cosmetic fiberglassing

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=90542
Printed Date: May 01, 2024 at 10:33 PM

Topic: cosmetic fiberglassing

Posted By: allmet33
Subject: cosmetic fiberglassing
Date Posted: February 16, 2007 at 9:43 AM

I'm getting ready to do my first fiberglass enclosure. Well, really the sub will be in a sealed cube made of MDF, but...that will be encased in a unit that will also be an amp rack as well.

I know when you build a sub enclosure using fiberglass, you do the resin, then fiberglass sheet/mat to strengthen it to withstand the pressures that the sub will place upon it. However...if the fiberglassing is purely cosmetic, can you just do the resin and bondo???

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'06 Hyundai Azera - Pioneer FH-P4200MP / Factory center channel & tweeters / Infinity Kappa 62.7i's; all 4 doors, 2 Phoenix Gold Xenon 10D2 10" subs pushed w/Phoenix Gold Xenon 600.1 amp

Replies:

Posted By: Velocity Motors
Date Posted: February 16, 2007 at 9:58 AM

I think you have a misconception of what fiberglass is. The resin is the liquid mixture that you add to matting to make fiberglass. If you want to make a cover for the enclosure you will still need the resin & matting as your base shape and then you will need to apply the body filler to smooth out the initial shape that you made with the fiberglass. You can go here to my fiberglassing post for a better idea on how to make the cover.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

Posted By: allmet33
Date Posted: February 16, 2007 at 10:07 AM

Jeff,

Thanks for the quick response. I do have an understanding of fiberglassing that is why I asked the question I did. Without adding the matting, the resin still becomes rigid on it's own, correct?

I guess you could say I'm making a cover because in the end, the cube that the sub will be in will be totally hidden. Since what I'll be doing won't have any structural bearing...could I get away with applying resin to the fleece (a couple layers) and then going over it with bondo, or...should I apply at least one layer of matting???

Really...it's just for giving the entire enclosure it's overall shape the base will be MDF and the top plate will also be MDF. There will be no weight put down on it, nor any outward pressure from the sub.

Hope you don't think I'm an idiot or anything, just want to make sure before I delve into this project as I plan on this being my last sub enclosure build for my car for a long, long time.

Mike

Posted By: ricoshay
Date Posted: February 16, 2007 at 10:39 AM

the resin wil be brittle and may crack without glass. go ahead an fab it up first. then test the strength. if not strong enough, use fg cloth. it will help and be quick.

Posted By: allmet33
Date Posted: February 16, 2007 at 10:41 AM

THAT...is what I was lookin for. Thanks, based on that, I'll just go ahead and put a layer of fiberglass mat on and then bondo. That way, I shouldn't have any problems.

Thanks for the input.

Posted By: CTOH
Date Posted: February 17, 2007 at 9:01 AM

You can mix the resin with cabosil to give it added strength, you weren't mentioning fleece in your first post is what threw off Jeff. It is a basic rule of thumb to at least use a layer of mat, it doesn't take that long and down the road you'll regret it if you don't. You'll probably see some cracks then you're back to square one.