It's damn strong when applied in multiple layers. (Adding layers is the key) The smooth sheet fiberglass is easy to work with but not nearly as strong as the chopped fiberglass sheets. I usually try to combine the 2 kinds if possible. On large flat parts that flex I add some of the chopped glass and it hardens up really well.cvcc said:
My Fiberglassed center console EG6.
- Thread starter mastertee31
- Start date
Day 8:mastertee31 said:Day 7:
Finished glassing the other speaker pod and started working on my amp rack. I skipped a couple of progress pictures, but it was basicly and idea in my head that I drew out on a sheet of MDF and attacked with a jigsaw. (Geometry played a huge part in this) Below are some pictures of the rack with the speaker grill cloth stretched over and a quick mockup to make sure everything is nice and straight so far. (Should be ready to glass tomorrow night)
Ok, so I decided to scrap this design for one simple reason. It sounded terrible. This amp rack was supposed to sit aprox. 3" over my upward firing 12" sub. I heard that bass was not directional hence the covered sub design. I ran a test track with the mockup amp rack sitting on top of the sub and it sounded considerably more muffled compared to without. So as much as I liked the clean design I scrapped the amp rack and started on another style. Turns out my old man is a genious, and saved me all sorts of time and weight by suggesting I build my 2 8" midbass boxes out of contracters "Sonotubes" instead of MDF. (Sonotubes are the cardboard tubes they poor cement into for posts and whatnot) I was skeptical at first since these things were made of paper, but I was quite surprised at how strong they already were. So I cut 2 8" tubes aprox. 25" each, and traced the inside of the tube onto a sheet of MDF. I then cut out these circles with a jigsaw and screwed them into the base of each tube from the sides, and siliconed them shut from the inside. I knew my enclosures needed to be 0.25 cubic feet each, including the driver displacement, so I googled a volume calculator to give me the equivalent of 0.25 cubic feet in liters (Which is 17 liters). I then put a garbage bag inside my tube to protect the carboard, and proceeded to fill it to 17 liters with empty 2L pepsi bottles filled with H2o. Once filled I marked a line and cut them to appropriate length. Perfect dimensions and it's a cylinder! I then cutout a ring of MDF to act as a collar/baffle for the sub and hot glued it in place. As strong as this design was, it was not strong enough yet... I painted a thin layer of resin inside the tubes to harden them up and glued down a small amount of "Polyfill" (Stuff they put in some pillows) on the bottom of the tube to cancel some of the standing waves. I then Fiberglassed 3 layers around my entire tubes along with 1 layer of chopped glass. (They are now bomb-proof and weigh a fraction of the weight than if I had built them out of MDF)
Below I skipped a few progress pictures but you can see the whole trunk setup coming into play. The 12" will be in the center of the whole setup, and best of all everything is removeable if needed! More Pics to come.
good s**t. im loving it!
agreed^^^^
nice work!!!
nice work!!!
Day 9 & 10:
Got her glassed and soundproofed completely, underneath with 2 layers of eDead. I put a layer of resin on everything inside and out for strength along with hardwood braces for the 12" sub box. I've already started with the bondo and sanding. I figure a couple more thin layers of bondo and it should be ready for paint. (I recently purchased an electric orbital sander... best purchase ever, cut my sanding time down to half) I'll keep up with updates...
Got her glassed and soundproofed completely, underneath with 2 layers of eDead. I put a layer of resin on everything inside and out for strength along with hardwood braces for the 12" sub box. I've already started with the bondo and sanding. I figure a couple more thin layers of bondo and it should be ready for paint. (I recently purchased an electric orbital sander... best purchase ever, cut my sanding time down to half) I'll keep up with updates...
very interesting looking
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looking good man. cant wait to see it finished.
Hummm... I'm just guesstimating in terms of price now because I can't remember. (Shouldn't be that far off though)snoob said:how much did it cost you to do the center console, i'd love to do a good center console extension like the jdm one with some fiberglass, a materials list would be cool
Canadian tire items:
1 small package of sheet fiberglass = 30$ (The smallest they had was 3 square meters)
1 small can of resin = 15$
1 gallon of bondo = 30$
1 small tube of glazing/spot putty = 5$
1 can of high build primer = 7$
1 can of tremclad hammered metal finish paint = 7$
10 balsa sticks from a hobbyshop = 2.50$ (25cents each)
9 feet of speaker grill cloth from a similar store to radioshack (9 Feet is the smallest length they would sell) = 20$
Total = 116.50$ + tax CAN.$(I'm assuming you already have sandpaper and a glue gun with glue)
It's expensive, yes I know... but I was already planning on doing a lot more Fiber Glass work on the rest of my stuff so I can justify the expense. Keep in mind that if you tried this yourself for just the center console you will have a lot of leftover material and will not nearly need as much as I had bought. I've heard of people in my area paying upwards of 2000$ for a fully glassed trunk like mine. (My materials for my trunk and everything else cost me aprox. 300$ tax in) Even with all the time I've invested there is still a huge profit on 2000$. Make no mistake THIS IS A VERY TIME CONSUMING PROJECT because of drying times.
note: When applying bondo learn what is too much and what is too little. Applying too little will mean sanding, applying more, sanding, applying more, all with a 45 minute drying time in between. Applying too much will cause more work for you because you will now have too sand more. (This is a long process even with 40 grit sandpaper, unless you have an orbital sander)
real nice man, I've always wanted a center console in my civic
excellent excellent work... thats real talent....
however im not feeling the way it looks in the car..
however im not feeling the way it looks in the car..
It takes 2 people to move it, not because it's heavy but more because it's akward and large to move around. I designed it so that it can be completely removeable in case I absolutely need my trunk one day. It basicly just fits by dropping it in. It's semi suspended by the board around it, and the boxe's backplate makes contact with the bottom of the spare tire well. I actually have the entire trunk setup finished and painted but I need to finish my rear speaker pods before I can drop it in. I also decided that my car was not dead enough, so I bought another 150sq feet of eDead and am now doing all the interior plastic panels. ETA for the trunk installed, pods installed, soundproofing, and wiring including the big 3 should be the end of this week or the beginning of next week. The only thing left to do is finish up the center console and glass the front speaker pods for the 3-way set. I'm anxious to hear wether or not CDT audio is really high end as it claims...Gonzo said:
that is some nice work allthough im not feeling the sounds system Light FTW lol but sick ass work dude
Dude that is some sick paint on your car! Do you mind me asking the color and the color code? (I've been stock piling color codes for when I'm ready for paint)kangaroo said: