Technical Warped fiberglass

Is there any good way to straighten warped fibergl***? I got an old T body and the dash is curled up for some reason..

 

Hmm...that’s a new one me on me and I have messed with fibergl*** quite a bit. I’m sure you could somehow clamp it back flat and gl*** in some sort of support on the backside. Hard to tell without seeing it in person. On a related note, that reminds me that I bought some fibergl*** dashes at an auction recently. Not sure what all I even ended up with.

 

Clamp something flat like a 2 x 4 to it and heat lamp the **** out of it.you mite even put something at both ends so it is clamped farther then it needs to be.

 

Or cut a relief cut halfway through the fibergl*** then clamp it and repair it with gl***. most of the time if it's warped you have to relieve it and reinforce it on the back side then finish the front side. JMO Lippy

 

Yes, heat is your friend in this case. When doing crash work on boat hulls where the gl*** was splintered all to heck, we actually used a torch from a distance though closer than you might think. On what I see I would get me a buddy and double team it. A board cut to length on the finish side and clamped on one end. then heat from the back side while my Buddy is pushing down on the loose end of the board. Once back where it belongs clamp the loose end of the board like the other end has been and let it set till it cools. Once cool and still clamped in place I'd go back over it with the torch and gently heat everything back up and again let it relax in place. Take the board off the next day and see what you have.
I know it sounds crazzy but it works, after all heat is what caused the damage in the first place.

 

What he said ^^ only thing I would do different is thin it out on the backside with the grinder, then once it's clamped back in shape, throw a couple layers of new gl*** on it. Of course you could add a stiffening member to the bottom backside, like a piece of 3/4 angle bonded and clamped across the bottom edge.

 

Just a thought. Is the body on a frame or at least sitting comfortably on a level surface? If it isn't the warping of the dash could really be buckling as it is probably the only thing providing any torsional rigidity, or at least trying to, in an otherwise floppy, flexible body.

Chris