Fiberglass resin over wood?

I'm building a small box to fit In the factory sub location. It's being done as cheaply as possible using materials that I already have on hand. I'm using particle board for the box and I know this is not a good choice but, it's what I have. I also have fiberglass resin and mat laying around. Could I mix up the resin and let it soak into the wood to provide strength or would it need to have mat applied as well?

Just make the whole thing out of fiberglass, using mat and resin.
Putting resin on the wood won't make it much stronger.

cover the wood in fiberglass mat and resin, that should make it super strong, or do what dom said, make the whole box out of fiberglass, but that takes a lot of work.

I had considered making the whole back out of fiberglass and using a wood front but it's way more work than I want to put into it. Plus, I've already got the box made and don't want to start over. I'll coat the inside of the box with one or two layers of fiberglass. Since I'm just adding strength to the existing wood, could I get away with just one? It's a small box with one 8" sub.

8 inch sub?
Got a scrap yard near you? You can use the factory subwoofer box.

Other than that, put as many layers as you can manage in there. The more the better.

Particle board isn't that great of a choice for a subwoofer enclosure, both for its low strength/stiffness, and its tendency to absorb moisture in the air and warp/expand as a result.

I'd say you should coat the inside AND the outside with a layer of fiberglass and resin to seal it from moisture, and you might even want to spray paint it as well.

If it's not a particularly powerful sub and/or you won't really be driving it hard with dance/rap music, it might be fine. If not, the factory 6.5" sub box can be modded to fit a shallow-mount 8" with good results.

Or just use the factory 8 inch sub box..

I had considered getting a factory box fitted with an 8" sub but this is being done for as little money as possible. Right now, I'm at $12. The whole project is being done with material that I have laying around in the garage, which is why I ended up using particle board instead of MDF. The $12 is for the 8" Legacy sub. Cheapest one I could find. I'm not looking to rattle the windows. Just want to fill in some of the lows that the door speakers can't handle. I already plan to coat the outside of the box with resin just to seal the wood from moisture. I'll add resin and fiberglass to the inside to add strength. I don't want to put fiberglass on the outside because the clearances are already so tight that I'm afraid I won't be able to squeeze it in.

Should be fine for the cheapo sub.

Went to the garage and found my fiberglass resin had thickened over the last few years to the point it was almost solid. Guess this stuff has a shelf life. Broke down and bought some MDF and started over. Much happier with the results.







Haven't decided if I'm going to add fabric to the trim ring to cover the opening or carpet the box and leave the speaker where I can see it. Although who wants to show off a $12 sub?

I covered my 8" with a 10" two-piece metal grill from Parts Express. Regardless of the sub price, I wanted mine to be protected, and to deter theft. I used a 10" grill to fully cover the square-ish opening in the OEM grill. Someday, I plan to paint the OEM grill cover, and the metal grill cover, with some paint that matches the factory interior color.

Click on image for larger view.

Wow, that turned out nice, if you are ever wanting a better sub I highly suggest the shallow mount JL 8inch subs, We put 2 of those behind the seats of my buddies Mazda Miata, I think they had one cubic foot of box space, which is all we could do as far as size, but they pound like no other. He was happy to get his trunk back from the two 10s he had, lol.

We'll see how he cheapo sub does. Sometime in the future, I may looking into spending some money on a decent one. I don't spend a lot of time in the explorer since I have drive my work van most of the time. This was really just a project to fill some time and see if I could do it. That's why I'm not wanting to spend a whole lot of money on it.