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Help me with fiberglass
- Thread starter '73 K5
- Start date
Muddytazz
1 ton status
www.diy.com and search for fiberglass speaker boxes, there is a really good in depth how-to there that i read.
AudioMaster
Registered Member
Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions I will have a step by step up pretty soon of a fiero I did a half fiber half MDF box for. It's really quite easy.
loudnowlouder
1/2 ton status
i've built half fiber/ half mdf boxes before, its actually really easy to do..
the last one i made went into a ford focus zx3, made it to fit in the trunk side, really weird shape...
we took pink foam from home depot, filled the area where the wheel well is, made it in 1 inch layers, it didnt take too long shaping the layers since it wasnt too thick, and glued the pieces together, then we covered the foam with vinyl(decal material), the epoxy didnt stick to or eat thru the vinyl, whereas depending on the epoxy it might chew right thru the foam...
then we covered all of the straight faces with heavy chopped mat, and joined them all together with a few layers of thin fiber weave, it goes over 90 degree bends much easier, tore the mold apart taking it out, but it came out real easy....
then we used water to determine the volume of the weird shaped object we created, knowing the volume the speaker needed we trimmed down the sides, made a small internal lip for the mdf to sit on, put the mdf in place, and glassed it to the structure...
then some sanding and painting...then took matching carpet to cover the front since it was the only part showing, and mounted the speaker....
on the other side he just took a piece of mdf, covered it with carpet, and mounted the amp on the outside, and the capacitor on the inside, he has the same setup now that he had in a huge box that literally took up his entire trunk...
he now has his whole trunk free, we only took up the unsuable parts where the wheel well is, so now he has an empty rectangular trunk and the same sound system....
but if you have more questions pm me, unfortunately i dont have pics of the build up...
the last one i made went into a ford focus zx3, made it to fit in the trunk side, really weird shape...
we took pink foam from home depot, filled the area where the wheel well is, made it in 1 inch layers, it didnt take too long shaping the layers since it wasnt too thick, and glued the pieces together, then we covered the foam with vinyl(decal material), the epoxy didnt stick to or eat thru the vinyl, whereas depending on the epoxy it might chew right thru the foam...
then we covered all of the straight faces with heavy chopped mat, and joined them all together with a few layers of thin fiber weave, it goes over 90 degree bends much easier, tore the mold apart taking it out, but it came out real easy....
then we used water to determine the volume of the weird shaped object we created, knowing the volume the speaker needed we trimmed down the sides, made a small internal lip for the mdf to sit on, put the mdf in place, and glassed it to the structure...
then some sanding and painting...then took matching carpet to cover the front since it was the only part showing, and mounted the speaker....
on the other side he just took a piece of mdf, covered it with carpet, and mounted the amp on the outside, and the capacitor on the inside, he has the same setup now that he had in a huge box that literally took up his entire trunk...
he now has his whole trunk free, we only took up the unsuable parts where the wheel well is, so now he has an empty rectangular trunk and the same sound system....
but if you have more questions pm me, unfortunately i dont have pics of the build up...
loudnowlouder
1/2 ton status
oops i forgot to tell you what to buy...
i used the following:
-pink insulation foam
-saran wrap will work in the place of the vinyl that i used, but it'll be a little more difficult to keep it in place...
-fiberglass : chopped mat(heavy - 8 oz or +), weave(~5 oz is what i used)
-epoxy (this is where it gets tricky...see below)
-cheap paint brushes
-decent rubber gloves(dont get the real thin ones, it sucks when they rip)
-scissors (if you dont get the fiberglass shears, dont expect to use regular scissors again, this stuff kills scissors)
-carpeting
-mdf
thats about it...the epoxy is where you might run into problems...dont buy the real cheap stuff they have at pep boys, it sucks...get some decent grade stuff and it'll be very predictable in the set up time..
you need to do some test runs before you glass anything, start with the instructions on the epoxy as far as the epoxy/hardener mixture...and go from there, if you put too much in it'll harden before you finish glassing, your brush will get all stiff and stop working...
if you dont put enough in it'll sit there for days being wet..
i normally play around with it till i get a pot life of 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the project...
once you get the mixture right it's real easy, just make sure you have all layers of the glass precut before you start..
i normally get my materials from www.uscomposites.com ...you can probably find the stuff cheaper elsewhere, but i've always liked this company, high quality stuff, very good technical help too
good luck
i used the following:
-pink insulation foam
-saran wrap will work in the place of the vinyl that i used, but it'll be a little more difficult to keep it in place...
-fiberglass : chopped mat(heavy - 8 oz or +), weave(~5 oz is what i used)
-epoxy (this is where it gets tricky...see below)
-cheap paint brushes
-decent rubber gloves(dont get the real thin ones, it sucks when they rip)
-scissors (if you dont get the fiberglass shears, dont expect to use regular scissors again, this stuff kills scissors)
-carpeting
-mdf
thats about it...the epoxy is where you might run into problems...dont buy the real cheap stuff they have at pep boys, it sucks...get some decent grade stuff and it'll be very predictable in the set up time..
you need to do some test runs before you glass anything, start with the instructions on the epoxy as far as the epoxy/hardener mixture...and go from there, if you put too much in it'll harden before you finish glassing, your brush will get all stiff and stop working...
if you dont put enough in it'll sit there for days being wet..
i normally play around with it till i get a pot life of 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the project...
once you get the mixture right it's real easy, just make sure you have all layers of the glass precut before you start..
i normally get my materials from www.uscomposites.com ...you can probably find the stuff cheaper elsewhere, but i've always liked this company, high quality stuff, very good technical help too
good luck
