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Paint or Carpet?


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donnie5336 
Copper - Posts: 52
Copper spacespace
Joined: July 27, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 4:52 AM / IP Logged  

Which is easier to get a good clean look out of on a custom FG box.. paint or carpet?? I tried carpeting a MDF box I made a couple of years ago (i was teaching myself as i went, though), and it didnt turn out great.. it was ok.. i couldnt get the carpet to pull very tight and the adhesive didnt stick very well, i dont know if it was cheap or what but it didnt stick good.  Anyhoo... I like the look of good glossy paint on custom boxes, but I heard that if you want to paint a fiberglass box you need to gel-coat it or something?  What kind of prep is necessary to paint one and/or whats the best way to get carpet good and tight on odd shaped boxes??

Donnie
destin 
Member - Posts: 14
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Joined: June 22, 2004
Location: Canada
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 5:08 AM / IP Logged  

When I did my carpet on my box, WHich turned out pretty good, i had to cut up a bunch of big pieces of carpet and squeeze em real close together against the box, using spray adhesive to attach it. Then I let it dry and used a utility knife to cut off the excess. Made a few mistakes but it was my 1st time anyway. It was very easy and it had a very clean look. 1 hour with drying time was all I neeeded for that. Im gonna try painting soon, but Im sure someone else will fill you in on that before i have a chance.

destin 
Member - Posts: 14
Member spacespace
Joined: June 22, 2004
Location: Canada
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 5:10 AM / IP Logged  
And the stuff you need to make your fiberglass look real good is called spotting and glazing putty, its really cheap and available at most hardware stores. Also high build primer will help out big time.
Mspeed00 
Member - Posts: 5
Member spacespace
Joined: June 19, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 1:56 PM / IP Logged  
What I would recomend is finding some rage gold and then sand it really smooth
Dre
donnie5336 
Copper - Posts: 52
Copper spacespace
Joined: July 27, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 2:36 PM / IP Logged  
what about this gel-coat.. i've seen some FG hood cowls made from it and it is like super smooth and slick.. anybody familiar with it?
Donnie
drvnbysound 
Silver - Posts: 289
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Joined: May 06, 2002
Location: United States
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 3:07 PM / IP Logged  
Gel coating is primarily used when a mold of a shape is used. In the case of a cowl hood, the manufacturer has many molds stocked. Their process beings with coating the mold with a mold release wax, then spraying gel-coat onto the mold, so that it has a very smooth outter layer, then fiberglass resin and matting are applied to over that (which ends up being the inside of the hood. Somewhat difficult to explain without actual pics to explain the process, but I dont know of anyone in car audio that has sprayed the outside of a fiberglassed box, or other various parts, after they are resined, etc..   from the outside.
Coating the fiberglassed box etc, with Rage Gold, Bondo, etc is the most common way then sanding smooth, priming and painting. However, SPRAY BONDO works better :-D Goes on very smooth and even, and sands quickly.
I dont have a lot of time to get on this forum often, so if you have any questions to ask me personally about the process, etc feel free to e-mail me at:
    drvnbysound@aol.com
I do have some tutorial type pics I could show anyone whos interested.
CarAudioHelp 
Copper - Posts: 198
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Joined: July 18, 2003
Location: United States
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 4:02 PM / IP Logged  
If you think carpet was tough, just give paint a try. There's a lot more involved with paint. Carpet is much more forgiving. It really shouldn't be tough to use. My feeling is, if I can get the fleece to stretch over it I better be able to get the carpet over it. Try a better adhesive like a contact cement such as DAP Weldwood.
donnie5336 
Copper - Posts: 52
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Joined: July 27, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 4:34 PM / IP Logged  
is it easier to try to cover as much of it with one piece or wherever theres a trouble spot just juse small pieces pushed up tightly together?  is it easy to hide where you piece the carpet together?
Donnie
auex 
Platinum - Posts: 5,041
Platinum spaceThis member has made a donation to the12volt.com. Click here for more info.spacespace
Joined: December 23, 2002
Location: Arizona, United States
Posted: August 13, 2004 at 10:55 PM / IP Logged  
The more complex the box the harder it is going to be to cover with carpet and even harder with vinyl/leather. As for blending carpet, it takes alot of practice to make it look correctly. I say it really depends on the box and install as to whether to paint or not. Some installs paint just won't look right.
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StlS_Ron 
Copper - Posts: 51
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Joined: July 20, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: August 16, 2004 at 11:27 PM / IP Logged  

I'm by no means a painter but Ive painted quite a few motorcycles and a few car panels.  ALL OF THIS IS IMO so may be a bit off (Im working on my first fg project now).  If you stretch your fabric and fiberglass behind it (Inside the box)  you should be able to knock down the highspots of resin on the cloth with 80-120 grit.  After that spray or have a body shop spray a HIGH BUILD filler on it.  I've had no good resultsfrom rattle can primers.  you can get a gallon of hbp and harder for less than $100.00 and will sand 10x easier than body filler.  You should also (Rember IMO) spray a guide coat on your high build afer you sand the first coat!  

1. Spray Primer

2. Sand

3. Spray Guide Coat

4.  Sand untill the guide coat is gone!    

If youve got severe curves or turns be carefull not to break thru your primer with hand sanding (Its very easy to do!).

Ya my radio sucks.
Oh by the way I cant spell!!!
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