Boot Moulds

[Foss]

I need to make some fibreglass enclosures for my subs & amps and my boot. I plan to make them from fibreglass.

The problem is, I know a couple of blokes who took the initial fibreglass moulds directly in the boot. This was months ago. Their cars still stink of it.

Does anybody know of a way I could create a mould of the boot sections I need, so I can then fibreglass around that out of the boot, and avoid stinking out the car? A friend suggested papier mache, which isn't really as silly as it sounds when you consider how similar the process is to fibreglass, but I'm still looking for other ideas.

So, any suggestions?

[dutchie101]

I assume you want to make a mold of the cavity?

You could also spray foam (gap filler type) you know, the stuff in a can that expands like crazy. You can also get it at boat building or resin suppliers as a two part mix.. Use some thick plastic or multiple plastic large bin bags double sided to the boot walls fill with expanding foam 1/3 only. Expands and sets quick, makes prefect molds. You can "mask" off bits with cardboard ect to control the foam. Once set (now im going from memory from ten years back or longer) you can shape the foam, glass it up and dislove the foam away with a solvent (i cant remember which solvent dissolves the foam, sorry. Either toluene/ acrylic, enamel thinners or acetone should work!)

Alternatively, you can make/shape the box/enclosure from styrofoam to fit, coat it with a film, glass it, dissolve it. Just experiment with the dissolving solvent/foam combo and go from there. Im sure you get the idea. Its been a while but i hope that helps somewhat. :)

Edited January 21, 2010 by dutchie101

[JJCRU23R]

Ive gone and done this myself and I did experience some smell after making the mould but it did not take months for it to dissapear. One way you could do the mould outside the car is to take out the trim of the boot (if your car already has a moulded trim) and go through the process as normal.

However, when I did this, I had my parents garage to park my car in for a few days. I taped layer upon layer of newspaper and baking foil around the areas I wanted to mould and left the boot open for a couple days. (tHE family was going interstate for the weekend so it sorted out).

Of course you cant really avoid the smell, I guess if you have a well ventilated space to park the car then do it there with the boot open.

[Foss]

Well, tried the expanding foam idea. It failed miserably. Worked OK to start with, and looked like it was setting nicely. Took it out after several hours once it was hard, only to find that it was only set on top, and that everything underneath was just a runny liquid mess. Thank god I lined the boot with bin bags!

Looks like its paper mache!

[JJCRU23R]

What about plaster? Probebly more messy..but listen- theres no real surefire way of avoiding the smell. After a short while you wont notice the smell and if there is any, its not going to be as strong as when you first poured out the resin.

Of course you would probebly notice the smell in your mates car, since you dont drive it all the time, but eventually the smell does dissapear!

As long as youve covered everything well and thrown out everything afterwards, the smell would be minimal. Im just guessing that there was a lot of left over resin that maybe soaked into the fabric of the carpet of the boot which is why it may still smell if it is as bad as you make it out to be. Once the resin activates the fibreglass and dries, there is hardly any noticable smell. Any smell off my sub is any residual dust from inside the box, but nothing outside.

[dutchie101]

Did you use 2 part mix or can of foam? Sorry to hear it didnt set. You can always make layers of the foam, allow to set a layer, build it up from there.

Ive never had it not set. Its specifically made for confined spaces like boat hulls so not sure what went wrong.

:(