fiber glass subwoofer enclosures

[RootBeer]

I was thinking about making a custom fiber glass sub enclosure for the back of my 2g talon. If anyone is experienced in this, post pictures, or just instructions on the easiest, best looking ways of doing this.

 

[JohnWH]

Basically it's making a skeleton out of MDF board, you cover that tightly with a fabric that has a large soaking capacity (ie, fleece)....paint on fiberglass resin until the fabric is soaked. Then you let it dry. After that you can cover it with fiberglass to make it stronger and then bondo...or you can skip the fiberglass and just bondo it. Sand it all down smooth and paint. It's not an easy process and takes ALOT of time....there is a reason shops charge so much to do it.

I would def. get someone that knows what they're doing to actually help you if you've never done any glass work or just pay to get it done right.

 

[blackeclipse08]

I just used some fiberglass to make my box. I made a mdf box basically, and had the bottom out of fiberglass so it would fit right behind the backseat. It wasnt to difficult to get the shape of the bottom. First lay down some aluminum foil. Then i put the box in. U can buy fiberglass kits from home depot or something. I just bought a gallon of resin and a few packs of the matting they sell. The hardest part was mixing out the fiberglass resin to catalyst ratio. If u use too much u can start a chemical fire, too little and it wont harder. All u do is paint the fiberglass on the mat. First coat was the hardest, it gets easier as u apply more and let them dry.

 

[RootBeer]

the part im having trouble understanding is how people make a complete enclosed box out of just fiberglass. How i would try to do it is put the sub in the right side closest to the back of the car. theres that removable wall. I would take that plastic piece out and and cover it in masking tape then cover it in the resin and apply layers to it. Thats only the first part so it will fit nicely into that area. Im just not sure how to finish it.

 

[InnerCircleVP]

Start off with a normal box and build with fiberglass from there. Fiberglass is time comsuming but a lot easier then people think. Its extremely basic. You have fiberglass mat, then you have resin. Lay down the mat over the mold you made and brush the resin over top. You may want to use thick mat and then use a couple of layers to make sure its strong enough to withstand the vibration fo the bass and not crack. Make the mold of of foil, cardboard or be creative and find something more maliable. I going to get started on my custom fiberglass enclousre next week. Oh yea and if its cool out try to use a heat lamp or something to speed up the drying process. After all is glassed the way you want it sand it down then use some bondo to smooth in the cracks. Make sure its completley smooth before you paint it and it will turn out beautiful!! good luck man and if you need anymore help i'm on AIM or just email me [email protected]

 

[VAGRNT]

Yeah i am in the middle of a custom sub box right now i am making it out of fiberglass, its goin to be nice and small but still pack a punch. i am going to secure it to the right side of the rear part of the trunk. the size is just right to hold my jl audio 8w6 it only needs .5 cubic feet to sound good. i'll post some picks of the whole process that it took when i complete it. till then

Have Fun. o and Be safe getting high on fumes = less brain muscles.. and we dont want that...


Vagrnt

 

[kozluv]

Here is a pic of my custom fiberglass enclosure, the sub sits in the hatch well, in front of the washer reservoir.

Clicky

 

[DSMBen]

http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/

I'm actually researching this myself. I had found an incredible site this guy made that explained EVERYTHING, and all be dammed... i can't find it anymore.

Anyways, the link i posted seems to be good, although i HATE the side trunk mounted enclosures, i like it right in the middle. Also, when i make mine im going to fabricate a ampbox on the back.

 

[djXternal]

Fidn someone who is skilled in fiberglassing to help you if its your first time... other questions is, what finish are you looking to have on the box? Paint, vinyl, carpet?

I found the 2g has an excellent place for a sub enclosure right behind the back seats... I have a pic of mine not-painted, but I havent taken a pic of it painted yet

Here is the pic of the unpainted enclosure and a few of the friberglassing process, since imageshack is down atm ill link to my old cardomain page... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/613458/3

Ill try and take a pic of the mostly painted enclosure later, any help you need please ask, if you dont get help you may regret it trust me... It took me months of bodywork because i didnt get help on the glassing process and that required much more body work than shouldve been necessary


EDIT:
Pics of the mostly painted enclosure are on the cardomain page as well now, painted gloss baclk to match the car, also has a sortof metallic orange in the right sunlight (thats what happens when you are really busy in a paint booth)

 

[Mik]

Yeah I seen that site before it is pretty good lot of pics and text. If you want it to look awesome you should look at a chop gun and resin gun it makes it so easy and professional. Then you could build a coulpe boxs for others and pay for the tool, heres a link to the tool I'm talking about https://selectproducts.com/html/frame2/frames2.htm its under Catagory A-Z, Fiberglass Assc., toward the bottom of the page

 

[Thomas91169]

http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/

pretty much sums it up. i did my back seat enclosures after reading that simple tutorial.
cardomain is down so i cant link anything. eclipstacy is the username if youre bored.

getting the resin/hardner mix right is the hardest part IMO. i usually use paper bowls from any food store(do not use wax, it will have a chemical reaction to the wax, plastic is ok but more expensive, and bowls arent re-useable anyways), so i fill them halfway with resin and add about 30 drops of harner and see how long it takes to harden fully, depending on climate, if its colder, you need more hardener, if warmer, less. usually for my climate, if its around 80*, i use 15-20 drops hardener per half bowl of resin and i usually get 10 minutes to apply the bowl of mix before it hardens, which is more than enough time. took me about 2 hours to fill up the rear seat mold of my spyder with 3 layers and letting it dry, removing the mold and taking off the tape/alum foil from the back.

btw, fiberglassing takes about 2 minutes to get it down how it works when applying it. take some chop matte, lay it down, and apply the resin mix over it till the matte is all flat with the area youre glassing. dabbing the brush works best, as it gets the air bubbles out, dont just move the brush around. also a dab/rotate method works well in tight places.

 

[Zeppelin]

Here's a pic of my sub box. I just took the pic last night, I still need to sand and cover it. It's completely made of fiberglass, only has a MDF ring to hold the sub in place.

 

[jaxon23]

here's pics of my fiberglass enclosures

 

[sk8shorty01]

I like the splatter job on that one. The framing is all you need. Use coathangers to hold the ring in place, then you can bend it and move it where you want and see what it would look like without having to sit there and hold it. After you do that, just leave them for now and glass the entire thing. Once you get the glassing done pull the hangers out because you dont want those inside still because if they ever break loose of that ring they are gonna be rattling like crazy haha

 

[zachakagoat]

how are you guys mounting your enclosures? I can fiberglass just fine but all the boxes that I have made have been built with mdf bases and simply sitting in the trunk. I am fixing to build a JL Audio type stealth box to put in the corner and want to know exactly how I should mount it. Screws, velcro?, or somethin else?

 

[sk8shorty01]

Not velcro definately that wont hold, it will either rattle off with the base, or fall off when you go around a corner, and there is nothing worse than hearing your speakers hit the trunk deck and getting a puncture wound in the process. I would say when you make it, give it a little lip around the edges that roles out so that you can make some holes to put screws through. If you do it right you could make it look like factory panel screws and the hole would look good.

 

[LeftyRuggiero]

here's pics of my fiberglass enclosures

thats pretty much what im workin on right now... i went out this weekend and got the tape and resin and start taping off my spyder trunk, then i realized....how am i gonna get this box out of my trunk?

im mounting 2 12" comp vrs on either side of the trunk and in the middle is my full size
18" spare.

the box im taping up right now, will not fit out of the small spyder trunk opening when its time to put the front on it? any ideas how to work around this problem? i dont want to make the box much smaller other wise it wont even be worth it.


heres a link to my thread about this on DSMtalk... http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146197


thanks

josh

 

[eagle97talon]

Here's a pic of my sub box. I just took the pic last night, I still need to sand and cover it. It's completely made of fiberglass, only has a MDF ring to hold the sub in place.

Whats normally in that spot? CD changer? You should make something like that, that you just kinda bolt in and sell them. I'd be the first customer for sure

 

[sk8shorty01]

Originally Posted by Zeppelin
Here's a pic of my sub box. I just took the pic last night, I still need to sand and cover it. It's completely made of fiberglass, only has a MDF ring to hold the sub in place.

Just wondering is that box easily removed because it would be oftly hard to change out your tail light bulbs when they burn out otherwise. Just wondering but otherwise it looks really good. I am working on mine right now so I will be done with my full interior here soon and will be posting pics up.

 

[LeftyRuggiero]

im glad u mentioned that...i forgot about the tail lights

 

[Zeppelin]

Just wondering is that box easily removed because it would be oftly hard to change out your tail light bulbs when they burn out otherwise. Just wondering but otherwise it looks really good. I am working on mine right now so I will be done with my full interior here soon and will be posting pics up.

Yeah, it just pops right out. I actually had to replace a brake light on that side with the box in, I was able to access it just fine.

No CD changer in that spot that I know of.. It's just a little pocket for tools, etc.

 

[c5low13]

I actually bought this custom sub box off the forum....It is designed to fit in the spare tire well in the 2g trunk.
I havent test fitted it because I still dont have my car back from the shop

I decided to not go with subs...so i'm actually gonna sell this. Gonna post an ad in the for sale section in the next few min...saw this topic-figured to post it here too so you can get ideas or if your interested...hit me up.

It holds 2 10in subs, covered in black viynl...looks very nice. Here are the pics:

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