Paint or Carpet?
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Fiberglass, Fabrication, and Interiors
Forum Discription: Fiberglass Kick Panels, Subwoofer Enclosures, Plexiglas, Fabrics, Materials, Finishes, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=37305
Printed Date: April 27, 2024 at 11:32 PM
Topic: Paint or Carpet?
Posted By: donnie5336
Subject: Paint or Carpet?
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 4:52 AM
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
Replies:
Posted By: destin
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 5:08 AM
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.
Posted By: destin
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 5:10 AM
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.
Posted By: Mspeed00
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 1:56 PM
What I would recomend is finding some rage gold and then sand it really smooth
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Dre
Posted By: donnie5336
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 2:36 PM
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?
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Donnie
Posted By: drvnbysound
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 3:07 PM
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.
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Posted By: CarAudioHelp
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 4:02 PM
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.
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Posted By: donnie5336
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 4:34 PM
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?
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Donnie
Posted By: auex
Date Posted: August 13, 2004 at 10:55 PM
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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Certified Security Specialist
Always check info with a digital multimeter.
I promise to be good.
Tell Darwin I sent you.
I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.
Posted By: StlS_Ron
Date Posted: August 16, 2004 at 11:27 PM
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!!!
Posted By: defective
Date Posted: August 17, 2004 at 11:10 AM
you all know what im gonna say...... i almost missed this one. Flock it!!!!!  -------------
Posted By: dxav
Date Posted: August 17, 2004 at 11:53 AM
I was wondering where you were, defective. I was going to leave the same reply!!
Use Flock!!
Posted By: HottAccord
Date Posted: August 17, 2004 at 12:06 PM
drvnbysound wrote:
However, SPRAY BONDO works better :-D Goes on very smooth and even, and sands quickly.
I didn't know they made spray bondo!?!? That Rage Gold stuff sounds good, a lot of people use it...
Posted By: defective
Date Posted: August 17, 2004 at 10:26 PM
alot of people use it 'cause it's used on a very highly publicized website around here......  There are better 'icing' based products -------------
Posted By: CarAudioHelp
Date Posted: August 18, 2004 at 1:50 PM
Rage Gold isn't icing (glaze). Just go to the auto body supplier and tell them what you need. They'll show you what they carry and what will work best for you.
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Posted By: donnie5336
Date Posted: August 23, 2004 at 2:10 PM
what is flock?
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Donnie
Posted By: dxav
Date Posted: August 23, 2004 at 7:09 PM
Do a searh in the fiberglass section of this forum. You will find plenty of info!!
DXAV (the OTHER flock guy!)
Posted By: defective
Date Posted: August 23, 2004 at 11:23 PM
nice to see we have common ground....... we can solve this 'lack of flock' epidemic but we have to educate. Nobody really understands how much work it saves and the fact that it can look stellar when used correctly.
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Posted By: CarAudioHelp
Date Posted: August 24, 2004 at 10:32 AM
This is flock:
Flock link-------------
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