sesand

thx goku. looking forward to the report.

Saigon_Bob

iTrader: (2)

i started FBing my box yestaday...... wow the fumes are serious. i got one layer done..... cant wait till i hav e to start finding rattles.

BTW i cant wait till i get my 350 done.... ill be pushing 400 hp and 500lb ft

ScrapMaker

hey bob.. is fiberglassing fairly easy? aside from the actual mixing of resins and such.. isn't it pretty straight-forward...

1) line trunk area in plastic
2) mix resin
3) dip fiberglass strips in resin
4) lay strips in trunk, forming them to the contours of the trunk... overlapping the pieces for strenth...
5) let try
6) repeat until box is as thick as you need
7) build some sort of lid out of wood or plexi for the ceiling of the box... then attach it to the completed sides of box, and use fiberglass to integrate..

the one thing I'm a little confused on is, how do most people create the top of the box? I'd think you'd use a piece of MDF, then cover with fiberglass... solely for looks... the rest of the box is made out of pure fiberglass.. I guess

or is your whole box made out of mdf, and the fiberglass is just for looks on top?

Saigon_Bob

iTrader: (2)

yea its pretty easy... basically, if your not handicapped and can paint you can FG......

3) i got 5yd rolls of FG chop mat so what i did was "paint" alil resin on the area to be glassed, then put the piece of FG on it the "stab" it with the brush to soak up the resin and "paint" a lil more resin on to soak the piece real good.

the first layer kinda sucked becasue i was stupid and used a styrafoam cup and it melted putting resing on the concrete of my apt commplex... and i think that in hind sight i should learned how to work this stuff in a smaller enclosure.

but for the most part id say this:

1) yes its easy if you have patience
2) Open area, open area and a breather are nice
3) find a spot to protect from the wind
4) lots of gloves and old clothes are a must
5)i think i went a bit over board on the ersin for the first batch.. half a gallon for one layer. but experiment on what to use.


as for the lid im using mdf rings to mount the subs so they look flush mounted. Position the rings using wooden dowels so that they face the way you want and hot glue. stretch some fabric over the rings ( hot glue onto the rings) and then stretch onto the bottom of the box and glue in place. resin the clothe and then add fiber glass to the cloth ( go to work with the resin again) the cloth will make the top look contoured. when ur done u bondo it and sand it smooth.

edit: BTW im looking at like 6 layers of FG when im thru...i have pix on my camera so when i get a usb cabel to upload it i will start a thread outlining my ordeal

ScrapMaker

interesting... I never thought of using fabric... that makes sense... do you lay plastic over the fabric, so that you don't have scraps of fabric in your box? or does that not matter?

also, when you lay the plastic in the bottom of the well of the hatch area, does the fiberglass separate from that, or do you just trim the plastic at the top, so it looks good?

I think I want to make my own kick panels... just a rough estimate... how much did it cost to get the resin and fiberglass to make your box? is this a fairly cheap thing to do?

Saigon_Bob

iTrader: (2)

well i used aluminum foil but plastic works too... if you use a release agent on the covering the FG will separate from it but i for got to.. lol so im just gunn trim it so the foil is unseen.

you wont have scraps of fabric in your box from the top because the fabric becomes part of the box.


i have like ten yards of 3ft wid FG and a gallon of resin< i think i spent like $50 online to get it shipped. i think im gunna need more resin for my project but for kick panels 1 gallon should suffice. im using the fiberglass chop mat and the EB resin( the cheapest)

check these sites out for

br()bert's fiberglassing tutorials

and

Fiberglass supplies

ScrapMaker

what I don't understand, is it looked like when he made that 6x9 box, he 'painted' resin on the outer surface, allowing the fabric to absorb it... but then he let it dry, and then fiberglassed it from the inside??

Seems like he would have just put the resin on the outside surface of the box, then applied chopmatt... like any other box...

was there some reason he applied resin first and then let it dry, then put on chopmatt later?

Saigon_Bob

iTrader: (2)

i dunno.. id haveto look at it again but i think that it jus looks like its dry but it isnt... either that or he let the resin dry so that the cloth would get hard and retain that curved shape

ScrapMaker

so you could put resin on the cloth all by itself, and it would get hard?

not as hard as using fiberglass, right?

sesand

He applied resin to the fabric so it would form a rigid mold so then he could remove the supports (pens), allowing a smooth surface to apply the mat (and this way the pens weren't incorporated into the box itself). I think he put the mat inside this particular box since it is smaller and allowed for a smoother exterior look with less sanding. If he applied mat on the outside, that mat would overlap the mdf, which would have required more sanding to smooth out.

ScrapMaker

good call, I just wonder... if the cloth absorbs the resin, how well would the cloth itself (t-shirt) or whatever, sand and become smooth? I guess most boxes will have matt on the outside, not inside...

Saigon_Bob

iTrader: (2)

exactly waht sesand said.... either way.. its still the same strenght cuz the resin will bond to the dry resin the same.

the clothe( or anyhting the resin gets in) will turn to a solid, so sanding inst a prob

ScrapMaker

That's cool... I just never really knew how strong the resin was.... so I'm curious, why is it that fiberglass is the core material of choice? any cloth would work... thin plastic... anything it seems...

is it just the natural ability for fiberglass to absorb the resin?

Saigon_Bob

iTrader: (2)

resin, actually, inst very strong on its own..... its stiff and rigid but brittle. the fiberglass or carbonfiber is what gives it the strength.

TorchRay

i had the same problem with my setup. i have a custom sub-panel that my amps and subs are mounted on in the rear. The whole rear hatch rattled like crazy and the said panels that the 6X9s go into rattled also. I used fabric and dynomat. I covered the whole rear part with the dynomat....works great....nice and tight now.

1stTransam

I agree totally that resin is very strong...I have made my custom sub box out of 1 layer of resin. The box is sealed air tight. I only added a piece of plywood for a top....it is easier to cut for the subs. Then sealed it to the wood with resin and fiber cloth. Built the custom box for $30. And in about 3.5 hours.

sesand

post some pics. i have to see this to believe it. what kind of resin did you use?

ScrapMaker

so you just wrapped a 'frame' or 'skeleton' with a "fiber cloth" and then you 'painted' resin onto it? and that's it?

you didn't use lots of strips of fiberglass? just one big sheet?

Saigon_Bob

iTrader: (2)

well. to galss the sub well.... how many layers should i be looking at cuz i got about one( resin and fiberglass).

i dont have very serious subs and id def like to save some time with my install

sesand

I would say you should do at least 3, if not closer to 5 (depending on how thick your fiberglass is of course). Remember, you should be able to jump on your box with no problem.

Saigon_Bob

iTrader: (2)

stink..... i was hoping to get away easy.... i guess id better order some more resin. i was pretty sure id need at least 6 layers... oh well

sesand

6 should do it - i think this guy uses 7 or more for big boxes:
http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/

Lucid

iTrader: (4)

I know this is a little off topic, but i was wondering about adding door speakers to my car. My dad's mustang has a Mach component system and i was wanting to get 6.5s in the door and maybe some tweets. Has anyone done this modification to their car without breaking the bank? i read through some posts already...The local audio chop shop told me you can do it after doing cutouts on the carpet but then he told me you have to use Infinity Reference Shallow Mounts because of the power window. I know 4th gens had speakers in the door and they have plastic mounts to hold them in place, i was wondering if i could transfer them over to see how they work. Also I loved having my 8" bass tube with a built in 200 watt amp, that thing bassed very nice back there in the rear well, much better than the subwoofer enclosure (until the speaker popped).
My car bumps:
JVC headunit with Cd Changer
JVC 500 Watt 4 Channel Amp with builtin crossover
JVC 6x9s (about to be trash)
Pioneer 8" subs x 2 300 watt each
Factory 4x6s blech

ScrapMaker

you may have to use some spacers so you can put ANY decent speaker in the door...

go the kickpanel route.