There's is nothing wrong with leaving the framework in there but it does take up airspace and if the rest of the enclosure is build to strength the braces aren't needed. If it was large parallel flat areas then yes, absolutely you want bracing in there. With curved fiberglass surfaces they are very strong and sturdy, the bracing become redundant.
Fiberglass in hatch
Over the past few months, I've tried about 6 times to build myself some fiberglass enclosures to sit on both sides of the cubbies in the hatch. Needless to say I failed each time, and the serious lack of information on the subject coupled with frustration has led me to almost give up all hope of ever getting the huge box out of my hatch while keeping my bass. So what I need from y'all is one of three things:
1. A dumbed down walk trough to working with fiberglass
2. Somebody to build the molds themselves for me
3. Approval to use the existing plastic panel as the base of the mold itself
Any info or help would be greatly appreciated, this is the home stretch to finishing my interior once and for all.
1. A dumbed down walk trough to working with fiberglass
2. Somebody to build the molds themselves for me
3. Approval to use the existing plastic panel as the base of the mold itself
Any info or help would be greatly appreciated, this is the home stretch to finishing my interior once and for all.
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I'll see how it all works out, I may leave the sticks in there for additional support just in case. I'm just scared that I've clocked over a week on this project so far and I'm not 100% it'll turn out fine. I keep having a scene in my mind where everything's hooked up, then the sub just blows the enclosure apart.
Just remember to record the first time you start it up, I want to see it explode. >I keep having a scene in my mind where everything's hooked up, then the sub just blows the enclosure apart.
Actually wait until you get to the sanding stage, it's tedious, mind numbing work.
...or just cover it in carpeting lol
I've been doing my spare cover, headliner and door inserts with black velvet and I have enough of it leftover to cover the first main box so I'll probably wind up doing that. I have a slight nasty crease in the fleece so I'll probably roughly bondo and sand that down to at least 90% cover up that mistake. I'm also lucky its on the side where the bench seat sits so it'll be hard to notice to begin with. I got 6 million projects going on at the present time so I haven't been able to touch my box since Thursday, but today for sure my buddy and I'll power through building up the mat/resin layers on the fleece and hopefully later on today have an ugly box to test. Fingers crossed it all goes well. I also caught a small hole in the box around a corner where the fleece meets the fiberglass, so I need to patch that as well. So also I've seen people reinforce the inside around the ring with the mat, is that really necessary to do if I keep the sticks in and build up a good 5-6 layers on top of the fleece? Just seems like it'd be a royal pain.
I figured you guys may want to see what I'm working with as well, so this was taken after the 2nd coat of resin only over the fleece. I trimmed the excess fleece off since then and took the sub back out, and getting ready for the mat/resin layers being done today. The mold is molded from the lower black passenger cubby in the hatch where the tail light access door is. The lower part of the box extends to just over the strut tower, and the top lies just short of the bench seat clamp. Hopefully it fits snug without any trimming, as I am beyond ready to throw this project into the "done" pile
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Good news and bad news, I tested the box today, and it didn't explode lol. Bad news is I have 2 massive air leaks between the fleece and the mold itself so it sounds kinda bad and not very loud. I'm just glad it didn't explode, so just a few more things to do on it and it'll be ready to attach. It looks good though, no pics or vid unfortunately.
I've always wondered how those two parts seal tightly. I know you wrap it around the molded part and glue it into place. I assume you cover it with several layers of mat/resin. Doesn't that added thickness mess with how the mold fits to the car? Do you only put one or two thin layers on the outside and put several more inside?Bad news is I have 2 massive air leaks between the fleece and the mold itself...
I was going to say looking at the picture that you should do a few layers where the fleece meets the mold from the inside. With that sharp of a transition you are bound to have leaks, but I guess you found that out. Yes, it would be a good idea to do the same on the backside of the ring to fleece transition as well. And yes it is a pain to do it but it gives you a double layer at a easy failure point. The learning curve for glassing is pretty steep but once you get there it gets a lot easier.
That was actually similar to my plan of attack. I was going to glass the entire inside rim around the fleece and try to figure out how to do the outside bottom. I also thought about maybe glueing some fleece or deadener inside as an added insulation to help with the leaks. I haven't gotten around to trimming the edges yet when I did the test fit so it sat out a few inches too far, but one thing I DID figure out is that this thing isn't going to keep itself in place. It kept trying to roll towards the weight of the sub. I'll definitely have to put in some work securing it. For now I'm taking a break from it, I threw so much of my time into it I just got burnt out for now. I'll probably start again later this week because I really want to finish it. If I don't like it when I finish it, I'll probably try to sell it, so any of you that may want one without having to put all the work into making one, keep your eyes peeled.
21 - 30 of 30 Posts
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