Shop By Product
Because we work on such a vast array of vehicles here we field requests aplenty for tutorials regarding how to undertake various aspects of installations. In response we've written many a tutorial hitherto for various forums, user groups and the like. However with the online world now moving away from these older community formats and onto newer ones like social media platforms we've also had to change our tack; for social media is extremely dynamic and we've found that any tutorial type posts tend to disappear from sight within minutes of them being posted on social media. Therefore we've started migrating the aforesaid tutorials over to this page to prolong their longevity.
Before we start there's a quick disclaimer regarding the word rudimentary in the heading. Like anything car audio related you can go to extreme lengths, especially where design is concerned. This is conducive to some of the fibreglass enclosure designs we make here being extremely complex and costly. People often ask if they need to be complex and the answer is no they don't. Ironically we recommend just making a basic fibreglass enclosure like this and instead spending more of the budget on the components instead. Even better news is that it's not too hard to actually do. So let's go!
VIEW TUTORIALS
First step is to tape up the entire cavity you’re going to glass upon. We usually recommend three to five layers of tape and if it’s within the confines of the car, i.e. not a spare tire; then place drop sheets all over the car too. You don’t want to be dropping resin on the paint work we’ll give you the tip.
First step is to make a foundation plate. So this is the same outside shape as your cavity and is about twenty-five to fifty millimetres wide. This frame will form the foundation that your front face plate will evenutally bolt, to that end be sure to take into account the thickness of your planned front plate; usually 18mm though more serious subwoofers will require thicker. Common sense is key here. Material thickness for this foundation plate is usually 12mm which is enough for the resin to get a solid purchase on. Remember this plate is just the foundation, it’s not the front plate that will actually hold the subwoofer. That’ll come later.
Quick note before the commencement of this step; always wear a certified respirator, for the fumes and dust are detrimental to your health. Also always wear certified safety glasses, as you only get one set of eyes.
Your foundation plate should be in place, seated about 18mm beneath where you want the front face to sit. You now begin the resin process. Grab some polyester resin, MEKP catalyst, 300g chopped strand glass mat and some acetone for cleaning your brushes. Cut your fibreglass mat into 200mm x 300mm strips and put to one side. Unlike epoxy resin, which must be mixed using a very strict ratio lest it doesn’t cure; you can alter the drying time on polyester resin by adding more or less catalyst. So without going too deep into measurements start with something approximately one cup of resin to one teaspoon of catalyst. This will give you a few minutes of time to paint before it the chemical reaction begins the curing process. Starting at the bottom and working with gravity; place the glass matting down and begin painting it generously in resin. Repeat this process piece after piece, coming up the sides and eventually painting them against the foundation rings inner edge. Then allow it to dry for a few hours. Give any burrs or nicks a gentle sand between each layer and do about five layers of glass; it should be around 5mm in thickness, or solid enough to stand on without it flexing.
With the backend now done but roughly protruding past the foundation ring you’ll now break it out of the mould carefully. Once this is done you then sand the excess glass off to make the enclosure backend finished at the foundation face. Also run the sandpaper around the inside too, to remove any burrs or spikes.
Front plate, top plate, sub plate; call it what you will. This is the plate that will hold the subwoofer. If you don’t need a grille then you just make it out of flat ply and get it as close to the final shape as possible. Them tape up the mounting area again and use a little filler like Rage-Gold to fill the excess gaps. Try to make the front plate as close as possible though. If you need a grill on your enclosure see the tutorial above regarding grilles, as this will necessitate making a similar piece from 12 mm to hold the grille.
With everything marked out you’ll screw the front plate to the backend foundation. From ther you then mix up some more resin and paint the inner edge corner from inside the enclosure. So what we’re trying to do is get resin where the two faces marry up. If you’re particularly dextrous you can actually pour a heap of resin into the enclosure and then tilt and wobble it around to make the resin run around the entire inner join. This will completely seal the front plate to the backend foundation.
With the whole affair now one piece we turn our attention to the acoustic treatment. Using this specially designed acoustic paint you’ll liberally apply three layers, each about a millimetre thick. From there mount it in place and allow it to cure for a few days. It’s important the enclosure cures in the spot its going to live, lest it change shape slightly as it hardens if left on a bench.
Trim your enclosure in whatever material tickles your fancy be it carpet, vinyl, leather, suede, Alcantara, minotaur fur or something more exotic. That said we do recommend you trim it to match the colour and style theme of your interior, so it doesn’t look out of place. To that end; a small badge or emblem from the car can add a neat little touch. If you’re not confident with trimming simply have your local auto trimmer do it.
With your enclosure trimmed it’s time to wire and install your subwoofer, paying careful attention to voice coil configurations and employing large gauge speaker cable. We recommend you use at least ten gauge screws to secure the subwoofer and absolutely do not forget to install a gasket between the subwoofer mounting face and the enclosure. Subwoofers can move a lot of air and lack of gasket will result in reduced performance and potential whistling as air escapes with each reciprocation. All done and dusted, install and securely fasten down the enclosure; ensuring it cannot move in the event of an accident. Thenceforth enjoy your newfound aural and kinetic subsonic bliss!
As aforementioned this is a simple flat timber front / fibreglass backend enclosure. If you want to see alternative types of enclosures covering a whole gambit of different budgets please click here, for we’ve built many hundreds hitherto.