fibreglass Sub box in process

[Soundofav6]

After a 12 hrs on the job and countless amount of surgical gloves, the job is almost done, just gathering patiences of making a templet for the MDF and also pondering how I should stablise the MDF on fibreglass.

Hopefully it would sound as nice as any sub box

Thanks for the demal Rayray. Such a usefull tool to have.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC06266-1.jpg
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC06277-1.jpg
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC06279-1.jpg
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC06281-1.jpg

[DubSteve]

Nice work there Louis and I quite like where your going with that I may even stea lyour idea off you mate for my car whenever I ever decide to put my sub in the car :D

[joshyd-mk2gti]

nice one! mdf is porous so just glass the two materials together. how are you going to attach the box to the car? [ie. so it doesn't move around.]

[ScienceVR6]

I had to do the exact same thing i a barina foir Clarion. To put the Face on the glass, i just glassed it on.

[Soundofav6]

Nice work there Louis and I quite like where your going with that I may even stea lyour idea off you mate for my car whenever I ever decide to put my sub in the car :D

Only after a loyalty fee mate....lol no such thing as stealing! I got the idea from some one else too.. we can DIY together.. not hard but just messy stuff.

I am pondering if I should get the MDF, cut in shape first than glassing it inward from the subwoofer or outwards.

Also cutting a 10" hole with jigsaw.. any tip? Should I start cutting from center--> radius --> and cutting the circle ?

Attaching the box to the car is another challenge, I have a few ideas, too hard to put in words atm. I am sure I can figure soemthing out, "go with the flow" ( THE SPIRIT OF DIY:D)

[99gti]

It looks good mate, and it should be heaps lighter than an MDF box. Nice job!

[ScienceVR6]

Only after a loyalty fee mate....lol no such thing as stealing! I got the idea from some one else too.. we can DIY together.. not hard but just messy stuff.

I am pondering if I should get the MDF, cut in shape first than glassing it inward from the subwoofer or outwards.

Also cutting a 10" hole with jigsaw.. any tip? Should I start cutting from center--> radius --> and cutting the circle ?

Attaching the box to the car is another challenge, I have a few ideas, too hard to put in words atm. I am sure I can figure soemthing out, "go with the flow" ( THE SPIRIT OF DIY:D)
When cutting the hole for a 10" sub, DO NOT CUT A 10" HOLE! Your sub will fall through! My expeariance says cut a 9" diameter hole, but check first! Your sub should have a template in the box, if you have that. When cutting the hole, use a jig saw, and just go slowly. Drill a hole first near the edge, and just work your way around the circle you have drawn.
Again, just take your time.

With the FG, make sure it's not too thin that it will flex with the bass. Else you will get realy bad losses in sound quality and also in db.

[rayray086]

With the FG, make sure it's not too thin that it will flex with the bass. Else you will get realy bad losses in sound quality and also in db.

How thick should the fibreglass and MDF be? I'm thinking of doing this myself one day too, this being inspiration :)

[BlackVr6ix]

last time i did a fibreglass box it ended up being ~4-5 layers of matting thick with a 12mm sheet of mdf.

as for attaching it, use lots of velcro.

[Soundofav6]

as for attaching it, use lots of velcro.

using velcro ?? thats new.. worked well ??

[HOLEIN1]

How thick should the fibreglass and MDF be? I'm thinking of doing this myself one day too, this being inspiration :)

id say make your baffle out of some 16mm MDF just to be on the safe side, 12 mm just seems too thin to me

had alot of experience with this sort of thing and have found that 16mm is the way to go or even thicker (sandwich two sheets together with liquid nails) depending on what sort of power you are dealing with... the thickness in the fibreglass section you have made is not as critical however as its curves lead to a majority of its strength...

your fibreglass section looks fine, although its a little thin in some places, however again it depends on what sort of power you are going to be running...

keep it up, will look great when its finished :)

[Soundofav6]

id say make your baffle out of some 16mm MDF just to be on the safe side, 12 mm just seems too thin to me

had alot of experience with this sort of thing and have found that 16mm is the way to go or even thicker (sandwich two sheets together with liquid nails) depending on what sort of power you are dealing with... the thickness in the fibreglass section you have made is not as critical however as its curves lead to a majority of its strength...

your fibreglass section looks fine, although its a little thin in some places, however again it depends on what sort of power you are going to be running...

keep it up, will look great when its finished :)

Thanks mate.. I did a water test. it was leaking in some places, seeping water though infact, does it matter ??. I was aiming to have 4 layers of fibre glass perhaps I will have 1 layer just to be save.

Thanks for the tip, I may put 2 layers of MDF, just had an epiphany, everythign is making sense !!!

What i liquad nail ? would that be glue :)

[HOLEIN1]

Thanks mate.. I did a water test. it was leaking in some places, seeping water though infact, does it matter ??. I was aiming to have 4 layers of fibre glass perhaps I will have 1 layer just to be save.

Thanks for the tip, I may put 2 layers of MDF, just had an epiphany, everythign is making sense !!!

What i liquad nail ? would that be glue :)

quick answer, yes. water leaking out of the mould is definitely what you dont want. if you leave it like that your sub will sound terreble and you will b3e hating yourself for wasting the time, effort and money in the project. i had a look at your pics again and there seems to be some large air pockets underneath the fibreglass which diminishes its overall strength considerably and further affects the sound.

not all is lost though as you have made a good start, if i were you i would put some more layers on it to both seal up the holes and to fix any possible strength issues wich will ultimately ruin the end result.

when you add some more layers try not to overkill the catalyst as this will give you some more 'work time' and allow you to get rid of any air bubbles. i also noticed that you havent been using enough resin as you can still see the matting fibres clearly. good way to avoid this is to slap on a layer of resin, throw down your matting and then another coating of resin, and so on. to remove any air bubbles i usually wait a few minutes untill the matt/resin combination goes soggy (you will see that the matting fibres go transparent) and then 'dab' at the air pockets to get the air out. with fibreglass the strength comes from the resin, with the matting acting as a reinfocement (to a certain extent)

id also watch catalyst levels to minimise the chance of the mould warping. my general rule is if its still stinks badly you run the risk of the fresh resin reacting with the old surface and causing it to lose its shape slightly. same can happen if you dont have enough resin and have to wait hours or even days for it to cure. its all trial and error, but perhaps put the mould back in the car to minimise the chance of this happening :)

yes liquid nails is a form of glue, looks like a brown mess and you can get it in either a handy tube or a caulking gun size (works out much cheaper this way). its great stuff, and sticks to MDF like ****e to blanket!

be proud of your efforts so far as fibreglassing takes some getting used to, and with a little more work im sure you will be impressed with the reults :)

what sort of sub/power combo are you planning to install, that may help others to steer you in the right direction...

keep up the good work :)

[Soundofav6]

HOLEIN1
Thanks heaps of your input. I kinda jumped into the project with out much facts only knowing it is enough volume running the sub and "how hard can fibre glassing be? " also only relied on a simple DIY on the web. I was so wrong.

2 ultimate questions :)

1. I understand what you mean about not enough resin, I only got the hang of resin : catalyst at the end. Do you think I should slap 2 more layers of fibre glass to cover up the flaws ?

2. So essentically the strength of the base and water leaks are most critical ? In this case, should I redo the base as to my flawed handywork? If I was to redo the base should I use MDF or stay with fibreglass if time & material is not a constraint?

For the power I am running is not much from what I was told, honestly I am not sure the specs actually works. I only know it is more than enough for my personal pleasure.

MY current set up.
Front speakers from Amp
Rear spreakers from head unit.
The Sub is bridged, running off the Amp.

The specs from what I know..

Amp 200W (http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.asp?cat_id=2&series_id=6&family_id=21&item_id=108230&locale=en_US&p_status=)
10" Subwoofer 150W (http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.asp?cat_id=4&series_id=31&family_id=9&item_id=108268&locale=en_US&p_status=)

[ScienceVR6]

I wouldn't bother using two layers of MDF, i'd just get some 18mm sheet. It's the minimum i'll make a box out of.

[HOLEIN1]

I wouldn't bother using two layers of MDF, i'd just get some 18mm sheet. It's the minimum i'll make a box out of.

sorry i wasnt clear when i made that point was i was at work and was in a rush :) yher as Sciencevr6 has said its much easier to use just a single sheet of 16-18mm Mdf rather than sticking two thinner peices together. what o originally meant was to use this method with two thick peices if he was running a much higher powered sub




Thanks heaps of your input. I kinda jumped into the project with out much facts only knowing it is enough volume running the sub and "how hard can fibre glassing be? " also only relied on a simple DIY on the web. I was so wrong.

2 ultimate questions :)

1. I understand what you mean about not enough resin, I only got the hang of resin : catalyst at the end. Do you think I should slap 2 more layers of fibre glass to cover up the flaws ?

2. So essentically the strength of the base and water leaks are most critical ? In this case, should I redo the base as to my flawed handywork? If I was to redo the base should I use MDF or stay with fibreglass if time & material is not a constraint?


For the power I am running is not much from what I was told, honestly I am not sure the specs actually works. I only know it is more than enough for my personal pleasure.

1) yes you will definitely need to seal up those holes, and fibreglassing them would be the way to go. not only will this seal them up but also provide more strength to the enclosure. you may want to add more than just two, however its hard to see from the pics you have posted up and depends on whether your box is flexing. two should be enough for your needs, but you may want to add few more for good measure while you got the glassing materials out :)

2) Im not sure what you mean by the 'base', do you mean the baffle which is basically the bit that you secre the sub into, or the actual bottom of the enclosure? if its the latter, i dont see any need to as you have already got most of the glassing done. if you are talking about the frontal side which the sub is screwed into it depends what sort of look you are after. if you use MDF you will end up with a flat faced box. another option would be to cut just a ring out, dummy it up into the position that you want, cover this with some stretchy material, and the glass over the top. this is more work, but gives you the opportunity to angle the sub slightly and a bit mmore bling.

have a look at this link, gives you more of an idea what im talking about...

http://www.girlsnmotors.co.uk/car-modifying/fibreglass-sub-box.html

just an idea :)

[Soundofav6]

The base as in this, because it has 2 bubbles, should I cut it out and redo it with MDF or Fibreglass again? Should I bother ??

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC062811-1.jpg
Also thanks for the DIY always wanted know how they make those shape.

[rayray086]

It looks very neat Louis!

[HOLEIN1]

The base as in this, because it has 2 bubbles, should I cut it out and redo it with MDF or Fibreglass again? Should I bother ??


no i wouldnt bother, its not that bad and the fibreglass will fit to the car better than just a flat section of mdf, just slap a few more layers on and seal up those holes :)

[Soundofav6]

no i wouldnt bother, its not that bad and the fibreglass will fit to the car better than just a flat section of mdf, just slap a few more layers on and seal up those holes :)

Thanks mate. just slaped 2 more layers on, took your advise and used minimal catalyst and soaked fibre glass in resin before wackin' it on, now and there were are no more holes, much more easier to work around with :)

Managed to make the frontal part yesterday. Took me a while to figure "how to get started. I founds a massive piece of sylvine. Just prefect for the job as it can be easily carved out and strong enough to stand also use as a templet for the MDF.

Pics update.
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC06288-1.jpg
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC06289-1.jpg

[Golf Houso]

Looking realy good, never realy thought too much about the stereo side of things, interesting thread! Lol that fiberglass looks like an alien has just hatched out of your boot just like some sci-fi movie j:

[Soundofav6]

Looking realy good, never realy thought too much about the stereo side of things, interesting thread! Lol that fiberglass looks like an alien has just hatched out of your boot just like some sci-fi movie

lol.. thanks man

After feeding the women with good lunch and finished a bottle of modified grape juice.. SHE was OUT !! :D

Time for more work.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC06298-1.jpg
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2007/12/DSC06296-1.jpg

However, things were looking good until test fit, a massive bubble blocked a flush finish. :mad:

Should I cut and fibreglass again OR should I put make a spacer with the remaining material ????

[rayray086]

Looking good at the moment!

[The_Hawk]

Use that one as a mold then make and sell them... to people like me :D

[Soundofav6]

Use that one as a mold then make and sell them... to people like me :D

lol .. if you trust my craftmanship, very practical way of using a sub.

[Soundofav6]

My sub box is officially finished just got to do some finishing touches, mainly carpet and rounding off the edges.

I ended up using 2 layers of 16 mm of MDF and a another space. all becasue of my mis-calculation lol.. suppose it would be cheaper than cutting and reparing with fibre glass again.

Thanks to my local audio place, got a scrap carpet!!! just enough for this project. Your a top bloke Paulie !!!

As to mounting, I placed those "suction mat" on the base and with the flush sitting on the top of the fibre glass to the parcel shelf, I didn't have to drill holes to mount. It is as steady as a horse's stance..

materials.
5 Litres of Resin
20 mL catylst.
3 x standard MDF
1 x Glaze silicon
1 x craft glue.
MANY MANY gloves.
5 x brushes
~ 9 metre square of fibre glass ( luck I had exsisting which are over 10 years old. )

Total including fibre glass less than $300.

probably save a 1/4 if price if I was to do it again. the amount of materials I wasted :rolleyes:


My 2 min wiring job.
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/DSC06392-1.jpg

Still got to dig a deeper trench. (Dremel is my new best friend lol )
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/DSC06407-1.jpg

Finish product. glueing the carpet on tomorrow.
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/DSC06406-1.jpg

[Soundofav6]

Carpet job was actually easier than expected. PVA Glue and millions of nails worked just fine.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/DSC06424-1.jpg


http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/DSC06425-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/DSC06426-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/DSC06418-1.jpg


THE END

PS You guys made the job so much easier, thank you all for your input, help and suggestions.

[HOLEIN1]

Total including fibre glass less than $300.


where did you get your fibreglass materials from? $300 seems a little rich, however would probably work out of you bought them from a hardware store etc etc

best place to get this stuff from are distributors or boat builders who are usually happy to sell materials to the public - works out a hell of a lot cheaper

finished job looks good mate, well done :)

[Lorenz]

Wow, nice finished product mate, love it :D
Was wondering if you could put a sub there, and you have now proved you can and its so neatly done!
Been looking for some way to mount a sub in the back of the MK3, without taking up too much spare and out of the way somewhere, and this is just PERFECT ;) Might give it a go my self at some point!

[Soundofav6]

where did you get your fibreglass materials from? $300 seems a little rich, however would probably work out of you bought them from a hardware store etc etc

best place to get this stuff from are distributors or boat builders who are usually happy to sell materials to the public - works out a hell of a lot cheaper

finished job looks good mate, well done :)

Thanks for the comment guys.

I always wonder where I can get fibre glass from. I was luck to have exsisting fibre glass in the garage a whole bag full of it. Bunnings sells a square meter for $25, there is no way I can afford that, I am guessing I used and wasted about 9 square metres. The fibre glass I had, looks differernt to ones sold at bunnings. Bunning's fibre glass looks thicker and interwoven into a sheet whereas mine looks thin with fibres in random direction and press into sheet.

So next project, where should I get fibre glass from? Surely I can get fibreglass for cheaper than $25 per square meter. Knowing my father, he would not have $300 worth of material lying around.:rolleyes:

[Mrk_Mickey]

The sub box i'm going to be building soon is going to be similar to yours, and the materials are all supplied by my cousin. i think he bought fiberglass cheaper than that, i'll get back to you

[ScienceVR6]

The finished product looks fantastic! I would have done a few things differantly, such as making a pannel so that it hides the tail light cover, but thats just me. Good work all over!.

[KI11Z]

Excellent jobbie!! and more imprtantly, howz it sound? and a quick question, how do you secure the fiberglass to mdf without gaps?

[Soundofav6]

howz it sound? and a quick question, how do you secure the fiberglass to mdf without gaps?

the sound is excellent! I had to cranked up the amp and bit more, I could have use more resin, it makes a fizzy noise at low volume. I suspect it is the undesolved fibre glass. With an overkill of MDF total 2 layers and spacer holding the subbie with glue and screws, surely thats not to blame.

As to MDF to fibre glass. Took me a while to figure as I had about ~1cm of gap to fill. I tried 2 techniques. ..diagram is easier.
Basically filled the gap and glasses it on. But first technique worked just fine ie, sliping the "half palm sized" resin soaked fibre glass between the gap before folding it on the dried fibre glass seems to work better on some areas vice versa.. than glass one overlaping 4-5 layers on.
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/fibreglass-1.jpg

Note the use of resin soaked fibre glass.. it is rich a green comparatively to pale green/ yellow.. Rememeber Go crazy soaking the fibre glass !!!!! Don't go cheap on resin, turns out stronger as too !!
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/01/DSC063921-1.jpg


The finished product looks fantastic! I would have done a few things differantly, such as making a pannel so that it hides the tail light cover, but thats just me. Good work all over!.
I had thoughts about doing panel hiding the light, but it worked out to be like an extra feature.


The sub box i'm going to be building soon is going to be similar to yours, and the materials are all supplied by my cousin. i think he bought fiberglass cheaper than that, i'll get back to you

YEah please let me know:)... coz I plan to do the other side before for the amp before uni starts.

[Mrk_Mickey]

I still have to meet up with you to see how your shifter's going, so i'll come check out your sub box and hopefully by then i'll have some details dude:)

[HOLEIN1]

The fibre glass I had, looks differernt to ones sold at bunnings. Bunning's fibre glass looks thicker and interwoven into a sheet whereas mine looks thin with fibres in random direction and press into sheet.

So next project, where should I get fibre glass from? Surely I can get fibreglass for cheaper than $25 per square meter. Knowing my father, he would not have $300 worth of material lying around.:rolleyes:

the woven stuff you speak of is called woven matting (finnily enough) and the more random stuff is called choppd strand...

it is said that woven gives slightly better strength and is therefore better if you need maximum strength with mimimal material

i prefer chopped strand as you can get it thicker (ie. less layers) and i find it easier to work with, each to their own though....

$25m2? jesus thats an absolute ripoff, from a fibreglass wholsaler i remember getting mine for a few dollars per lineal metre, with the roll just being bigger than 1m wide..

back when i bought a whole heap ofthe stuff i was also able to buy 500ml of catalyst for about $10 and a 20kg bucket of resin for around the $130 mark (looks like one of those massive bulk paint tins)

its not too much per kg/litre to buy it in smaller portions either...

its all a learning experience though, i mean hell i made the exact mistake when i started playing around with this stuff, felt like kicking myself! haha

great job once again :)

[Soundofav6]

the woven stuff you speak of is called woven matting (finnily enough) and the more random stuff is called choppd strand...

it is said that woven gives slightly better strength and is therefore better if you need maximum strength with mimimal material

i prefer chopped strand as you can get it thicker (ie. less layers) and i find it easier to work with, each to their own though....

$25m2? jesus thats an absolute ripoff, from a fibreglass wholsaler i remember getting mine for a few dollars per lineal metre, with the roll just being bigger than 1m wide..

back when i bought a whole heap ofthe stuff i was also able to buy 500ml of catalyst for about $10 and a 20kg bucket of resin for around the $130 mark (looks like one of those massive bulk paint tins)

its not too much per kg/litre to buy it in smaller portions either...

its all a learning experience though, i mean hell i made the exact mistake when i started playing around with this stuff, felt like kicking myself! haha

great job once again :)

Thanks for the long input mate, you are a great help. :)

Chopped strand they are called.. cool, now I know. Now days everything is so expensive, inflation I suppose. And again, I may have gone to wrong places to get my materials, now I know next project, I would try other places, as others metioned boat places for fibre glass.

It is all a fun and a learning experience. :)

[Soundofav6]

I still have to meet up with you to see how your shifter's going, so i'll come check out your sub box and hopefully by then i'll have some details dude:)

yeah mate, well when I get my car back, we will go out for a drink or soemthing.

[BL33SU]

wanna do a fibreglass job for me?? il pay ya :D

want a AVCR fiberglassed in the aircon vents.

[DubSteve]

Nice work Louis I will be visiting you in the next few weeks to see a few things that you have done and also see how the project is going, I would like to incorporate the fibreglassing with the relocation of the battery together, I think it would work nicely :)

[Soundofav6]

wanna do a fibreglass job for me?? il pay ya :D

want a AVCR fiberglassed in the aircon vents.

Doesn't sound too hard, we will meet up one day and see how I can help.



Nice work Louis I will be visiting you in the next few weeks to see a few things that you have done and also see how the project is going, I would like to incorporate the fibreglassing with the relocation of the battery together, I think it would work nicely :)

I reckon it would work nicely too steve.

[HOLEIN1]

Thanks for the long input mate, you are a great help. :)

Chopped strand they are called.. cool, now I know. Now days everything is so expensive, inflation I suppose. And again, I may have gone to wrong places to get my materials, now I know next project, I would try other places, as others metioned boat places for fibre glass.

It is all a fun and a learning experience. :)

no worries mate :)

have a look on the net for some car audio forums such as www.mobileelectronics.com.au which if full of information and people who are more than happy to help, may also be better than here as there are more people on there doing the same thing and will be able to reply much sooner or give you more definitive advice...

:)