Fiberglass Options

[SeverX13]

Ok guys so i am planning on makeing a rear lip for my celica. I am going to be making it out of fiberglass. this will be my 1st fiberglass project. i am going to be using styrofoam to shape the mold. then begin the fiberglass


do any of you guys with experience have any advice or tips?


Thanks


-Brent

[playr158]

a) don't use Styrofoam it will melt.
b) Fiberglass & resin from home depot/advanced auto will be sufficient/cheap enough for you at this point
c) Make sure your resin:hardener ratio is correctly followed (directions on the container) and if its warm out (65*+) take out a drop or two of hardener
d) cheap .94 cent brushes and a fair amount of them
e) use many smaller pieces of fiberglass (4"x4" for example) rather then few larger pieces.
f) WEAR A MASK
g) easy way to start a lip is to wrap the oem bumper in saran wrap or tin foil and lay fiberglass on top of that. this will give you the surface shape you need to mate the lip to the bumper...then build on top of that.

h) take your time and have fun

[D-Man]

lol. Styrofoam will be fine as long as you tape it, besides, your shooting to use it as a mold right? Personally i'd use that green "Form-Foam" at local hobby stores. the styro will deform during the curring process.

Again, there are many different ways to form fiberglass, if you want it to have the properties of glass (hard and breakable) then run Playr's ideas; if you want it flexible (harder to do) the run less hardener and use the braided Fiber cloth in larger sheets. that way it'll bend before it'll break, but it'll be more prone to bending at high speeds too, depending on how thick it was layed... you really gotta decide how you want it, and what's best for you application.

Deff MANY brushes, you'll be changing em out ever 20-30 min, because the glass will dry on em. (wal*mart has a 15 pack assorted sizes for like 4 bucks. Best deal ever!) personally, i like the paint brush style. The foam ones dry WAY to fast even for me!

Also, when you mold your OEM, it's important to take the most time and effort cloning the edges, the center is where you'll be playing with your designs the most, So make sure you have the edges copyed PERFECTLY so that it'll pretty much, bolt right on kep the middle part of the bumper weak, if you even bother working with it until you have your Styrofoam formed and ready to go.

also, that blue painters tape is freaking gold! Foil and Syran wrap work too, but where the sides come together, it's really prone to leaking thru. (the layering) also, foil has a bad habit of sliding while your working

This post has been edited by D-Man: May 7, 2008 - 9:27 AM