My First Fiberglass install

[george graves]

Did you check out the instructables website? I'm going to take a fiberglass course this spring at my local community college. They even offer certification for aerospace.

I did - and have been doing some reading. Interesting stuff. I'm most interested in one-off small part.

[einstein57]

So i finished glassing this morning and pulled the part. As i expected my crappy mold was not smoth enough for a clean pull so i had to destroy the mold to safely remove the part. It needs alot of filling and sanding to make it worthy of making a master mold from it. I might just drop it off at the bodyshop and let them deal with it. I tried the 3m spray on the remaining portions and it ate the PVA. Might be cause i have the 3M 90. But i will definitely use it when i make the back of the box.

[robspeed325i]

looks good for a first effort... a lot better than most of us have done!

[einstein57]

I had a little free time on my hands today so i got started on the back of the enclosure. I laid out and taped some thin plastic painters "drop cloth". The best thing about this stuff is the the fiberglass resin will not stick to it. It just pulls tight off the finished product. As always it will need some work before i can glass the two sections together.

[aintnothang]

Will be cool when done.

[einstein57]

Its done. Finally. Just need to wire it up and i'm set. But all of a sudden i can't find my hi level input cable.

[aintnothang]

It sucks when you cant find shit.

[einstein57]

Tell me about it. I could not find my heat gun so i spent hours with a iron steaming the fabric to stretch over the fabric (after spending an hour looking for the key to the garage.) Home renovations suck ass for keeping track of stuff.

[Schnitzer318is]

Interesting choice going with the CVR... how much airspace did you end up with?

Looks good...

[ejnight]

Nice work.

[einstein57]

Interesting choice going with the CVR... how much airspace did you end up with?

Looks good...

I'm not really up on low wattage woofer. I like the MTX but circuit city did not have them in stock anymore. People like the JL W0 woofers but i think they sound like crap. Not impressed with the W3s either. But the W6s hit nice. I also love the Fosgate HE2s but these woofers exceded my wattage requirements. So in the end i just bought something to match the amp. Cheesy but its going in my fiance's car so what do i care. The volume is somewhere between 1.2-1.6 cubic feet. I have not gotten around to filling it up with beans, pellets, styrofoam ext to get a true measurement.

[franco90]

bump

[einstein57]

Here are the final pictures of the install. All in all it was a great learning experience. I made just about every mistake possible and it still came out ok. If i were to do it again i would have just modified the existing panel. It was not worth the extra time, energy, and money to create an entirely new panel. At least not for someone with lack of experience.

[StereoInstaller1]

May I make a suggestion for the back of the box?

Next time, use strips of the other type of cloth, (the random looking stuff) about 2" X 8" instead of trying the woven cloth you used.

Dip it in resin, then lay it on the panel. You will find it contours far better, easier to work, etc. Mix your resin hot as fuck, so that first layer kicks quickly. Do your subsequent layers much cooler, so you have the strength. I occasionally use speaker box carpet for the next couple of layers, but damn near anything will work.

Next, after making the woofer mounting rings, hold the ring in place with MDF sticks, glued with hot glue, then stretch fleece (yes, goodwill baby blankets work fucking terrific) over it and staple it in place...then brush the resin on. You will find this job to be 100X easier, and far less work on finish.

Luke

[BraveUlysses]

Next time, use strips of the other type of cloth, (the random looking stuff) about 2" X 8" instead of trying the woven cloth you used.

"Chopped strand mat" is the correct term