Fiberglassing Advice

Aquanet hair spray make a decent and cheap mold release, you can get it at Dollar General. For resin, it's best to get it from uscomposites.com. If you're dead set on getting it locally, try a boat repair, ATV repair, or auto body place to see if they sell any.
 
blockrocker said:
Could you elaborate on this a little bit? I honestly don't know much about resins or epoxies, but I'm willing to learn.
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Resins use a catylist and epoxies have a different chemical makeup.

Well there is West Systems 105 and similar epoxies.
most are not UV stable and need a top coat of some fashion like a 2-pack automotive.

Whether it is epoxy or resin, their strength is minimal compared to a cloth or fibre structure. They basically use the resin or epoxy matrix to just hold the cloth, and the cloth is what does all the work.
 
Painter's tape is what I suggested at the beginning. I have not used anything since Rage Gold. It's that good. It Should take less than a pint on fillers. But it's your first time. You'll screw things up. Shoot I've tinted tons of windows and just screwed one up this morning.
 
My fiberglass tip...... do it outside if you can, it will stink up your entire house otherwise. Fiberglassed some stuff a while back in the garage, even with the doors open and a fan blowing the house still stunk of it for ages. Also, when you think it is ready to put in the car, give it another week, otherwise your car will also stink like fiberglass.
 
Justin Zazzi said:
So blockrocker, do you have enough advice yet?

:)
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Ha, I sure do. In fact, I have set up a couple of test pods to practice on, I'm just waiting for the weather to cooperate. Which may take a week or two, since they are calling for more snow this week and weekend. :rolleyes:

I really appreciate all the suggestions and hopefully I can do some of the fun stuff in the near future. Its tough to be patient.
 
I wanted to share the results of my first set of practice pods. These will replace my 3d printed pods and house some new speakers too. Naturally I made every single mistake one could make, but ultimately pulled it off and have some very usable pods. This was fantastic fun and I learned a ton. I'm already excited to move on to the pillars and do a proper install. Maybe one more practice set of pods first though. Lol.

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First, I chose a baffle shape that would fit my space and cut out the pieces.

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Next, I marked my pieces for a secure fit to the dash - riv nuts and a thin plate behind the dash to prevent pull through

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Glue up my frame

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Fleece and test fit for clearance (I was constantly test fitting everything including speakers together)

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Built up my layers and finished with a milkshake.

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Shaped the pods with two layers of body filler and sanded everything down to 400.
Yes, I know 400 is not necessary, but don't worry, I fucked up the paint job anyway. Lol.

Continued.......
 
Thing I wish I knew then and seems obvious now are plentiful. My milkshake was a near disaster, as I made it too runny and didn't add quite enough resin hardener. It eventually cured but but was like trying to keep tomato soup on a wall. I also forgot to cover my anchoring holes a poured a shit ton of goo all over my work top. Awesome stuff.

I used mdf for my frame and floor and never will again. Plywood or plastics all the way. My inserts are eating up the mdf and already showing wear.

Most of the shaping can be done with the body filler but it is very heavy. My little pods are absolute tanks and they are not terribly thick. Just food for thought. One note about shaping the frames, is to avoid sharp corners. Its tough the get the fleece to stretch properly without taking a weird shape or wanting to crease/sag. Again, keep a soft shape with the fleecing and sharpen it up with body filler.

Ultimately, this is a fun and very doable project for any DIYer, but it gave me a ton of respect for people who do this professionally. It is labor intensive and has some trial and error to it - even when well prepared.

Finally, be prepared for each step. Rubber gloves, disposable cups, stir sticks, brushes etc. Have too many instead of not enough. Keep in mind that it is a step by step process. It can be done in layers and doesn't need to be perfect on the first coat or the second or third. Keep working it and it will get there.
 
blockrocker said:
Thing I wish I knew then and seems obvious now are plentiful. My milkshake was a near disaster, as I made it too runny and didn't add quite enough resin hardener. It eventually cured but but was like trying to keep tomato soup on a wall. I also forgot to cover my anchoring holes a poured a shit ton of goo all over my work top. Awesome stuff.

I used mdf for my frame and floor and never will again. Plywood or plastics all the way. My inserts are eating up the mdf and already showing wear.

Most of the shaping can be done with the body filler but it is very heavy. My little pods are absolute tanks and they are not terribly thick. Just food for thought. One note about shaping the frames, is to avoid sharp corners. Its tough the get the fleece to stretch properly without taking a weird shape or wanting to crease/sag. Again, keep a soft shape with the fleecing and sharpen it up with body filler.

Ultimately, this is a fun and very doable project for any DIYer, but it gave me a ton of respect for people who do this professionally. It is labor intensive and has some trial and error to it - even when well prepared.

Finally, be prepared for each step. Rubber gloves, disposable cups, stir sticks, brushes etc. Have too many instead of not enough. Keep in mind that it is a step by step process. It can be done in layers and doesn't need to be perfect on the first coat or the second or third. Keep working it and it will get there.
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you live and learn buddy! I’ll do you a video next time I’m doing some (could be a while mind due to lockdown and not going anywhere near the workshop... it’s my mates business so I don’t need to be there no matter how much I’d love to be spending time doing my boot build or sub box... dash sub sounds good so far, redesigned already with a view to altering it some :)

once you’ve made a few sets the milk shake gets to be better, if I use 250ml of resin I then use roughly 1/3 in filler (think a ball about the size of a golf ball) and if it’s not going off fast enough add a little heat for 30 seconds, it’s faster in summer so a little heat helps it go, then keep the pod moving and roll it round as it goes (I poured it everywhere doing my dash and found a hole the glue hadn’t quite bridged lol... we use body shop style plastic sheeting on the bench or floor depending how big the item is)

as for saggy bits, you can use chopsticks or dowel to bridge areas and stop it sagging into areas with big spans, I am also a fan of using wire mesh rather than fleece, you can ca glue it into place and carefully apply filler so it goes on even, wraps just onto the mesh and use a pallet the knife to smooth it on the inside if required

i have also ca glued cardboard into shapes approx 1/4” under the level I need and then fibrefilled over the lot, it’s sometimes easier than mesh if it’s a bigger flat area, it’s surprisingly robust when ca glued on four sides and defo glued better than metal mesh
 
blockrocker said:
.....

Ultimately, this is a fun and very doable project for any DIYer, but it gave me a ton of respect for people who do this professionally. It is labor intensive and has some trial and error to it - even when well prepared.

.....
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This.

Stepping back into this hobby, I'm doing a lot of new things thanks to the people here. I'm fabbing up my first set of sail panel tweeter pods. It's not going well and I haven't even used fiberglass yet. I also have mad respect and appreciate the beautiful projects more than before.

I also want to thank you for this thread as well as all of those who contributed. I will be using fiberglass for my sub build and appreciate the information.
 
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I'm in the same boat Smitty. Getting back into the hobby after years away, as well. Without the sharing of knowledge on this forum and some great youtube videos, I would never be able to advance my installation. It would be the same jumble-fuck installs I did as a teenager. I've always been willing to learn something new and am not afraid to try, but without instruction and a little positive reinforcement, I'm dead in the water. That is the one place the car audio community has improved as a whole, since I was young - teaching and helping others. I was fortunate to have a couple guys show me the ropes as a teen, but thats been about it, until I found this place.

I have reignited my passion for car audio and the fabrication part is what I want to do the most. Now, for the first time in a long time, I feel like I am actually getting better at this hobby.

Keep putting forth the effort and I know your sail panels will come out great. Also know that my pods have lots of flaws, but I was careful to capture there good side. :p
 
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