Fibre Glass to make boot sub box

[cat007]

Hey all,
As the title suggests - I'm building one of these. Where does anyone suggest I go to get the resin + hardener + matting from? Trademe or?

Also - I'm making a box big enough to house my 2x12" subs and I'd also like to put some decent mids as well - suggestions on what size? I was thinking 6x9's - but suggestions?

Thanks

[the fallen303]

hey hunt, don't bother with 6*9's in the back, run a decient set of fronts, and just some 4"s in the rear boxes as rear fill, otherwise the sound will seem as it's coming from behind you. with the 12's the size of the 6*9's is a bit of a waste. in my old supra i had a 15 in the boot in a slightly too small box, ford telstar rears, and sony xes components in the front doors, staged real well, sound was crisp and in front of you, and the bass wasn't too in your face, but the whole system could still crank when i wanted it to.

with regards to the fibreglass, no idea sorry as to a place in aucks, but someone on here from there should have an idea. are you going to build it into the spare tyre well? or just so you can follow the lines of the boot interior? pics when you get it done

[pc]

Hey all,
As the title suggests - I'm building one of these. Where does anyone suggest I go to get the resin + hardener + matting from? Trademe or?

Any boat/yachtie shop will have that stuff, might not be cheap though.

[fangsport]

why fibreglass??
it will be expensive as all hell .

[soven]

http://www.nzfibreglass.co.nz/

[cat007]

http://www.nzfibreglass.co.nz/

Broken link

[cat007]

why fibreglass??
it will be expensive as all hell .

Because it can be molded and shaped easier than wood + its lighter - and no, it's not that expensive.

[soven]

Works fine for me. get the 1kg polyester resin kit.

[fangsport]

why fibreglass??
it will be expensive as all hell .

Because it can be molded and shaped easier than wood + its lighter - and no, it's not that expensive.

so you are making a shaped enclosure, as opposed to a 'sub-box'?
from experience of making custom 'fitted' enclosures, you will want to make the design a good bugger so you can on-sell some copies to recliam some of the costs of making the plug.

don't piss around with 1kg lots of resin either, get a hook-up and get 20kg drums. while there, also get plenty of chop matting, 2-pot PU foam and plenty of MEK for clean up.

[cat007]

so you are making a shaped enclosure, as opposed to a 'sub-box'?
from experience of making custom 'fitted' enclosures, you will want to make the design a good bugger so you can on-sell some copies to recliam some of the costs of making the plug.

don't piss around with 1kg lots of resin either, get a hook-up and get 20kg drums. while there, also get plenty of chop matting, 2-pot PU foam and plenty of MEK for clean up.

I've got 4 liters on its way and trying to source some matting. I'm not looking to build these in bulk. I'm building it purely as a once off really. I wont have time to build it for anyone else. What's MEK? Is that like thinners? And PU Foam? Whats that?

[fangsport]

MEKP is the thinning and clean up solvent.
PU is polyurethane foam, similar to space invader, but is denser. excellent for shaping the plug and for sound absorbstion in the enclosure ( takes the 'tinniness' out of the sound

[cat007]

plug?

[trdtrueno]

mitre ten do matting. i brought some not to long ago cant remember on price but it was 2m x 1m in size. dont think it was over $30 though.

[fangsport]

plug?

the plug is the shape of the finished article, from that you make the mould.

[cat007]

plug?

the plug is the shape of the finished article, from that you make the mould.

Ah - well I wasnt planning on making a mould - I was just going to use cardboard and plastic to make the shape, and apply glass and whatnot to that.....

[Jdawg]

Works fine for me. get the 1kg polyester resin kit.

Me too, turn your noob setting to Zero

[cat007]

must've been my work connection - works fine @ home *shrug*

[DeeCee]

there are plenty of tutorials on the net with regards to using fibreglass.
Think of it as paper mache.

Use gloves, do the fibreglassing in well ventilated areas and don't itch your nose when you have resin on your hands haha.

[cat007]

there are plenty of tutorials on the net with regards to using fibreglass.
Think of it as paper mache.

Use gloves, do the fibreglassing in well ventilated areas and don't itch your nose when you have resin on your hands haha.

I'll be doing it in the carport - so yes, well ventilated. haha ok I'll try and not resin my fingers to my nose, or anything else hahaha

btw - does it matter if its humid? i.e. if its raining etc? will that affect the curing, other than time I imagine?
Also has anyone here done it? Roughly how much matting should I be looking at getting? The box needs to about 1.7 cubic feet per sub.....

[DeeCee]

I fibreglass reasonably regularly and have written a few tutorials and explanations about it on the nzicemag forums.

- F/g resin requires a catalyst to activate the chemical reaction - this is methyl ethyl ketone peroxide - MEKP.
- Ratio is 2% ie 20mls for 1 litre of resin. depending on temperature, you can use slightly more catalyst to make a hotter mix to combat the colder temp. go between 3 - 4% if required, but be aware that you may have to work faster.
- polyester resin shrinks, epoxy resin doesn't
- epoxy resin requires the exact ratio of catalyst and does not set properly if the wrong ratio is used. It also doesn't shrink.
- blah blah blah etc etc etc

- for your install use mdf in place of wide flat areas - this saves cost
- make a frame at the top for the baffle..

plenty of tutorials on the web about it as I've said previously