DIY fibreglass

[rollaholic]

wondering if any TS people have experience playing with fiberglass?

was thinking to myself it would be fun to have a play around with. am i fooling myself in thinking its something you can pick up by yourself and create semi-decent bits and bobs with? and what sort of costs are involved?

i know people are probably going to say its cheaper / easier to buy something ready made, but thats not always possible and i quite enjoy making things. so tell me what ya know!

[Dell'Orto]

Its pretty easy stuff to work with, but its still bloody messy I think if you buy it in bulk through boating supply shops its not too badly priced.

[Emperor]

whatcha wanna make?

speaker pods arent to hard, it's more the wood work that gets annoying.

but yeah its just messy and smelly...

[Scotty]

Its not very hard to pick up, its along the same lines as papermache. Car audio forums can be a good place to pick up tips and tricks.
If you just want to play around it might be best to get one of these kits as it has everything you need to get started.

[Mr.Phreak]

If you can paper mache then you can fibreglass.

Depends what you're trying to do really, if you have to make up moulds it can be a bit of a pain.

But just making cosmetic stuff is easy

[Quint]

As been said, easy to work with, use chop strand for strength and cloth for shape / finishing. Though chop strand can be sanded back to provide a good finish also.

When you buy it, buy it from boat shops (as been discussed) and i buy my resin from a paint surplus store. I tend to Use 421 epoxy, its universal really, takes a while to get the mixes right (the ones on the back are pretty good guides)eventually you will be able to make a really strong flexible finish, or a hard and rigid finish.

Also be wary of 'tight' bends, the chop strand is a pig to get to bend past 90 degrees, i normally bring it to a point, trim it, then cap it with some cloth to get the corners. When you have your shape use grease proof paper (cooking paper) and peg it to get it to hold its shape (resin wont stick to the grease proof paper). I normally shape what i want out of polystyrene first and then glass over the top and hollow out the poly when i'm done.

Oh, and lastly film canisters, buy alot, you will chew through them mixing and what not, NEVER USE THE SAME CONTAINER FOR BOTH POTS, slight contamination can severely $&#$% your resin!

Hope that helps, its really easy stuff to work with, i've done quite a lot with it really and its pretty cheap!

Good on ya for giving it a go, good luck!

EDIT: Use your fingers to blend the strand together, you want to remove all air bubbles and what not, and make sure you drench the cloth strand in resin, lay it on news paper and tap it with your finger tips while pouring resin onto it until it goes see through. Non-resined fibre will stuff your shape

DOUBLE EDIT: You are looking at about 50 bux to get yourself started with a little bit of strand a bit of cloth and some resin.

[Emperor]

How much would you need to make a couple of door pods to fit 2 speakers in each pod?

Im trying to weigh up wether its cheaper to DIY or pay someone. I was quoted $350 by a shop

[rollaholic]

thanks for all the replies guys. i was hoping to be able to eventually make a few larger bits and pieces - chin spoilers, or a new dash for my trueno which is cracked and has lots of redundant air vents in it, that kind of thing.

would speaker pods be a good place to start?

im glad to hear you mention poly, i was hoping it would be suitable to build molds out of.

just to clarify, the grease proof paper you apply after you have finished glassing? and presumably the entire construction needs to be soaked in resin? must go through a bit of it

[docTRD]

when i used to make GT starlet bodykits I got all the stuff i needed from The Fibreglass Shop in hamilton and since i was buyin rather large quantities they gave a good trade discount.
Just used tissue glass for the 1st layer on the gelcoat then 2-3 layers of chopstrand, if u can roll then u can get a real nice finish with no air in the glass and u dont haveto use a heap of resin, this is how professionals do it, i started off just brushing the resin in as its easier and still get a pretty good result, but rolling is the way to go! give it a try.

[cat007]

Here's what I've done

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj12 ... ?start=all

[GTCRSHR]

i did my body kit molding my self, boot, pods, door pods, piece-a-piss, if your covering it after its even easier, painting has to have a good surface and smoothed down to about 1000grit paper if you want the best finish, or you can use a final layer of resin and sand that to get a piano finish using 2000grit paper,

rubber gloves are a must, the ones doctors and nurses use are best ...

[cat007]

rubber gloves are a must, the ones doctors and nurses use are best ...

Definitely! And are cheap! I went through a box of 50 just doing my sub box LOL

[Bazda]

If you want fibreglassing done at a very very good price you should contact Ciska, she did my front lip at a awesome price.

http://www.icedperformance.co.nz/

[Quint]

I'll take some pictures when i get home of a finished product and a chin spoiler + full front bumper i'm in the middle of making (admitidly i've slowed on progress).

DocTRD is right, rollers work far far better but can't always be applied to smaller areas!

Only need the paper if you are wanting a fair amount of curvature in the glass (which you will probably want for your speaker pods), basically, lay the glass in the shape you want then put some grease proof paper over it and use pegs or little g-clamps to hold it in place. It takes a little bit of imagination on how to get the shape you want and how you are going to fix it there. If your just drapping it over a poly shell then you don't really need to peg it as gravity aids you .

a tea-spoon of mixed resin will be enough for a strip about 100x300mm long (oh yea, do the fibre glassing in strips for curvature). So it goes a surprisingly long way.

[Quint]

How much would you need to make a couple of door pods to fit 2 speakers in each pod?

Im trying to weigh up wether its cheaper to DIY or pay someone. I was quoted $350 by a shop

The price of the cloth and chop strand is negligable. Just got in and look at the prices of a decent sized container of resin (500-1000mL), that'll give you an indication of cost

[GTCRSHR]

i did my body kit molding my self, boot, pods, door pods, piece-a-piss,

if your covering it after its even easier, painting has to have a good surface and smoothed down to about 1000grit paper

if you want the best finish, or you can use a final layer of resin and sand that to get a piano finish using 2000grit paper,

i had a long post and it $&#$% up, if you want to know more get in touch ill share what i know

anyways,

price wise i bought a 5 galon?or liter drum was about 200$,
the matt ing was aabout 6$ a meter

varying grades of matting from tissue up to coarse,

for pods i start off at medium and then work your way down to the tissue,

i had never used it before, so what i did was get a ice cream tub and made a replica of that, that way you can get a feel for how you are suppose to chop up the matt for going around corners, doing flat areas with no bubbling or air pockets etc, and you can finish it off and get a feel for different matting grades and how much work is needed etc,




from this ...


to this ....


From this


to this


to this ....


sorry dont have pics of the finished doors,

getting the base is essential, if thats wrong, all you are doing is added layers on top of something that might be out to start with,

[ChaosAD]

If you use epoxy resin, make sure you use fibreglass mat designed for it. Some binders wont dissolve in epoxy.

[cat007]

a tea-spoon of mixed resin will be enough for a strip about 100x300mm long (oh yea, do the fibre glassing in strips for curvature). So it goes a surprisingly long way.

Hmmm - so is it wrong that I used 12 litres for my sub box?