Custom fit 12in Fiberglass Subwoofer Box Four A/C -Write up-

[Mattv609]

My biggest thing with installin Sub was space, didnt want to completly have the sub use up the whole trunk, and ik alot of ppl feel same way from wat i have seen so heres a write up for a custom box that fits nice in trunk n still have most of trunk left over and looks good. Its been made b4 by p455w0rd, thats where i got all the instruction from him that guided me to make it, and now wanna show you guys if ur intrested making it.



1) First using Masking tape, tape out area where box will be (i did two layers of tape) and draw shape so you know where to place fiberglass mat. Make sure to leave youself en

2) Then you need to coat the masking with mold release wax or it also comes in a lquid form (i used that because couldnt fine the wax but its sold at auto body supply and also west marine) Makes it alot easier to remove when dry.

3)Next cut up some Fiberglass mat into 6in by 2in pieces. Then you mix the polyester layup resin and MEKP hardener (side of resin can can tell you how many drops of MEKP to use depending ont temp. of outside or can look up a catalyst chart). You will have a 20-30 minute pot life before it starts to gel. Once that is mix start to lay the fiber glass down, saok the small area before place mat and then soak matt with resin. Try to get as many layers you can of fiberglass in the car. ( i only got 2 layers, you back kills after a while...lol you'll see). Make sure to wear long sleeves and gloves stuff burns lol found out the hard way. Then let it dry, i also put to high power spot lights on it help dry> and Remove from the car. the pic below is after 6 layers if you do 2 layers in car it will look really thin obviously.

4) Once out of car, go along and continue with layers of glass about 6 layers of glass and when dry cut excess of glass around edge. to create the shape of the box. i used a jig saw (wear safety glasses).

5)Next you need to make the ring using MDF board with a router but you are not cutting the whole ring out. you need to do you measurements and the inner cut is going to be only half way threw the board and the outer of course is fully cut out. It took me 2 trys. i did make a ring that i fully cut out to make sure my mesurments were right and slipped my sub threw and hten used that as a stencil and cut the ring with the inner circle half way threw the board. Then you will also need a 2x4 where you will create the angles and will be mounted to the ring and the inside of the back of the box. You can create what ever way the sub will sit. i angles it slightly toward she back see as you'll see in more pictures.

6) Check your work and place in car n make sure clear from anything.

7) Next you'll need some fleece and 3m Spay glue. Cut out the fleece and place over front of box and make sure have enough. Next part may need extra person (i didnt have one very hard with just yourself) need to spay area where you will be streching the fleece over and all around and make sure you have no wrinkles.

8) now mix up some more resin and completly saturate fleece with the resin coat it twice with resin. then let dry.

9) then need to cut out the fleece in the iner ring. And cut out the inner ring itself with a jig saw. Use a big dril first to get the jig saw blade first and follow the grove u made with the router. And remove 2x4.

10) Next you can intall the seaker terminal for the wires right where you screwed in the 2x4.

11) and now its your decision to either, carpet or paint. if carpet i believe you'll want 2 sand down a lil bit and carpet. I'm painting my same color as car so then youll hve to use body filler on the face of the box and then sand that down and then prime. When priming u need to prime and sand about 3-4 times and then if you have equiptment paint it, or you could prob also bring to a shop and get body filled and primed and painted. im acually doing all that my self and got a buddy that is painint it. im up to 2 more primes and then gettin painted. im tryin 2 have done for the Nov.8 th meet so if interested and hav eany questions. Look for me; Matt.

bondo and primedprimed and sanded

And Finish product will be posted and hopefully will have it for guys goin to the Nov. 8th meet will see. By the way this was my first time using Glass, very time consuming but any one and do this experienced or not, take you time have fun. Again alot of instruction from Shawn aka p455w0rd, can ask him questions too im sure he wont mind, helped me out. thanks Shawn

P.S. i tried to bold out all the materials you need.
Modified by Mattv609 at 5:58 PM 10/20/2009

[mcheddadi]

AWESOME

[Desire1314]

any discovered cracking issues yet?

[Mattv609]

not finished. gettin painted this weekend maybe and then dropin sub in. but be honest man, thing is solid as a rock dont know how it could crack.

[AppleBonker]

Excellent write-up. I also used a respirator so I didn't have to breath in the fumes. My car stunk for about a week or two before the smell finally came out. Can't wait to see the final result.

[Mattv609]

ooohh mann dont know how i forgot that... thats all i did was wear one, it was like glued 2 my face. ahha thnxx

[headhunt3r]

Very nice writeup. I thought about doing this myself, and then I got lucky and found a used fiberglass box on craigslist for our car... Snatched that bad boy up real quick.

How much did materials run you for?

[mrodrig2]

1.5 oz fiberglass mat is around $2-3/yard online and a quart of polyester resin and hardener is around $15-16. When you include shipping for purchasing online it evens out to buying the same Bondo branded products at an auto or hardware store.

MDF at the local hardware store is $8-9 for a 2'x4' sheet. 3/4" and 1/2" thickness are no more than a dollar apart.

Fleece is cheap like $3/yard maybe a little more if you get spandex swimsuit liner.

Add in miscellaneous things like glue or screws. Edit: I re-reviewed my receipts and ended up spending around 110 total.
Modified by mrodrig2 at 7:34 PM 11/18/2009

[Ricko]

Going to be doing the same thing but on both sides of the trunk. I would tell you what I planed for the amp rack but its secret . . .

Until I get the funds for the whole system . . . someday . . . after exterior mods.

[LongBeachCoupe]

Matty V! Hard to find someone to help? I AM IN YOUR BACKYARD DUDE!

I wanna come take a look at this!

[shortys408]

make more of them and sell them I have no clue how to do any of that.

[Mattv609]

lol i dont got ur number n i was to excited, every step i did just had 2 do it! whens next day u workin brian, or you'll see the finish product the 8th.

and wish i could build them n sell them, if i had a shop i defff would.. thing takes time lol its not hard tho.. just time.

cost i dont even know, ik the place were i got all the resin and bondo ripped me off, but i think everything all 2gether lil over 200...250$ maybe...

[LongBeachCoupe]

im working tomorrow (wed), friday and saturday... come see me!

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

im working tomorrow (wed), friday and saturday... come see me!

yes well go for lunch and have a grand old time

LMAO sorry no disrespect but i had to say that since lbc sounded like a lil girl desperate for some lol............

btw i like the trunk setup looks really kool

[kyle@stillen]

Great write-up!

When I made the center console for my Titan I also applied some fiberglass mat to the exterior after I had fleeced it. In your experience have you found that to be an unnecessary step? It added a lot of work but my buddies who build competition show cars said it's necessary to prevent cracking. They also suggested fiberglass the inside of the fleece and even fiberglassing in some blocks of wood that would help prevent it from flexing.

One thing to keep in mind for anyone doing this work. If you plan on having it carpeted or upholstered in anyway afterward, you might want to consult with the person who is going to carpet it for you. Certain angles and/or shapes will make the process easier or harder for them to do.

For those of you planning on painting your box when it is completed, you will want to use as little bondo as possible. Even though the box will be pretty rigid, the flexing over time could cause cracks to appear. Nothing worse than a beautifully designed fiberglass enclosure with cracks popping through.

[mrodrig2]

When I made the center console for my Titan I also applied some fiberglass mat to the exterior after I had fleeced it. In your experience have you found that to be an unnecessary step? It added a lot of work but my buddies who build competition show cars said it's necessary to prevent cracking. They also suggested fiberglass the inside of the fleece and even fiberglassing in some blocks of wood that would help prevent it from flexing.

For anything structural, loaded or pressurized this is absolutely necessary. The mat is what provides the strength. The hardened fleece just provides the basic form.

It doesn't matter if you lay the mat on the interior or the exterior side after you've hardened your fleece/cloth. Most people do it on the inside to leave the exterior with the more even cloth surface so there's less filling/sanding work to be done later on.

Bracing is a good idea for large pieces or sub/speaker boxes but probably not necessary for smaller pieces. If you put down enough layers you can get away without any bracing. After 5+ layers with a sub box for example, you can probably stand on it.

[kyle@stillen]

Thanks for the info!

I have been working with fiberglass and all that stuff for years with our body kit modeling and stuff like that but when it comes to stereo's I consider myself a novice. I built myself a center console for my Titan that I am proud of but I also learned a lot of "what not to do's" on that project. For anyone considering a fun project that will teach them a lot. Consider something like this. Make sure you wear the necessary safety gear, goggles, face masks, rubber gloves, and maybe even a smock/apron if you like the clothes you're wearing. Also, you'll want to protect your car very well. This resin is nearly impossible to remove from a surface that has not been properly prepared.

Here are some pictures of the console I made for my Titan. Like I said, it was my first project of this kind and I am proud of the way it turned out.

I had plenty of layers on this thing and I know for a fact that a girl could lay across it and it would easily support her body weight...Don't ask me how I know!!! LOL

[mrodrig2]

Wow, that console is impressive. Strange to see 4 individual buckets in a truck though, lol.

[mrodrig2]

I also wanted to comment about step 2 from above where it says to use mold release wax. If you don't care about how the back of the enclosure looks or you are going to carpet the enclosure you can skip this step altogether.

If you do care, you can add a layer of Al foil after the layer of masking tape and just try to remove as much of that as you can; or opt for petroleum jelly (i.e. Vaseline) instead of wax. This should save you a couple of bucks since most people already have these items at home.

[kyle@stillen]

Thanks! It was a lot of work but I was happy with the way it turned out.

Yea, the four bucket seats in a crew cab truck was different for sure. I don't know if I would do it again or not. I liked the way it looked and when offroading it made the passengers a lot safer than flopping around on the bench, but for daily driving it was a PITA.

[rjdmmfl1]

Thanks! It was a lot of work but I was happy with the way it turned out.

Yea, the four bucket seats in a crew cab truck was different for sure. I don't know if I would do it again or not. I liked the way it looked and when offroading it made the passengers a lot safer than flopping around on the bench, but for daily driving it was a PITA.

that's some nice stuff there Kyle ... me likey!!!

hey man, you're gonna have to check out my new bumper before I ship out of SoCAL ... i will be gone by the time your customer appreciation day rolls around next year...

[p455w0rd]

I also wanted to comment about step 2 from above where it says to use mold release wax. If you don't care about how the back of the enclosure looks or you are going to carpet the enclosure you can skip this step altogether.

I've tried not using mold release wax once and when trying to remove the box from the truck I almost ripped the plastic panel off. I had to work with it for over 30 minutes to get it out. Its just easier to remove the box from the tape then remove the tape from the car.

[mrodrig2]

Yeah I agree. I didn't mean to say skip the tape. I meant to say that you can skip applying the wax to the tape.

[bembol]

Impressive, I love it. Great job/write up.

When I'm down with Wheels & Suspension, I'm going to work on the Audio.

[LongBeachCoupe]

Lookin NICE Kyle!

[boston702]

where can i buy the materials to do this job?

[Jman0711]

most home improvement places have everything you need. Any Lowes or Home Depot will have it, or any boat place will to like West Marine. I did the same thing, i bought my fiberglass mat online for much cheaper.

[boston702]

i am very new at this and just want to make sure i get everything right the wax is no what makes the mold it is the polyester that makes the mold with the fiber glass is what make is a hard shell? also with the fleece hat will just be coated in the resin not the fiber glass?

[Mattv609]

i am very new at this and just want to make sure i get everything right the wax is no what makes the mold it is the polyester that makes the mold with the fiber glass is what make is a hard shell? also with the fleece hat will just be coated in the resin not the fiber glass?

i love seeein my old write-up come up!!

I did this with no experience... the wax is just wat you put on the masking tape so masking tape comes right off the resin... the mold release wax goes on then u start to resin and lay the fiberglass down..... wen doing this also thats not in the write-up that i wish i did after seeing other videos and talkin to ppl... *** use some cardbord and trace out the base and how it fits in and use that as a stencil to make a base out of MFD wood... u can see i fiberglassed the bottom... didnt use a MFD wood for the base... only thing i did was use it for the ring... bc i didnt use for a base the glass warped up a tinny bit... so it sits wit a gap on the base of the trunk.. so i recoment making a a base under out of MFD wood and putting fiting it in to the trunk with the cardboard n then cuttin it with a jig-saw to ur best n then fiberglass with it in the trunk... as for the fleece... u resin it.. and you "CAN" use more fiber glass i got to the poin i wanted to finish and i did alot of coats of resin n it was very hard n i was very happy with that.. but usually you would glass more.. but then the bondo makes it even harder so it wored out with out glassing more over the fleece too... im very happy with it n no cracks or anything its perfect... just take your time n b pacient.. and wear all protective gear gloves and googles n mask... any question PM me or Email me [email protected] glad to help in anyway... good luck

[lavon_andy]

West Marine is cheaper for bulk resin and hardener, online is cheapest place for mat

Might try fairing filler instead of bondo for smoothing, it's much lighter and pretty easy to sand. again West Marine for this