Fiberglass Enclosure Project
 

Just creating a thread so I can track and let everyone else see my progress for my custom fiberglass subwoofer enclosure. I did not get pictures of the trunk all taped up, but that's not very important because it was just tape all over the place. Here are the lessons I learned so far:

1. Get more than one roll of 2" wide masking tape. I barely had enough because I was anal and put more than 2 layers.
2. Mix less than 20oz of resin, I have wasted about 20oz because the end 1/3 always gels up on me.
3. Use smaller pieces of chop-mat fiberglass (3"-5") in the smaller crevaces because you'll have a better chance at avoiding air bubbles.

I'll post pictures of what I have right now when I get home tonight, which is a 2-layer fiberglass shell of the rear passenger trunk.

Any suggestions on how to mount the final project in the trunk, what to finish it with, and how to port the speaker wire would be appreciated. Also any suggestions for mounting the amp?

Yeah, keep us posted. I'm working on a fiberglass project as well
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...04#post1111104

I wanna see how your doing {thumbup} As far as mounting the amps, it will all depend on where you're gonna put your sub in the trunk {pcfreak}

Yeah, give a plan as to where you're glassin' and we can give you suggestions from there...

I'm glassing in the back right corner of the trunk (by the passenger side tail light).

If you have only 1 amp, then I say fiberglass the amp in the opposite corner

If you have 1 amp for your sub, and 1 amp for your component, then I say fiberglass them either on the back seat, the rear deck or the trunk lid.

Opposite corner or do a mini false floor with the amps recessed..

Well I am planning on going with the RRM turbo kit, and when that happens I'm going to relocate the battery to the back left (opposite of the subwoofer). Should I mount the amp to the back of the larger spilt rear seat? Another thing I was thinking was maybe build a fiberglass/mdf rack to mount over the right wheel well, which would put the amp right in front of the subwoofer.

Update
I got layers 3-5 on yesterday afternoon, and checked it this morning and the structure is feeling very firm. I'm going to the fabric store during lunch to buy some fleece material to line the interior to get some quick thickness and to line the outside around the MDF rings. I'll take pictures after work before I line it with fleece.

The fleece is for the shape, not strength - it will NOT get strong from fleece. Use Mat for that.

I know, it's strong enough as it stands right now. The fleece I am putting on the inside is primarily to get more thickness so there is more material to deter resonance. Is that a waste of time and material? Should I just put a few more layers of glass mat?

The fleece I am putting on the outside is defintely just for shape, and I plan on putting 5 or more layers of glass on top of it.

Yeah, 3 layers of chop mat is equivalent to 3/4" MDF, so put 3 layers of mat on there and you'll be plenty strong....

5 layers is a waste of time, IMHO. I've never used more than 4...and that was in an SPL box...

Yeah I figured that from reading tutorials online and possibly some threads in this forum.

Will adding fleece to the interior be of any benefit for resonance?

Here's a picture of the box as it was when I got home from work today. I cut off the frayed edges today with a Dremel, which was a huge pain in the butt. Tomorrow I'll trim it down even more, and then I'll mount the mdf rings and drape cloth over it. I gave up on lining it with cloth material for dampening and I'll use Dynamat instead. Let me know what you think so far.
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass01.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass02.jpg

Good job - a few tips for those reading/next time:

-Tape off a lot of area and resin ALL of the mat - so there's no white around the edge. It's WAY easier to cut off later on...

-There's really no point in dampening the enclosure - put some dakron inside instead...

-When making your rings, make 2 rings. 1 ring should be what you mount your sub to plus 1" or 3/4" wider. The 2nd ring should be that 1" or 3/4" only. The 2nd ring should be rounded over on the outside edge with a 1/2" roundover router bit. Your sub will mount to the inside ring and the 2nd ring will flush mount it. The roundover will make the material flow better into the ring. Do it this way - I didn't and I wish i would have..it looks WAY better this way.

EDIT: like this, but for a sub not kick's - http://glassmanscustomforum.com/v-we...obraKPboth.jpg

I suggest all of you people who want to make killer boxes go to http://www.glassmanscustomforum.com/ and buy his DVD. I have it and I love it - it's SOOO helpful. It's only $60 i think (it's WELL worth it..this guy is awesome)

Very true indeed. The frayed edges got caught in the Dremel every 5 minutes.
What is dakron?
I made three rings since I'm using 1/2" mdf. First two are being used for mounting and the third was used for flush mount. I'll consider rounding out the edge, but I'm not making this a show car, so it doesn't really matter that much to me because no one is going to be seeing this box any ways. Thanks for the tip though.

Looks like both our projects are coming alone pretty well. Good job so far Livelyjay

Yeah, tonight I should be able to cut the box down to the size I want, and get the rings mounted on dowels. If I have enough time I might even get to gluing the fabric on for the next step. I'll post pictures of the cut down box and with the rings mounted.

Dakron is that white filler stuff you put in...maybe it's called something else, but i've always heard it called dakron..i get mine at the same place I get my carpet from...

If you don't feel like paying Dakron prices, hit the wal-mart and grab a bag of polyfill. You'll find it in the fabrics section, it's the crap they use to stuff pillows and quilts. Last time I got some it was $1.25 for a pound. (a pound is an assload of polyfill)

I got a question for you gurus or the fiberglass and sound system. What should I use to make my sub's connection. I've got that push down piece of crap I thaught about using, but the metal connection seems fairly small. I'm broke and can't afford a high end connector(even if it's only 5$). If I was to make my own connectors, how should I do them?(btw, I'm taking about the piece that goes on the side of the box to connect the sub to the amp)


1 pound will most likely be way too much, but to what ratio should we fill the box? 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 filled?

I dunno, i just loosely stuff it...

You don't need to have any terminals on the box - I never do...caulking or windshield gum works good...just gotta seal the hole that the wire passes thru...

Depending on how damped you want the box it's usually around half a pound to each cubic foot. Vary to your tastes.

Yeah, listen and see what you like more...

More dakron will make it "think" its in a bigger box...so you do lose some of the tightness...but _SHOULD_ go a tad lower when you do...

just listen to it after you add some...but when you do find what you like, take it all out and then listen to it so you know and appreciate the difference :)

I already have poly fill from my other box, so I'm all set there. Here are two more pictures of the box after I cut it down to size. I cut off a lot of glass, but I like the size of it now. I mounted dowels right after I took these pictures, and I will mount the ring tonight (damn liquid nails taking overnight to dry).
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass03.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass04.jpg

Looks good! I think you cut off a little more than you want, but not a big deal...if you go more from where the factory carpet's lines are you get more of a factory look to it....

And as far as liquid nails go, Hot glue does the same thing ;) It only has to hold the stretched material, it's not a brace or anything...

The main point of this project was to get a small enclosure built. The subwoofer is rated for a little under 1 cubic foot of air space, so I think this enclosure will be enough. I may have cut off a little more than I wanted, but I got the look I was going for. If I was doing this for looks I probably would have pulled the lines off the end of the wheel well to fill up that entire corner.

I used liquid nails for the dowels, and those need to have at least a little strength to hold the rings in place while I pull fabric and get the resin and glass layed down. I'm going to try and find my hot glue gun for the fabric and hopefully I can, other wise it's going to be a pain laying the fabric and getting it to stay in place.

Actually, 3m Spray glue works REALLY well for the fabric...

Just keep in mind that the resin heat will loosen the glue, so spray 4-5 inches extra around and leave some extra fabric on the back side. Only resin the first 1/2-3/4 onto your base foundation mold...

Did that make any sense? Let me kwo if you have any questions....

BTW, this is all covered in Glassman's DVD, so anybody who wants to do htis SHOULD buy that...it's AMAZING how much info's in there.

Good idea, although I don't feel like stopping by Home Depot before I leave for the weekend, so that step will have to wait till Monday if I don't find my glue gun. Thanks for the tip.

No problem...I've done a few of them...and these enclosures sound great and look better and are functional - everybody should have one! :)

So using a hot glue gun is so much more effective than using liquid nails. When the glue dries it dries solid, and it dries in about 10 minutes as opposed to 8 hours. I glued in the rest of the dowel supports and got the enclosure covered in fabric. The fabric didn't turn out all that well because I was running out of glue and just because of the shape of the box. Here are some more pictures.

Glassing will commence on Monday evening after work because I'm out for the weekend.
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass05.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass06.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass07.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass08.jpg

Finally got some time to work on the project. I put resin on the cloth today after work, and I'll let that dry and Thursday I'll be able to put the glass on the cloth. I'll take pictures at that point and show everyone the progress. I might not be able to upload the pictures though thanks to a virus on my PC.

You should be able to put your cloth on 45 mins after you're done done...

What do you mean? Are you talking about carpeting after I glass?

After I put resin on the cloth I went for a run, came back 30 minutes later and the resin looked like it was dry, but the cloth was still really flexible. I got a little worried, but when I woke up yesterday morning the cloth had stiffened up a lot. This eased my mind a bit because I was worried the cloth wouldn't be stiff enough to hold the shape.

Today after work I'm glassing the rest of the box. Should be good to go by Saturday (giving it an extra day to cure). {thumbup}

Dude where are the pics??? Thanks

I'll post them shortly. I was up all night getting my computer straightened out after getting a few worms and viruses. I'm all set now, and put the final layer of glass on the outside of the enclosure this morning.

Final Glass Layer
 

Here are the pictures I just took after laying glass this morning. There are some crevices from the fabric when I pulled it around, which I plan on filling with body filler. That should help smooth out the look of the box. I was able to stand on it with all my weight (190lbs), so I think it's plenty strong. I'll take a picture of it in the trunk when it dries completely. Also, those lighter spots on the side of the box are not air bubbles, that's where the first layer of glass I put over the cloth did not fully attach to the cloth, I made sure they weren't air bubbles. Let me know what you think.

http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass09.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass10.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass11.jpg

looking really nice. good job. you makin only one or 2? after its complete u should make repeats hehe n sell em make some money off of em. but ya nice job cant wait to see it finished

Good job! Have fun triming that glass around the rings ;) it really sucks...


FYI, people, I have one of these for sale...I'm getting my RF T2 subs next week so i have to get rid of it!! (for sale with or without JL 10W3v2)

Just one right now. My friends said I should try to make them and sell, but the turnover time probably wouldn't be in the interest of people looking to buy. I mean I think this has taken me about two weeks already.

I can imagine it does. But I plan on using the dremel and a heavy duty cutting disc for the most part, and then a grinding/wood cutting bit for the touch up. I'll use the cutting disc for the cloth wrinkles where it wraps around too. I got some nice practice using that when I trimmed the base glass in the first steps. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

Don't do TOO much cutting of wrinkles...they have to either glass or bondo in your newly created weak spot...

I'd just grind them down around the ring...I assume you're carpeting it?

looks really good

Damn I want one of those boxes...:(

*cough*ihaveoneforsalepmme*cough*

s* if i had the time n patience i would try it.. maybe someday lolz.. cant wait to see when its all hooked up n done.. good s*

I put body filler around the outside where there were a lot of wrinkles to smooth it out, and got most of the circle cut out for the speaker.

This project is on hold until further notice. My friends and I lost someone very close to us this weekend, so the project has taken a backseat unless I need something to distract me.

Sorry to hear that. Take your time man!

with the wrinkles...u could shave them off, if you have a disk sander or something of that sort, and just re-glass those spots. i've found its a later easier to do that then to bondo those spots.

Did you tape up over the carpet or did you pull the carpet out and then tape to get the final shape? It looks like you tapped over the carpet to get your shape.

Looks Good!!!

I already used Bondo body filler to cover them up, which was extremely easy to work with and it dries incredibly fast. I did one section at a time, and then a final layer to smooth all sections together. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

I taped over the stock carpet. I used the wider masking tape (2" wide) and about 120 yeards worth. Figure that the more the better, and it actually worked out very well. There were only three strands of tape that the resin got underneith and ended up being stuck to the box. No resin got on my carpet.

Pictures from the work I did this weekend

http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass12.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass13.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass14.jpg

:headbang:

So I needed a distraction from life since none of my roommates are home right now, so I finished cutting out the circle for the speaker, and started hacking at the wrinkles that wrap around the enclosure. I'm going to have to reglass one corner, and possible a few smaller sections around the edge. I have to trim a bit more, but this is all I'm going to do tonight. Here are some pictures of it in the trunk as of 10 minutes ago.
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass15.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass16.jpg

Updating. Tonight I'm going to lay some glass inside the box around the seam where I glassed the speaker side to the car side. This is being done because the glass I originally laid bubbled up and looks really nasty and I doubt it's structurally sound. Once I lay the glass inside, I'm going to dremel down all the imperfections on the outside, bondo a few more spots, then sand and prep for the carpet.

This is my subwoofer enclosure I just finished a few weeks ago. I took out the spare tire and layed plastic in the hole where the tire goes and made a mold of that area. I also made the smp rack out of fiberglass and built it right in to the fiberglass box. Then I took plywood and made the floor of the trunk. I did this so the subs wouldnt take up all the space in the trunk and all it lost was 2 inches because I raised the foor that much so the inside of the box had the right amount of space inside it. I also put dynamat on the trunk lid and covered it with carpet. crap that stuff made the lid heavy! What do you think? It sounds good inside the car too.

Looks nice, although I'm not a fan of flush mounted kits, just because you really can't use your trunk anymore without the risk of damaging your setup. Nice work though {thumbup}

nice job so far, im thinking about doing this also, with a sub in each corner and the amp mounted under the brake light sort of ya know.

i love how crnesst is and i'd do that, but id have plexiglass over it so i could still throw stuff in the trunk...im a bowler so..i need the room haha.

nice job, sorry about ur friend man :(

You're setup is coming along nicely {thumbup} Here is where I'm at with mine

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=95075

all those jobs look badass. good job guys. i wish i could do that, but when i tried i failed bad. oh well, gotta keep trying.

I had planned on putting a sheet of plexuglass over it. Thats why the subs and amp are lower but when I ordered the subs i didnt look at how high the lip of the sub was and when I got them it was a lot higher then I thought and because it is the whole idea was out the door. So for now I take the original trunk floor mat and put it over the whole thing and it makes it look like there isn't even anything in there and it kinda protects them.

That's the only secret. I'm on my 4th fiberglass project. Every other project were crappy as hell. I did a center console, a sub box, a hood and that last box. Everything ended up in my camp fire but that last one :lol:

Originally I was going to use the fiberglass one as a mold for waht I really wanted to do. I wanted to make the box out of carbon fiber but when I started pricing out how much it would cost to do that i was just like, I'll stick with glass. Too much money. Maybe some other time when I have money to spend and a lot of time on my hands I'll consider it. But it would have looked sweet.

Last night I finished putting body filler on the box, and two nights ago I put glass on the inside to reinforce the seams. Tonight I'll start sanding, and this weekend I'm heading to the shop to buy some carpet. I need to stop by Home Depot as well and buy some silicone sealant. Any suggestions as to what brand and type?

So tonight I got motivated, and impatient. I cut down almost all of the rest of the imperfections around the seam, drilled the hole for the speaker wire, dynamatted the inside of the box, fed the wire through, soldered it to the speaker, filled the box with poly-fill, and mounted the speaker. What's left is sanding and carpeting. Here's some eye candy.
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass17.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass18.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass19.jpg
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~jasonoff/lan...berglass20.jpg

True Test
 

Forgot to mention, I hooked it up and got a nice listen to the performance of the box. It sounds exactly like my other box, which is what I wanted. Nice crisp bass for hip hop and rock music. Techno will have to wait because I didn't have a CD in my car with some nice electronic. There was a slight rattle inside the box, which sounded like the speaking hitting the wiring, or something else. I'm not worried about it too much because you can't hear it inside the car.

Also, the box weighs about half as much (with the speaker installed) than my previous box all by itself, and it can support my weight, and a little jumping on it as well.

Ok here is a picture of my setup finally. What do you guys think?