I'm sure this post could just as easily go anywhere, it's not really specific to my 03 lancer....this forum is just where I like to party.

Here is what I used:
5 bags of, I think 3, yards of fiberglass. The chopped is stronger, but damn the woven is easier to use
1 gallon of resin, and just a little more...so the rest of the other gallon will be fixing my "tub"
5 throw away paint brushes with as stiff of bristles as I could find
5 plastic cups from the paint department
1 3m respirator...the 30+ dollar one, only one meant to keep you alive through the fumes
1 set of thick, dish washing looking gloves, from home depot paint section though
1 gallon of Acetone to disolve the resin
1 big package of plastic sheet stuff for painting
1 "smallest" piece of MDF I could fine
1 6' wooden dowel, 3/8" i think
1 yard of microfiber plush cloth stuff, i'd recommend something stretchier to anyone looking to do this, like "jersey" material
1 jig saw
1 sander
1 crappy kids compass that I wish I hadn't thought to use
2 cans of spray paint...bad idea though, just carpet it
1 yard of "grey felt" from hobby lobby
1 can of sticky adhesive spray stuff

Here are the initial hints, use them throughout.
1. Resin dries quick, work fast
2. Resin makes a mess, don't get it on things
3. Fiberglass itches like crazy, cover your skin all over
4. Wear gloves and eye protection...FULL eye, not glasses, or some safety glasses...the dorky ones you used to wear in chem lab, I luckily still had mine.
5. Work in an "open area" like a garage with the door open
6. allocate tons of time, I think this took me 2 weeks total, working on and off in the evenings
7. Be prepared to spend about 150 to 200 in supplies in most cases
8 Elmers Resin dries too slowly if undermixed, and 2 quickly if mixed perfect imo
9 Always follow the directions on the products, whether resin, the respirator, the tape...whatever it is



So, I started off by placing some of the blue painters tape over all the areas I was going to smear resin and glass.



Next, I laid plastic every freakin place I might possibly splatter the resin.



I went ahead and mixed the resin, way too much the first time i might add. The stuff from Home Depot (bondo home solutions) dries pretty quick. I also cut the fiberglass mat up into little 6 x 6 or so pieces before I mixed the resin.



Learning fairly quickly how this stuff works, as far as drying goes....get all the air bubbles out by dabbing at the fglass with your brush. Air bubbles are your enemy, which is why I say stick to the woven matt, since the "chopped" is much sturdier at the cost of fitting around corners.

Once I had coated the entire "taped" area, I let it dry for about 2 hours. After I couldn't take waiting, I came out to the car and got to work getting the mold out. What I learned was, you should put some sort of buffer between the take, and the carpet....it was a real pain to get the mold out, didn't want to break it. Put some tape down, then a layer of foil or something, and then some tape holding that on, that way it ought to just slip right out.

Here it is slipped out of the trunk.




One key thing you want to do, is avoid putting additional glass on the outside...because it won't fit as nicely into the corner. Add additional layers to the inside of the box, probably ...3? maybe 4, until it feels very sturdy. Go slightly farther than you want the edge to be, because you'll be cutting excess off.

I want to say that it makes sense to cut out the crap you drop in the mold, and sand it a little between layers, but it just didn't bother me much. The one regret I have is because I didn't clean up between layers, I got stuff like this..



Notice there are a couple spots with "ripples" that didn't fit in quite nicely. If you don't cut those out, the next layer is going to look just the same if not worse, so when they are dried, just sand it down some, get it smooth and try again.

After I felt like it was thick enough, with no "bending" when I pressed my thumb against it anywhere...it looked sort of like this. Notice the bubbles, this is where I learned how tough chopped is to work with.

...not my finest hour, but trust me, it all turns out ok!

I've gone ahead and cut away most of the edges, basically leaving all the "good" glass, so I can have the largest box possible. I used my dremel...craftsman brand rotary tool I mean...for this part with a cutoff disk. Also, I peeled most of the tape away, just couldn't get some of it though.



Went ahead and did a little test fit...looks good so far, right? Also a good time to mention, watch out for the trunk hinge, it drops down as you close the trunk, so make sure you don't "bubble out" where it will be while moving. Sounds simple enough, but I'm sure someone somewhere has accidentally missed it.




Now...need a ring to mount the speaker to, and I made this out of MDF. Don't ask me why I left the corner, I had a grand scheme of reusing the plastic trim from my previous box....it didn't work out that way. Here is where I used the junky kids compass from walmart though, as I spun....it expanded. I know my jig saw job wasn't great either, but do yourself a favor, and get a real, 10 dollar compass from office depot or something. The 97 cent one just makes like hard.



I drilled holes in the back of the ring, and stuck the dowels in, in pieces I thought were the right size. I set them there, measured...trimmed them as necessary, and used hot glue to hold them in place once I was happy. I used one little short dowel that you can't see near the "bottom" of the box, since the long dowels weren't quite strong enough.




Go ahead and wrap the jersey material around the box, tacking it in palce with either staples, or hot glue. Don't do what I did, and wrap the cloth around more an an inch past the edge. Also, get thin cloth...the thick stuff didn't absorb quite enough resin. So, just mix up some resin and paint it on to the cloth, it'll harden up...but it's not true strength. This is just to get the base going, kind of like the initial shell I made on top of the tape.



I cut my material in a few places, and glued it together...this is why I recommend something seriously stretchy...you'll thank me later.



I did a little "fit check" for the trunk lid hinge, just to make sure.



I'm not sure how I did this...but I lost a step or 2 worth of pictures. Basically, paint the resin on the material. Then, add more fiberglass to the front, just not in the hole area where the speaker will go. Cut that cloth out in fact.



Once you've got the outside lookign pretty good, get some of the body filler, and clean up any holes you've left. This includes anywhere you don't feel like it's smooth enough. I was really bad at this, but I'll tell you what I learned from it.

Put the filler on, then sand it down, then re-apply, then sand. At first it's cool to use a power sander...but when you start getting a little smoother surface, you ought to go it by hand. The power sander knocks so much off so fast, that you will be re-filling spots over and over. Here is some "body filled" pics.




I had the idea that I would be painting the box...I really don't recommend that though. I wasn't happy with it...probably my wife, her friends, some work guys all agreed...paint = bad, at least in my case. It's up to you.




So...I carpeted the box. As stretchy material as possible, just fit it over the front, with as little cutting as possible. If you overlap 2 pieces, lay 1 on top of the other tightly, and run your exacto or utility knife across both pieces. Pull the cut excess off each side, and the piece left should join up perfectly. Watch some youtube videos on this, pictures wouldn't do it justice.




...just noticed I didn't tuck the wires back in after adjusting the sub...how embarassing...

 

I like the box man but if you truly want a custom bad *** box rip that carpet off and use a little body filler and straighten out the wavy and the bad cuts in it and will look top notch

 

yeah with the paint or even maybe the carpet use a good body filler/resin mix both with hardener. get it nice and mixed and paint it on with a brush

 

Good advice for sure. This was the first time I messed with fiberglass, so I really didn't know what I was doing much more than the instructions on the side of the gallon jug of resin. I've had friends mention wanting to copy my idea, and I think with the exp I got on this, we could probably do even better on round 2. If that plan ever comes to fruition, I certainly would put a pic up, just to show off...

 

i plan on doing the trunk and headliner this summer. nothing to ricey and outrageous tho