how hard is it to do fiberglass

How hard is it to do fiberglass yourself and how do you do it. I want to make a box for 1 12 in the drivers side stealth box thats 1 cubic foot. Any help would be great.

I'm doing the same thing. I ordered a JL audio 10W6 sub and need a fiberglass enclosure for the driver's rear corner. Subthump.com has them on back order. They also make a cheaper one which I don't want with an expensive sub. Any car audio place can install one for big bucks. I'm replacing the whole Monsoon system with JL audio speakers and amps all around with an Alpine IVA-D900 multi-media center too. I'll have a home theater in the hawk. :D

how much airspace do you need for it wouldnt a normal mdf stealth box work or is it too small.

I don't think it's nearly as hard as many people make it out to be. The hardest part is sanding and painting. Trying to get that ultra smooth clear wet look. But if you plan on making a stealth box, chances are the face will be MDF and just the rear portion will be fiberglass, correct? If so, that eliminates all the sanding and painting! For supplies, check the phone book under fiberglass supply stores. You just might have one in your area. If not, check your local boat repair shops. If still nothing, Home Depot carries Evercoat brand resin. Which is still decent. If all else fails, your local auto parts store will probably carry Bondo brand resin. Use this only as a last resort. Do a search on the boards for a walkthrough. lemme know if you have any more questions.

Yeah i dont need any of that nice looking finish but is all fiberglass the same i thought they used specific ones for stereos.

Originally posted by zuluman13
Yeah i dont need any of that nice looking finish but is all fiberglass the same i thought they used specific ones for stereos. All "fiberglass" is the same. But how it is woven is the difference. There are two basic types. Mat and cloth. A chopped mat is basically just a whole bunch of fiberglass treads smashed together. When you cut and bend it, you'll see. It falls apart and gets all over your gloves. However, it soaks up a cr@p load of resin compared to cloth. A necessity for an air tight enclosure. Mat is sold in different weights. Get the heaviest you can afford. Cloth is long fiberglass threads that have been woven together just like any other piece of fabric. Stronger then mat. Cloth is also sold in different weights as well. Again, best you can afford. Also, it can be woven with a kevlar type material. It's called Kyntex I believe. 1708 I think? Ultra strong but pricey. You will need to use both mat and cloth to make a strong air tight box.

Also, if you can't find a fiberglass supply store in your area and you are willing to wait a bit..... I'd just buy my supplies on-line.

Found this (http://www.fbodyaudio.com/articleviewer.php?article=stealthbox.tech) link for ya!

Originally posted by firebirdude
All "fiberglass" is the same.
You will need to use both mat and cloth to make a strong air tight box.
I'd just buy my supplies on-line.

i kind of disagree with these 3 statments, mostly theres just some more i want to add to them too.

A- there are 2 types of fiberglass you can buy Resin and kittyhair, resin is ususlly clear and you use mat with it. Kittyhair you dont need the matting (the hairs are already mixed in) and isnt too good for starting a box but good for making your partly built (resin and matting) box thicker and stronger.

B- I beleive if you have 4 layers of cloth it would be stronger then 2 layers of matting and 2 layers of cloth. BUT the half and half idea isnt too bad as mutiple layers is still strong enoght for any sub and going half matting would be cheaper i think.

C- Buying little stuff online wouldnt benifet shiping a heavy gal. of resin would prob cost at least half of what you payed for it. You got to have a hardware store or something that sells gl or pints of clear resin,,buy an extra tube of hardener too. I got mine pretty cheap at canadian tire stores here,,,,,not sure but places like lowes and home depot should have ALL you need.

heres my step by step of my box...i know its not the same thing your doing but it can give you some ideas.
But everyones right it isnt that hard at all if your handy,,,but it can be messy and youll need a resporator,,,this stuff causes brain damage.
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/186985/5
good luck for any of you trying it..it can be lots of fun. And cheaper then a built one.

Originally posted by jcurrieirocz
A- there are 2 types of fiberglass you can buy Resin and kittyhair, resin is ususlly clear and you use mat with it. Kittyhair you dont need the matting (the hairs are already mixed in) and isnt too good for starting a box but good for making your partly built (resin and matting) box thicker and stronger. First, resin is not fiberglass. It's just the "glue" that holds your fiberglass together. Kittyhair does indeed have fiberglass in it. It is commonly used for body work. Good stuff but not necessary for this project. And I don't believe I've ever seen perfectly clear resin. The epoxy resin I get from my local supply store is slightly clear and blue in color..... that is until it gets a little old. Then it starts to turn brown. Usually, by the time you get to the stuff from Home Depot, it's brown.
Originally posted by jcurrieirocz
B- I beleive if you have 4 layers of cloth it would be stronger then 2 layers of matting and 2 layers of cloth. BUT the half and half idea isnt too bad as mutiple layers is still strong enoght for any sub and going half matting would be cheaper i think. 4 layer of cloth would indeed be stronger then 2 layers of each. But it is SOOO much easier to get an airtight seal using 2 and 2. Mat soaks up twice as much resin as cloth. Try it yourself. Lay a couple of layers of cloth and then fill er' with water. Bet you'll be leaking like a sieve. Been there done that.
Originally posted by jcurrieirocz
C- Buying little stuff online wouldnt benifet shiping a heavy gal. of resin would prob cost at least half of what you payed for it. You got to have a hardware store or something that sells gl or pints of clear resin,,buy an extra tube of hardener too. I got mine pretty cheap at canadian tire stores here,,,,,not sure but places like lowes and home depot should have ALL you need.
If he only had Bondo brand fiberglass/resin, I'd buy the good stuff online. Check out http://www.uscomposites.com/ shipping is reasonable. And my local Home Depot doesn't carry fiberglass rollers. Not necessary, but a very nice tool to have......however I don't see him rolling too much in the drivers side cubby.:)

Originally posted by firebirdude
First, resin is not fiberglass. It's just the "glue" that holds your fiberglass together. Kittyhair does indeed have fiberglass in it. It is commonly used for body work. Good stuff but not necessary for this project. And I don't believe I've ever seen perfectly clear resin. The epoxy resin I get from my local supply store is slightly clear and blue in color..... that is until it gets a little old. Then it starts to turn brown. Usually, by the time you get to the stuff from Home Depot, it's brown.
I know what resin is!!!! I should of worded it like this then,,,, you got fiberglass matting w/ resin and then you got the kittyhair type fiberglass.....witch can be bought if a person dosnt look at the label close enoght. And yes then they are both tech called fiberglass. Also epoxy resin and fiberglass resin are not the same thing...i was talking about fiberglass resin.

Originally posted by firebirdude
4 layer of cloth would indeed be stronger then 2 layers of each. But it is SOOO much easier to get an airtight seal using 2 and 2. Mat soaks up twice as much resin as cloth. Try it yourself. Lay a couple of layers of cloth and then fill er' with water. Bet you'll be leaking like a sieve. Been there done that.

What are you taking about water leaking thru matting of cource it will if theres no resin on it. If you mean cause even with resin on it it leaks then you add more resin. My box contains no matting at all,,,it doesnt have any leaks,,,,you just have to put a few extra coats of resin over the cloth,eather way youll use the same amount of resin.

Originally posted by firebirdude
If he only had Bondo brand fiberglass/resin, I'd buy the good stuff online. Check out http://www.uscomposites.com/ shipping is reasonable. And my local Home Depot doesn't carry fiberglass rollers. Not necessary, but a very nice tool to have......however I don't see him rolling too much in the drivers side cubby.:)
Ive never used the bondo stuff so i cant comment. But i used motomaster clear resin....its cheap and works just as good as other kinds. And yes i know its not perfectly clear....that depends on if you use too much hardner or have too much air bubles in the resin before it dryes. Regardless it dont matter about the color it woundnt be seen anyhow.

Originally posted by jcurrieirocz
i kind of disagree with these 3 statments, mostly theres just some more i want to add to them too.

A- there are 2 types of fiberglass you can buy Resin and kittyhair, resin is ususlly clear and you use mat with it. Kittyhair you dont need the matting (the hairs are already mixed in) and isnt too good for starting a box but good for making your partly built (resin and matting) box thicker and stronger.

B- I beleive if you have 4 layers of cloth it would be stronger then 2 layers of matting and 2 layers of cloth. BUT the half and half idea isnt too bad as mutiple layers is still strong enoght for any sub and going half matting would be cheaper i think.

C- Buying little stuff online wouldnt benifet shiping a heavy gal. of resin would prob cost at least half of what you payed for it. You got to have a hardware store or something that sells gl or pints of clear resin,,buy an extra tube of hardener too. I got mine pretty cheap at canadian tire stores here,,,,,not sure but places like lowes and home depot should have ALL you need.


To respond to your statements:

A: Isn't kittyhair like a bondo with fiberglass put into to make it like a strong bondo? If so, it would be better to use mat or cloth to make things stronger.

B: Keep in mind with fiberglass there is how strong something is and then there is how stiff it's going to be. Mat generally has more stiffness to it while cloth has more stength so it comparing the two.

Think of like a magazine, if you try to tear it it's very strong but how stiff is it? (that would be like the cloth)

For speakers boxes though you can get away with both. I mean, most people aren't following the 70% fiber to 30% resin ratio to begin with so it's not like everything is optimum either. There are people out there that you see on the net get away with some pretty shady ways of doing it and it still turns out okay so there are rules and some that people cheat and are still okay.

C: I prefer, if you are going to use polyester resin, to use US Composites Polyester Resin (http://www.uscomposites.com) for it's just a lot easier to work with than that of the Lowes or Home Depot resin's I've used. The US Composites resin flows a lot better and it also seems to do a better job of breaking up the binders in the mat and make the mat get nice and workable quicker and soaks in quicker. It's like $17 to $19 a gallon and I don't think shipping is all that much on it but I've normally bought bigger shipments so I don't know for sure how much it would cost to ship just a gallon or so.