More Fiberglass ?? from a n00b

[jdc753 10+ year member]

I'm thinking of doing my first fiberglass project and just curious as to what I should order. The project will be a composite fiberglass and mdf sub enclosure for my truck, using fiberglass to mold to the back wall of the truck, and part of the floor of the enclosure, so it will be a fairly large surface at least 60" x 18" for the back wall.

I have no clue on mat or cloth but figured to get some of each but again clueless on what weight or cloth or mat. After looking over the US composites website I was looking at either the EB general or 435 standard polyester resins. Should I get a heavier weight cloth/mat to get a stronger enclosure or does it really matter all that much with sub enclosures. Also I figured on ordering 1 gallon, would this work for or would I need 2? How many layers should I expect to laydown?

Thanks for the help guys.

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[azbass 5,000+ posts]

if your doing large flat areas cloth would be fine, a lot of curved uneven areas mat would be easier. expect to lay down 5+ layers

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

If you haven't already orderd it , I would look at the biaxial mats. Will save you a lot of time during buildup as you only need 3 layers or so and it will be strong enough to park your car on it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[jdc753 10+ year member]

if your doing large flat areas cloth would be fine, a lot of curved uneven areas mat would be easier. expect to lay down 5+ layers

Yea I think it will be mostly flat areas but I need to mold around a few things like cab vents that I have and the back of the wall is pretty uneven but I think I will mostly smooth it out as its small raised spots only. How thick would 5 layers be in the end? I was figuring on using fiberglass instead of 3/4" or even 1/2" mdf to gain some extra mounting depth and internal volume.

If you haven't already orderd it , I would look at the biaxial mats. Will save you a lot of time during buildup as you only need 3 layers or so and it will be strong enough to park your car on it.

I haven't ordered anything yet so I will definitly look into the biaxial mats, just not sure what weight of mat to order.

Also how does teh MDF and fiberglass work together. Would I need to screw the MDF into the fiberglass or can I use the resin and maybe a layer or mat to join the mdf to the fiberglass portion?

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

Yea I think it will be mostly flat areas but I need to mold around a few things like cab vents that I have and the back of the wall is pretty uneven but I think I will mostly smooth it out as its small raised spots only. How thick would 5 layers be in the end? I was figuring on using fiberglass instead of 3/4" or even 1/2" mdf to gain some extra mounting depth and internal volume.




I haven't ordered anything yet so I will definitly look into the biaxial mats, just not sure what weight of mat to order.

Also how does teh MDF and fiberglass work together. Would I need to screw the MDF into the fiberglass or can I use the resin and maybe a layer or mat to join the mdf to the fiberglass portion?

Resin sticks to mdf very well, i usually just overlap the glass on the mdf //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif