new project - carbon fiber custom molded trunk enclosure

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:20 am

a work in progress, but quite possibly the first cf sub box available for the masses... this is for a B6 A4 audi

this is my first time ever doing this, so i didnt have a proper router to cut the circle... took a long time to do it with the dremmel router, but eventually got through it... will definitely have to invest in one in the future

catalyst · Post by **catalyst** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:24 am

nice job man

optlo · Post by **optlo** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:49 am

this is going to look fantastic... is this something people will be able to order? And if so do you build to the specs of the sub?

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:59 am

optlo wrote:this is going to look fantastic... is this something people will be able to order? And if so do you build to the specs of the sub?

yeah this is gonna be a regular item that i'll be making for the A4 crowd, and i'll see what i can do about doing it for other cars...

this is something the A4 crowd has been dying for for a LOOONG time! there is a how-to for those that want do it themselves, and someone is selling fg versions of this for 200US.. but no cf...

the person i'm doing this for did the research and picked up an apropriate sub for the space he has, and we followed the specs of his sub for all the dimensions and stuff... we did calculate the volume of the box, and even if we had done it perfectly flush, it would still have had enough air surprisingly... he chose to have it stick out though for a more unique look, and so there would be more cf visible...

all in all, it should look SICK when it's done... i'm also making a custom cf amp rack for the matching passenger side, and together they should look really really hot

JRM · Post by **JRM** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:01 am

Cant wait to see it finished and installed.

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:06 am

you wont be waiting long, it needs to be finished by the end of this week, preferably by thursday

and yes, i'm really really excited about this too, its something i've been wishing to be able to make for years, way before i even knew what cf was, so i'm almost as happy as the owner right now, and he is just bouncing off the walls

Mr Josh Zombie · Post by **Mr Josh Zombie** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:01 am

You make one that mocks the Kicker Sub, and I'll buy it right now, no questions asked.

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:56 pm

the space in the audi seems bigger than on the srt, but i can do it for sure... i've been trying to decide if for the srt i should do it in the spare trunk hole or in the side....

if someone wants to try this for fun over a weekend, here's all you need to do

http://www.a4mods.com/index.php?page=we ... ubbox.html

http://www.a4mods.com/index.php?page=we ... prack.html

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:55 pm

how about an overlay to cover the front/sides of the stock kicker box in the srt's? not an entire CF enclosure (altho that would be sick and i'd buy in a heartbeat.

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:02 pm

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:07 pm

Looks badass but from past experence I would make the ring stronger. Ive had subs rip the screws from thin MDF or they get messed up if you change subs alot. This is one I did and it was to thin of rings

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:16 pm

SlvrACR wrote:Looks badass but from past experence I would make the ring stronger. Ive had subs rip the screws from thin MDF or they get messed up if you change subs alot. This is one I did and it was to thin of rings

i used 3/4 inch MDF for the rings... what do you recommend?.. wouldnt the fiberglass hold all the weight though, including the weight placed on the ring?

i'll take that into account for the future for sure, but i know for sure this guy will never change his sub... the A4 guys are really picky, and know exactly what they want to have, and this is exactly it... since the enclosure is so small, that also limits the number of available sub models

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:31 pm

The i mean like the thickness of the diameter. I used 3/4" also but doubled it the 2nd time to be safe. He doesnt look like he will be pushing much power but incase in the future you do a huge setup.
This one we did was overkill. He used double 3/4" for the rings and 9 layers of mat. It was very heavy but held up to alot of abuse.

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:16 pm

got it... yeah, it wouldnt be hard at all to use 2 rings so i might as well do that... i used about 8-9 layers for the bottom, and 6-7 + 1 cf for the front... it already feels strong as hell so hopefully it'll be good

this stuff is really cool, i'm having a blast with this project

LaidNeon · Post by **LaidNeon** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:10 am

yeah i was gonna say that ring looked like it might be a little weak

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:05 am

i definitely see your point, and i'll probably do it like that from now on since cutting the rings is so easy, it'd be stupid not to... but these were the instructions, and the guy who did the original DIY post has had his for about a year and a half without issues... fingers crossed

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:58 pm

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:51 pm

last pics before i trim it, sand it, and clear coat it this afternoon

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:11 pm

now that is pretty slick! Install pics as well, too!

Nice job man!

catalyst · Post by **catalyst** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 6:53 pm

beautiful!

now where are the ones for Neons?

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:07 pm

catalyst wrote:now where are the ones for Neons?

well, unfortunately the days of me making anything and everything are gone

i just cant afford to constantly make demo parts, and try too many new things at once, due to both money and time...

i am looking into it though, and trying to come up with a good design, so that down the road when you guys start regaining your trust in me, i have something good ready for you...

to be honest, i dont think we can do the same thing in the neon/srt as what i did for this A4, because our back areas are even smaller... i'm gonna try to get a kicker box off someone local just to compare, but it looks like it'd be very very small... not sure, but i think the kicker sub is the only one that works with that small of an enclosure, and if i'm right that sucks coz those things arent all that powerful...

I can think of two options off the top of my head, and hopefully some of you will chime in with your opinions:

-1: do a corner box in the very back of the trunk, where it meets the back of the back seat
-2: do a more conventional design single or dual box, with the bottom and backside MDF, and everything else fiberglass, and cf on top
-3 (MAYBE): for those that still want a custom look for shows or just to be different, another option would be to build an enclosure in the spare wheel area...

Here's some more pics... the owner rescheduled the pick up day because he's busy with school, so i left the sanding and clearing for tomorrow coz i've been working at least 12 hours today and i'm beat... I also made a matching amp rack for the passenger side, but i'm gonna tease you and not show them till everything is done

702Neon · Post by **702Neon** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:08 pm

now this is just hot!

bad04srt · Post by **bad04srt** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:39 am

like it but it looks kinda out of place against the carpet....might just be my opinion, but it would look better if the entire panel was cf....great work though

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:51 am

bad01neon wrote:like it but it looks kinda out of place against the carpet....might just be my opinion, but it would look better if the entire panel was cf....great work though

it's gonna have a matching amp plate on the other side... basically, i made a wood structure to support and mount the amp to the body of the car, then with some dowels, i'm making little legs and gonna have the cf plate go around the top casing of the amp... so on the outside you just see the cf plate flush with the carpet, and through the middle of the plate, through the cutout, you see just the case of the amp, everything else like wires and shit being hidden away... it's gonna be SICK!