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my fiberglass finally came in today via FedEX i'll keep you guys posted as to the projects progress. timing i guess is alright, because my HU sh*t the bed, and it's another week before i can afford to order my new Eclipse CD5444. so i'll be audio-less for 2 weeks, but that oughta be enough time to build the fiberglass sub enclosures. the only thing thats gonna delay me now is my own indecision. im either getting 2 IDQ12D4 v.2's with a Cadence Z9000 amp...which i CAN afford...and get now...
or
2 Adire Brahma 12's with 2 USAmp 1000x1's, which in all honesty, i really can't afford lol. oh well. i better decide soon, because i need to make the MDF rings for these subs (i don't suppose anyone knows where i can find the dimensions on both of these?)
i got the fiberglass off ebay
50yd x 39in roll of 1.3oz chop strand mat is $55+shipping. get it from..i think the guys name is SummitCentral...good ebayer...fast shipping (ordered mine the 1st, got it the 7th)
thats JUST the matting ***. you'll also need
double-wide blue masking tape
aluminum foil
at least a gallon of resin
at least one extra tube of hardener
a TON of those little disposable foam brushes from Home Depot
rubber gloves
a GOOD respirator (trust me, get one, dont wear just a mask)
MDF
a pretty good amount (all one sheet) of polyester/cotton fabric...doesnt matter what color
umm. cant think of anything else. im sure theres more ***. i'll do a write-up tutorial on it while i do it
also
i might also do some custom work, but i'll warn you now it's not cheap. materials ~ $80-$120 (because i need to order a new roll of fiberglass for each project, plus paint, bondo, etc) plus its quite a bit of work. its not extraordinarily difficult, just VERY time consuming (between waiting for layers to dry, prep work, paint, and possible some airbrushing if you're willing to shell out the cash for it)... all in all, for a pair of 10in or 12n enclosures (i could work on a single 15 one too) it'd prob be close to $450, maybe more or less depending on what you want for a finish
and...i'd need a donor car to make a mold of your trunk, and i need someone who'd be willing to give up the car for at least an entire day, which, due to distance, most people can't do, and i unfortunatley dont know many local sentra owners that'd give up their car for a day (unless you have a b15, like me, in which case, maybe)
why did you buy so much chop mat why didnt you use fleese? is this your first glass project?
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96 super black se-r caged, turbo, and gutted
95 chevy dually big, black, low, and diesel
08 altima vq35 6 speed coupe wifeys daily and stock
why did you buy so much chop mat why didnt you use fleese? is this your first glass project?
cause the 50yd roll of chop strand was only $10 more than the 20yd roll, i'll use a fair amount on the 2 enclosures and the amp rack. besides, i do freelance custom fiberglass work, so it'll definately get used. besides, i'll probably be making 95% of the box out of fiberglass. the only time i ever see people use fleece is to make the skin of the box, you stretch it over the ring to make the actual contours of the box. the problem with fleece is that its rather thin, and is very prone to sagging. you're better off using a polyester fabric to make the skin, it absorbs the resin better, won't sag as bad, and is quite a bit cheaper. that, and you can get polyester based fabrics up to 1/4'' thick, making for an extremely sturdy base to mount the fiberglass to.
I use spandex for skin, 2 handlayed layers, then a hopper gun for fill. If you wanna get really fancy build a vacuum form table to make some mache plugs. You can mass produce with this or take exact molds for things like relacement door skins or console pieces. I did work with RITOP on a few of their demo cars and this setup saved 8-10 hours of fab time.
p.s. wooden handled chipper bristle brushes work much better.
I use spandex for skin, 2 handlayed layers, then a hopper gun for fill. If you wanna get really fancy build a vacuum form table to make some mache plugs. You can mass produce with this or take exact molds for things like relacement door skins or console pieces. I did work with RITOP on a few of their demo cars and this setup saved 8-10 hours of fab time.
p.s. wooden handled chipper bristle brushes work much better.
i *** they work better, but the effort the clean them every 2 hours between layers of mat isnt worth it to me. you can get a nice result with foam brushes, you just need to take your time.
i'm thinking about making a mold of the backplate (piece thats actually molded to my trunk) so i could mass produce a few for b15's, but unfortunatley, without donor cars, i can only do this for a b15.
(i usually make my molds out of plaster the first time around, it's easier to work with and allows me a good platform to make stronger, better quality molds if need be...besides, plaster is easy to sand down/fill in if i find imperfections after the fact.
update: trunk's gutted, i gotta go to home depot today, and pick up a sheet of 1/2in plywood to make a new floor for my trunk.
attached below is my gutted trunk...and the new sh*t i picked up from WestMarine this morning (odd, they were out, i had to order it), and my gutted trunk (i even tore out the original tar-mat sound deadening the use, man that sh*ts tough to rip out)...and i called UPS, my sound deadening JUST made it the ups distro center ~ 1hr from my house, so it'll be at my door tomorrow morning.
while im on the subject, any suggestions for how to attach plywood to the floor of my trunk? i dont want to drill any more holes (screws/bolts = bumps in fiberglass = BIG nono)...i was thinking some sort of Liquid Nails, or Silicone, maybe even an epoxy, but i need something that will BOND to the metal surface and wood surface, something that will hold VERY well, and wont break apart under heavy vibration (from the subs)...preferably something even a bit elastic-y, so it acts as a psuedo shock mount for the subs/amps.
for the first "building" layer I'm using about 5 pair of old jeans I cut into 5"X10" strips......... the denim soaks dayum good........
when you get ready to fill the pits.....use body filler and hardener mixed to a milk-shake consistency, and paint it on/in.....that should save you a days work..........good luck, be careful and don't fry your lungs...
if you have time to make digital art, post it here
if you have some graphix , fonts, ideas, that you don't have time to illustrate, post it here
and beeee veeeeerrrry
got the car gutted, there's pretty much gonna be a picture progression of my car, between gutting it, dynamatting it, re-wiring, all the fiberglass work for my completely custom trunk, and some finish shots..
the car has been gutted...i put the drivers seat back in (since at the earliest *** get my dynamat tomorrow or monday, and i've gotta go to work on monday, so i need to drive something
i feel soo....autocross-ish
ok. First, did you say plywood? If so, why plywood and why do you have to attach it? What type of fiberglass enclosure are you building? Are you doing just a show top in fiberglass, or the whole box? Either way you do it you may wanna use a latex seam seal on the surface before you do anything. It will not only seal off the trunk but will create a dampning layer between the box and the car for rattles. Don't epoxy to the surface. Get stainless nuts and bolts with rubberized washers and bolt it down. Let us know what ideas you have to build the box. If it were me, by the way i'd just pop a mold of the spare tire well and build off of it. It'll fit so tight you'll never need bolts.
ok. First, did you say plywood? If so, why plywood and why do you have to attach it? What type of fiberglass enclosure are you building? Are you doing just a show top in fiberglass, or the whole box? Either way you do it you may wanna use a latex seam seal on the surface before you do anything. It will not only seal off the trunk but will create a dampning layer between the box and the car for rattles. Don't epoxy to the surface. Get stainless nuts and bolts with rubberized washers and bolt it down. Let us know what ideas you have to build the box. If it were me, by the way i'd just pop a mold of the spare tire well and build off of it. It'll fit so tight you'll never need bolts.
plywood because its lighter than MDF, cheaper, stronger, and it only being used as a base. i dont have a sketch of how this is gonna look, so try to follow me. i (once again) changed my design out of necessity...i cant put the subs in the corners and have them facing in...simply because they'd block off access to the tail light bulbs (if one burns out)
so here it is.
the plywood is going to be a base to lay the fiberglass onto. the subs are getting stuck in the back of the trunk, facing out and slightly towards eachother....the entire trunk is being fiberglassed, its gonna sort of look like the inside of an egg, the back of the trunk is getting rounded (around where the subs sit) and molded towards the front. im going to take a router, and recess a small groove in the plywood/fiberglass base, and put a hatch there, so i retain access to my spare tire well (lots of construction around my house, ive gotten 2 new tires in the past 8 months from them...because their construction debris keeps putting holes in peoples tires)....and im going to have a diamond plate hatch around my spare tire well. im also going to make some smaller doors out of diamondplate to mount against the back of the trunk where i need access to the taillights and reverse lights...maybe diamond plate, maybe a matching fiberglass door thing, i havent decided yet.
follow me? if not, hit me up on AIM, i can explain it better a little bit at a time.
thats cool man. If you want something light try some masonite or magic board (sealed cardboard) with thin coat of resin for structural stability. Works like a dream for filler panels and has virtually no residual weight. I like the diamond plate touch by the way.
not much time to work on my car, i started my new job this week (full time) and im pretty beat when i get home. i've been spending ~2hrs a day working on getting the trunk ready for fiberglass and matting the rest of the car. the dynamat stuff i got finally came in today while i was at work... its called B-QUIET Extreme. basically, a no-name version of dynamat extreme. its $100 on ebay for 100sq. feet and it comes with a small roller (which is kinda cheap, i'd suggest getting your own)...i got (almost) the entire passenger side matted tonight. i'll do the rear seat area / back half of the trunk tomorrow (i've gotta wait till i have a day off to pull out the drivers seat...cause it NEEDS to be done and put back in so i can get to work the next morning)
here's the progress -- *keep in mind many areas of the floor pan cant be done it long sheets easily (simply because of how many contours there are)...but each piece is overlapped ~2inches, so i dont care much how it looks, its functional*
update
ill take more pics tomorrow, my camera battery died.
i finished all teh matting for the back half of the car (minus the trunk and doors)
i think im going to need another 100sq feet of this. im almost through my first 50foot roll, and ive still gotta do the drivers side floor pan, 2 layers on the whole trunk, and all 4 doors.
We have a customer at work that does fiberglass and sells EVERYTHING for it. They mainly sell the Spencer boats and what not type of fiberglass.
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'92 Super Black Se-r w/ just mods - SOLD
'91 Super Black Se-r stock (for now )
"I'm more afraid of being nothing then I am of being hurt."
i'll keep you guys posted as to the projects progress. timing i guess is alright, because my HU sh*t the bed, and it's another week before i can afford to order my new Eclipse CD5444. so i'll be audio-less for 2 weeks, but that oughta be enough time to build the fiberglass sub enclosures. the only thing thats gonna delay me now is my own indecision. im either getting 2 IDQ12D4 v.2's with a Cadence Z9000 amp...which i CAN afford...and get now...
