mulletboy2
23-12-2003, 04:35 AM
Ok lads and lasses, here's a tutorial, from start to finish, on how to create custom kick builds with fibreglass. The techniques herein can equally be applied to stealth bass boxes, and pretty much anything else involving fibreglass. Note: Moulding is NOT discussed.
What you will need:
1) Overalls (or old clothes you don't care about anymore)
2) Particle (dust) mask so you don't get too high. There are other more expensive types of masks available that will do a better job too.
3) Protective gloves - you'll use a pair per layer of fibreglass, so it's worth getting a box of 100 gloves
4) Protective Goggles - don't want this stuff going in your eye...
5) Fibreglass Mat (a.k.a CSM, or Chopped Strand Mat) - I tend to use 600gsm (grammes per square metre) mat, as fewer layers are required on larger projects
6) Polyester Resin and catalyst (usually supplied together)
7) Soft wax release agent (APW) and applicator (I use sponge pan cleaners) - stops the fibreglass sticking to whatever it's layed up over
8) Acetone (and an old jar to hold it) - to fibreglass resin as thinners are to paint. Don't bother trying to save money and use thinners or white spirit - they won't work.
9) Mixing sticks - to mix the resin with the catalyst
10) Paint brushes to apply the resin to the mat (having a decent stock of these is always worthwhile)
11) Consolidating Rollers to ease out bubbles, for strength (finned rollers are generally the best here). I use a 35mm and sometimes a 70mm roller. The smaller one will get in to corners easier
12) Calibrated Mixing bucket (1 is enough, but 2 is better as they have a tendency to crack when you're breaking out hardened resin)
13) Syringe or Catalyst dispenser (not 100% necessary, but if you're reading this then you probably can't judge how much catalyst to dispense by eye)
14) 12mm MDF - for the speaker baffle
15) Wooden Dowel Rod
16) Jigsaw (and LOTS of blades, unless you can find fibreglass cutting blades)
17) Drill, chuck, 2/3mm wood bit and 10mm wood bit
18) Glue gun
19) GOOD scissors (e.g Wilkinson Shears)
20) Heavy duty stapler
21) Gaffer tape
22) Ruler
23) Craft/stanley knife/scalpel
24) An old T-shirt or other stretchy fabric, used to get the initial shape of the builds
25) Glass (sand or wet and dry) paper - grits ranging from very coarse to very fine (1200)
26) Filler (I use fillite for large areas as it's bulky and easy to sand, and talc for the final layer)
27) Tissue paper for those unexpected spillages and for drying your brush(es) after they've been put in the acetone
28) Cardboard or MDF to rest everything on when not in use.
Optional Extras:
1) Disc Corner Roller: used for ease on sharp internal corners
2) Coarse rasp
3) Mandrel and circle cutter just slightly smaller (NOT the same size - maybe 1 or 2mm smaller) to the tweeter casing
You can buy almost all of the above from CFS supplies - www.cfsnet.co.uk. I would warn you to watch out for the delivery charges - you don't want to be placing small orders with them. The minimum delivery charge is 7GBP.
So, now that the formalities are out of the way, and you have everything you need, where do you go from here? When reading the below information, please bear in mind that it will save time and effort if you can do each step for both the driver and passenger sides in the same session. Also, I use photographs of some of my own builds throughout the tutorial to support what I'm saying. Your builds will probably not look anything like them. Mine didn't use the floor of the vehicle atall, whereas most kick builds do.
Making the Speaker Baffle:
Firstly you want to get the speaker baffles done, so you can get rid of any sawdust from your work area once complete. It's possible to do formations other than the standard teardrop (pear) shape, using foam, filler and MDF rings etc..., but let's just go for a teardrop formation to save a bit of space.
What you need to do is mark out a straight line on your MDF using the ruler, leaving enough distance between the line and the edges of the MDF for half of your intended teardrop width. Once you have this line, get out your compass (or speaker templates or whatever) and draw circles large enough for your speakers to completely fall through (i.e it should be atleast a couple of mm wider than your speaker mounting ring). If you're using a compass, make sure you mark the centrepoint of the circle so you can find it again. Ensure that the centre of the circles falls on the line that you drew originally, and ensure that the circles do not quite touch eachother (a 3 or 4mm gap should be ample).
Now, draw circles inside (at the centre of) the first set, ready to be cut out, so that your speakers have somewhere to screw in to and not fall through. These circles will probably be about 15mm-200mm smaller in diameter than the original ones.
Take the ruler out again, and mark a line from the outermost points on the outermost tweeter ring to the outermost points on the outermost mid ring. You should now have your teardrop shape.
In order to cut out this shape, we want to cut the speaker holes out before the teardrop shape, as if it were done the other way around, the teardrop shape would be very difficult to hold when cutting the speaker holes.
Drill a single 2 or 3mm hole towards the edge of the innermost mid ring - make sure you have atleast 6mm between the centre of the hole you're about to drill and the ring. Also drill a 2/3mm hole in the exact centre of the tweeter rings. Now swap your drill bit for the 10mm one, and enlarge the hole in the mid ring. This hole should now be large enough to pass the jigsaw blade through, and cut the speaker hole with.
Once the hole for the mid is done, you either need to repeat the process for the tweeter, or ideally use the optional circle cutter to get a perfect circle just slightly smaller than the tweeter.
By the end of the steps above, you should end up with something like the picture below. In the picture, the blue circles represent the speaker holes, black lines represent guides and centrepoints, and the yellow represents the overall teardrop shape we've been talking about.
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/teardrop.gif
Repeat this process for both sides then sand them smooth. Confirm that the speakers fit through the holes made, and although the tweeters probably won't, there should be very little sanding required to enlarge the holes. Repeat the sanding process until the speakers fit. DO NOT mark out and drill holes for the speaker screws, as they'll get covered back over later when fibreglassing.
Now all that's left to do for this part is to cut the teardrops out with the jigsaw.
Preparing the Car for Fibreglassing:
Firstly, ensure your car is in a well ventillated place (i.e outside) - fumes from polyester resin when "going off" are dangerous. Also, remove your floor mats- this will ensure your builds are the correct side and shape.
Fibreglass resin has a very nasty (and expensive) habbit of getting everywhere. You MUST protect your carpet, panels and paintwork so that any damage is prevented. To do this, simply lay strips of gaffer tape (and/or masking tape) over and around the areas you're going to be fibreglassing (this includes plastic trim). If using masking tape, make sure you lay a few layers. When laying the tape, make sure you work from the bottom upwards. This ensures that any overlay of bits of tape will be at the bottom edges. If the overlay is at the top edges, a poor seal between 2 bits of tape will provide the perfect gap for resin to seap through, and damage your carpet etc...
Note that it's easier (and less damaging) if you use a bottom layer of masking tape - gaffer tape has a tendency to rip carpets up etc... That said, it's your call...
Once you've laid plenty of tape, thoroughly cover it with soft wax release agent, as in the photo below.
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/postimages/1__mask_and_wax.jpg
As you can see, there are plenty of wrinkles in the tape. That's nothing to worry about really. Also note that it is wise to put tape over your pedals and on the underside of your dash.
Make sure that you prepare both sides of the car at this point in order to save time and equipment later.
Creating the Kick Build Bases:
As stated earlier, I choose to use 600gsm CSM for most of the fibreglassing I do, as it requires less layers. This applies here aswell. You're only building pods for your mids and tweets, but you want them to be solid and air-tight. 600gsm CSM is fairly thick stuff, but by the time you've applied it properly using your roller, you will have thin spots. I always use 2 layers for the base, although it's probably not strictly necessary. Still, better to waste an hour or two here than find you've made bad pods after significant sanding work later.
Cutting the CSM:
Now CSM is not really a problem unless your hands are covered in resin, but trust me - you don't want to touch it if you have any resin on your hands. In order to get the CSM to form correctly into the contours of your kicks, it's best to cut some strips out, and cut into the strips at varying angles. It's hard to describe, so good thing I've got a pic handy...
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/postimages/2__tools_materials.jpg
Note that the pic also includes my scissors, gloves, mask, polyester resin, hardener, mixing cup, jar for acetone, acetone itself, finned roller, brush and mixing stick. The most important thing though, is seeing that I've just cut towards the centre of the strips of the CSM. Rembember that 600gsm is a bit of a 'mare to cut, especially if you're going to these lengths. Good scissors are worth their weight in gold.
You can see in the pic that there's not too much CSM pre-cut. I was only building one side at a time when these photos were taken. Ideally you want to cut ATLEAST twice that amount of CSM ready, so your hands are fresh and clean while doing the cutting. Wearing gloves for the cutting is a real obstruction in my experience, however wearing overalls at this stage will prevent you getting any CSM on your skin which may later accidentally get resin dropped on - then you'd be in REAL trouble.
Mixing the Resin and Catalyst:
The next step then, is to mix up your resin and catalyst. Put on your particle mask and gloves! For each layer of fibreglass, you will need somewhere in the region of 500 to 800ml of resin. Pour this in to your mixing bucket. How much catalyst you want to add is really a product of how experienced (or stupid) you are, and how fast you want the fibreglass to cure. 1% by weight will give you a very slow curing mix. 2% is normal. 3% will cure relatively fast (too hard to spread within 10 or 15 minutes). 10% or more and you're at risk of causing a fire - the curing is an exothermic (heat giving) reaction, and it will start to occur inside your plastic mixing bucket ;)
You NEVER want to mix up more than a litre and a half of resin and catalyst under normal (hand) working conditions. Go for a 2% mix to start off with. This should give you atleast 15 or 20 minutes to apply it before it becomes stiff. So if you allowed 800ml of resin, you want to add 16ml of catalyst. Measure this out in your syringe or catalyst dispenser.
Please bear in mind that atmospheric conditions also play a part in how fast (if atall) the resin cures. 20 degrees is ideal. 0 degrees and you don't have a chance. 30 degrees and bear in mind your working time will be reduced. Using fan heaters to artificially increase the temperature will help, but are not ideal. Lamps also help.
Once you've added your catalyst to the resin the exothermic reaction starts taking place immediately. Your bucket should be starting to go warm after a few minutes. If you've added too much catalyst, the bucket may become too hot to touch comfortably - so always make sure you have somewhere to put it down.
Applying the CSM and Catalysed Resin:
Firstly, put some of your acetone in the jar if you haven't already (don't try drinking it - it would probably kill you before you got drunk ;) ).
Place a few of your strips of cut CSM onto the floor of the footwell and apply the catalysed resin using your paintbrush. Dabbing is easier than "stroking" the mat, as strands of the glass will become loose and end up trailing off the end of your brush. You will also not end up applying too much resin using this method, although it does take longer to get the initial coat down. Once you've finished on the floor of the footwell, work your way up the sides placing one strip of CSM at a time. Placing one strip at a time and saturating (not OVER-saturating) it will prevent the strips from falling down.
For the less experienced among you, please understand that while this isn't the fastest method to get the strips down and resin applied, it's certainly the easiest and most fool-proof. For the more experienced of you: yes, yes, I know :p The more practise you get at this stage, the more confident and able you will become. You will start being able to put all the strips down and going over the whole lot in one go - but please, don't try to run before you can walk.
Once you have finished this step for one side, put your brush in the acetone and push the bristles firmly against the jar to ensure the acetone permeates the partially cured resin. We're not artists here - pressing down on the bristles isn't going to cause you to lose marks...
Removing Bubbles:
Now all of the mat has been applied, you need to quickly get your finned roller on to it and get all of the bubbles squeezed out. Bubbles are bad - they lead to a weakened end product which may crack/pierce, and lead to air escaping from the pods. Just do as the name suggests - look for any bubbles (they will be lighter in colour than the rest of the fibreglass) and roll the roller over them until the bubbles are completely removed.
Now place your roller in the acetone and remove the paintbrush. Shake the brush out and give it a good wipe with some tissue so that it's as dry as possible. Don't take the roller out until you need it again.
Once you've applied the mat, resin and removed the bubbles, you should end up with something like:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/postimages/4__matt_and_resin_applied.jpg
Please note that I intended the fibreglass to stick to the panel - you should have covered that in tape earlier. The whole build photographed throughout this tutorial was done in a rush. I was quite overzealous with resin - your fibreglass should not look as saturated as mine does here. Also note that amount of resin dripped on the masking tape - THAT is why the tape's there.
Leave the Fibreglass to Cure:
You need to give the fibreglass some time to cure now, so it's probably a good idea to go and get started on the second build on the other side of the car.
Repeat steps "Cutting the CSM" down to "Removing Bubbles" above for the second build, but make sure that you "crack out" any cured resin from your mixing container before you continue.
By the time the second side has had its first layer of fibreglass applied, the initial side should be cured enough to apply the second layer... so repeat all of the above as appropriate, and then go inside and have a nice cup of tea (not pint - there's still more to do) - you've earned it!
All told, you should give the fibreglass a few hours to cure after the second layer. Make sure it's warm enough to go off (cure) properly, otherwise you'll end up a ball of mush at the end.
Go outside and check a few hours later - if the fibreglass is still warm atall, it hasn't gone off completely, so leave it longer. Ideally you'd leave the fibreglass overnight to cure fully, but I suspect many of you will be as impatient as I am.
Aiming the Speakers:
I'm not going to go to the lengths covered in other tutorials regarding the aiming of your speakers. This tutorial is aimed at kick build fabrication, not speaker aiming.
Once you're satisfied that the fibreglass has gone off enough, bring out your MDF baffles, speakers, glue gun and various cut lengths of dowel (from 2cm to about 8cm is probably a safe bet). Place your speakers in the baffles - they should be held tight enough, even though they're not secured with screws. Get your aiming correct while ensuring there is space for the rear of the speakers. It is optional to add a bit of padding on the back of the speakers to ensure that there's space for sound dampening later (if you intend to add it).
The photo below shows me offering up the speaker baffle to get the aiming correct (I did confirm this with the speakers in the baffle, although that is not photographed).
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/postimages/5__offer_up_speaker_baffle.jpg
Once you're happy with the aiming, mark around the edge of the baffle using a felt tipped pen as shown in the photo below
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/8__mark_around_speaker_baff.jpg
Now you can remove the base from the car and cut it to the correct size using the jigsaw.. This is the bit where the "many" blades are required. You are cutting glass here, so you either need diamond tipped blades, or a fair few wooden ones as they will get blunt very quickly.
Once your base is cut to shape, you should end up with something like this:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/10_base_cut_to_size.jpg
You will probably need to sand the fibreglass somewhat in order to end up with a smooth, flowing shape.
Now comes the tricky part. You need to get the baffle held in place by the dowel. How this is done is very much a factor of the particular application. In my case, the baffle met with the fibreglass in two places, so I was able to mark around it carefully with a pen and then remove the whole lot from the car for repositioning and securing on the work bench (without the need to hold the speakers too). This is certainly the easiest method IMHO. Other options would be to use a tape measure or a little guesswork - all depends whether you're after the ultimate in SQ or just a close approximation, and what methods suit yourself and your tools the best.
One other technique would be the highly scientific "hold it in place with your foot" method - like this:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/16_check_pod_base_still_fit.jpg
Regardless, when you've finished you'll hopefully end up with something like this:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/14_speaker_baffle_mounted_s.jpg
Creating the Top of the Build:
This bit is fairly simple really. Staple your stretchy fabric to the top of the baffle, then stretch it around the edges and behind the base of the build. Staple it to the back of the build, making sure you have as few wrinkles as possible.
BEFORE:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/17_tools_for_pod_cover_fabr.jpg
AFTER
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/18_pod_cover_fabric_secured.jpg
As you can see, it's not perfect due to the awkward shape of the panels. The more time you spend getting this right, the less time it's going to take to finish the builds in the long rung.
Once you've secured the fabric, make up another batch of catalysed resin, and apply it all over (except for the back of the base) like this:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/19_pod_cover_fabric_covered.jpg
Let the resin go off, then cut off the parts of the fabric which are not required for the build and remove the staples - this includes the speaker holes.
Depending how thick the material you used was, you may wish to apply another layer to the top. I certainly would if it was an old t-shirt as mine was.
Finishing Up:
In order to finish the builds off properly, you will want to add some filler to your builds. As much time and effort can go in to this process as the rest of the build in its entirity.
As I mentioned earlier, I like to use fillite for my filler as it has a lot of bulk and is easy to sand. Simply mix catalysed resin in to the fillite to taste (it shouldn't be too runny or too dry). Apply the fillite to the build as necessary. You can get away with using a mixing stick to do this, although ideally you would use a proper filler spreader or something similar.
When sanding the filler down you have a choice - either wait until it goes completely hard, or try to preempt that with some sanding when it's still partially wet. If you attack it while still partially wet, you run the risk of removing too much filler and creating yourself work by needing additional layers. If you wait until it's completely cured you will need a lot more elbow grease to remove it. A rasp comes in VERY handy here.
Apply more layers of fillite (or other coarse filler) until you've sanded the build a final time and are happy with the results. Depending on how you want to finish the builds off, you may need to apply some finer filler in order to get a perfectly smooth finish. Farecla and other cutting agents may be used, as may gel coats etc.... I won't go into any more detail on this front, as I think you have more than enough to be getting on with ;)
Once the build is finished to your satisfaction, drill your speaker holes for the speakers (making sure you've left 24 hours between the last application of resin and putting your speakers in place - curing resin eats speaker surrounds). You should have something that looks somewhat similar to this by now:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/passenger_side_partially_fi.jpg
You should really secure your builds by screwing them down to something secure in your car, and don't forget that you also need a hole for speaker wire to get in to the builds. Apply any sound dampening/deadening you wish, and seal everything up nicely with some silicone sealant.
Hopefully this has given you a good insight in to how to go about building your first kick builds. Let me know if there's anything I've left out.
Cheers
Mark
What you will need:
1) Overalls (or old clothes you don't care about anymore)
2) Particle (dust) mask so you don't get too high. There are other more expensive types of masks available that will do a better job too.
3) Protective gloves - you'll use a pair per layer of fibreglass, so it's worth getting a box of 100 gloves
4) Protective Goggles - don't want this stuff going in your eye...
5) Fibreglass Mat (a.k.a CSM, or Chopped Strand Mat) - I tend to use 600gsm (grammes per square metre) mat, as fewer layers are required on larger projects
6) Polyester Resin and catalyst (usually supplied together)
7) Soft wax release agent (APW) and applicator (I use sponge pan cleaners) - stops the fibreglass sticking to whatever it's layed up over
8) Acetone (and an old jar to hold it) - to fibreglass resin as thinners are to paint. Don't bother trying to save money and use thinners or white spirit - they won't work.
9) Mixing sticks - to mix the resin with the catalyst
10) Paint brushes to apply the resin to the mat (having a decent stock of these is always worthwhile)
11) Consolidating Rollers to ease out bubbles, for strength (finned rollers are generally the best here). I use a 35mm and sometimes a 70mm roller. The smaller one will get in to corners easier
12) Calibrated Mixing bucket (1 is enough, but 2 is better as they have a tendency to crack when you're breaking out hardened resin)
13) Syringe or Catalyst dispenser (not 100% necessary, but if you're reading this then you probably can't judge how much catalyst to dispense by eye)
14) 12mm MDF - for the speaker baffle
15) Wooden Dowel Rod
16) Jigsaw (and LOTS of blades, unless you can find fibreglass cutting blades)
17) Drill, chuck, 2/3mm wood bit and 10mm wood bit
18) Glue gun
19) GOOD scissors (e.g Wilkinson Shears)
20) Heavy duty stapler
21) Gaffer tape
22) Ruler
23) Craft/stanley knife/scalpel
24) An old T-shirt or other stretchy fabric, used to get the initial shape of the builds
25) Glass (sand or wet and dry) paper - grits ranging from very coarse to very fine (1200)
26) Filler (I use fillite for large areas as it's bulky and easy to sand, and talc for the final layer)
27) Tissue paper for those unexpected spillages and for drying your brush(es) after they've been put in the acetone
28) Cardboard or MDF to rest everything on when not in use.
Optional Extras:
1) Disc Corner Roller: used for ease on sharp internal corners
2) Coarse rasp
3) Mandrel and circle cutter just slightly smaller (NOT the same size - maybe 1 or 2mm smaller) to the tweeter casing
You can buy almost all of the above from CFS supplies - www.cfsnet.co.uk. I would warn you to watch out for the delivery charges - you don't want to be placing small orders with them. The minimum delivery charge is 7GBP.
So, now that the formalities are out of the way, and you have everything you need, where do you go from here? When reading the below information, please bear in mind that it will save time and effort if you can do each step for both the driver and passenger sides in the same session. Also, I use photographs of some of my own builds throughout the tutorial to support what I'm saying. Your builds will probably not look anything like them. Mine didn't use the floor of the vehicle atall, whereas most kick builds do.
Making the Speaker Baffle:
Firstly you want to get the speaker baffles done, so you can get rid of any sawdust from your work area once complete. It's possible to do formations other than the standard teardrop (pear) shape, using foam, filler and MDF rings etc..., but let's just go for a teardrop formation to save a bit of space.
What you need to do is mark out a straight line on your MDF using the ruler, leaving enough distance between the line and the edges of the MDF for half of your intended teardrop width. Once you have this line, get out your compass (or speaker templates or whatever) and draw circles large enough for your speakers to completely fall through (i.e it should be atleast a couple of mm wider than your speaker mounting ring). If you're using a compass, make sure you mark the centrepoint of the circle so you can find it again. Ensure that the centre of the circles falls on the line that you drew originally, and ensure that the circles do not quite touch eachother (a 3 or 4mm gap should be ample).
Now, draw circles inside (at the centre of) the first set, ready to be cut out, so that your speakers have somewhere to screw in to and not fall through. These circles will probably be about 15mm-200mm smaller in diameter than the original ones.
Take the ruler out again, and mark a line from the outermost points on the outermost tweeter ring to the outermost points on the outermost mid ring. You should now have your teardrop shape.
In order to cut out this shape, we want to cut the speaker holes out before the teardrop shape, as if it were done the other way around, the teardrop shape would be very difficult to hold when cutting the speaker holes.
Drill a single 2 or 3mm hole towards the edge of the innermost mid ring - make sure you have atleast 6mm between the centre of the hole you're about to drill and the ring. Also drill a 2/3mm hole in the exact centre of the tweeter rings. Now swap your drill bit for the 10mm one, and enlarge the hole in the mid ring. This hole should now be large enough to pass the jigsaw blade through, and cut the speaker hole with.
Once the hole for the mid is done, you either need to repeat the process for the tweeter, or ideally use the optional circle cutter to get a perfect circle just slightly smaller than the tweeter.
By the end of the steps above, you should end up with something like the picture below. In the picture, the blue circles represent the speaker holes, black lines represent guides and centrepoints, and the yellow represents the overall teardrop shape we've been talking about.
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/teardrop.gif
Repeat this process for both sides then sand them smooth. Confirm that the speakers fit through the holes made, and although the tweeters probably won't, there should be very little sanding required to enlarge the holes. Repeat the sanding process until the speakers fit. DO NOT mark out and drill holes for the speaker screws, as they'll get covered back over later when fibreglassing.
Now all that's left to do for this part is to cut the teardrops out with the jigsaw.
Preparing the Car for Fibreglassing:
Firstly, ensure your car is in a well ventillated place (i.e outside) - fumes from polyester resin when "going off" are dangerous. Also, remove your floor mats- this will ensure your builds are the correct side and shape.
Fibreglass resin has a very nasty (and expensive) habbit of getting everywhere. You MUST protect your carpet, panels and paintwork so that any damage is prevented. To do this, simply lay strips of gaffer tape (and/or masking tape) over and around the areas you're going to be fibreglassing (this includes plastic trim). If using masking tape, make sure you lay a few layers. When laying the tape, make sure you work from the bottom upwards. This ensures that any overlay of bits of tape will be at the bottom edges. If the overlay is at the top edges, a poor seal between 2 bits of tape will provide the perfect gap for resin to seap through, and damage your carpet etc...
Note that it's easier (and less damaging) if you use a bottom layer of masking tape - gaffer tape has a tendency to rip carpets up etc... That said, it's your call...
Once you've laid plenty of tape, thoroughly cover it with soft wax release agent, as in the photo below.
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/postimages/1__mask_and_wax.jpg
As you can see, there are plenty of wrinkles in the tape. That's nothing to worry about really. Also note that it is wise to put tape over your pedals and on the underside of your dash.
Make sure that you prepare both sides of the car at this point in order to save time and equipment later.
Creating the Kick Build Bases:
As stated earlier, I choose to use 600gsm CSM for most of the fibreglassing I do, as it requires less layers. This applies here aswell. You're only building pods for your mids and tweets, but you want them to be solid and air-tight. 600gsm CSM is fairly thick stuff, but by the time you've applied it properly using your roller, you will have thin spots. I always use 2 layers for the base, although it's probably not strictly necessary. Still, better to waste an hour or two here than find you've made bad pods after significant sanding work later.
Cutting the CSM:
Now CSM is not really a problem unless your hands are covered in resin, but trust me - you don't want to touch it if you have any resin on your hands. In order to get the CSM to form correctly into the contours of your kicks, it's best to cut some strips out, and cut into the strips at varying angles. It's hard to describe, so good thing I've got a pic handy...
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/postimages/2__tools_materials.jpg
Note that the pic also includes my scissors, gloves, mask, polyester resin, hardener, mixing cup, jar for acetone, acetone itself, finned roller, brush and mixing stick. The most important thing though, is seeing that I've just cut towards the centre of the strips of the CSM. Rembember that 600gsm is a bit of a 'mare to cut, especially if you're going to these lengths. Good scissors are worth their weight in gold.
You can see in the pic that there's not too much CSM pre-cut. I was only building one side at a time when these photos were taken. Ideally you want to cut ATLEAST twice that amount of CSM ready, so your hands are fresh and clean while doing the cutting. Wearing gloves for the cutting is a real obstruction in my experience, however wearing overalls at this stage will prevent you getting any CSM on your skin which may later accidentally get resin dropped on - then you'd be in REAL trouble.
Mixing the Resin and Catalyst:
The next step then, is to mix up your resin and catalyst. Put on your particle mask and gloves! For each layer of fibreglass, you will need somewhere in the region of 500 to 800ml of resin. Pour this in to your mixing bucket. How much catalyst you want to add is really a product of how experienced (or stupid) you are, and how fast you want the fibreglass to cure. 1% by weight will give you a very slow curing mix. 2% is normal. 3% will cure relatively fast (too hard to spread within 10 or 15 minutes). 10% or more and you're at risk of causing a fire - the curing is an exothermic (heat giving) reaction, and it will start to occur inside your plastic mixing bucket ;)
You NEVER want to mix up more than a litre and a half of resin and catalyst under normal (hand) working conditions. Go for a 2% mix to start off with. This should give you atleast 15 or 20 minutes to apply it before it becomes stiff. So if you allowed 800ml of resin, you want to add 16ml of catalyst. Measure this out in your syringe or catalyst dispenser.
Please bear in mind that atmospheric conditions also play a part in how fast (if atall) the resin cures. 20 degrees is ideal. 0 degrees and you don't have a chance. 30 degrees and bear in mind your working time will be reduced. Using fan heaters to artificially increase the temperature will help, but are not ideal. Lamps also help.
Once you've added your catalyst to the resin the exothermic reaction starts taking place immediately. Your bucket should be starting to go warm after a few minutes. If you've added too much catalyst, the bucket may become too hot to touch comfortably - so always make sure you have somewhere to put it down.
Applying the CSM and Catalysed Resin:
Firstly, put some of your acetone in the jar if you haven't already (don't try drinking it - it would probably kill you before you got drunk ;) ).
Place a few of your strips of cut CSM onto the floor of the footwell and apply the catalysed resin using your paintbrush. Dabbing is easier than "stroking" the mat, as strands of the glass will become loose and end up trailing off the end of your brush. You will also not end up applying too much resin using this method, although it does take longer to get the initial coat down. Once you've finished on the floor of the footwell, work your way up the sides placing one strip of CSM at a time. Placing one strip at a time and saturating (not OVER-saturating) it will prevent the strips from falling down.
For the less experienced among you, please understand that while this isn't the fastest method to get the strips down and resin applied, it's certainly the easiest and most fool-proof. For the more experienced of you: yes, yes, I know :p The more practise you get at this stage, the more confident and able you will become. You will start being able to put all the strips down and going over the whole lot in one go - but please, don't try to run before you can walk.
Once you have finished this step for one side, put your brush in the acetone and push the bristles firmly against the jar to ensure the acetone permeates the partially cured resin. We're not artists here - pressing down on the bristles isn't going to cause you to lose marks...
Removing Bubbles:
Now all of the mat has been applied, you need to quickly get your finned roller on to it and get all of the bubbles squeezed out. Bubbles are bad - they lead to a weakened end product which may crack/pierce, and lead to air escaping from the pods. Just do as the name suggests - look for any bubbles (they will be lighter in colour than the rest of the fibreglass) and roll the roller over them until the bubbles are completely removed.
Now place your roller in the acetone and remove the paintbrush. Shake the brush out and give it a good wipe with some tissue so that it's as dry as possible. Don't take the roller out until you need it again.
Once you've applied the mat, resin and removed the bubbles, you should end up with something like:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/postimages/4__matt_and_resin_applied.jpg
Please note that I intended the fibreglass to stick to the panel - you should have covered that in tape earlier. The whole build photographed throughout this tutorial was done in a rush. I was quite overzealous with resin - your fibreglass should not look as saturated as mine does here. Also note that amount of resin dripped on the masking tape - THAT is why the tape's there.
Leave the Fibreglass to Cure:
You need to give the fibreglass some time to cure now, so it's probably a good idea to go and get started on the second build on the other side of the car.
Repeat steps "Cutting the CSM" down to "Removing Bubbles" above for the second build, but make sure that you "crack out" any cured resin from your mixing container before you continue.
By the time the second side has had its first layer of fibreglass applied, the initial side should be cured enough to apply the second layer... so repeat all of the above as appropriate, and then go inside and have a nice cup of tea (not pint - there's still more to do) - you've earned it!
All told, you should give the fibreglass a few hours to cure after the second layer. Make sure it's warm enough to go off (cure) properly, otherwise you'll end up a ball of mush at the end.
Go outside and check a few hours later - if the fibreglass is still warm atall, it hasn't gone off completely, so leave it longer. Ideally you'd leave the fibreglass overnight to cure fully, but I suspect many of you will be as impatient as I am.
Aiming the Speakers:
I'm not going to go to the lengths covered in other tutorials regarding the aiming of your speakers. This tutorial is aimed at kick build fabrication, not speaker aiming.
Once you're satisfied that the fibreglass has gone off enough, bring out your MDF baffles, speakers, glue gun and various cut lengths of dowel (from 2cm to about 8cm is probably a safe bet). Place your speakers in the baffles - they should be held tight enough, even though they're not secured with screws. Get your aiming correct while ensuring there is space for the rear of the speakers. It is optional to add a bit of padding on the back of the speakers to ensure that there's space for sound dampening later (if you intend to add it).
The photo below shows me offering up the speaker baffle to get the aiming correct (I did confirm this with the speakers in the baffle, although that is not photographed).
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/postimages/5__offer_up_speaker_baffle.jpg
Once you're happy with the aiming, mark around the edge of the baffle using a felt tipped pen as shown in the photo below
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/8__mark_around_speaker_baff.jpg
Now you can remove the base from the car and cut it to the correct size using the jigsaw.. This is the bit where the "many" blades are required. You are cutting glass here, so you either need diamond tipped blades, or a fair few wooden ones as they will get blunt very quickly.
Once your base is cut to shape, you should end up with something like this:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/10_base_cut_to_size.jpg
You will probably need to sand the fibreglass somewhat in order to end up with a smooth, flowing shape.
Now comes the tricky part. You need to get the baffle held in place by the dowel. How this is done is very much a factor of the particular application. In my case, the baffle met with the fibreglass in two places, so I was able to mark around it carefully with a pen and then remove the whole lot from the car for repositioning and securing on the work bench (without the need to hold the speakers too). This is certainly the easiest method IMHO. Other options would be to use a tape measure or a little guesswork - all depends whether you're after the ultimate in SQ or just a close approximation, and what methods suit yourself and your tools the best.
One other technique would be the highly scientific "hold it in place with your foot" method - like this:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/16_check_pod_base_still_fit.jpg
Regardless, when you've finished you'll hopefully end up with something like this:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/14_speaker_baffle_mounted_s.jpg
Creating the Top of the Build:
This bit is fairly simple really. Staple your stretchy fabric to the top of the baffle, then stretch it around the edges and behind the base of the build. Staple it to the back of the build, making sure you have as few wrinkles as possible.
BEFORE:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/17_tools_for_pod_cover_fabr.jpg
AFTER
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/18_pod_cover_fabric_secured.jpg
As you can see, it's not perfect due to the awkward shape of the panels. The more time you spend getting this right, the less time it's going to take to finish the builds in the long rung.
Once you've secured the fabric, make up another batch of catalysed resin, and apply it all over (except for the back of the base) like this:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/19_pod_cover_fabric_covered.jpg
Let the resin go off, then cut off the parts of the fabric which are not required for the build and remove the staples - this includes the speaker holes.
Depending how thick the material you used was, you may wish to apply another layer to the top. I certainly would if it was an old t-shirt as mine was.
Finishing Up:
In order to finish the builds off properly, you will want to add some filler to your builds. As much time and effort can go in to this process as the rest of the build in its entirity.
As I mentioned earlier, I like to use fillite for my filler as it has a lot of bulk and is easy to sand. Simply mix catalysed resin in to the fillite to taste (it shouldn't be too runny or too dry). Apply the fillite to the build as necessary. You can get away with using a mixing stick to do this, although ideally you would use a proper filler spreader or something similar.
When sanding the filler down you have a choice - either wait until it goes completely hard, or try to preempt that with some sanding when it's still partially wet. If you attack it while still partially wet, you run the risk of removing too much filler and creating yourself work by needing additional layers. If you wait until it's completely cured you will need a lot more elbow grease to remove it. A rasp comes in VERY handy here.
Apply more layers of fillite (or other coarse filler) until you've sanded the build a final time and are happy with the results. Depending on how you want to finish the builds off, you may need to apply some finer filler in order to get a perfectly smooth finish. Farecla and other cutting agents may be used, as may gel coats etc.... I won't go into any more detail on this front, as I think you have more than enough to be getting on with ;)
Once the build is finished to your satisfaction, drill your speaker holes for the speakers (making sure you've left 24 hours between the last application of resin and putting your speakers in place - curing resin eats speaker surrounds). You should have something that looks somewhat similar to this by now:
http://www.devgeek.co.uk/TA/PostImages/passenger_side_partially_fi.jpg
You should really secure your builds by screwing them down to something secure in your car, and don't forget that you also need a hole for speaker wire to get in to the builds. Apply any sound dampening/deadening you wish, and seal everything up nicely with some silicone sealant.
Hopefully this has given you a good insight in to how to go about building your first kick builds. Let me know if there's anything I've left out.
Cheers
Mark