going to attempt fiberglass(any tips?)

devlish · Sep 4, 2004

First off, thanks for the compliments. I have no problem helping out wherever or whenever i can. PM or email me whenever you want if you wish to discuss. check your PM too

now back to the current topic, can't wait to see the next set of pics! make sure you document EVERYTHING! it can only help out others. i'm also willing to host your pics and write-up if you chose to do one to help others. just let me know

i'll be starting my next big project this week with a co-workers car. too bad it's a VW. owell, should still be fun. i plan on documenting that too

Thomas91169 · Sep 5, 2004

dude im like almost done. my digicam stopped saving pics when i take them, im gonna take the dam thing back.

so far..............

last i had about 2 layers of fiberglass on the mold. i then made the sub rings, suspended them with dowels. well that didnt work as good as i hoped, so i used duct tape and stretched the tape out and held them in place that way. i then got a big piece of cloth, cut it in about 4x4 sections, 2 of them. i draped it over, hot glued it to the rings, then the inside of the mold edges, then outside of the mold. i then let the cloth fall towards the center cavity under the amp spot. i hot glued that part of the cloth to the bottom center of the mold as to make a devider wall for the subs. i did that on both sides. i then mixed a good strong batch of glass and painted that cloth with the resin. it hardened hard as hell, i could almost sit on it, just the cloth and resin! i then cut out another piece and draped that over the middle and over a flat wooden piece for the amp. glued it in place and glassed that. now things look good. i then did another layer of the thinner glass cloth over that, then a layer of matte over the whole thing to tie everything together. btw i found the perfect mixture for how fast we were using the resin mix and heat. i would pour a good amount(like half of one of these little plasic bowls i had) and add 50 drops of hardener. my freind would be applying it as i was mixing another batch, and every so often i would cut and apply more glass cloth/matte so he could glass that. we would carry the piece into the cali sun and within 30 minutes it would be hard as a rock.

one side came out a little flatter/contoured than the other. now i went to home depot and talked to a guy about using some sort of foam expander to fill in and sand to make for a smooth surface, and he gave us this foam insulating spray. i tried it and i dont know, the outside was dry but you could tell the inside was still wet, it had like a skin on it. i dont know if its gonna work or not. its on my side yard now, ill know if its dry when i get home tomorrow after it bakes in the sun.

i used my seat belt hole covers from the stock panels, and i made a spot to insert them into the mold, so thatll look clean as hell if it works.

paint - i found a pint of "stage 1 black" paint they used on my tbird. its a single layer paint, paint+clear all in one. ill use that and add another layer of clear over that, so itll be black.

subs - i ordered the entry level 12" audiobahn flamer subs off ebay for 100 for 2. the still hit as hard as my freinds single 12" type R alpine. yet it wont be these subs for long, i wanna get audiobahns SoundQ 12" Pylon subs, they look better IMO, but for now i got the 2 crap ones cause they were so cheap for what they do.
amp - audiobahn A275HCT will be powering these. its more than enough power for these little subs, and when i get the better subs, itll be a perfect match.

it sucks about no pics, and i havent been home at night to post updates. ill get pics though when its finished, hopefully by next weekend.

devlish · Sep 5, 2004

Sounds AWESOME so far. can't wait to see it.

been an enjoyable thread for me. all this work and only about 1 week too. i wish i had that kind of time on my hands!!

ttys

HighPsi92GST · Sep 5, 2004

nice work so far, keep it up and more pics! :cool:

Thomas91169 · Sep 5, 2004

yeah i had 4 days off in a row, thats why i finally decided "i now have the time to do it right".

btw that foam filler crap didnt work. i just got done scraping it off. i found this "fiberglass reinforced body filler" ar autozone and im gonna get some paper bowls to mix it in later and see how that does.

devlish · Sep 5, 2004

Thomas91169 said:
"fiberglass reinforced body filler" .

nice choice. but how much do you need to fill? even with that, you shouldn't really fill more than 1/4" to 1/2" gaps. if it's that or more, build it up first with resin & matting. that's a lot of filler to utilize. wouldn't want it to crack on you since you have the opp. to do it right now the correct way

Thomas91169 · Sep 6, 2004

maybe a half inch at most in like 1 or 2 spaces. i wont be doing it all at once, maybe 2-3 coats of the filler and a little sandin in the middle of each. oh and it also warped a little when i put on the front pieces, its off by a half inch on the drivers side, so it doesnt go in all the wayking on finding a way to remove some of the bracing on the inner fender, ill most likely dremmel the bracing to get to fit in there. thats about it, the pass side fits perfectly into the weatherstripping. i need to trim about a 1/4 inch out in the back cause the converti inner fabric wants to rub on the fiberglass, i dont know if itll snag or if itll be ok once its all cured, but im gonna trim it a little just to be sure.

i fixed the camera, my mem card i guess wouldnt work, so i swapped it with a freinds and got em.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/509000-509999/509528_46_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/509000-509999/509528_47_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/509000-509999/509528_48_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/509000-509999/509528_49_full.jpg

that white stuff still on there is the dried attempt at a foam insulation spray that a car audio place told me to get, they even said "the stuff you get at home depot, with the little spray used for insulating electrical sockets and walls will work" well yeah, no it didnt. no biggie its off anyways.

devlish · Sep 6, 2004

box carpeting cut to size & soaked in resin works good as a filler too for large gaps or dips. raises it up 1/4" at a time.

VERY sturdy too

'96_Talon_TSi · Sep 6, 2004

wow, looks good dude. I can't wait to see the finished pics.

FiReBReTHa · Sep 19, 2004

devlish said:
since it's single chamber, make sure to brace the front to the rear very well. use good 'stilts' when attaching your woofer rings, and that will help too. last thing we'd want to see is all this work and then it cracks soon after!

nice link jerkass!!

arrrggg...... im getting my ass to home depot and into gear, ive been lazy too long! :thumb:

god that stuff was erotic.

How did you have it painted? i love your pages, Made me get into gear. How come you also didnt mount the tweet next to the woofer?

Thomas91169 · Sep 19, 2004

w00t i have gone from newbie to jerkass status. i feel so much love now.

FiReBReTHa · Sep 19, 2004

hahaha

It was jerkass or jenny craig

yea, thats what i thought.

you gave me inspiration to get off my fat ass and get to work

Stealth_Racing · Sep 20, 2004

Yeah , I am going to attemp my box to , if it don't work i'll say it's some swedish art piece or my ma can have herself a new feet soaker

devlish · Sep 20, 2004

FiReBReTHa said:
nice link jerkass!!

arrrggg...... im getting my ass to home depot and into gear, ive been lazy too long!

god that stuff was erotic.

How did you have it painted? i love your pages, Made me get into gear. How come you also didnt mount the tweet next to the woofer?

umm, you quoted me... but who's the jerkass? hopefully not me. and what stuff is erotic and who's pages are nice?? i'm confused... sorry

FiReBReTHa · Sep 20, 2004

hmmm

not sure, But i guess both of you! someone made me so jealous to get my ass in gear! :laugh:

Ive yet to get supplies yet but im looking at the door panel on a 2g and im thinking of just removing the grill. And making the doorpod Part of that. Thoughts?

lasteclispe · Oct 10, 2004

Ok guys, Yesterday I started my first fiberglass project. I bought a set of audiobahn components for the front of my car. I didnt want to mess up the 3 inch stock speakers so i decided to make a tweeter enclosure in the top of my dash. im not done yet but im half way there.