custom fiberglass sub box in work

[zuhl]

UPDATED -custom fiberglass sub box in work

Hey, all! I wanted to share some pics of the fiberglass box I am building for my wifes 4runner. The main goal was to assure that it had minimal impact on her use of the rear cargo area. As is, the top cover can close normally and the double decker floor can be used normally. The box will have to be removed to get to the jack however. I have not worked out an attachment method yet but it fits pretty snugly so far. I have more pics to share but they are not with me now.

To start the process, I laid tape and foil all over the wall and laid fiberglass over that to get a true contour of the vehicle. The front plate is 1/4" plywood with more glass laid over it. To do the edges a t-shirt was stretched tight and resin was applied so it would have shape. Then more fiberglass.

So far I am about 3 weeks into it, working here and there on it. I now am at the point where I need to sand the hell out of it and put some bondo on to smooth it. Not sure how I am gonna fisnish it. I think there are some paints available that will perfectly match the factory plastic. I have seen it mentioned on my Ridgeline forum so I need to look into that. My other option is to cover it with matching vinyl, but then I have to sew the contours and I dont think I want to mess with that.

 

[zuhl]

Pic 1

 

[zuhl]

2

 

[J.A.]

Very cool! How will you mount it so it remains stable and not flop over?

 

[zuhl]

I am not 100% sure on that yet. I am thinking about a boatload of mil-spec velcro. Since it fits perfectly in the contours of the corner, it wont need a ton of support. I was also thinking of bolting it to the jack cubby panel cover before mounting the speaker inside. Since the tabs for the panel cover are still accessible, I may be able to use that door as a way to secure and remove it.

My last option is to slip some kind of bracket in between the panels that come together right at the top of the box. Not sure how I would make that work though.

Whatever I do, I want to keep it unnoticeable. I also dont want to cause any unrepairable damage to the vehicle for when we re-sell. I am not too worried about the cubby door since that can be easily replaced.

Any other ideas are appreciated.

 

[McInnis 03]

I am so jealous of the skill some of y'all have in box building.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Looks pretty good. How much air space will it have? What is going in it?

Photobucket is nice for hosting pictures.

 

[zuhl]

It is gonna be a Blaupunkt flat suacer sub. I picked it up at Fry's for $25 when they were closing them out. Got the matching 200W RMS amp for like $40 I think. It is a very compact class D amp that will go nicely under the passenger seat. Here are some more pics of the build up. I will try to get some high res on photobucket soon.

The box has around .7 cu ft as best I can calculate. That is right in the middle of the sealed box spec for this sub.

I also have some awesome how to guides for fiberglass that I got from a webstie at while back. This guy had them up but his server is gone, but he walks you through every step of a fiberglass enclosure. It is really not hard, just VERY messy. If anyone is interested and knows where I can post them, let me know. I think there are about 6 of them that are a few hundred kb each.

 

[zuhl]

With free mcdonalds T-shirt. The funny thing is that she HATED me wearing this T-shirt, even just to mow the lawn. Now she know that it will be with her wherever she may roam

 

[zuhl]

Updated Pics of Fiberglass Box

I have it painted and the sub set in place. I used SEM Colorcoat paint and texture spray to finish it. The color actually matches better than it looks under the flash. It is not perfect, but it is close enough not to care.

I still have to figure out how to secure it. I also need to mount the sub in permanently and run the wires. I am not sure yet how to tap into the factory deck. I guess I am just gonna have to split a lead from the front or rear speakers and run it to the amp with a line level converter.

 

[zuhl]

Updated Pics of Fiberglass Box

iso view 2

 

[zuhl]

another

 

[zuhl]

With deck up

 

[zuhl]

With cover over it

 

[zuhl]

With Grill off

 

[Clemsonfan15]

That looks amazing man. Great work!

:bigok:

 

[W211_to_T4R]

Looks frickin good!!!

 

[ammobaggett]

Do you have the JBL system in your 4Runner? If you do, I know an easy way of getting your pre-amp outputs set up. I simply removed my factory sub and used the wires running to it as my Left and Right channel.

 

[zuhl]

Unfortunately she only has teh plain old SR5 with the basic single disk stereo. I wonder if I could buy the JBL stereo on ebay and drop it in without having wire harness complications. Still, she would not care enough to bother. She does not even care about the sub, it is more for me . That is why I had to make it look good so she would not protest.

If I can tap into one of the normal stereo channels, I can control the sub level still with the wired remote it comes with. I might mount that in the center console.

 

[ammobaggett]

That's too bad. Well I don't think you would be able to use the JBL head unit because it has an external amp mounted in the back right rear panal. But you could tap into the Left Rear and Right Rear wires where they come out of the back of the factory head unit so that you don't have to pull your rear door panals off to get to the speakers. There should be enough room behind your head unit to even mount the Line Converter(RCA Outputs). The box really does look good though. I build all of my boxs out of 3/4" MDF but I have always wanted to try a little fiberglass work. Maybe that will be the next box.