[TMVB]

Thought about doing since for months. Saw some great "instructables" on how to do it. Finally tackled it.

Wanted to keep my trunk cargo liner so built it on top of the liner.

Not going to win any car shows or beauty contests with it, but it works. Carpet has some wrinkles that I will probably try to flatten.

Was a challenge to build it allowing room for the trunk hinge arm.

Haven't listened really critically yet, but the first few songs I played the sub sounds the same as when it was in a sealed box.

Best of all, I get my trunk back!

That's a 10" JL sub by the way.

 

[TMVB]

...and here's how I built it.

Step 1.

Tape off the area with blue painters tape. I used a single, overlapping layer. If I did it again, I would have used two layers and taped from the bottom up. Like shingles on your roof, liquid will fall to the bottom and not get underneath. I had a small amount of resin that got through and ended up on the cargo liner. No damage but would have been a disaster without the liner.

Step 2.

Lay 1st layer of resin and fiberglass mat. Cover anything you don't want resin on. It gets EVERYWHERE.

 

[TMVB]

Step 3.

Build up layers of fiberglass. I think I ended up somewhere around 7 or 8 layers. A little less than 1/2" thick.

Step 4.

The "instructable" said to do a volume check and then trim, but I wanted to first see how it would fit in the trunk before I trimmed it. So my step 4 was to build speaker rings. I chose to counter sink the sub so used two.

 

[TMVB]

Step 5.

Check the fit. This is where I ran into a snag. Positioning of the speaker ring became critical so that it would clear the trunk hinge arm.

Ended up trimming the ring on the bottom so it would sit lower in the box, and also trimming it where the arm needed to swing.

 

[TMVB]

Step 6.

Trim and then cover with cloth to prepare to fiberglass the other half of the enclosure. Also test fit again with the cloth in place.

Trunk hinge arm clears!

 

[TMVB]

Step 7.

Coat the cloth in resin. Let dry.

Step 8.

Add same number of layers as you did on the other side.

Step 9.

Trim cloth/fiberglass from the speaker opening. Sand as needed.

 

[TMVB]

Step 10.

Cover with fabric. Got this from an upholstery shop. A very close match to the trunk carpet.

Step 11.

Drill hole for speaker wire. Then seal. I used a two part 3M putty epoxy. Some may chose to instead install a speaker terminal cup.

 

[jb4674]

Awesome work!

 

[TMVB]

Awesome work!

Thanks. I wouldn't call it awesome but it is functional. Not as attractive as I had hoped but pretty close. After all, it's in the trunk.

I'll chalk it up to learning lessons from my first attempt.

I learned that I'm not very good at fiberglassing. Got better as I went but I had too many air bubbles. Definitely couldn't make a living doing that

I also didn't mix enough hardener in the first layer so I learned what happens when you do that. Huge PITA! Days later and it still wasn't cured.

 

[Lashlee]

Good stuff! I like it.

 

[DonDee]

Make me one!!! lol

 

[TMVB]

Make me one!!! lol

You would find my craftsmanship subpar and my price too high.

 

[@ndy]

I learned that I'm not very good at fiberglassing. Got better as I went but I had too many air bubbles. Definitely couldn't make a living doing that

Nobody is the first time!

Thats a great usable first fiberglass project.

 

[keep_hope_alive]

well done. perfection takes time and lots of practice. the box works and thus is a success.

i'd put acoustical filler in there, so it doesn't have an inherent echo (if you haven't already)

 

[TMVB]

well done. perfection takes time and lots of practice. the box works and thus is a success.

i'd put acoustical filler in there, so it doesn't have an inherent echo (if you haven't already)

Thanks! I thought about filler but I thought I read somewhere that filler would make the box acoustically smaller in volume? Enclosure is pretty darn near the required 0.625 cuft now.

 

[pickup1]

I'd take one for each side,but in 12".

 

[edubs]

Very nice work! How do you have the box mounted to the car's frame? Some sheet metal screws? I have a JL 12" W6V3 now and it's amazing. Blows my Rockford 12P2D4 out of the water! Just waiting on my Apline PDX-V9 to come in after my PDR-V75 got recalled because of improperly sized PCBs....

 

[TMVB]

Very nice work! How do you have the box mounted to the car's frame? Some sheet metal screws? I have a JL 12" W6V3 now and it's amazing. Blows my Rockford 12P2D4 out of the water! Just waiting on my Apline PDX-V9 to come in after my PDR-V75 got recalled because of improperly sized PCBs....

Still pondering how to secure it. Right now it's just pressed in - pretty tight fit so it's not wiggling. And that pain-in-the-butt trunk hinge arm is also coming in handy - it's not going anywhere as that arm will prevent it from coming out.

 

[TMVB]

well done. perfection takes time and lots of practice. the box works and thus is a success.

i'd put acoustical filler in there, so it doesn't have an inherent echo (if you haven't already)

Thanks for the suggestion. Just added poly-fil and I'm amazed at what a difference it made in the performance of the sub! Very much improved.

 

[edubs]

Did you notice a big difference moving the sub to the corner of the trunk rather than a traditional rear facing enclosure? I'm thinking about adding this to my every growing list of DIY mods.