Worklog of new single 12" subwoofer fiberglass trunk install.

[brandontw 10+ year member]

Well, i've had quite a few cars and quite a few systems now, and none of the cars were very nice, so i never took a lot of pride in making the system look too nice either. But now I've got a fairly nice car, so i'm going to try to make a fairly nice install.

Its going to be a fiberglass/MDF enclosure on the drivers side for the sub, and then an amp rack on the other side for the amp(s).

I got my main inspiration from this guy over at the 300M club:

Here is the original thread:

http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17531&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

And here is what it looked like finished:

I just hope I can get mine to look that good.

And so I begin...

I just got it started today. First i made a mock up of the 12" alpine type R that I'm getting, then started mocking up the MDF walls with cardboard.

Once i got all the shapes how i wanted them, i went ahead and cut out the MDF for the walls. I made them a bit on the big side, so i could fine tune them and have a nice perfect fit for the panels. It was a bit tricky to cut get them to fit just how i wanted them. I'd say it was about two hours of cutting and trying, then cutting again. They still aren't perfect, but I think it will be just fine once they get carpeted. I might mess with them a little bit more with a hand rasp.

Before:

The sub side cardboard mockup:

And then The MDF:

Yeah it Fits back there:

The amp side:

The whole thing:

So that's it for tonight. Saturday afternoon i plan to layup the fiberglass for the backside of the enclosure. It'll be my first time, so we'll see...

Click to read more...

 

[AcidikBass20 10+ year member]

nice work. keep it up!

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

Alright, I've worked my butt off this weekend on this project... about 6 hours on Saturday, and another 8 on Sunday, putting my total up at around 20 hours this far.

I may have lost some brain cells, and my arms itch, and I have resin boogers I'm pretty sure, but I think the end result was worth all the trouble... Although I definitely don't look forward to doing another FG project anytime soon.

Here is a top ten list of tips for people thinking about trying this type of projects:

0. Double your budget. I was really convinced that I would have this thing built for well under a hundred bucks, I ended up spending up towards 200 for it.

1. You didn’t buy enough resin... go buy some more. I ended up using a full gallon, plus 2 small cans.

2. Make sure you get plenty of mat and/ or cloth. I bought 4 packs of mat and 1 pack of cloth. I recommend using the fabric for the first layer, as its a bit easier to work with, then use mat for the rest.

3. People will probably disagree with me on this, but cut up your mat with scissors before you start, into various, fairly small pieces. I tried ripping it as was recommended and it was a lot harder to deal with.

4. Plan to spend an hour or two just on prep, and make sure you cover the body of your car like I did, because resin got on my arms, then I was leaning on the car, I would have got resin on the paint if I didn't cover it.

5. Learn the stabbing/dabbing action with a stiff paintbrush early, that’s how you get rid of bubbles and make it nice.

6. I bought a resin roller, and really liked it for the first layer, and it was useless after that, whether it was worth the 15$ or not is still debatable.

7. Make sure you seal up where your molding really well in your car with foil and tape, but don’t obsess about it, I didn’t do as good of a job as most people I’ve seen on the internet and still didn’t get any leaks.

8. Unless you have latex allergy make sure to get latex gloves, not vinyl. I accidently bought vinyl when I went back for more (10 pairs is not enough) and they ****.

9. Mixing: I used red party cups for mixing, strips of mdf for stirring, and used low rough estimates on the amount of hardener to use, and it worked out fine.

10: If you use the directions on the can (Bondo Brand), you’ll likely run out of hardener way fast, and run out of time while your working, be stingy with your hardener. I got away with only buying one extra tube with my gallon and a half of resin, and the fiberglass was still curing up pretty fast. It was ready to handle in about a half hour to an hour after doing a layer.

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

Here are the pics of the first day, the prep and layup went pretty well, I’d say about 2 hours for prep and about 4 hours for the three layers of glass, with plenty of beer/drying breaks in between.

If your wondering what that fan thingy is, its a portable heater, it really helped it cure up faster, especially since it was a chilly weekend (in the 50's)

Look ma! No leaks!

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

Here are the pics from the second day. I trimmed the mold with a jigsaw, and actually got it pretty close for a good fit. I put it all together in the car, then I screwed my front board to the board I used on the bottom of the mold, then I taped all around the edges to keep resin from leaking out, then went ahead and glassed the corners together from the inside.

Then I cut out the top piece to fit inside the mold, and screwed it in from the front. Now for the hard part... glassing in that top board by reaching through the sub mounting hole. I got tons of resin on my arms trying to do this, and I’m a bit worried about the structural integrity of the joint at that far small end, but I put tons of resin in it, and I know its at least sealed well, and glued together with resin, we’ll just hope it holds together I guess.

I get the sub today, and the amp tomorrow, so I can put it in and check for air leaks and what not.

It feels dang solid, I went over it all and pushed on it all, and there’s no flex at all, and its all fairly thick, so I guess it’s done until I find the carpet.

 

[Punk In Drublic 10+ year member]

Good work, I'm anxious to see it finished.

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

that looks awesome!

 

[91Chevy 10+ year member]

that looks awesome!

Agreed. This is a very nice build. Doing some fiberglassing as we speak Gonna do another layer in about 20 minutes.

 

[soundsolutions Pro Seller]

this looks like alot of fun..nice job so far

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

I don't know if I'd say it was fun or not... it was an experience though.

I definitely would not want to do fiberglass for a living, that's for sure.

I get the sub tonight, so I'm looking forward to the test fit. I'll be able to see if it actually fits! I don't really doubt that it will, because the mockup fits fine, and its a bit bigger than the real sub should be.

Then all I'll have to do is get the wires into it, and throw some carpet on it, and I'll be done with the sub box!

 

[91Chevy 10+ year member]

I don't know if I'd say it was fun or not... it was an experience though.
I definitely would not want to do fiberglass for a living, that's for sure.

I get the sub tonight, so I'm looking forward to the test fit. I'll be able to see if it actually fits! I don't really doubt that it will, because the mockup fits fine, and its a bit bigger than the real sub should be.

Then all I'll have to do is get the wires into it, and throw some carpet on it, and I'll be done with the sub box!

C'mon, it's not THATTT bad //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif It can be quite stressful at times though.

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

Any idea on measuring the volume on this badboy?

I'm thinking packing peanuts, but i'd have to go buy a bunch.

Ive got another complicated idea in which i would fill up the bathtub enough to almost submerge it,Then mark the level with a sharpy, then i'd put the enclosure in (not letting water get inside), and mark that level, then fill up the bathtub with a milkjug, counting the gallons, then do the gallon/cubic feet conversion, then take a little off for the thickness of the walls.

Its all sealed and coated in resin on the outside, so it should be fine in the water, but its still a bit risky.

 

[91Chevy 10+ year member]

I'd just use packing peanuts. It sounds a lot less complicated.

 

[Solo-baric 10+ year member]

this is cool, pics are awesome

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

I'd just use packing peanuts. It sounds a lot less complicated.

But how much does 2 cubic feet of packing peanuts cost?