Which material?

LittleCar_w/12s
LittleCar_w/12s Posts: 568
edited May 2004 in Custom Fabrication
I am about to make a pod for my kick panel, and would like any recommendations as to the best material. I have experience with fiberglass, so it won't be too hard no matter which one.

I could make a cheap one with ABS, a better one with Fiberglass, or the best with carbon-fiber. -- or anything in-between.

The pod will be about a 1' wide triangle where it attatches to the car, but will have at most a 6" mid and some components facing rearward. That needs to be strong, but budgetable. I would probably like it to match my interior, a blue-gray color.

Rec's?
___________________________
Total cost of materials: Going up...
Time spent: Countless Hours...
Cranking the system, having it quiet outside the car, and sound that takes the rear-view off inside: PRICELESS

For some things in life, you pay others to do it... For a masterpeice, do it yourself.
Post edited by LittleCar_w/12s on
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Comments

  • bknauss
    bknauss Posts: 1,441
    edited May 2004
    Seems like the majority of people do fiberglass. ABS probably doesn't have the acoustic qualities of MDF or fiberglass (although I can't confirm or deny this), and from what I've heard, you need to be pretty good with carbon fiber to get it to come out correctly (again, I can't confirm or deny this... its all things that I've heard from installers).
    Brian Knauss
    ex-Electrical Engineer for Polk
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  • LittleCar_w/12s
    LittleCar_w/12s Posts: 568
    edited May 2004
    I also pulled up the links on the other post covering this. Thanks for those as well... I have never done stretched fabric type fiberglass work... only on cars ar a repair.
    Thanks.
    --Jerry
    ___________________________
    Total cost of materials: Going up...
    Time spent: Countless Hours...
    Cranking the system, having it quiet outside the car, and sound that takes the rear-view off inside: PRICELESS

    For some things in life, you pay others to do it... For a masterpeice, do it yourself.
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  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited May 2004
    this site, mentioned elsewhere, contains a carbon-fibre link. i believe that this method uses primarily fiberglass techniques; i only looked over it briefly, though, and i'm not sure what the 'standard' method for carbon fibre is.

    jerry - assume i'm a complete n00b at fiberglassing... what other techniques can be used beyond stretched-fabric 'glassing?
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
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  • LittleCar_w/12s
    LittleCar_w/12s Posts: 568
    edited May 2004
    Well, when I have worked with large repairs on cars, I use kind-of a fiberglass tape for the first layer, or if it's large enough, I have used masking tape to hold the resin from oozing out the back, then the fiberglass tape. For the most part, I haven't done much matting, as the repair material I use is Bondo fiberglass filler, which is a resin-putty with chop-mat in it already. I haven't ever done anything quite as complicated as to need sheet matting, cloth, etc.
    -Jerry
    ___________________________
    Total cost of materials: Going up...
    Time spent: Countless Hours...
    Cranking the system, having it quiet outside the car, and sound that takes the rear-view off inside: PRICELESS

    For some things in life, you pay others to do it... For a masterpeice, do it yourself.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter