What would you pay for this???

[Road_Warrior85]

Question for you guys....

What would you pay for a custom molded fiberglass speaker box to go in the trunk......

We have seen the stealth boxes, but thats not what i am talking about.

I am talking about smooth, painted fiberglass THAT MATCHES CAR PAINT, with a 10 or 12 inch sub in each corner of the trunk....

one more difference... instead of firing at each other, I want them pointing at 45 degree angles... toward the center of the trunk.

I talked to a shop today and they are going to get back to me with a quote.

SO what would you pay? for a box as described above?

Also, if you are interested, the guy said he could probably use my car as the test fit and then make multiples if anybody else wanted them.

So what should it cost?
What would you pay?

[Michael_Js]

Does it have any backing to it or is it using the car as the "rest" of the box? I've seen custom molded boxes - matching the interior carpet for $200 - no electronics. I'm waiting for the smaller passenger side stealth sub box...

[mrcowboy]

I'm not your target customer..I was about 10 years ago when I got my first car. My mustang always had the most bass I could stick on it and I would custom design enclosures (ghetto style) that would use the entire trunk as an enclosure...

the end result...I lost some of my hearing.....hearing loss prevents me from buying subwoofers....I do however like component systems.

[jordan 572]

make sure you post a reply i was thinking of something like this

[Road_Warrior85]

Originally Posted by Michael_Js

Does it have any backing to it or is it using the car as the "rest" of the box? I've seen custom molded boxes - matching the interior carpet for $200 - no electronics. I'm waiting for the smaller passenger side stealth sub box...

Going from what the guy told me his plans are the following:

Make mold of inner corner of trunk...... pull it out, use it to make back of box..... put that back in car, use it to mock up rest of box.... pull box out and build the rest of it.

He said the end result would be a drop in box for 10"-12" speakers capable of 1'-1.5' of space (just eyeballing it), that would be sanded smooth with a clean painted finish, that matches the exterior of the car.

No carpet.

I am hoping to get some hits on this because if enough of us are interested, then i can probably talk his price down, since he will be doing multiple at one time.

Only thing is, I have never fooled with fiberglass boxes, so I dont know what they cost.... or what they cost when you add the labor time to sand them down and paint them.


If you want other cool tricks done I am sure he can add it... I was contemplating on having SS painted on the box as well... or even adding some neon lights similar to the ABL.... maybe even frenching in a clear plexiglass pannel, with light tubes inside the box to add lighting that way, or something.... but before I talk adding trick shit, I want to know what the basic box is worth.

[Road_Warrior85]

So all these other posts about boxes are going crazy... everybody is asking "how much... how much.... whats the cost"

Yet nobody will tell me what they think one should cost?

Well, I should hear back from the guy today with what his price is, I guess I will post that to see if anybody else is interested

[patriotpa]

How are you handling the resonance damping using fiberglass instead of a more dense material like mdf?

[Audio Integrations]

Not exactly what you're looking for with the painted glass work but there's a variety of responses here that may give ya a closer idea.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36360

If you're having them professionally painted with a good primer and paint matched to your factory color I'm afraid it's going to be costly. Good paint and primer isn't cheap and the labor to lay it down nice isn't either and your surface is going to need some prep work.

Unless your installer/fiberglass worker is doing some sort of RTM method on the glass your most likely going to get some small pits/pin holes on the glass surface - that will have to be filled with a heavy build primer and sanded through the grits to get it perfect. A lot of painters may want to then shoot it with the primer/sealer their familiar with before squirting the paint. Fiberglass work has to be sealed really well or you could have some trouble in the paint finish down the road.

So here's one example for ya from our shop we did quite a while ago - a sub enclosure and matching amp rack in the spare tire well in a Jetta. Depending on the shape of your enclosure this may be pretty close to surface area.

The first pic shows the fiberglass covered in a filler/finishing putty to smooth out the glass - second pic shows it all covered in a heavy fill primer and then the last pic shows it finished in glossy black paint.

We did all the fiberglass, putty and heavy fill primer work and sanding then handed it off to a local painter we used a lot before and he always shot stuff way cheap compared to a full on shop. He shot it in a primer/sealer then laid down the black paint. We had about $50 - $65 in just the paint/primer and then he charged $100 to shoot both pieces. So your pretty close to $150 for just the paint work, not to mention all the other prep and primer work to get to that final point.

Like I stated in another post - not all shops/installers are the same - you'll be able to find prices all over the board between shops and locations - some guys know what their doing, some don't but the work is labor intensive and I wouldn't expect anybody to do it super cheap and if they do they most likely won't be doing it again after they realize what kind of time/work they'll have into it.

Here's a link to the rest of the in process/finished install pics - http://www.audiointegrations.net/page/page/3085701.htm

- Todd

[Road_Warrior85]

Hey, thanks for that last reply..... yes that is the kind of thing I have in mind.

They guy got back with me and told me that he was thinking around $650 to build both boxes (one per corner)
This is including sanding, and painting to match body of car.

Below are some more pics to give some better ideas of what he has in mind.

First off, here is a picture of a Sub in the trunk of a Camaro.
This is the back corner, just like where I am planning to put my subs. HOWEVER, this sub is 90* to the Cabin..... We are wanting to aim our box closer to 45* so the subs aim towards the center of the cabin.




NEXT

Here is some random sub, in some random trunk
This picture shows the smooth painted fiberglass box. That is the finish we are going for with the box i am trying to get built.
Again, the speaker would be aimed differently... and of course the box would fit differently in the trunk



So that gives you all a better idea..... I hope.

He told me 650 for building BOTH boxes (left and right side).
ALSO, that he would come down on prices if we had multiple people wanting to get a box.

Does that sound like a good price to any of you ??

[DRK]

Originally Posted by patriotpa

How are you handling the resonance damping using fiberglass instead of a more dense material like mdf?

That's pretty easy to take care of.

At the construction level, Scosche makes a fiberglass damping mat that lays in between fiberglass layers, with randomly distributed "pockets" of higher density, preventing the entire fiberglass structure from having uniform density and thus preventing resonance.

I doubt his installer would use that, Scosche damping isn't the easiest stuff in the world to source, especially their more obscure products.

At the consumer level, a bit of liquid damping applied to the inside of the enclosure should work fine. I prefer Second Skin products, but if you aren't planning on doing an extensive damping install like I am, I'm pretty Scosche makes a liquid damper available in single aerosol cans.

[RMGee]

I would buy em if they looked as sexy as the last picure road warrior posted

[Road_Warrior85]

well then keep your eyes open... i will be coming back soon with some finished pictures of my boxes, and prices so you can get some too

[patriotpa]

Originally Posted by DRK

That's pretty easy to take care of.

At the construction level, Scosche makes a fiberglass damping mat that lays in between fiberglass layers, with randomly distributed "pockets" of higher density, preventing the entire fiberglass structure from having uniform density and thus preventing resonance.

I doubt his installer would use that, Scosche damping isn't the easiest stuff in the world to source, especially their more obscure products.

At the consumer level, a bit of liquid damping applied to the inside of the enclosure should work fine. I prefer Second Skin products, but if you aren't planning on doing an extensive damping install like I am, I'm pretty Scosche makes a liquid damper available in single aerosol cans.

I'm glad to see that is being taken care of. Huge, sloppy, overpowering, resonant bass is easy, and what most people end up with. A true balanced sound with tight bass, clear, precise highs, and accurate midrange isn't nearly as easy, but is worth the effort. (I'm an EE by trade)

[RMGee]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior85

well then keep your eyes open... i will be coming back soon with some finished pictures of my boxes, and prices so you can get some too

Ya I actually really like the angle of that blue one