I'm looking at starting a fiberglass trunk box and possibly some front kicks if things don't go according to plan with Jim or if he can't keep up to demand. The trunk box will be my starting point because it involves a lot less money than the kicks (I don't have a set of components) and I would like to try to give Jim time to finish his set of kicks.

I know how to glass from watching, but I still have a few questions:

- Should I buy mat, cloth, or both? It seems like cloth would make for an easier first layer?

- How much mat/cloth should I buy and in what weight? There has to be some relationship of cost/strength since you can achieve the same strength from many lighter layers as you can from fewer heavier layers. Also, what's easiest to work with? Should I just buy a roll of mat/cloth from US composites?

- What quantity of epoxy should I buy? I'm thinking of just going for 5 gallons at this point as that would more than cover the trunk and leave me something for the kicks.

- Where should I buy everything? The local boat place wants $68 for a gallon of polyester resin, so I'm thinking about just buying from US composites since they will only charge me $34.50 for a gallon ($130 for 5). I know about the UPS hazmat fee, but it should still be cheaper than the boat place, I think.

I am not trying to make a huge box volume wise (the box will only hold two 10's); I just want to squeeze more air out of the trunk. It will not overflow onto the flat spot above the gas tank.

Any help/advice/answers is greatly appreciated

 

1.) I would buy both. Use mat for first layers since it conforms easily to corners. Once you got the shell strong enough pop it out of the car and move it to a bench or saw horse then you can decide if you want to switch over to cloth. Woven cloth needs to be seperated by mat. You should not have woven to woven layers touching each other directly. Some woven types actually have a mat stitched to one side to solve this problem. If it doesn't don't worry just make sure to get a layer of regular mat between the two.

2.) Depends on the project size. Really hard to say until you start doing it. I bought 12 yards worth of mat for mine and I ran out shortly into the project. Thing to remember is you'll be doing many, many layers, so keep that in mind. I personally like working with the thin mat to start out with. After I get several layers of that down I'll pop the shell out and switch to cloth. I've used different types and OZs of cloth. If it's biaxial I've used up to 30 OZ or so without much trouble even around corners. If it's a plain woven I've used up to around 48 OZ, but it was horriable to conform. From my experience biaxial gives you more movement than the woven cloth. The 48 OZ was used only on the flat sides. Lighter is generally easier to work with until it get so light you're moving around to much putting the resin on. Also, once you start fiberglassing it's addictive so if you can get a good deal on fiberglass from Ebay or somewhere like that it's a good way to go. I bought a 30+ lbs box of biaxial on there for around $50 or so. From the looks of the pieces it came from a boat hull shop. They were cut at odd shapes, but that did not matter to me since I was making a small object anyways. I'm even cutting them smaller than they are currently. Alway make sure the fiberglass is compatiable with the resin.

3.) 5 gallons should be plenty. If you get it in the gallon jugs they don't charge you a hazard fee... at least they didn't a year ago. The fee was just on the 5 gallon pails. My box that was 7.0 cubic feet took around 7 gallons or so total to make. (purchased from US Composites) I would buy a good quality resin. There is no comparing cheap Bondo product resin to a construction or other similar resin made by US Composites or other dealer. It's easier to work with, longer life cycles, and goes much further due to it's thickness.

If this is your first project I would try doing a small project first. Even it was something as simple as coating a old pan or flat board. It take some time to get use to how to lay the fiberglass and work all the air bubbles out without pulling strands around. It's not quiet as easy to pick up as it may look.

Also check out this thread --> https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=259377

That post is full of good information. Also there is a link in there that I created a make shift tutorial for when I did my fiberglass box. On my site you'll find that tutorial and other little fiberglass projects I've picked up along the way. Any further questions don't hesitate to ask.

 

yea... the us composite resin is much easier and more pleasent to work with plus it costs less..... i think that if you use the clothe first you will have an easier layer...... i really hate the mat i got, it is fairly thick and uses alot of resin and is horrible to try to work with....

 

Thanks to both of you for the replies. fireturd350, I had already read through your thread as well as your guide and a few other threads. I understood the process, I was just unsure what I should buy.

It looks like I will buy a decent amount of cloth and even more mat since it looks like I will be using more mat than clotch (first layer, inbetween cloth layers, on the kicks, etc - that and it's cheaper ). Any sugestions as to a workable weight? 1.5 ounce mat and 6 ounce cloth?

 

do the kicks first to get used to working FG then do the subs... try not to get the mat too thick otherwise it will be a b!@#$ to work with in anything except straight shots and small areas. i wish i could remember what i had purchased....