Started my first glass project!

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

Okay, so yeah ive done a little bit of glasing before, but it was to brace up and reinforce stuff for low cost... like my bumper. Other than that glassing a speaker box is kinda new to me.

Got bored yesterday cuz my car's motor is a bit on the toasty side, and my cable went out which means no internet.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif Decided to go rewire a few things in my trunk and get rid of the trash and tools that have accumulating in there, and to my suprise water has been getting in my trunk... not cool... that made my MDF box for my subs swell a bit and molded a bit and loosened up some of the carpet. Ive been wanting to fiberglass some boxes for a while, but I havent had the time or the motivation... well boredom is quite motivating. So lets begin...

Started off by lining my trunk with blue painter's tape and wax paper, to make sure that no resin finds its way to my carpet... and test fitted the fiberglass i had leftover from a bumper project... just the right amount with a lil extra!

So i put a layer of resin down to sturdy the box enough to move in and out of the car, and mid-way through the resin and first layer of glass, i realized my brush was hardening, which made it impossible for me to finish the first layer of glass.... Shit...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/verymad.gif.3f39c5c2fd57527b671fad3efdfac756.gif so i was left with this..

Its not all bad, i just need a roll of chop mat and might as well pick up some more resin while im out... and an assload of cheap paint brushes...

Though i do have a few questions..

First, how many cubic feet do you guys think this is gonna be? Cuz im making one identical in the other side of the car, and together there's gonna be a pair of memphis m-class 12's...

also, how did you guys attatch fleece to your boxes after mounting the rings?

Oh, and what kind of fiberglass do you guys use? I used chop strand, but i see like 5 different kinds, what works best as far as easy to wrok with and sturdiness and what not?

Any help or pointers would be great... just dont flame me... this is my first box project.

Click to read more...

 

[CrazedCat 10+ year member]

Apply the fleece using spray adhesive. Just make sure that thin-*** mold didn't lose its shape when you removed it before you go ahead applying additional layers of mat.

 

[wlmrs 10+ year member]

Goodluck with that!

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

no actually i need to spray a couple panels with 3M Super 77 because as it was curing i was trying to hold the blue taped part up against the interior so it would cure in the right shape, and underestimated the exothermic reaction the resin goes through so it got too hot to touch and sagged there a lil bit... but other than that theres only like 1 or 2 places that need care... otherswise the box is fairly sturdy... only 1 or 2 places actually flexed at all when i took it out this morning. Also, i didnt realize how much of a ***** it was gonna be to put resin on the vetical or overhanging pieces... i wonder if i could use a spray bottle? have any of you ever heard of that? And when i fasten the fleecing material to the box, what do i do about overhanging pieces of fleece? and do i fasten the fleece to the outside or inside edge of the box? I'd like to do it inside if i could because if i add any to the outside edge im afraid it wont fir back in there...

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

No info on chop mat vs. Woven type mats? I would think the woven types would have a million times more rigidity than chop... anyone ever use resin gel?

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

Im starting from scratch again... found out i had a few things i didnt account for, so its back to square one. Time to do total tapeage... wax paper is ghey... any tips before i start again?

 

[.::DuD3::. 10+ year member]

i did a couple layers before taking it out in my car. theres a solution you can use to wash your brushes in after you're finished, i can't remember the name of it, starts with an a i think. as for the fleece, i'd use staples then stretch it over and cut off any excess of material. research all those fiberglass tutorials, some of them have some good pointers in them.

 

[.::DuD3::. 10+ year member]

also be careful with air bubbles. they are your worst enemy. if you have to many, it will flex and will be worthless. try and stab at all the bubbles best you can with your brush. theres a huge air bubble in the pic above.

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

I know... which is why im gonna start from scratch again. I have a roll of 6" 2oz. chop mat coming to me from eBay, 100' of it lol. I think that might be jsut enough. ima do it in 6x6 squares, and use as little hardener as i can get away with so that I have more time to work with the resin and glass in smaller sections... Whats a good tape to use to cover all the areas i wanna glass? Also, How do i add glass to the back of the enclosure so that i can sand it and paint it without making it too big to fit back into the original space? I was thinking of getting hittyhair for the front of the enclosure...

 

[Badfastbusa 10+ year member]

that just looks like a mess... i thought about trying to do one but i quickly decided against it when i seen all that is involved unlike just cutting wood, putting together wood, and putting carpet on the wood (seems much easier)

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

i kno what you mean about the leaking... it sucks... i was playing with some of that fiberglass gel to try and fix my a/c box where it was leaking... kinda fun... and yeah the brush goes hard pretty quick and i didnt think about that either lol

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

that just looks like a mess... i thought about trying to do one but i quickly decided against it when i seen all that is involved unlike just cutting wood, putting together wood, and putting carpet on the wood (seems much easier)

lol i hear you on MDF, but here's some food for thought...

MDF Box + Subs = 85 pounds, 2.4 CU ft, No hatch room, pain in my ***...

Glass blox + Subs = Less than 85 pounds, Just as much volume Crammed into a more ergonomical design that leaves more hatch room, less of a pain in my ***...

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

Well I re-taped the area i wanna make a mold of, and revised my design a bit... To make it easier to get to some of the car's essential panels, like for the tail lights and sidemarkers... Im going to cut it off where it goes up the wall, it also makes it easier to glass lol.

So here we go... Im going to go back over it one more time before i start with the layer of resin...

 

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

why dont u just use resin for your mold then add the matt.. ive never did it before, but ive followed several builds that used that pattern and all turned out successful

might i recommend you take a visit to Fiberglassforums.com before renturing any futher

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

Use resin for the mold? What do you think i'm doing exactly? I dont wanna sound like an ***... Let me clarify for you, because i dont quite think you and me are on the same page here. Im putting the tape down to protect my carpet from resin, im not taking the tape out and using that as a mold, if thats what youre asking.. Again, i dont wanna sound like im "holier than thou" kinda thing... The metal on this car is very complex, and i want it to fit the shape of the interior trim... it makes the car look soooo much better, ill give you guys a pic of what the car looks like without the trim there...

And yes, im a member of fiberglassforums.com

I think that you and me are thinking the same way for the most part, its just expressing it online thats the problem