Has anyone built a speaker box?

[Tony]

I'm wondering who has actually built a speaker box out of fiberglass. I'm thinking about making a couple for my car and the wifes car. I'm actually thinking about doing them in carbon fiber just for the look for mine. But, I have t-tops and I have to have a place to put them. I don't care about the spare so that is going to go away. The bose sub is long gone and the entire car is goign to be re-wired. So, I have a lot of room for air and this is going to be a sealed system. But, it's going to go in the sides of the trunk and I need to find a place for the amp as well. I want something that will sound good but I want no one in a parking lot walking by to know that I have a system in the car. So, What all have you built and post pics of it so that I can get some ideas. This has to be in the sides of the truck. And no, I'm not going to buy one for $300 that can't be used on the pass side.

[GradeZ28]

I have only made wooden boxes but the most important thing is to make sure you get the right airspace for the sub your going to use.. lots of people just throw boxes together withotu a second thought of how much airspace there is.. the subs should give you a airspace recommendation in its documentation or on their website

[Tony]

I have all the specs that I need on the air space. That is one thing that I'm hoping that someone will post up. What the max air space is that can be used in the location that I'm wanting to put them in. That is the other reason for fiberglass or carbon fiber, I can get a little more air space with that rather than using 3/4" MDF. And the angles that need to be cut with the MDF would take me all day just to figure out. Did I mention that I have ADD or ADHD or BOTH . Hence some of my short posts, I just get tired of thinking, lol.

[VetteC5RFrEak]

I made one for my '89 RS because no one sold anything for that space for third gens. I too wanted everything hidden. I put my amp under my drivers seat and haven't had any problems with it yet. Unfortunately, I can't put a second one on the passenger side seeing as the floor pan on that side has slight differences in it unfortunately.

It isn't pretty by any means, but it gets the job done. I do have plans to pull it out and re-do it. Also, you will notice the lack of a terminal cup. At the time I didn't have patience for detail and just wanted to get it hooked up. So I drilled a hole, fed the wires through, then used silicone to hold it in place.





























These following two pictures were taken from a previous subwoofer mounting idea I had done before learning about fiberglass. But it shows the general idea with the panel in place:

[GradeZ28]

What i would do is follow the same method as Chris and then when the main shell is finished, fill it with water (measuring as you fill) to see how many cubic inches of airspace there is.. then you can simply build off the inside of the shell to create a faux wall to decrese the airspace until it matches what you need (assuming the original shell provides larger than what you need)

[Tony]

When you laid the carpet over it, did you put the epoxy on it as well? That is something like what I'm wanting to do but with different glass. And where did you get the rings, I havn't looked yet but not sure where to start. And I bet that door rattled it's ass off with the way you had it in the last pics .

Grade, that is what I was thinking about. With all the bends and different shapes, it's kinda hard to get it perfect with math. At least, I'm not that good at it

[VetteC5RFrEak]

When I laid the polyester on it, I used 3M Super 7 Adhesive (I believe). That is also what I used to hold the fiberglass matt in place while.

As far as that door rattling, believe it or not, it isn't that much of a problem. It has a lock on it that holds in place and kinda holds it snugly. The biggest problem I have now is the panel itself. It has kinda warped from heat I assume and I don't have the proper fasteners installed since they were old and brittle upon removal.

The rings I had to make myself. The reason for that last very thin ring was because I video I was learning off of flush mounted all their subwoofers (something I would never have thought about on my own), so I made the third ring for that. I really wish I had a router to use, but I didn't. Instead I used a jigsaw and some patience. I dunno if you can see it or not, but there is 3 layers of mdf. Two layers for the subwoofer mounting ring, and a third for the flush mount ring.

Furthermore, before filling it with water to get the cubic volume, make sure you put fiberglass resin on the inside of the fabric after you cut the subwoofer hole, otherwise the fabric will soak up water and who know what else it'll do.

[ChrisEdtl]

To get the airspace you can also fill the box with packing peanuts, then move them into a cardboard box, level them out, and measure the airspace. It might not be EXACT, but when you are building a sealed enclosure, most companies will give you a range to operate in.

[Tony]

Dude, you saw the same thread that I did where that import guy did that. And that was exactly what I was going to do, lol.

[94TwitchZ28]

http://www.subthump.com/acamarowell.htm

As a man in the industry, some of the best looking boxes Ive ever seen. They fit very well too. Besides, fiberglass is a PITA to use. Unless your doin some stupid crazy set up, just go with a pre-made, SOOOOOO much easier.

[pmr253]

I had this one made the cap is mounted underneath the amp and the whole thing is easy to remove.

[flak_monkey]

you can't just throw any sub into any box and expect it to sound good though. You need to model the speaker parameters into software and look at the...

oh hell. It's too complicated and too early.

[Tony]

I have all the specs and I know what I have to build to make it work with the correct air space. The thing is, I'm not sure if there is enough space on the sides for the box. we will see when I get the prototype built. I'm thinking about going out today and seeing if I can get the fiberglass so start on it.