MDF or Fiberglass?

[XxMerlinxX 10+ year member]

I was planning on having a local shop build a custom box for my RX-7 out of MDF, but I'm afraid that it's going to weigh a ton. How much weight would I save by having them make an enclosure out of fiberglass?

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[Thieroff 10+ year member]

Just build your own, first of all

Depends on how big it is, birch is lighter than MDF, if you want to go with wood

And FG enclosure will cost considerably more

CT

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

Go with birch if you want to do the best price/weight ratio.

 

[j3bus2k3 5,000+ posts]

You dont want to have big flat spots with fiberglass, its substantially weaker than MDF in large flat areas but substantially stronger in curves and bends....

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

Go with birch if you want to do the best price/weight ratio.

Trupan is a better ratio //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Nearly the exact same weight, but cheaper.

 

[XxMerlinxX 10+ year member]

I have no access to any sort of tools that would allow me to make any sort of box, so making my own is out of the question at this point. Fiberglass would be the lightest of all, and I'm not looking for any sort of miracle out of the subs since this won't be competition or anything, so I was thinking I'd probably just stick with that. Carbon fiber would be ideal, but costly, and I don't think the shop knows what they'd be doing if they tried it. I don't know, I'll have to ask their opinion on the matter to morrow, but just thought I'd ask you guys first.

 

[bdawson72 5,000+ posts]

Trupan is a better ratio //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Nearly the exact same weight, but cheaper.

Its really hard to find trupan.....well atleast where im at

 

[SPL140.2 5,000+ posts]

You dont want to have big flat spots with fiberglass, its substantially weaker than MDF in large flat areas but substantially stronger in curves and bends....

X2!!! well said.

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

From what i know, building an entire box out of carbon fiber would be extremely difficult, and more expensive than you can imagine... because boeing bought out like 80% of the world's production of carbon fiber. The best thing to do would be to have them build it out of fiberglass and then do the last layer with cf.

 

[Radioflyer97 10+ year member]

MDF (depending on thickness and quantity) isn't that much heavier than fiberglass. MDF is also easier to work with and usually takes less time to build with (because you dont' have to wait for repeated drying of chemicals) I'm using MDF to build a Amp box for my 97 corvette. The box itself weighs around the neighborhood of 50 pounds unloaded.

HOWEVER.... MDF (as well as other woodlike panels) also limits your creativity and if you're working with a small space. Sketch up a vauge design for what you want done and see which material is better suited for the design. Weight savings shouldn't be that big of an issue.