Hello,

OK, i have been thinking about building a box from fibergalss for a while now and when i got my Fairmont i decided its time to make one. All the info i got was from forums like this and i wanted to post mine so that it may help someone else!!

Firstly the things you'll need.

Resin (I used about 2.5KG)
Catalyst (I used about 60mL)
Fiberglass Matting (I used about 2.5m2)
Masking Tape (Any stuff will do, alot of people say use the blue stuff but i cant justify spending 20 bucks on a roll of tape, the only difference is it makes it easier to remove the mould but this wasnt a big issue for me).
Brushes (Get atleast 3 cuz they get destroyed pretty quick)
Acetone (To put your brushes in when your not using them and for cleaning)
Mixing Bowls
Stick's for mixing (I used plastic knives)
Aluminium Foil
A sheet of material, or Fiberglass cloth.

And that's about all that is needed to get the project going. Depending on what your project is you may need some MDF. I used 16mm MDF in my box, and i have always used this size in my previous all MDF Boxes.




OK. So you have got all your gear and now its time to start. Firstly you need to turn the boot of your car into a mould so that you can get the contours of the car just right and use up as much of that unused space as possible. So you need to start laying tape down on the boot over the carpet and walls like so. I put two layers of tape just to be sure no resin would leak in there and stick my box to the carpet.

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It doesnt matter if your mould is only 3 quarters of the box i will show you how to make it into a box later. Once you’ve layed down your tape start laying down some aluminium foil over the top, like so. In the picture youll notice a bit of cardboard. I put this there to fill in the big gap that was there as I did not want the box to go further than the gas tank. I have also layed foil all in the boot covering most of the floor and I would strongly recommend you do this to avoid resin dripping on your carpet.

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Once you have created your “Mould” its time to start laying down the glass. For this I just put a bit of resin straight on the foil then the matting on top and making sure its soaked with resin. Then do this for the whole area covered in foil and adding about 2-3 layers of matting.

Now here is where I made a mistake, when your waiting for it to dry make sure there are no little bits of matting sticking up like any fibers or raised parts of matting near a curve, because when you go to put your next layer on the matting will be a couple of mm’s high on one spot and create an air pocket. This weakens the box.

Then wait for a couple of hours and it will become hard so it will look something like this.

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Once you got your general shape add a few more layers of fibreglass matting. I would recommend painting the underside of the matting with resin then placing it on top of the mould and then painting the otherside so the resin gets all the way through the matting. And it is possible to put two or more layers on at a time depending how fast your resin sets.

OK so once you’ve added some more layers its time to create the front and top of the box. For the front I used a sheet of 16mm MDF and cut it to the general shape I wanted then screwed it to the box to hold it in place. Like So.

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Once you’ve secured the timber in the box its time to mould the top. For this I used fibreglass cloth (Pictured Below) and stapled it to the front of the box then taped it to the back. So it covered the gaping hole at the top of the box. Then what you do is paint this with resin and wait until it goes hard. Once it goes hard you can then use this to start putting fibreglass resin and matting onto. And to do this you just cover the top of the box in foil like I did at the start. Then flip the box over on its topside and start laying the resin and matting directly onto the cloth. The foil will pick up any resin that leaks through and holes in the cloth until it drys. And when your matting the top part make sure you get the matting to overlap onto the sides, front and back of the box for strength, like you would for a good weld.


The Matting
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This is the top of the box after it has dried overnight as you can see it is now one solid piece.
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This is a view of the inside top.
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I also added these in for support/strength as you can see its screwed to the front of the box and then I went over it with some fibreglass matting.

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So once it has all dried I got some matting and plugged all the gaps in the side of the box between the MDF and the fibreglass. Then went and filled these with resin and then I matted over the top of the gaps like in the second image below.

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This is as far as I have gotten so far pictures below of it in the car.

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More pictures, couldnt fit them into one post.

 

 

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looks good. ive been thinking about making a custom fiberglass subbox for my ef. will be reading this for sure. nice work.

Is it just me? I cant see some of the images.

Sorry guys, had to resize the last pictures. Too big to fit in the post.

Anyway, i gotta carpet it yet. I'm going to taper the sides to the sub, using some more of the fiberglass cloth then make it all neat and carpet it. Ill make some more posts next weekend .

Cheers,

 

 

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Nice work! I'm looking to do this soon to my EL, I will be checking out this when it comes time.
One thing though, any reason why didnt you remove the boot trim to get some more volume to the box?
Or is that where they have the amp in the BA?

That is a good question actually . It's certainly possible . The jack sits under there though . It was easier to mould it that way i reckon too and i didnt want to hack up the interior as much like i did in my AU. Plus i want to have it semi-removable so that i can fit stuff like golf clubs in the boot. Ill probably velcro it down but it doesnt move much as is .

Got a couple more pics to add.

I didnt get very far this weekend cuz i was a bit lazy and had to install the amp properly.

Basically what ive done is get an old shirt and stretch across the front of the box and secured it on the side so its pulled across nice and tight. Then resined over that and im waiting for it to go hard so i can lay one layer of fiberglass matting over it. Then once that layer of fiberglass is dry i will bog it up make it smooth and carpet it.

 

 

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Good work. The only downside is the car will smell like fibreglass resin for weeks.

Thanks Mate

Yeah you notice it for the first minute jumping in the car after its been sittin there all day, but after that the smell goes away.

Finally finshed the box this weekend, heres what it looks like

 

 

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Looks good, well done on it, but more importantly how does it sound?

I wish Ford had of used those boot hinges earlier on in the lineup.
I hate having so much space I cant use, and have to dodge with boot installs, in the EL.

Thanks dude

It sounds great . I have it hooked up to the factory premium head unit and I have the bass set to one notch above half way and even found myself turning the bass down a little. Mind you the gain is almost all the way up but I think that’s because the signal is pretty weak.

Yeah I hate those things that come down into the boot, if you have a look in my gallery I made a box for my brothers VX commodore and it has those same hinges that go into the boot but I still managed to fit 3 12” subs in there . But the fords have a bigger boot .

Oh yeah and I forgot to say and comments and questions are welcome .