I just went to look at a kit for sale. The doors and hood were in two pieces. Does anybody have experience or advice on glassing the doors and hood together. Thanks, Jim.
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I just went to look at a kit for sale. The doors and hood were in two pieces. Does anybody have experience or advice on glassing the doors and hood together. Thanks, Jim.
If you haven't done it before, have a body shop/boat builder do it for you. These two areas are REALLY prone to showing flaws. Even "new" cars have ripples there.
If you've done fiberglassing before, but want some tips:
Fasten the doors to the car (use tape or fiberglass starip or wooden tabs or whatever) and bond them together in-place. Same for the hood. You'll get a much better fit afterwards.
DON"T under ANY circumstances use the mat or resin or hardener currently available from your local auto parts store. Hit the web and buy the pro stuff ! ! ! Otherwise, don't even bother. No good will come of it.
Luck!
TC
If you've done fiberglassing before, but want some tips:
Fasten the doors to the car (use tape or fiberglass starip or wooden tabs or whatever) and bond them together in-place. Same for the hood. You'll get a much better fit afterwards.
DON"T under ANY circumstances use the mat or resin or hardener currently available from your local auto parts store. Hit the web and buy the pro stuff ! ! ! Otherwise, don't even bother. No good will come of it.
Luck!
TC
door skins are rivited on as well as bonded on my CMC
hood / trunk are just bonded.
you looking at the rusty tubs package?
hood / trunk are just bonded.
you looking at the rusty tubs package?
I was going to just use the stuff from our local Crappy Tire store here to do a similar fix to a rear deck lid...are you saying that stuff won't do the trick?
If so, what resin/hardener should I use? West Systems okay? (if I can find some here..)
Brian
If so, what resin/hardener should I use? West Systems okay? (if I can find some here..)
Brian
The stuff that we have been using to bond the inner and outer hood panels and inner and outer door panels is called Vette Bond. It is primarily used for repairing Corvettes and bonding fiberglass ground effects to vehicles. Seems to work with no hidden issues. It is actually carried by the CarQuest down here.
try a marine or boat store. call first and ask where they get theirs from.
I have a local "Industrial Plastics and Paint" around where i live and they have everything i needed, plus can offer free advice / tips. Cheap as well to buy right from the distributor.
I bought a big jug of resin and a tiny one or hardener plus a box of rubber gloves and a 20" roll of fiberglass. it was ~$40 cdn - which is about $45 USD now (JK)
I have a local "Industrial Plastics and Paint" around where i live and they have everything i needed, plus can offer free advice / tips. Cheap as well to buy right from the distributor.
I bought a big jug of resin and a tiny one or hardener plus a box of rubber gloves and a 20" roll of fiberglass. it was ~$40 cdn - which is about $45 USD now (JK)
The CMC and Fiberfab's used a filler material as an adhesive to bond the two parts together. The only problem is there is no structural strength to it. In most cases the joint areas crack especially at the front top area of the door.
Best way is to use some bond material just to tack or set the parts together. Then work you way around the inside of the doors use polyster resin and glass matte. You really want to work the air bubbles out of it so it will not affect the paint job later. You will get gas bubbles which will mess up a nice paint job. Once youre done on the outside cut up the matte in fine pieces and mix it up with the resin. Push this mix into your exterior gaps. Finish it off with a marine filler . Check out Composite Express for glass and resin. There are 3 types of resins Orthophalic (common resin), Isophalic and Vinylester. Vinylester has the least amout of skrinkage . Make such you leave the parts out in the suns heat to help cure and outgas the resin.
Hope that helps.
Joe
Best way is to use some bond material just to tack or set the parts together. Then work you way around the inside of the doors use polyster resin and glass matte. You really want to work the air bubbles out of it so it will not affect the paint job later. You will get gas bubbles which will mess up a nice paint job. Once youre done on the outside cut up the matte in fine pieces and mix it up with the resin. Push this mix into your exterior gaps. Finish it off with a marine filler . Check out Composite Express for glass and resin. There are 3 types of resins Orthophalic (common resin), Isophalic and Vinylester. Vinylester has the least amout of skrinkage . Make such you leave the parts out in the suns heat to help cure and outgas the resin.
Hope that helps.
Joe