progression

that looks really good. keep up the good work. i hope you wore a proper mask since you were inside your car laying the glass and resin on though. those fumes can make you really sick. excellent work though

rockbrawler884

i actually took the arm rest out of the car... its held on by 4 screws under the armrest... and i didn't wear a mask... silly me... but i had both garage doors open and a fan blowing towards the outside. BTW thanx for the compliment and encouragement.

progression

tru that. another thing for your next project... keep in mind the little bits of fiberglass can get in your lungs if you dont wear a mask. you cant even see them unless theres adequate sunlight, then youll see stuff that looks like glitter in the air. there were times that i didnt wear one and i could feel some in the bakk of my throat. if you ever need help glassing though.. you can give me a shout thru PM. armrest looks great though.

rockbrawler884

Hey progession, how would i apply fiberglass with a spray gun... do i need 2 sprays gun, one for the Fiberglass resin and one for the hardener or just one for the mixture... if its one for the mixture.. how would you clean it out so it doesn't harden in the noozle?

progression

hmmm... from what i know... spray guns are only used when "time is money" and when doing HUGE repairs. i have no experience with using spray guns though. i think you get better build quality by handlaying the glass... hence why its advertised whenever a manufacturer flaunts that the product was handlayed. what are you planning on doing btw?

--edit..
i dunno how to keep the nozzle from hardening either. what you said sounds right... 2 guns. otherwise i dont see how you could premix the resin and hardener without the mixture going rock solid.

rockbrawler884

I am actually thinking about making a mold of the right and left side of the trunk space to eventually fabricate sub enclosures when I buy subs... I'll hopefully be starting this project Monday or Tuesday... I am expecting this to be more difficult because ill be working inside the car and on a vertical surface so ill have to lay the fiberglass mat in patches... And I was hoping to use spray guns to apply the mixture so I can get done quicker, but I guess the long way is the best way… so I’ll stick to what I know.

Anyways... I thought about the 2 spray gun issue... if 2 spray guns were to be used, 2 problems would occur:

1. The Ratio of Resin to Hardener wouldn't be correct.

And

2. The hardener would not be mixed well with the resin; it would just be sprayed on top of it

progression

ah i see. i started what im working on right now by glassing the sides of my hatch also so i could get a nice flush enclosure, but i scrapped that idea and ended up using MDF on the sides beacuse i didnt really need a mold.

for what your doing.. tape off the trunk with tape. then lay some resin with hardener over the tape. some people say to lay 1 layer of glass after the resin dries and makes the mold so that it doesnt crack when you try to pull it out. i personally, didnt have a problem with just resin. its up to you though. BUT.. you can definately make this project easier by making the mold with the resin (and 1 layer of glass if you choose) and pulling it out of the car, then working on it from somewhere easier to work in (AND also MORE ventilation). PLUS.. if possible, you dont want any stray strands of glass in your hatch area just because it suks to be driving with windows down and have the glass circulating in the air inside the car..

here's what i got going on in my hatch right now... and i did this all outside of my hatch. the last pic is just with body filler getting it ready to be painted. but since youre doing something on the side of the hatch, i'd think you were going for a more "stealthy" install.. so i'd probably carpet it. if you do a good job on laying the glass down, you should only have to primer your finished enclosure and not really have to worry about body filler.

rockbrawler884

That enclosure is really nice... I was thinking about doing an enclosure like yours.... here is a quick rendering I did a week or so ago for my initial design.



But I scraped that idea because I realized I needed the trunk space for various occasions and reasons. And right now nothing seems to be going right... I was looking in my trunk today, and I noticed that there is a bigger indent on the right side then on the left side.... So symmetry is going to be an issue, and my design for it will not work the way I want it to...

So you saying, I would be good to apply a layer of fiberglass on the masking tape, and then put the the FG mat on it?

progression

yea i know about the right side symmetry prob.. it sucks.. im just gunna work around and glass something in there... i dont know what yet, though.

bout what you asked... what i'd do is tape it up... id go two layers of tape. throw some cheap car wax over it (to help with pulling the tape off). then put a layer of resin on. try to get the mixture of resin and hardener right for the temperature in your location. if you get it just right, it will be sticky but still runny... just not runny to the point that it makes a mess and runs down the parts that are vertical. if you want... you can add a layer or two of fiberglass after your initial layer of resin is dry. this will make it easier to pull it out without your mold cracking. i didnt add any glass to my layer of resin for the sides (i trashed this project.. its not the one in the pics) and the mold didint crack, but you can if you feel confident enough.

o yea.. your mock up drawing of what you were going to do was my original design for what im working on now ... but i didnt feel comfortable with the amp sitting in my enclosure so i decided to just false floor the hatch

rockbrawler884

what do you mean by false floor?

Just to let you know, im really new to cars... so i have a lot of stupid questions.

progression

its cool.. hehe. have to learn somewhere, and forums are some of the best places to learn. false floor is basically a flat board cut to the contours of the stock floor. but you can hide things underneath it. most people with false floors have plexiglass/acrylic so you can see some of the stuff underneath like an amp setup. a really good forum to chekk out if you want to get into car audio is caraudio,com

lots of nice people on there that will actually help you and not just post smart remarks. hehe. chekk it out man.

rockbrawler884

So does the false floor replace the the existing floor... and if it does do you have to remove the spare tire and such....

progression

no, it just sts on top and given support by braces. here's a good example of a floor in a tahoe...

Womenlover

It looks really cool

rockbrawler884

A false floor does seem like a good idea... but i like to be caution, and it seems like it would be a hassle to remove it if i needed to get to the spare tire if needed.

progression

yes.. it would be quite a hassle to get to the spare. my goal on my plans were to just call a tow trukk in my city since my insurance covers it. then on out of town trips i could get to it if need be.

rockbrawler884

like even right now... i haven't started making my side molds yet... b/c im thinking about how i still need access to the spare. and the enclosure would be sitting on the floor board....

aarontrini85

ahmer i could do the false floor for you and hinge it if you want so it can be lifted up and then the spare tires thing wouldnt be an issue

rockbrawler884

Ok sounds good Aaron, but then don't i have to hold off on making the molding, because if i make is now, it won't fit with the false floor.

rockbrawler884

Here are some pictures of my trunk mold... its still in progress... the 2nd coat is drying as we speak...







Enjoy!