DIY Fiberglass Enclosure How to & Tips

Needed: Fiberglass (I used 460g) Catalyst Resin Mold (Wood,Styrofoam) you must cover it in some kind of tape unless its polyester is going to stick to it,regular brown packaging tape works well you can use duck tape also but its expensive I paid 13$ for my materials in Croatia and still have left like a liter and something left of resin

Steps: Cover your board in tape,use two layers since some resin may get under the first and you will end up cleaning the board with rakija since you do not have any nitro or 100% alcohol at home, BUT rakija is close :smiley:

Calculate the dimensions of your enclosure and make a mold of the materials above.

Go to your hardware shop and buy some polyester resin (easier to mix than epoxy,still super strong I restored my boat out of this,and its not some grandpa boat its a speedboat that goes 80mph and 4.8m long so the forces on it are huge especially when you do a 90 degree turn in second at 70kmh) Catalyst 5mll will do it Roller Fiberglass, I used 7 layers of 460g one, buy 2m so you have some left Gloves resistable to this kind of stuff, i forgot and had to use those for the house, and they dont work well at all

Mix it together and start rolling, make sure you use enough of resin, cut out the fiberglass and repeat

When you are finished you can use your fingers to fix the corners a bit for better look

Now while it dries make a frame for the mold slightly bigger dimensions than the mold so it holds the fiberglass in shape so you get nice 90 degree sides,of course you need to cover it with tape.

You can also add some more material on the edges, so if it scrapes on the road you wont have problems

If you want it to dry faster put it in a warm place, the warmer the better Mine dried for 15hr and its rock solid

When it dries, you only have to cut out the excess, sand it a bit, fix the errors with some kit if you have them, and paint it!

Of course you can buy an enclosure from people from the forum for 50$ idk but this is wayyy more fun than just buying stuff, like 100% DIY

Some Pictures:

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All the photos are blurry unless I click on them. WHY?

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Any chance of pics of the finished product? Right now it just looks like a giant booger.

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Maybe “spoiler alert”?

Im finishing it today

Maybe its because of imgur dunno

@Acido Did you use mat fiberglass, if so what weight?

If I remember well it was about 450grams per m2 Its a really fun project just make sure to use gloves for this kind of stuff

3 layers of 450gsm makes a very tough box. I’ve used 600 gsm too, a little trickier to work with. The chopped strand mat makes it easier to work with than the woven mat if you are doing it for the first time. Gloves are a must and a respirator mask if you want to look after yourself.

Ive used 7layers of 450 and just half finished sanding it today God how many sanding papers i need

7 layers will be bomb proof! Plenty of sanding unless you make a mould from something smooth!

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I did it from wood, on the corners and the outside is the problem the middle part is smooth as silk

Cool. I bought 1qt of polyester resin and catalyst and about 1mx1m of 2oz fiberglass mat. I hope to make the wood form soon. Thx for the help!

You should be able to get 4 layers from that. More than enough.

I plan to do 3 layers, 4 if I can, but probably 4 layer patches on certain parts

I’ve found 3 layers to be very strong. I use a gelcoat on top to get a clean coloured finish but I use a mould which is a fair bit of work if you’re only doing one enclosure.

You can see the thickness in this photo.

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Cool post, will try to build mine following your tips once I get my Spud!

I’m making mine with a surface curing and plan to put a few coats of black spray paint. I made the mold with some wood lying around in my garage.It didn’t take too long to hand saw, but I have to hot glue them together and dremel sand them down. I’ll post some pictures sooner or later

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Can you mold an enclosure from an enclosure that already fits? I switched to a more Concave deck and destroyed the screw holes a bit over time. And can I use this stuff? I think I got the wrong one.

Just fill the holes with fiberglass and drill again, should work the same and a lot easier than making a new enclosure Also im not sure how well will that work, never used it next time put some ruber washers so the screws head doesn’t make the hole larger with vibrations.

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