shillier

Well, I've just finished the installation of my Sub enclosure. It was all pluged in last night. I took me just about a month of weekends and many long evening to complete.

I wanted a custom clean look. Space was a big issue. The original subs where originally on the floor behind the driver and passenger seats in an opened enclosure. Didnt' sound good either. So my idea was to remove the rear seats, which are useless anyways, and mount the subs front facing out from the rear seats. A custom made box was essential and the only thing I thought I could use was fiberglass.

I also got a couple new Rockford subs and a new amp to go with the new enclosure.

I did lots of research before starting this. Most of the info and links I found here and sounddomain. However, this was a pretty good site...
http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/

I used the same concept with the rings and all.


Fiberglassing is lots of fun but it stinks.!! Don't do this in the house.

These are the meterials that I used:

2 Gallons of Resin
Bondo
3/8 and 3/4 MDF Board
3sq meters of Fiberglass mat
2sq meters of Fleece
1 T-shirt
At least 10 pairs of gloves
5 paint brushes
50, 80, 150, 320 Grit sand paper
Vinyl covering
Tuck and masking tape

Also an essential tool for this is a Dremel tool... This is the best thing to shape the fiberglass once it's hardened.


So here are a few pics of my project...


This is with the fiber sheeting down. I found the best way to keep up the sheeting up against the walls, was to use some spray adhesive. Worked well for me. I also used Tuck Tape to cover the leather panels.



Here's the first coat of resin. I did one coat of resin with the sheet and a coat of resin and the fiberglass mat before pulling it out of the car.



This is the fiberglass shell. I used some MDF strips to strengthen up the sides of the shell before taking is out of the car. Then attached the MDF rings with more strips and a glue gun.



Another picture of the shell and rings...



This was the finish product after the Fleece cover had totally dried up. Ok... the fleece soaked up about 25oz of resin! if not more. I would suggest to try to limit the thickness of the fleece you use. This was pretty thick fleece and in many spots, it didn't soak all the way through.

I'm also making sure the subs fit in the holes at this point. If they don't, you could still sand down the wood for a tight fit.



Another one at a different angle...



Finished with some black vinyl covering to match the leather interior. I think this was the hardest part of the project. Getting this stuff to stick and look good is tricky. Looks good though!



Sizing the subs once again and making sure I can get them in. I let some of the vinyl overhang so that the subs would catch a little of the vinyl and seal everthing good.



The installation of the amp. BTW... not a bad amp for the price. I'm running at 1ohm without any problems so far. Also, notice that the amp is sitting on the custom Fiberglass cover that I also made to cover the rear seats. Also covered in vinyl.



Here it is... finished product. Finally! I looks great and sounds great too. I'm really pleased. Not the greatest picture... I'll try to post a better one later. Anyways, now it's time to get craking on the Carpc and get it installed before the car goes back on the road for the summer.




Thank you all. I hope you enjoy. Look for more pics of my Carpc. I'm almost done. Just waiting for my Opus PS.

Thanks again!
Shayne

kirk fogg

very nice little tutorial, good thinkin on the vinyl, looks cool and more unique than painting it...did the vinyl cost much?

Aftaab001

did you measure the internal volume of the box for the subs? e.g litres or cu. in. ?

shillier

no... the vinyl was suprisingly cheap. My wife got it from Wall Mart for something else. I think she paid about $8 / sq meter.

I used 3M spray adhesive to bond the vinyl. But I put a layer of Fleece under the vinyl to give more of a smooth and fluffy look. I glued the fleece (no resin on this layer) to the front of the fiberglass enclosure and then the vinyl on top. The fleece also helped bond the vinyl and solved the roughnest of the fiberglass. It's tricky and you've got to strech the hell out of the vinyl but it enventualy comes together. Believe it or not... I got the idea from one of the "American Hot Rod" episods. The one where they finished the interio on the scrap car.

Have fun!

shillier

Actually, I did. However, I'm far from an expert to comment a whole lot on this but here are the details...

The enclosure is air tight and the sub are sealed from each other. Each area measures about 21" x 13" x 6".... this is very rough as the enclosure has many angles. I also added a filler piece of wood at the rear to reduce the overall volume. So I think I've got about a 1.4 ft3 in total. Recommended range is about .75 to 1.75 ft3, so I think I'm within the range. I've been playing around with the internal volume for a while now but I think I've got it just about right. It's very tight... It sounds great to me.

djmickyg

very nice work..
i just got a new car so im gona have to be doing this agiain very soon

M3 spray adhisive is the only one ive found sofar that actualy works.
a tip for anyone using it.. spray both sides and let them dry for 5-10 mins then press em together. u wont be able to pull em apart..
also with the vinal u can heat it up with a hair dryer if ur tring to mold realy round area's.. helps alot..

shillier

ya... exactly what I did. I tried once with applying the adhesive and then the vinyl right away. That didn't work and had to rip it all apart. In fact I think it's worst with the vinyl since it can't breath as well and the glue can't dry as fast. Spaying both sides and waiting works very well, just make sure to move quickly... it's bonds fast.

I ended up putting Fleece under the vinyl to help the vinyl bond easier. It also looks much better since all the imperfections of the fiberglass finish are concealed by the think fleece.

Banderon

Very nice job man. Good tips, too.

slushieken

props to ya... looks good. I really like the rise in the structure where the speakers mount. gives it a real sleek look. I think I am probably going to design my own sub for my corvette b/c I want to be sure it is done right, looks good, etc.

Thanks for the pics!

LittleDragon

Did you lay anymore fiberglass over the resin'd fleece? I'm building boxes soon for my MR2 and I heard local shops use about 7 layers of fiberglass when making a sub box. I don't want the walls to flex too much as the sound quality would suffer greatly.

Dr Jeckyl

7 layers is a lot! -- 3 or 4 layers has enough strength to park a car on.

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Lebult

It depends on the fiberglass you use.
3-4 layers of 6oz FG would be enough for most sub boxes.
Really high powered systems would suffer under a lot of pressure.

I'm guessing you're putting 2 8" or 2 10" behind the seats.
I put 2 10" subs in sealed boxes behind my seats and the amp in the front trunk, but I used MDF for most of it.

Deadnick

Wow this thread inspired me. I think I'm going to run to the marine shop and hook up a gallon of fiberglass and some mat and go to town

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wyckyd

I don't know if it was overkill or not, but my friend and I used 3/4" of fiberglass on all sides of his enclosure for his 12" phoenix gold titanium...its what the stereo shop told us to do.

coachreed

In my opinion, 3/4" thickness of FG is just a little overkill... that box definitely has to be solid though... how big of a box it is, and how much did it weigh when done? Though FG is light (relatively), a 3/4" thick box of FG gets kinda heavy.

Later!

Coach... aka Randy