Help a fiberglass NOOB

[konechiwa 10+ year member]

Ok, so this summer i will be attempting a fiberglass enclosure. The mere thought of it excites, and scares me. If i **** up, it will be a waste of money, time, and audio bliss and hope in my mind.

I have a few questions that still are floating around in my head.

1) I plan on using the fiberglass to form fit to the side of my trunk, then use a mdf board for the face of the enclosure, to keep it flat and sleek looking don't care for the curves of the fiberglass)

Anyway, how the HECK do i connect the two together, and then seal them? I'm only using one 12" sub, and i am thinking about porting it (another first for me). The manufacturer (rainbow) recommends a enclosure about 1.7 cu ft. which isn't that big.

2) how do i secure the enclosure to the vehicle I'm almost positive screws will not work... because the glass will crack. I want that thing to NOT MOVE at all, and i also want it properly secured for theft reasons...I do not want it to be stolen and i want it to be impossible for the thieves to get that thing out!

3) how to i incorporate a terminal into the fiberglass to make sure the box is still sealed. The only thing i want to see on the box is the carpet and the sub, and i don't want to see a terminal, which means it has to go into the fiberglass backing somewhere.

I've seen people who have attached the terminal to a little MDF contoured cutout, then used resin to attach that to the fiberglass enclosure. Would that work?

Sorry for being so noobish at the basic questions, but i want this box and sub to rock, and I have to start somewhere.

Thanks

Eric

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[orphe 10+ year member]

You might wanna draw out plans before you start

 

[Beginer 10+ year member]

Well I'm not sure if I know what you are seaking.

But I can tell you that fiberglass stick very good with wood so there shouldn't be something difficult...

As I understand you will put paper tape (or smth like this) in trunk and put fiberglass. Don't know how much layers of fibergall need, but I think at least 5-8 layers. Then you will take out this construction from your trunk. And use mdf (I would recommend plywood) and will make a ring or square with ring, etc. You can use wood sticks or metal stripes because you need to make that wood somehow keep with fiberglass.

Then find your old t-shirt, frazzle, etc. and put it on wood and your fiberglass construct. Then put 5-8 layers on that tshirts and it will glue your wood and fiberglass construct. I don't know if I you understood me, my english not perfect //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif But there is a lot tutorials in google try to search some //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

And if your box will be made of 5 or more layers so you can drill a hole for terminal and maybe glue it. Or you can use screws like this one:

 

[konechiwa 10+ year member]

Well I'm not sure if I know what you are seaking.But I can tell you that fiberglass stick very good with wood so there shouldn't be something difficult...

As I understand you will put paper tape (or smth like this) in trunk and put fiberglass. Don't know how much layers of fibergall need, but I think at least 5-8 layers. Then you will take out this construction from your trunk. And use mdf (I would recommend plywood) and will make a ring or square with ring, etc. You can use wood sticks or metal stripes because you need to make that wood somehow keep with fiberglass.

Then find your old t-shirt, frazzle, etc. and put it on wood and your fiberglass construct. Then put 5-8 layers on that tshirts and it will glue your wood and fiberglass construct. I don't know if I you understood me, my english not perfect //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif But there is a lot tutorials in google try to search some //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

And if your box will be made of 5 or more layers so you can drill a hole for terminal and maybe glue it. Or you can use screws like this one:

hmm, well i didn't really want a fiberglass face, but if it sticks really good to wood then i should have no problem.

I have an idea in my head of what i want to do, but i need help on figuring out how to build it.

Thanks!

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

lay down some heavy duty plastic in the trunk and form the shape of the bottom of the trunk with layers of glass.then make a mdf ring to the demension you want the face to be.after that use scrape pieces to set the height and then use fleece to form around the sides to connect the glass tub to the md ring stapling to hold in place.then apply layers of glass to the INSIDE of the box.this makes the finish work much easier.

 

[jflash 10+ year member]

lay some blue tape where you want to glass. then put about 2-3 layers on to get a mold.

use a sharpie to trace where it needs to get cut back.

with the mold in the car use a piece of cardboard to make a template for the mdf.

once the mdf is cut just glass it to the mold.

this was in a mazda6. right in the middle of the box there was a push clip in the carpet. i took it out a found a bolt to fit in it. the box does not move at all and cannot be taken out without taking the sub out first.

glassing is way easier than you think especially if your using mdf on the side you can see when its in the car.