Fiberglass installation step by step

[zx3chris]

in many instances it is beneficial to use fiberglass as a means to do subwoofer enclosures in car audio. you can create endless shapes, get incredible strength with low weight and conform to the car's shape. although fiberlassing is not that tough, sometimes it is hard to find detailed how-to's, so i wrote this one up---hopefully it is helpful to anyone thinking about it.. also, since it is hard to calculate the internal volume up these enclosures, a sealed box is almost always chosen (since u can be off by as much as 20% volume and not tell a difference), otherwise you can measure the volume afterwards using packing peanuts, and a container of a known volume---and add volume to the glass'ed box until the right volume is attained... here it is

http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/glassing2/

-chris

[Atic]

Everything looks great! Congratulations! I already tried fib erglass myself. Just have a question for you: the cloth you use to make the sub side is really like t-shirt? cuz thats an important step on the process..Do you think you can answer me in a way i can understan (look up my location )

[zx3chris]

the cloth that i used was like a t-shirt yes, but you can use any kind of cloth really.. fleece, or sweat-shirt type material is probably the best but a t-shirt will work as well-- anything that will soak some moisture and is stretchable will work, then you just lay more glass on top of it

-chris

[Atic]

Cheers mate! Now i have subjects for summer!
If it works ill post the pics..

[mecked]

Hey great 'step by step'! Ive been looking for this sought of info all night.They charge a fortune to buy these ready made over here. im planning on building two t both house 12s on either side of my boot. ill be interested to see your end result and i will post some pics of mine when im finished.
What would you need to do in order to paint it when you have finnished? any pointers will be greatfull.

[zx3chris]

if you want to finish it for painitng you have to do the following

after the glass is all done, you apply a 'milkshake' coat.. a milkshake is a 1:1 mixture of bondo and polyester resin. mix each with its own hardener, then mix them together.. apply this with a putty knife over the entier thing, make it as smooth as possible.. u can use bondo by itself but it cracks very much, so adding resin makes it stronger.. Even so, u may still have some cracks, so sand this milkshake down, then apply glazing putty (found in home depot paints), to the cracks.. after that dries sand again with a finer paper.. then use a high build primer, several coats.. sand again.. then paint several coats... sand 220+ grit, clear coat, wet sand.. all done

-chris

[infernox]

Hi all.
Thanx for the wicked tutorial. Damn ive been searching for sumtin like this.
Can you maby help me? I wanna glass my whole boot with two 12" or two 15 inch subs.
How do i do that? i mean making it fit in the entire boot without even seeing the floor?

Do i make two moulds?
Sorry man but im kinda new to this.

[infernox]

zx3chris: you should call yourself "King-zx3chris". Just started on my first enclosure and it looks wicked so-far. How do you get rid of the airbubbles?

Thanx again.

[zx3chris]

if you want to get rid of air bubbles they make special fiberglass rollers (looks like a paint roller with just metal blades) you can press down and flatten the glass--or just use smaller peices around curves and it will be less likely to create air bubbles. If you cannot get rid of an air bubble and you are worried about it compromising the strength, when it is all dry you can drill a hole in it and fill it with resin--that should make it stronger... As far as making 2 12s or a 15 in your car -- Most people make a false floor... that is they glass the entier bottom of the car, then make a base out of 2x4s of wood, then make an entire false floor of the trunk, raised up a few inches---just attach the 2x4s to the fiberglass with resin, and nail/glue the false floor to the 2x4's.. this raised area gives you much more cubic ft air space and looks OEM--since the entire floor is raised it is hard to tell anything has changed. you can trace the area of your trunk with a peice of cardboard, then transfer that to mdf and cut out--

good luck!

-chris

[infernox]

Thanx man.

isnt there a easyer way of firbegalsssing?
like maby a spray gun? Something like that. If you need any help with your website just say, ill help. you helped me.

that roller? must u use it while the galss is wet?