Hey guys,
I was bored this morning, so I started on a fiberglass subwoofer enclosure for my car. The enclosure will hold one ten inch subwoofer, and I'm trying to make the enclosure volume be approximately .75 cubic feet. More photos will be posted as my project progresses, and once it's done, I'll make a how-to article with more details and things like that for the site.

Today I masked off the area where I want the enclosure using masking tape and aluminum foil. This took me about two hours, because I quickly ran out of my 3" wide masking tape, and the 1" thick blue masking tape didn't stick very well, so I had to use a lot of .75" masking tape. I used aluminum foil for a couple large flat areas, though in the future I don't plan to use it, as when you're laying the fiberglass, it tends to pull up a bit. After the car was masked and I ate thanksgiving dinner, I went back and laid down the first layer of fiberglass, which took me about 2 hours. The fiberglass is curing right now, and tomorrow I should be able to take it out of the car and put on a couple more layers after I cut the fiberglass.

Below is a photo of my progress so far. >>

nice
keep us posted man.
i wanna do this in my celica >>

yarrr you beat me to it matey.

Looks great, are u using the Coral Chopper how-to as a guide?

-Drocay+Nov 28, 2003 - 12:03 AM

good work - should look good

what about the spare tire tools that are stored in that area

Coomer, I noticed the car is yellow does that mean u got your car back from your mechanic?

looks good so far...keep us posted...I want to make a full enclosure in my car over winter break

So whats the status of the car with the mechanic??

EDIT- the fiberglass enclosure is gonna look great when its done too. >>

This post has been edited by Silver94CelicaOwner: Dec 1, 2003 - 5:05 PM

-BigEdge169+Nov 30, 2003 - 8:16 PM

Tonight I got back into town, and was able to pull the mold out of the car. Because only one layer of fiberglass has been laid down so far, it's still very flexible, so I had to be careful not to crack the fiberglass while taking it out of the car.

Lemme tell you, people aren't joking when they say that too little hardener will make your fiberglass take days to cure. A small portion of my mold still isn't cured, and it's been over two weeks! So don't carelessly mix your hardener and resin, or you'll end up like me. >>

Also, you may want to try using some wax over the masking tape before laying down the fiberglass. It may make the masking tape come off easier. I know on mine, I didn't use wax, and some of the masking tape hardly comes off at all. I'm still working to get all of it off, and it's a pain.

So the photo below is where I'm at right now. Tomorrow if I can get to the store to get some supplies I plan to put some "hot" resin and hardener on the area that's not cured yet, or just cut that portion off. I also plan to lay another couple layers on the mold after I cut it. >>

Today I didn't wake up until 2:30 PM or so, so all I did was trim the first layer using some tin snips, which work very well if the fiberglass is only one layer thick. After trimming, I test fitted the MDF ring I made to mount the subwoofer in, and everything should work well. Tomorrow when I have more time I plan to put down a couple layers to begin building up the strength, but on the bottom part, I'm considering using something like rope to make the flat bottom area stronger.

Im, def thinking about doing somthing like this. I have two rockford he2's in a big ass box. its just to big and heavy, I was thinking of making something cool, but i think to loose some weight i will try only doing on sub, cause im not to much into not hearing my music and only bass thing any more. Iv worked with fiberglass and all before, but for boats an all. how exactly are you going to gte the ring to stay up an hold on. I think im going to wait to see how yours goes until i start mine... thanks an its looking good

-Digndoug+Dec 12, 2003 - 7:18 PM

Great job and such coomer...

Also, I recently have been reeding up on different ways of building boxes such as this. Another option is to use bendable ply wood and non-backed carpet. It's much easier to work with, and you can layer it up faster. the only catch is you have to put a small layer of bondo over the top of it to paint it and make it smooth. Yes, bondo will hold and not crack. the only time it cracks is if it's over a half inch thick.

you mack coomer

Today I didn't do anything special. Just added on another layer to the first one, so now I have two. I was going to do two layers at the same time, but it was below freezing outside so I decided to go inside before I got hypothermia. >> And now it's dark, so tomorrow I'll probably add on another layer, and maybe add some ribs to the flat part on the bottom of the enclosure for strength, because fiberglass isn't very strong in flat areas, compared to curved areas.

Did you find the fiberglass difficult to work with? Did it get everywhere and in your hands and such? I see the gloves, but I'm curious >>

Jon

-FallenHero+Dec 13, 2003 - 8:34 PM

just wondering if you're going to mass produce this then sell to 6gc peeps ?

-rlan214+Dec 14, 2003 - 5:45 AM

Are you using gloves with powder on them? I was thinking you might try putting baby powder on your gloves (lots of it) then the resin wont stick to you >>

Just a thought.

Jon

tite, you are gonna get a ED sub? which series? I got 2 e12o's, they have been very good to me. the e12a is also impressive... how did u hear about ed?

-Coomer+Dec 14, 2003 - 9:59 PM

-Makaveddie+Dec 16, 2003 - 6:25 PM

-Coomer+Dec 20, 2003 - 3:36 PM

-Andason+Dec 20, 2003 - 2:45 PM

Dang, i wanna do this so badly! I bet it's going to look amazing! and so incredibly flush.


I have a question though. Kinda of topic but what it the best way to get rid of the carpet moving around and the spare tire particle board crap? Everytime i go around a turn it jumps and all moves to one side.

i know what you mean my sub bok slid all around because the carpet wasnt staying still so i got like 5 little screws and screwed them through the carpet into the partical board and it seems to be doing pretty well so far no movement or anything. i put the screws in about a month ago
DREW