Ongoing Custom Fiberglass Box Project

DesertTitan · 10-19-2004, 09:08 PM

Here are some pics of my ongoing project. I set out to build a fiberglass/MDF sub enclosure to fit under the rear seats in my Titan CC. My only experience with fiberglass in the past has been repairing surfboards and that was a long time ago. But I wanted to make a box that fit snug under the seats and had as much air volume as possible and after doing some research on some car stereo web sites I decided that fiberglass was a good option.

First I made the front and sides of the box out of MDF. The front panel was cut with a jigsaw to fit snug over the tranny hump. Then I decided to use MDF for the flat portions of the bottom so I didn't have to use as much fiberglass. I screwed all these pieces together with L-brackets and glued them using liquid nail. The pics attached show the basic wood framework.

I also wanted to chamfer the corners since that is how the seat is formed and I did this by stapling fleece across the gap between the MDF and coating it with resin. After it cured I added a couple of plies of fiberglass weave for strength. I could have made the corners out of wood, but I wanted to practice with the fiberglass a little before pouring it into my truck (see next post).

smoketitan · 10-19-2004, 09:12 PM

very very nice, which way are they going to fire??

DesertTitan · 10-19-2004, 09:33 PM

Next I bought a jumbo roll of red duck tape and went to work taping the area under the rear seats where I wanted to fiberglass. According to what I read, fiberglass would be fairly easy to peel off the tape, but I had never tried it so I was a little nervous. The tape didn't stick to the carpet very well, but it sticks to itself very well so once I had enough laid down it formed to the shape pretty well. I taped in 2 directions which helped it retain the shape over the curved areas of the floor.

Also, I wanted to glass it to the box at the same time so I positioned the MDF portion of the box that I showed in the last post where I wanted it to be. Then I started cutting pieces of fiberglass cloth and mat to the approximate shapes that were left. Next I mixed up some resin and started laying in the fiberglass pieces. I found that I could only use about 8 ounces of resin at a time before it started to gel so I just worked on small sections, overlapping the seams as I went.

After about 2-3 plies I decided it was strong enough to remove from the truck. So I started peeling it up from the tape and it came up pretty easy, which was a HUGE relief! The last picture shows after I removed it from the truck. After I removed the tape I did a fit check with the box in the truck, perfect fit!

Next I added more fiberglass to the inside to make it strong enough. I reinforced the areas where the fiberglass interfaces with the MDF. After it was pretty stiff and strong I trimmed the edge of the glass and made a divider down the middle out of MDF. That is pretty much where I am at this point. This weekend I am going to finish up the back wall of the box. I think I have an idea how I'll do this but it's hard to explain so I'll just take pictures this weekend. After that I'll make the sub mounting rings out of MDF and position them using dowel and then fleece and fiberglass over the top. Eventually I will add at least a gel coat to the entire outer surface, sand, bondo, sand, sand, sand, and plan to take it to a body shop and have them spray it the same color as my truck. It will still take a while, but gives me time to save up money for the rest of the system.

More pics in the coming weeks...

DesertTitan · 10-19-2004, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoketitan

very very nice, which way are they going to fire??

Thanks, they are going to fire up. I thought a lot about that and finally decided on firing up so that I could raise the seats and be able to see (and more importantly show off) the subs.

lizardking · 10-19-2004, 10:16 PM

Looking good!

smoketitan · 10-19-2004, 10:58 PM

wow thats nice want to make me one-lol!!

bestatchess · 10-20-2004, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoketitan

wow thats nice want to make me one-lol!!

Funny, based on how long things have been taking me, I was thinking "Wow, that's nice, makes me want to buy one."

lizardking · 10-20-2004, 12:46 AM

Curious, what subs you putting in that?

WazzuCoug · 10-20-2004, 09:48 AM

That is great work. Very impressed so far, what are your plans for the rest of the system?

DesertTitan · 10-20-2004, 10:09 AM

Thanks for the replies and encouragement. It is definitely taking a while (2 full weekends so far) but I'm in no hurry. It is actually a nice challenge to try something new and it has been rewarding so far. After it is finished, depending on how well it turns out, I might be up for making more of them if anyone near Phoenix is interested (It will probably weigh a ton so shipping might not be a good idea).

I plan to put two Audiobahn 12" ALUM12Q subs in the box. They handle 1000 RMS I think and I've heard they sound great. I've got a Hifonics Brutus BX1500D to power them. The subs are dual VC 6 ohm so with everything in parallel I should have the amp running at 1.5 ohms and putting out around 1200 watts max. Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I should go add a few more plies to the box!

For the rest of the system I am going to get an Alpine IVA D901 HU, Infinity components for the f and r doors powered by a Hifonics 6400 (85 w/channel), and eventually an XM receiver, Alpine CD changer, and 2 7" headrest monitors. I have a lot of money to save up! I'll post pics as I start getting stuff installed.

smoketitan · 10-20-2004, 10:34 AM

man if you want to make some money out of it--count me in as Ill pay the money to save me some time with two kiddies and all --I want to glass so bad, but I just dont think Ill have the time without wifey going stir crazy-

DesertTitan · 10-20-2004, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoketitan

man if you want to make some money out of it--count me in as Ill pay the money to save me some time with two kiddies and all --I want to glass so bad, but I just dont think Ill have the time without wifey going stir crazy-

Yeah it definitely takes time. I think the sanding part, which I haven't really even started yet, will take the most time. But I've got plenty of time right now since my gf and I broke up so it has actually been good therapy! Too bad for her, she won't get to ride around in my thumpin truck when it's done! ha ha

I'll have to see what it ends up costing me in the end in materials. If I start doing more of this stuff I definitely need to find a cheaper source for fiberglass supplies.

smoketitan · 10-20-2004, 01:18 PM

hey Im sorry about the girlfriend issue!!, and yeah it does suck for her as my wifey loves the titan abnd how he can crawl around in it like a van or something

but if you have time the time let me know and all I would really need is that bottom surround that you have in the last picture shipped to me,and I can do the rest.

Ima little too scary to do the glass in the rear of my truck with the smelland all as I have to kids in the rear--id be willing to pay for materials and shipping---I can do all the rest of the wood/sanding, and fiberglass myself. IM in CA so it shouldnt be that much by fedex ground

and fyi for two twelves/1200 watts I would make sure you go at least 6-9 layers on the mat. you should be able to sand on the enclosure without it flexing

Hawaiianbasshead · 10-21-2004, 02:49 AM

that looks more like particle board than MDF to me...

I can see little grains in the last pic... yeah sanding is the pita I gave up on the last glass boxes for my frontier and just ran wood lol.

EDIT: on a side note I bought a new Hifonics 90x2 rms@4ohm amp and its not very impressive at all along with a 450x1@1ohm rms class D both are the warrior series (only amp that'd fit under the frontier seats) the class d is allright because I can use the bass boost to make up for the lack of power but the gains on both are about 7/8's and I have a 4v deck and the amps only go up to 2v according to the input sensitivity. I have a us amps 25x2 4ohms amp thats about as loud as the 90x2. and a planet audio amp 55x2 or something was also louder. I liked old hifonics stuff but the new maxxsonics stuff is crap imo. If I can find other stuff to fit I'll definetly go for it.

I've owned older hifonics amps, older/newer RF, Kicker, orion, autotek, lanzar, planet audio, lightning audio strike series, even MA audio. I can install decent so it isn't that, I've pulled amps to direct swap still the Hifonics seem pretty powerless. But I needed something small physically so they're still installed.