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| By: erikcooper on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:02:24
| | I wondered this for the longest of times and now that I have researched it and bought at least one video so far, I will share the wealth.
Fiberglass can be used for many different things in car audio. I will give a basic rundown of it here and if there is enough interest I can explain in the full gory details of it all.
One of the first uses of fiberglass would be to create the baffle for your sub box. You would build the box as you would in any case, however when you get to the front baffle you would create a ring from mdf (medium density fiberboard) that has an inside diameter (id from here on out) that your sub can mount into and an outside diameter (od from here on out) of about an inch wider than the diameter of your sub.
Then you create a ring with an id to fit right around the sub and an od to match the same od as the first ring. Super glue these rings together and the for braces to connect this ring to the sub box. You can make these braces in any shape you would like use a router or bandsaw to cut the mdf in curse if you would like. This sort of baffle is 90% about looks, 10% about strength. Once you have these braces and rings in place, securing them with super glue works fine, wrap the entire area to be fiberglassed with a grill cloth, speaker cloth, or other strong stretchy material.
After it is secured into place and you hape put a layer of tape inside the speaker mount hole to keep any resin from getting inside you put down you first layer of fiberglass mat and fiberglass resin down. For a sub baffle you should do up to, but no more than, 6 layers of this method. Once that is down and completely dried you can apply a body filler such as Rage Gold to the entire baffle and then sand it down using sandpaper. You can keep getting finer and finer grades until you reach the desired texture on the baffle.
Then you can either cover in cloth, not recomended if you spent a lot of time getting it nice and paint surface smooth, or you can apply a primer and paint, auto quality of course. This goes to make an attractive sub enclosure that will hold out on the hardest of hits.
The next activity some use fiberglass for is to make custom door panels and dashboards. To get the basic shape and mounting point you would strip the entire old piece off and cover the surface you intend to use with masking tape. Once that is applied use spray adhesive to stick aluminum foil to the surface and tape off the seams. Apply a full layer of fiberglass resin to get the basic shape and design on the specific door of dash area. Use a jigsaw or similiar tool to cut off and excess glass and then you are ready to start.
Although it is very tedious the next task is to create a basic skeleton using the same techniques you would use to make the frame for the sub baffle. Cut your pieces of mdf into the shapes you would like the dash or panel to take and super glue each of them together and to this first frame, making sure to create you speaker rings if you plan to mount any here. For dash applications be sure to create rings and mounting points for gauges, radios, monitors, climate controls, and anything else that would be incorporated into the dash.
Once you have your full sekelton and you are satisfied with the shape you think the panel would take on you would then cover it with the cloth you are using, tape off all the holes, and apply the fiberglass using the same techniques as described earlier. For these types of applications only 2-3 layers are necessary. Once that is done and dried apply your body filler as before and sand it down to the desired texture and then cover it with the cloth or paint of your choice.
The last project I will cover is to make a sub enclosure that fits in the spare tire well. This type of enclosure is popular because it takes up no truck space and is of good design. You would remove all carpetting and then the cover and spare tire itself fromt he hole. Cover the hole in masking take and aluminum foil as per techniques discussed earlier. Apply the fiberglass and mat as you would have in the other directions using the same ammount of layers as a sub baffle, around 6.
Once you have this done and it is dried you can take it out of the trunk. Cut a piece of mdf to fit the circular area of the fiberglass perfectly, fiberglass is not recommended because it is weak when used in straight pieces. Make sure to have the hole cut out to mount your driver and a place to mount a terminal cup if you choose to.
Once you have the cutout that will fit perfectly create two braces to hold it in place and superglue between the bottom of the enclosure and the mdf baffle. Wrap grill cloth, or whichever cloth you choose to use, around the edges and attach to both the mdf and the fiberglass tub. Apply a couple layers of glass to this cloth to bring the two pieces together, and also apply to the top of the mdf if you wish to paint it. If covering with cloth then it is not needed. If painting add body filler and sand down, if carpetting then just add the carpet.
This ought to pretty much cover the basics to it all, even though it has gone beyond basics. Please remember that if you are working in a tight space you will need to wear a good respirator, a normal dust mask will work in some situations but not in most tight areas. Also, be sure to wear gloves and protection to keep the glass and resin off of your arms. If there are any questions on the things I have explained it may help to look at the demo cars on Alpine's website.
You can find them at:
www.alpine-usa.com > support > demo cars
This website has a very good video you can also order. I have it and it is great.
http://www.caraudiohelp.com/how_to_fiberglass/how_to_fiberglass.htm
If there is anything else needed, post a topic on the board and I will try to help you out.
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