This is my attempt at doing a DIY for a fiberglass project. I can help direct you and show you what to do as far as the fiberglassing goes... but you.. yes YOU! must design it. Make it your own, make it look sick, and most importantly... make it right! I'm not gonna include all the technical mathmatical side of building a box, this is sposed to be about fiberglassing. Maybe I will do a DIY on how to figure out the airspace for your box, how to design ported boxes, etc... but for now thats just too much work! It took me 3 years to pass algebra and I barely understand how to do the math myseld.
First your gonna need somethings, mainly materials, most of the tools needed are wood working and painting tools.
- 1 Sheet of 3/4 MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) Can be found at home depot, lowes, etc...
- Fiberglass Resin, I would recommend getting a good amount of it so you dont have to go back later and buy more, plus its cheaper when you buy bigger quantities. It can be found at most autoparts and hardware stores, I usually go to pep boys or autozone.
- MEKP (Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide) Its in small clear bottles, looks like water almost. Measured by drops, mix ratios usually go about 1-2% MEKP to the Resin. Hotter weather causes quicker curing, cold weather the opposite. Siphon filled MEKP containers work best for consistancy over drop counting becuase you can measure the amounts. Properly mixed resin should have a working time of 15-25 minutes. You will know when it is curing, it gets HOT. I will go into more details when we get there..
- Latex gloves! I cant stress this enough, this stuff sucks to get all over yourself, watch out for resin dripping on arm hairs, leg hairs, etc... ever waxed?
- 1" and 2" Brushes... get the CHEAPO stuff, you want disposable brushes, these are 1, maybe 2 time usage. GET A LOT OF THEM! I bought around 30 brushes for my project and I used all but about 10, your results may vary.
- Drop clothes, plastic sheets to cover the floor, you dont want resin sticking to your floor, it sucks to get up sometimes, just by the plastic mat, its cheap and disposable and makes cleanup a hell of a lot easier since you can just throw everything on the mat and bag it up.
- Drywall screws for building your wooden portion of the box
- Jigsaw
- Reversable cordless drill
- Table Saw (preferred, dont cut your fingers off!) or a Sabre Saw if you cant get ahold of a table saw
- Paper, Pencils, Pens or Markers
- Painters Tape, I bought 1" and 3", I use it to tape down the plastic mat, tape up templates to make identical sides, to tape to the car when your doing in trunk fiberglassing
- Tape Measure
- T Square, L Square
- Fiberglass Mat
- Fleece, Any local fabric stores carry it, buy it by the yard, guesstimate how much your going to need, I just bought the whole roll since I'm doing a big project, they will measure it out by the length you want for you at the store
- Air compressors make this a lot easier project
- Air Nail/Staple Gun (or a reg staple gun if thats all you got)
- Plastic Cups, do not use wax lined paper cups or styrofoam they will melt when the resin heats up
- Plenty of beer to have a good time too
Now that I've gotten the materials (that I could remember I might update some more once I'm done) out of the way lets get to the fun part... actually building this sucker!
First your gonna need somethings, mainly materials, most of the tools needed are wood working and painting tools.
- 1 Sheet of 3/4 MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) Can be found at home depot, lowes, etc...
- Fiberglass Resin, I would recommend getting a good amount of it so you dont have to go back later and buy more, plus its cheaper when you buy bigger quantities. It can be found at most autoparts and hardware stores, I usually go to pep boys or autozone.
- MEKP (Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide) Its in small clear bottles, looks like water almost. Measured by drops, mix ratios usually go about 1-2% MEKP to the Resin. Hotter weather causes quicker curing, cold weather the opposite. Siphon filled MEKP containers work best for consistancy over drop counting becuase you can measure the amounts. Properly mixed resin should have a working time of 15-25 minutes. You will know when it is curing, it gets HOT. I will go into more details when we get there..
- Latex gloves! I cant stress this enough, this stuff sucks to get all over yourself, watch out for resin dripping on arm hairs, leg hairs, etc... ever waxed?
- 1" and 2" Brushes... get the CHEAPO stuff, you want disposable brushes, these are 1, maybe 2 time usage. GET A LOT OF THEM! I bought around 30 brushes for my project and I used all but about 10, your results may vary.
- Drop clothes, plastic sheets to cover the floor, you dont want resin sticking to your floor, it sucks to get up sometimes, just by the plastic mat, its cheap and disposable and makes cleanup a hell of a lot easier since you can just throw everything on the mat and bag it up.
- Drywall screws for building your wooden portion of the box
- Jigsaw
- Reversable cordless drill
- Table Saw (preferred, dont cut your fingers off!) or a Sabre Saw if you cant get ahold of a table saw
- Paper, Pencils, Pens or Markers
- Painters Tape, I bought 1" and 3", I use it to tape down the plastic mat, tape up templates to make identical sides, to tape to the car when your doing in trunk fiberglassing
- Tape Measure
- T Square, L Square
- Fiberglass Mat
- Fleece, Any local fabric stores carry it, buy it by the yard, guesstimate how much your going to need, I just bought the whole roll since I'm doing a big project, they will measure it out by the length you want for you at the store
- Air compressors make this a lot easier project
- Air Nail/Staple Gun (or a reg staple gun if thats all you got)
- Plastic Cups, do not use wax lined paper cups or styrofoam they will melt when the resin heats up
- Plenty of beer to have a good time too
Now that I've gotten the materials (that I could remember I might update some more once I'm done) out of the way lets get to the fun part... actually building this sucker!
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