over the rubberized stuff. Then I finished it off with putting 1 1/2 gallons of bondo (used fiberglass resin also) on the inside of the box. It's pretty strong now. I would get some pics but GF has my camera.

So I have a bondo milkshake, 7-8 layers of 0.75 mat, a layer of cheap rubber coating, and a layer of good bedliner on the very outside of the box. Then for the lid theres the bondo milkshake (put it on double there), 4 layers of 0.75 mat, 2-4 layers of biaxial, then all my bondo and spot putty for painting. I don't think I'll have any problems with the box flexing.

 

UPDATE: I had a heck of a time yesturday. I went into town got some nice harden 10-24 cap screws (I hate regular screws cause I can never get the screwdriver on them straight), I got some tee nuts, and some polished screws for the grilles.

Anyways one of the driverside tee nuts stripped out when I had the woofer in place. I spent a good hour trying to drill it out... finally I went back into town and got a set of titanium drill bits. Had it all done in under 5 minutes easy. So I got all the woofer holes tapped now with tee nuts. If you guys don't know what tee nuts are there made for wood projects so you can put a metal sleeve into the wood that gives you metal threads to pull off of, which keeps the wood from crumbling over time cause you got metal to metal contact instead of metal to wood.

I went back and wired up my subs for 2 ohm final each then I drilled my holes for the wiring. I used 8 awg power and ground wiring, I'm not even gonna mess with the speaker wiring cause all I got is 12 AWG. I decided I'm gonna run the wiring under the carpet from the amps then it'll enter the box behind the panel so it won't be just a straight hole drill'd out in the middle. I found a weak spot on the box near the driver side back wall. Well it wasn't to weak it barely flexed with about 50+ lbs of force, but I mixed up another 1/4 gallon milkshake for that spot so that should be good to go. I gotta let that set up but then I can silicone up the divider wall really good (already got a coat of milkshake on it), then finish it off by sealing up the wire holes.

 

Sounds like its built nice! Get that thing done and take some more pics!

 

Ok it's done... well it's installed, the wires aren't tucked in, and it's not painted yet either. BUT IT'S ALIVE!!

Already have had 2 major problems. No it's not the subs. My spoiler that was already cracked is getting a longer crack in it and my rear view mirror has fell down yet again.

My hatch is actually bouncing around I'm kinda surprised the plastic motor housing is holding... next time I'm gonna make an aluminum bracing and fiberglass bondo it on for the rebuild.

My windshield is flexing too and my new fiberglass hood is bouncing and flexing also. My doors are rattling from the metal flexing with the bass so that means Dynamat sometime.

I still have power issues. First when I start up the system I get 14.1 volts to it at low volumes as the subs get pushed harder I drop to 12.5 or so on hard hits... as time goes along I eventually get down to 10.0 volts on hard hits. So I have some power issues still but there definitly better than before. My HU is skipping too or maybe just flipping out from not enough power.

Here's the pics!








Here they are in action!!



I don't think my 100 buck camera was fast enough to caught them well.

 

its freakin crazy man..i bet it hits hard as ****... talk about having patients i cant wait to see it painted

 

Yeah, messing with it a little more. My friend stopped out today (celica with 12" W7, JL 1000/1, and 45 hz ported box). He liked the new setup a lot. He also thinks it hits a ton harder than the old box. He even wussied out on me after a few minutes play cause his ears hurt. He hit 144.0 termlab certified and after hearing both cars back to back we both agree I'm above that (no surprise though). He also got to hear and sit in another car with 3 w7 10s and 3 500/1s that hit a 147.x db termlab and he thinks mine is at the same level or a little more (hard to tell since he heard the car a while back). So once I get my power issues worked out I can't wait to see what I'm hitting. Right now I'm draining both batteries down to around 10 volts in about 3 minutes of play time with the car idling at 1500 rpms. So I got a small problem there and my doors are flexing too so I need some dynamat extreme for them... rest of the car is holding together well (no surprise with the 8 point roll bar, sub frame connectors, and the new spohn TQ arm in), except for the hatch and it's bouncing a little bit. Basically I'm really happy with the turn out and I can't wait to see it painted. I gotta save up money first, GF wants a ring, then I got a motor build to finish up, power issue problems, I don't have insurance or reg on the car currently so I gotta pay for that, I still need to put some new gears in, then I should have time for paint (<-- long ways down the road so don't hold your breath).

 

before you see what you hit i would get tonz of dynamat like you said. i need it right now with just 2 15" vr comps *** knows how badly you need it

 

:hail: Looks like it sounds greaT! I hope anyone thinking of making a fiberglass box looks up this thread.

Good job man.

I know how i feel about mdf etc boxes after making my fiberglass box.What do you think of mdf vs fiberglass after making yours?

 

Hmm (this is gonna be lengthy), well since I did build a 6.0 ported MDF box for my L7 15" while I was waiting for the fiberglass to cure. I would say if you don't have the time or desire to spend countless hours on building a box just build MDF one. I mean I really did build a seperate box in the extra time I was waiting around for the glass to cure in about a week without working to hard on it.

All in all I think fiberglass gives a lot more custom look of course. It definitely makes you stand out from the crowd.

In budget the fiberglass one is gonna cost you a lot more than a MDF one. I have what now? around 600 bucks or something like that in this box! I have around 80 bucks in my ported box (I think I even had an extra 1/2 sheet of MDF in there too). Course this design would be pretty hard to do with MDF too.

Fiberglass should give you a little more space overall I think cause I could wrap it a little closer and pull out all the space possible. But that depends on the application too I guess.

All in all you're going to have to use MDF in a fiberglass box usually for supports, divider walls, and rings so you can't really call it just fiberglass. I don't know after doing it all I think if I make another one and the space allows I'm gonna use as much MDF in the straights as possible then the rest with fiberglass. In this I wanted most airspace so it wasn't pratical for me to use 3/4" MDF.

I already told my friend with the 12" W7 that I'd make a box for him if he paid me for supplies (I have probably a good 150+ sq feet of biaxial left easy).

I was 1/2 temped to make a mold of the bottom shell part then I could crack out copies easy. Just do the fiberglass make rings for whatever people wanted then add them and do the lid. Heck you could put 4 10s in easy. Then I got to thinking why do I want to give my design out to people (especially since they'd be so heavy/large I could only sell them locally). That'd kind of waste all that time I spent building the box. It's what makes my car different, which is what makes the time spent worth it to me.

So basically it all comes back to what everyone always says about car audio: Time, Money, and Preference.

 

30 min of reading/looking later, that looks amazing, the water was very impressive, as are 2 18"s in a firebird....lol i thought my 2 12"s in a mdf box was tough...looks great, cant wait to see finished product

 

hey fireturd...

great project

inspired me to doing something close to it

you get it painted yet??

wanna see the finished product


amazing work

 

It's been done for awhile, but still no paint.

I'm waiting to finish up several other projects before I get around to spraying the paint. Recently just purchased a Snap-On initial and centifugal/vacuum advance Timing Light still waiting for that to come.

Here's some of the other projects:

The new 383 I'm still working on. It's about done though. Just waiting on the timing light and a friend to come over so he can help me with the carb when I fire it on the engine cradle. After that I'll yank the old 350 out and paint everything down with some POR-15 before the new one goes in.


The hood is now mounted on the car. Just waiing for the motor to be done before I take it back off and paint it.




My mold for Z20 Special Apperance Package fender flares still in the making. Once done I'll get around to making some replicas and maybe a mold of the spoiler for the package. Be nice if I had a set done when I spray the hood and box to paint match them all at the same time.



My 1LE heater box finished mold. Making replicas slowly of it. It's way to cold to fiberglass now though, so all fiberglass projects are not being worked on till Spring.

 

wow.....lol

 

Been a long time since I updated this thread. I got stuck at jobs a long ways from the car. But I did get the car moved up here last Fall. I finally put a nice rattle can paint job on it. Haven't ran the car yet... doing a radiator upgrade. I might be needing a new alternator though.

 

I would love fiberglass, but im gunna just rig a box out of some thick wood and throw my 1200watt 12" xploid in my 82 maro

 

is there any specific reason you didnt slope the box down to meet the "shelf" where the gas tank is?
i mean, it looks like there is a wall there that points at the front of the car.
or is this just my imagination.

either way, great box.
amazing

 

There is a wall on the front edge of the box. I mainly did it pull out the most possible air space, since they are 18"s. The height of the box was determined just by where the subs had to mount. They won't fit into the well any lower than that. I couldn't carry the front of the box any further forward from that point else I couldn't take the box out with the hatch still on the car. Box weighs about 100 lbs before the subs are installed, but it's not that hard to remove if I wanted to. The subwoofer mounting screws are acutally hex-cap bolts that screw into t-nuts.

 

looks awesome!