Fiberglass resin/hardner = what is good?

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

wax / no wax - I get it. no wax is for build out. then wax coat for final layer

for smooth sanding ability.

I got quoted 350$ for 5 gallons of resin / hardner and mat to go with it

to build the box im looking to do in my vette.

I feel like this is WAY over priced and the shop guy is trying to flip me for

a quick buck.

that being said -

im making a 3/4 box to mold to the hatch of my vette. using a wood top.

so I estimate I can use 5 gallons of glass resin / hardner and be good.

can anyone provide me with a link of some decent quality stuff to use that does not cost a arm and a leg ? im not realley worried about matt. - just the resin + hardner.

when done - I hope to have a box yelding about 7.5 cubes net for my sx 18 slot ported at 34 hz. ( current box is only 5 cubes net ish slot ported 34hz = too small for moof - and is having a crazy amount of flex issues //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Click to read more...

 

[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

http://www.uscomposites.com/polyesters.html

B-440 Premium Polyester Layup Resin

greatest stuff i've ever worked with. a lot of people on fiberglassforums swear by this stuff. i will be using this stuff when i do my fiberglassing pretty soon.

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

sweet, thanks man. I can afford to drop 138$ ship on it. you are the man.

looks like I can start this sooner than I had thought.

need to start gathering other materials now.....

 

[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

if you are glassing your trunk floor, all you really need is lots of blue painters tape, some heavy duty aluminum foil, about 10-20 2" cheapie disposable paint brushes, some mixing cups, and some carnuba wax you use on your car(paste/jar is better than cream/squeeze bottle).

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

not realley a trunk - but yeah - the rear hatch floor - and 3 sides.

going to integrate some structual wood also to mount top and front pieces

along with supports and a removable port to change frequency if I desire.

there is alot of wasted space back there right now due to weird *** angles and shit

that I could be utalizing for box air space seeing as my sub is already choked off in 5 cubes.

stupid *** me just bought a pair of bnib mmats pro 3.0 woofs too ( both dual 4 )

so.... now I gots them to mess with also. thinking of making 2 diffrent top pieces.

one to fit the sx 18 , and one to mess with the pair of 15's but this will require some calculated bracing placment on my end to make it both work. what ever tho.

thanks again for the help. - also concidering getting those aluminum / wood rollers for fiberglass as I hear it can be a pain in the *** to work out fast with a brush, and im laying up a huge area - and kinda want it to go fast / smooth since its such a huge freeking area.

 

[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

not realley a trunk - but yeah - the rear hatch floor - and 3 sides.going to integrate some structual wood also to mount top and front pieces

along with supports and a removable port to change frequency if I desire.

there is alot of wasted space back there right now due to weird *** angles and shit

that I could be utalizing for box air space seeing as my sub is already choked off in 5 cubes.

stupid *** me just bought a pair of bnib mmats pro 3.0 woofs too ( both dual 4 )

so.... now I gots them to mess with also. thinking of making 2 diffrent top pieces.

one to fit the sx 18 , and one to mess with the pair of 15's but this will require some calculated bracing placment on my end to make it both work. what ever tho.

thanks again for the help. - also concidering getting those aluminum / wood rollers for fiberglass as I hear it can be a pain in the *** to work out fast with a brush, and im laying up a huge area - and kinda want it to go fast / smooth since its such a huge freeking area.

meh, i dont use rollers. i just use a brush and a Stippling technique. it's pretty much dipping the tip of the brush(about 1/4") into the mixed resin and then dab/stab into the mat, you only need a small amount of resin which should be enough to "wet" the mat, not soak/drench it. a roller would kinda do the same but will end up extracting a lot of the resin and cause it to be wasted. i auno, everyone has their technique. i just find stippling an easy conversational method.

 

[dan45hk 10+ year member]

I wouldn't mess with wax in the resin, for the final layer you can spray on ethyl alcohol, much easier to remove and work with than wax, the place you get your resin and glass from should have it.

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

no wax = agreed. im not going for smooth looking award winning crap here.

I just want a strong box that wont flex or seperate on me.

 

[dan45hk 10+ year member]

no wax = agreed. im not going for smooth looking award winning crap here.I just want a strong box that wont flex or seperate on me.

I don't know if you've seen it but you might want to check out my thread where I made a fiberglass box for my '94 Vette, it might help you out.

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=367930&highlight=1994+corvette

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

yep - I have been in that thread numerous times. definately like what you did there.

my rear hatch is exactly the same as yours. - only after adding dampning to all of it, it will all become fiberglass box up to the window line, and hold a 18" sub - with port firing up at the rear / back window //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

im suprized actually how much room is in thos storage compartments once you remove the stupid doors for them. -

 

[tacovic 10+ year member]

bump

 

[WOT]

I doubt you will need 5 gallons, make as many panels as you can out of 3/4" mdf (bottom especially)

1 gallon of resin and hardner here locally is $36 taxes and all, no chop mat with that though

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

make any flat areas out of mdf. it is cheaper, easier to work with and stronger. fg strength comes from curved areas. if you must use it to make a flat space then buy some cheap nylon rope and cut it to fit in strips across the flat area, maybe 6-8" of space between each piece. soak that in resin and then put a layer of mat over it and wrapt it around tightly. this will give you quite a bit more strength for the flat spots.

the b440 is the best shit in the world.

after the glass is built up i rough sand it, then add a layer of duraglass. sand that and use rage gold body filler from that point on until you get the finish you want.

use of a fiberglass roller will help you a lot. 95% of the people who do fg as a hobby use too much resin when building up the layers. after 2 layers they usually have enough resin in the mat to add a 3rd (or even 4th) layer with no extra resin needed. it not only help saves resin but it gets rid of all bubbles. you can just add the pieces of fg and use the roller to coat them in the excess resin that the previous layers have.

here is the first box i ever made and it was done with just the stippling method. all the white spots you see were air bubbles trapped under the cloth i was using. this is after 2 or 3 layers. if you get bubbles you have to sand them down and fill in the low spots again. bubbles are not your friend when it comes to fg.

this is another box i made after 5 layers using the roller. you can see that there are no bubbles at all.

 

[Redlineaudio 10+ year member]

Like just said, get the roller.

You also will want cups and stir sticks, extra hardner is nice, color can come in handy, Box of rubber gloves, Tape and/or foil

Was 350 for him to do the box? Once you get everything and add mat or cloth you will find it was not a bad price.

Someone was saleing 5 gallon buckets in the sale forum for 80.

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

350 was for 5 gal of resin + hardner + matt only. no extras.

good idea with using rope for strength.

I am using wood for my "front" and top only. my hatch is verry funny shaped.

there is all kinds of ribs and support things poking out that would not let me gain as much air space as I need to by using wood for a box. I already have a big wood box in there now

and its ok enough. but now I wana do this.

I plan to integrate all kinds of supports in to this so im not worried about box flexing on me or anything. when materials arrive for this I shall take lotts of pix, and post up wether it goes down as a sucess or fail. will be a fun process I hope.