I have gl*** fenders on my '39 but I have a steel hood. I want to mold them together so I can make a flip front. Anybody ever mold there own gl*** hood? Or fender? Or whatever?
http://www.google.com/search?q=fibe...s:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7 repaired plenty of fibergl***, figure out how to make your mold, buy the correct model release, determine how to brace the front end together and make your hinge / pivot.
I have not done it but saw a recent episode of Muscle car on Spike where they made a fibergl*** hood for their modified wheel base Comet. Check their Power block TV on line and see if you can locate that episode. It was one or two weeks back.
I had VFN fiber gl*** in Villa Park Illinois make a few parts for me 20 years ago, not sure if those guys are around any more, but they were good guys.
easy way is to make a plaster mold for a one off part...were you planning on bonding it to your existing fenders????or making a one piece front end, where the hood & fenders are layed up all at one time???Structually the latter would be preferred but you would have to make a multiple piece mold , and re***emble it for lay -up..a much harder & time consuming process...I would also recruit some help as a plaster hood mold will take a few people to handle safely.vasaline is your mold release for the plaster, and make sure you let them cure good or you poly wont cure right...there have been lots of cars built this way, do your research, try a small part & go for it ..it really isn't that hard, you just have to plan well, & get your master part as perfect as possible before making the mold....Shawn
do you have any fibergl*** experience? if not research it ,ask someone who has ,the part is only as good as the mold in which it was made from ,so if your going to make a mold be ready for alot of work ,a hood is a big part so the mold has to be just as big and sturdy ,rigid strong and after that you get to make your part ,this requires many layers of different types of fibergl*** strand ,mat roving ,cloth and resin try to use aircraft grade resin its a little better and plan out your working time cause that resin sets up so measure out your catalyst according to how much your gonna makethe first couple of layers are important to make sure you dont get any air bubbles because youll just be repairing them later its a little pricey for all the materials as compared to just buying the part but if you make your own you can make changes such as scoops cut outs so on RESEARCH im really not trying to talk ya out of it ive done it used to do it for a living its messy smelly itchy and alot of work but theyres the satisfaction that you made it yourself good luck have fun
I worked in a Fibergl*** boat factory for just shy of 20 years. I wasn't the guy making the molds but know the process. For building one part you are looking at a ton of work! If your plan is to learn something new do your homework and roll up your sleeves.The first step is to make a "plug" the plug will be just what the mold you make will produce. The plug is basically a mold for your mold.If your plug has a flaw every part it makes will have the same flaw.If you are making lots of parts a flawless plug is important. If you are making one part it may be simpler to fix the part you make than perfect the plug. You may be able to use your metal hood for the plug the trick is to get the plug to release from the mold with the mold intact. I have seen people who really know their stuff struggle(and sometimes fail) with that issue so good luck on the first try.It won't be cheap dollar wise to make a plug mold and part,plus your time. Knowing what I know if it were my project I think I would give some serious thought to attaching your gl*** fenders and metal hood to a metal frame that will flip as a unit. If you do make a gl*** hood you will have to lace things together and add some bracing to that ***embly to make it strong enough to move as a unit unless you make the gl*** thick enough and that probably equals battleship heavy. If you move forward with the 'gl*** hood idea do your homework before you start it will save you a ton of grief! I hope that is of some help and good luck in whatever you choose.
Actually we just did this in my shop for my MG I have posted some pictures toward the bottom of this link http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/Skeezix/vehicles/51131 We did a room temp lay up on the existing hood, then did a dry lay of carbon and resin infusion. You can use gl*** instead of carbon to save $, Look at Fiberlay.com and Fiberglast.com for more information. You will need a vacuume pump - get a rotary vane type from Ghast - try Craigs list - the Robinaire type will work but they can get hot and boil the oil
Composites is what I do. I make the tools (molds to the great unwashed). I can talk you through it, or put you on to some guys closer to you who can. How close are you to Indy? There's a HAMB'er there doing real nice work, and a source for advice as well as every single thing you'd need to do the ob right, in Indy. PM me if you want to talk about it and keep the clutter to a minimum.
I have made a number of hoods and bumpers over the years, its easy. Just make a fibergl*** mold of the part you want to make, gel-coat the inside of it, lay the gl*** inside, make sure the resin is well worked in, let it kick, stick a hose in it and pop the piece out. If you are making a flip front end, I would make the pieces separately and gl*** them together when they were done. Doing a vacuum mold will make enable you to make a stronger part for a given amount of gl***, but for what you are doing, its a LOT of extra work, especially in constructing the mold and not necessary, in my experience
Thanks everyone! I'm just making the one so I don't a bunch of work but could you explain more Falcongeorge? And I'm about 3 hours from Indy.
Explain more about making a hood or more about why using the vacuum method requires a more complex mold? Just so we are on the same page.
rustdodger has some good points, Is your current hood finished in bodywork? if so you can use it as your plug, I would have it mounted on car so in correct form. pre cut some fibergl*** Cloth and Mat to the shape of hood a few inches larger and set that aside. Then mask the car really good I would make a edge around the hood, (lip for mold) wax the hood quite well then spray a couple coats of PVA (mold release) on the hood. After the mold release is sprayed and set then you will need to spray gel coat over the hood and PVA on that part I would let set overnight then start with a few ounces of the cut Mat then finish with Cloth. you should brace that when finished you can make just a PVC pipe brace and tab that to the mold to hold in shape, let it set a few days till you see your mold start to pull itself from the hood and go ahead and pull it off. the PVA will just wash off with soap and water.
Here's a link to download that episode where they make a fibergl*** hood off using the steel hood to make a mold. If you can't catch it as a repeat, it looks like you can buy a iTune download. http://www.powerblocktv.com/site3/index.php/musclecar-episodes?ep_num=MC2010-19&ep_sea=1001 I found the episode really informative.
hi 3kidsnotime just not sure you say to pva then gelcoat then pva again and leave overnight then layup your matt ithink you will find that you will get delamination between your matt and gellcoat i may have misread you if ihave call me stupid
If its just gonna be a plug for a fibergl*** part, you can cheat a bit. you can get away with plastic filler on the plug alot more than you would want to if the steel hood was going to be the finished piece. You can really get away with quite a bit here, I have had bumper molds crack at the corners pulling them off the plug, and duct taped the outside of the split and used them, just have to do a little clean-up on the finished piece. The hoods I have made are all later model so they are fairly flat which DOES make removing the plug from the mold easier than it will be in your case, but I find the stuff pretty forgiving to work with. Pop a corner of the mold away from the plug, and stick a garden hose in there and turn it ALL the up. Dont panic if you get a crack in the mold pulling the plug, it just means a little more finish work on the finished piece.
Also, if you want the finished piece to look nice, you are gonna spend quite a bit of time finishing it up with a long board. Dont expect to pull it out of the mold and prime and paint.
Might have not understood what I was saying Plug+Wax+PVA+Gel+Mat+Cloth would be the laminate schedule, correct if you had PVA in the middle of you schedule would not be good. I was saying spray gel over the PVA and wax is all. on a one off mold I would only lay up a 10oz mold with brace will be just fine. Also when the part is made use a couple ounces Mat before Cloth the keep the grain out of the finished product.
I too saw that episode, looked straight forward enough but a lot of work. Ive done some fibergl*** work on the rear fenders fo rmy 35 and I **** at it. It is really simple though. Just buy the gl*** mat and resin, drop plastic (I used the cheap roll of trash bags) and go at it. Really, really straight forward.
I made 'gl*** fenders for my Divco (since nobody makes repops). Finished the plug, built the mold, made new fenders and they came out very nice. Cost a little over $500. My next job will be pull molds off the front fenders and hood and make a tilt front end for the other Divco I robbed the front end from. Don't take shortcuts. Read and follow all instructions. Search the net for tons of information. Go to Fiberglast.com and read the section 'new to fibergl***'. Yes its expensive and time consuming but its a great sense of accomplishment to do a job like this. It will be much easier on the next one. One area I spent too much time on was painting the plug. Some guys just prime the plug, sand, polish and wax the primer. Click the link below to see my project journal at this site. http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/journal.php?action=view&journalid=6768<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> <o> </o>
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