FiberGlass Enclosure???

[Nyboy07]

how hard is it to make a fiberglass enclosure for an aspire......or does anyone know a place in south florida that will do it?

[vincefestiva]

it all depends what kind of enclosure. all you need is a lot of time, fiberglass, bondo and sand paper. check out my fiberglass stuff for my festiva

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2428209/1

[Nyboy07]

it all depends what kind of enclosure. all you need is a lot of time, fiberglass, bondo and sand paper. check out my fiberglass stuff for my festiva

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2428209/1

Damn!! thats tight how long did it take u to make all that and do u know a place with a good tutorial?

[vincefestiva]

it took me about 3 years but there are more fiberglass pieces that aren't even posted on that site. mind you i wasn't working on it everyday. to tell you the truth i dont know of any tutorials cause i have never checked but im sure if you google it you might find something. you could ask me any questions if you have any??
thanks

[wrestler3025]

Vince, your fiberglass work is really nice. I was considering doing some work to my festiva in the rear panel area with fiberglass, but I haven't researched it yet. If you have any suggestions for us amateurs that would be great

[vincefestiva]

well first off, i used mdf wood for my main structure and supports. to get the curves that you see on my sub box and amp rack, what you have to do is make rings out of mdf and stand them up with wooden dowels. then you wrap the entire thing tightly with material, it really doesn't matter what kind as long as its cheep and strechable (if i remember correctly i used nylon). once you have wrapped the entire thing and stapeld it tight, mix up a bunch of fiberglass resin and slop it on all over the material. let it dry and then apply layers of resin and little squares of fiberglass matting making sure you keep overlapping them. for my sub bow and put about 4 to 5 layer of fiberglass matting. once that as all dried give the entire thing a sanding with 40 grit sandpaper just so that you can remove any sharp edges that is left from the dried up matting. one you have blown all the dust away apply a layer of fiberglass bondo(this stuff isn't cheep, it is bondo that is mixed with fiberglass strands). once this is applied make sure you start sanding as soon as you see it stating to get hard because if you leave it till it gets hard it will take you hours to sand because it gets so hard. keep layering the bondo/fiberglass and gradually work the sanding from a coarse grit to a finer grit. once you achieve the look you wanted and the surface is scratched and there are minimal gouges now it time to apply staright bondo. apply the bondo on the entire piece and like the other step start sanding when you see it begining to harden. once you have achieved the surface you like, have the entire thing spayed in a polystyrene spray(got to a bodyshop for this), this will fill in all the little pin holes that you couldn't see with the bondo. then sand and wet sand to achieve the perfect finish.lastly hit the piece with paint and clear.

[wrestler3025]

Great stuff Vince! Thanks for the quick feedback. Where did you get all of your supplies from, and what did they run you? Thanks again for the info, and any other input is GREATLY appreciated.

[Nyboy07]

does anyone know a place in south florida that will do custom fiberglass enclosures?

[vincefestiva]

well the supplies aren't cheap. a gallon of fiberglass resin costs about 40 bucks and i went through about 6 gallons, for the fiberglass/bondo stuff it cost about 60 bucks a gallon and i used about 4 gallons, the straight bondo costs about 40 bucks a gallon and i used about 2 to 3, and not to mention the bundles of fiberglass matting and the huge amount of sandpaper i used (i cant even begin to imagine how much sandpaper i went through) so it gets kind of pricey but i didn,t mind cause this was the first time i had ever did and i wanted to make sure i had a unique festiva. it beats spending thousands of dollars to have someone elso do it..

[wrestler3025]

Wow that is a bit pricey. You are right it would have cost you a LOT more if someone else did it for you, and with that, you wouldn't get the same satisfaction because you did the job yourself. Where did you get all of your supplies? Did you shop around? Any specific name brands?

[vincefestiva]

no i didn't use any specific brands and i got the stuff at a automotive paint supply shop.

[SiezedFestiva]

I was thinking of doing a similar dash, i was going to keep the heater controls though , it gets cold here. anyways i say similar cause i wanted to put gauges ontop of the passenger side like yourself but i was going to use maybe a pontiac grand am heater vents. there round and will look good with the round shape of the gauges. I started a advance course in a autobody college, and we have to make a fiberglass creation, the dash would be perfect i thought. i have been sketching ideas out on paper and my though is to airbrush festiva on pass side under the gauges. should be cool, how did you mount the dash to the firewall, the bar, etc..

[vincefestiva]

i mounted the dash to the firewall using the existing holes because under the fiberglass is the original dash (this made it 10x easier to re-install since everything was still there, i didn't mind the extra weight compared to all the headaches i would have had). as for the gauge pods i simply used pvc plumbing pipe, this made it way easier and they i just moulded it to the dash with the glass. the gauges fit absolutely perfect in these pipes.

[SiezedFestiva]

that's funny, someone told me to use PVC, but anyways yea i was trying to come up with something using the original dash but i was afraid it would come out too far, i dont mind the extra weight its just a school project. i might mold the rear so it looks proportionate with the front and a center console with a cup holder, but i only have so much time to do it, but then again i have 5 hours everyday guaranteed maybe 6 if I really try.

[InjunDon]

I do alot of fiberglass work myself and it's basically 90% sanding.. Takes a lot of patience and a good bit of skill if you want to paint what your making.... if you'll be carpetting it, or stretching vinyl over it it's much much easier.

If you want it painted, expect to spend a good 12+ hours just on sanding and bondo for a sub enclosure like vince has... his doors probably took a good 15+ hours of sanding and bondoing each. there's quicker ways around it, but you can see in the finished product who got lazy on things real quick.

Nice work vince!