Designsbyme

I have big plans for a big system and I need to make some custom door panels and speaker enclosures. I’m thinking I want to make them with fiberglass. I have searched the net and I have searched yotatech and I haven’t found much on the subject. Here is what I have found.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/296763/7

http://www.carstereo.com/help/panels.cfm

http://www.geocities.com/indamony_2000/

My question to you guys is, have any of you ever done something like this?
What materials did you use?
Where can I get some fiberglass?
The only place I have seen is http://www.eastwood.com
And if you have any suggestions it would be great.

I plan on having two 12”s in the rear two 8”s in the front along with two sets of component speakers in the doors.

bamachem

You can get fiberglass kits at wal-mart...

keisur

DBM thanks for those sites. I've been trying to figure something out for my sub for months.

bamachem

I'm eventually going to glass my sub into the storage compartment, but that takes some serious time - a luxury i don't have much of at the moment...

ruizs

Here's some good how-to stuff:
http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/

I did some custom kick panels a while back. I have plans to do a new set of kicks (so they come out better than my first attempt) and a sub enclosure in the rear cargo bin. Make sure you take a lot of pics

Bob_98SR5

guys,

i've dabbled in fiberglassing and its not as bad as i thought. its actually quite fun.

my next project in the next few months (after home renovations) is to fiberglass a custom sub enclosure that will fit inside an empty space in the rear cargo area---behind the panel. 4RUNR sent me pics and it looks great, though i'm not sure if he added fiberglass in the back as an enclosure. anyways, he says it sounds great and i think it looks great because it is so stealthy. also i'll probably use MDF instead of steel.

here are some links that I dug up in my research. the first one is a really basic, easy to understand tutorial. his technique is less than perfect but his methodology is corrrect:

http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main He recently updated his site...looks much better

And this is one of the better tutorials w/ pics that explains how to build kick panels. The concept can be applied to make anything fiberglass:

http://forums.caraudio.com/vb/showthread.hphp?t=38665

i know that brucets is really good at fiberglass and i know cebby built stuff back in the days too. hopefully they will chime in.

lastly, BUY GOOD RESPIRATOR EQUIPMENT. don't try to buy a cheapy paper mask and think you can get away with it. read my respirator page at http://www.4runners.org/articles/3m And I highly endorse Envirosafetyproducts.com. The owner, Peggy, is a great business person and nice too.

bob

Designsbyme

This link does not work.

Designsbyme

NICE!

stoutshady

I'm actually working on some custom door panels for my 97 Runner. I used a T-shirt, fiberglass resin, fiberglass mat, MDF rings, Bondo Body Filler (with Fiberglass), and a bunch of sandpaper. It's turning out pretty good. I can post pics when I get home tonight...

Designsbyme

That would be awesome! I'd love to see some pics of other peoples work!

keisur

I've got plenty of that, haha.


I'm pretty good with it. I use it to fix my windsurfer when the wind gets to high and get launched and the mast and boom slam into the tip and crack it.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

I see you have a 2nd gen, have you seen my stereo page?
It's in my sig file, and I have a link on there to the custom enclosures in my front doors.


<--- Clicky both

They were in the rig when I bought it, and they house a deep 6.5" component (all you need for mid bass, mids, and highs) set of Infinity References.

The bass is taken care of by a 15" JL Audio W6 in the rear.

ruizs

Also, you might want to invest in some better fiberglass products than the walmart crap. Its overpriced and bad quality.

You can't go wrong with this stuff, I'd recommend the 60 minute resin, so you have time to learn the technique, and not rush stuff and get bubbles like I did:
www.fiberglast.com

Cebby

This site has a lot of good stuff.

http://www.selectproducts.com/frames.html

Designsbyme

NICE! That's awesome! They have everything!

Cebby

Even catchy music...

keisur

The music I had to find the "on/off" button real fast!

Is there any place I can get the "good" fiberglass crap locally or does it have to be ordered. reason is that since I have no job my days are free and I'd like to start this tomorrow. I'm not very patient.

bamachem

You're not going to notice the difference in the "good stuff" and the wally-world stuff unless you're using it for STRENGTH. In this case, you're not, you're using it for looks and form. You will NEVER know the difference and you'll save some money. Fiberglass resin cures faster in warm weather, so learn what you're doing in your garage at night so you will have more time. I've patched several boats through the years, and recently patched a hole in my parent's $100k motorhome - all using resin and cloth from wally-world. I'll post some pics of the motorhome repair when I find them. You can't tell it was ever damaged after I gelcoated it then painted it to match...

stoutshady

Just go to Home Depot and get the stuff they have. That's what I've been using and the stuff works fine. It should be on the aisle with all the glue stuff.

keisur

that's what I use on my windsurf boards but I got the idea from the dude above that there was a difference. As far as strength, I have never re-broken a board that I repaired with the Home Depot or Walmart stuff so I can say from experiece that it is pretty strong.

I won't be concernced about looks either since it will be covered up.