Sub enclosure finish choices

[ToddG]

Well, as some of you already know I have been fabricating a sub enclosure from fiberglass. It should be finished over this long weekend coming up. My main question in my head is, how should I finish the thing off on the outside?

The way I see it, here are my most logical choices with their advantages and disadvantages:

1) Get it sanded baby butt smooth and paint it.
Adv = can color match almost perfect to interior
Dis = That's a lot more work with filler to get all of the imperfections worked out and prepped for paint. Could chip or mar easily once painted.

2) Wrap it in trunk carpet.
Adv = it will hide most any flaw with less sanding. No chipping or marring.
Dis = hard to match interior color. Could gather dust, debris and hair (thanks pooch) if it's carpeted.

3) Wrap it in vinyl.
Adv = hide flaws, less sanding. Would not gather crap on it like carpet.
Dis = could get cut or scraped easily. Might be hard to match interior color.

4) Other?

Whatever the finish is, it has to be thin. I'm just about out of room from all of the layers of fiberglass built up.

What do you guys think?
Give me your vote.

[Mylt1]

bed liner.

[ToddG]

Originally Posted by Mylt1

bed liner.

lol . . so choice 4?


Actually, I was thinking with all of the time spent on this freaking thing that maybe it deserves to be gold plated.

[ARCTICFRONTIER]

I vote for carpet or vinyl. Paint is not going to stand up well if your dog is crawling over it.

[ToddG]

Actually, the dog rides very little in my truck. My 11 year old however, rides back there on the side where the enclosure is going (passenger rear). I can just see his heels swinging back and forth across the enclosure, kicking and banging it when climbing in and out. At least with paint I could pull it out and freshen/touch it up every so often if it became a problem.

You see my dilemma? No matter how I finish it there is a potential downside.
I'm still undecided, you guys have to help me make my mind up once and for all.

[zluke13]

Mylt1 beat me to the punch. I like the bedliner idea.

[ARCTICFRONTIER]

Originally Posted by ToddG

Actually, the dog rides very little in my truck. My 11 year old however, rides back there on the side where the enclosure is going (passenger rear). I can just see his heels swinging back and forth across the enclosure, kicking and banging it when climbing in and out. At least with paint I could pull it out and freshen/touch it up every so often if it became a problem.

You see my dilemma? No matter how I finish it there is a potential downside.
I'm still undecided, you guys have to help me make my mind up once and for all.

Carpet should hold up. Get a good automotive carpet.

Have you considered wrapping it in steel plate....grin

[ToddG]

Originally Posted by ARCTICFRONTIER

Carpet should hold up. Get a good automotive carpet.

Have you considered wrapping it in steel plate....grin

No . . lol . . but I have considered selling the kid, the wife wouldn't go for it

I would think the bedliner stuff would be hard to keep clean? Just look how our beds show every last dust spec (in black). Although, that might be the ticket! Coat it with bed liner (help hide imperfections) then paint over it to match?? I wonder if you can paint the bed liner stuff? I know they make it colored already too.

Hmmm . . interesting.

[Mylt1]

you can buy bed liner in different colors. check out duplacolors website.

[WeeHooker]

Somewhat depends on the shape, I'd say. If it's typical box shaped, I'd just wrap it. However, If you have rounded corners and curves, wrapping is going to be tough to do without wrinkles/pulls. That will only get worse with thicker material such as carpet. Vinyl would be better but will still show shoe scuffs.
I would probobly bring it to someplace that does Rinoliner (or similar) and have them squirt it with their next job. (Shouldn't cost much if they do it as a side job?) This will negate the need for any prep sanding and give you a tough sound deadening finish.
FWIW, my buddy (who drank the Toyota Koolaid and got a new Taco without even considering a Frontier,) bought a TacoTunes brand sub box for his truck. These come done in a thick coat of liner and it looks cool.

Second choice would be a 2 part epoxy based paint in a semi flat.