My fibreglass sub box build

[TomF]

Im having a go at making a custom sub box that is going to be moulded to the shape of the boot side so that it wont take up much space. Using fibreglass to create the back of the box then will use 18mm mdf to make the sides, top and front.

First step was to mask up the boot side so that the fibreglass wont stick to the plastic trim and become one piece :lol: Not using my car to do this as its very messy and the resin stinks, so TurboChris has kindly let me use the mk3 he`s breaking at the mo.

Stage 1 masked up and ready for gelcoat:



Stage 2

This was to apply a layer of gelcoat so that the resin and glass mat have something to stick to.

It also means that if this project works out, then I can take a mould off it and will be able to make more should anyone be interested

Gelcoat layer on:



After that had gone off it was time to cut the fibreglass matt into pieces in order to fit them in place, like so:



Next it was time to glove up and get high on resin fumes lmao



Then I laid up 3 layers of matting and let it go off which hopefully it will if Ive mixed the resin right lmao



More tomorow

[scottc_2008]

Nice work there mate!

[timc20xe]

doing a good job so far mate

[scotty GSI]

good work, was sure there was a company that used to do these years ago? , were very expensive though!

[TomF]

The resin has setup so got the mould out, its not quite turned out aswell as I was hoping. With the car being outside, rain water has managed to get in and under the masking tape causing the resin to not fully cure. So it means that I may not be able to make another mould of this one :redface:

Anyways :




Next step is to trim it down and go shopping for some mdf.

Bit more done today, first off started trimming the mould down bit by bit untill it fitted how I wanted, As you can see Ive taken a fair bit off from how it started out !




Then it was onto making the box sides out of 18mm MDF:




I cut the MDF as close as I could to the shape of the mould then screwed them in place. I will be fibreglassing them in properly to fill in all the gaps and seal the box.




More soon...

[beeson1987]

good work, a tip for incase the fibreglass rattles with tha bass is to get cotton wool on a roll and put it in the box to deaden it.

[NOVADOSE17]

Well impressed so far with this.

Might give this a go myself one day.

[TomF]

More progress

Ive gone with an 10" Alpine sub which hopefully should be with me by the end of the week

Alpine-Subwoofers-SWS-1043D

More progress, the sides and top are now fibreglassed up and sealed air tight:





Next was to make this front panel as I found it would be very tricky for me to fibreglass the back of the panel through a 10" hole lmao

So I came up with the idea of adding this 18mm panel which will be fibreglassed all the way round from behind. Then another 18mm panel will be glued on top of this one for the sub to be mounted too if that makes sense??

[beeson1987]

wont u have to screw the front panel on too rather thean just glueing it?

[NOVADOSE17]

Yeah i'd screw it on too, looks really good, well impressed!

[TomF]

Oh it will be screwed on aswell dont worry

[c20letian]

looking good.

[TomF]

More progress

Worked out a way of securing the box to the car without drilling extra holes and making it easy to remove. I took the plastic trim panel off and enlarged 4 of the existing for the trim fixing clips. Then I installed M6 Rivnuts/nutserts, which are basically a rivet but with a thread, so I can simply undo 4 bolts after taking the sub out and the box can be removed:

Exsiting holes in the red circles:



Rivnuts fitted:




View through the existing hole:



And seen from inside the box, 4 M6 allen head bolts making it very secure!



Once that was done I started on making the front panel, I used some 3mm mdf to make a template then transfered it to a 15mm sheet:




Worked out that it would have to made be in two pieces so that it would make it easier to get the box in and out and also to clear the rear strut brace that I have planned. So the end triangle bit is separate from the main bit and will be screwed in from the back, all hidden behind the seat.

Once I was happy with the front, I cut an mdf ring so that the sub would be recessed into the panel instead of being sat on top:



And the 95% finished look

Just need to find some carpet to to trim it with and then a suitable amp



Update time, Ive been held up waiting on a bag of T nuts and bolts to arrive that I bought on ebay

For those who dont know what T nuts are, they are a threaded insert that you hammer into the rear of a panel that you want to bolt something to from the front, i.e. a subwoofer :lol:

I chose to use these instead of normal wood screws as I want to able to remove the box and to do that I need to remove the sub and with these being a proper bolt thread they wont get worn out like MDF usually does when you use normal wood screws.

I had to fit them first before fitting the front panel of the box, heres what they look like:



And fitted:



Then front panel glued and screwed on:



And a couple of pics of the back of the box:




It weighs 8kgs as it stands at the moment which I dont think is too bad.

More soon

[Benn]

That's very nice.

[Daz H]

looks smart mate. my step dad did pretty much the same thuing in his vectra estate! i would recommend an alpine v12 amp got one in my car sounds sweet as! looking cool mate just gotta try it out now

[rc]

only just seen this, very impressed great job with all the fibreglassing, molding to the shape of the car ect, top work

[TomF]

Bit more progress




Have come up with this so far for mounting the amps, but its highly likely to change lmao

[Matt-b gsi]

looks the titts mate, well done!

[specks]

much better than my crap attempt in my cav,mind you i never did it that good,i just made a basic box and cut the front to the size and shape,job done.

can you access your rear lights incase a bulb blows etc.

[dazzabhoy]

very smart mate looks as if its always been there

[jayporn]

Really nice job mate, that looks the biz I like the bolts holding it in, always feel a bit nervous driving around with a big box behind that could kill you in a crash.

Fancy giving this a go after you made it look so totally easy lmao Spare wheel would be cool to build one into. Where is a good place to buy the fibre glassing stuff, what does it cost?

[TomF]

much better than my crap attempt in my cav,mind you i never did it that good,i just made a basic box and cut the front to the size and shape,job done.

can you access your rear lights incase a bulb blows etc.

Cheers, only way I can get to the bulbs is to take the box out, but its no big deal

Really nice job mate, that looks the biz I like the bolts holding it in, always feel a bit nervous driving around with a big box behind that could kill you in a crash.

Fancy giving this a go after you made it look so totally easy lmao Spare wheel would be cool to build one into. Where is a good place to buy the fibre glassing stuff, what does it cost?

Thanks mate, its not going anywhere bolted in like that !

I got the fibreglass stuff from glasplies : Glasplies

It cost me £40 for the what I needed to use

[bagpuss69]

kool m8 well done give your self a big pat on the back

[Collateral]

That looks really good mate, but one small problem... you have not made any holes for any wires to come out from?.........

Looks really good tho, thats the kind of thing i need in my boot, any chance you would do it for other cars and sell them

[TomF]

kool m8 well done give your self a big pat on the back

Thanks mate !

That looks really good mate, but one small problem... you have not made any holes for any wires to come out from?.........

Looks really good tho, thats the kind of thing i need in my boot, any chance you would do it for other cars and sell them

Cheers mate, you havent spotted the neutrik spekon connector on the front