Just curious if anyone here has experience with fiberglass and fiberglass mold making?
Any tips, tricks, or certain materials that make for a better final product?
I've researched www.fiberglast.com quite heavily along with a few other sites but thought with the large car audio crowd here, someone may have messed with it.

I'm currently building a rear cowl scoop block off for my '87. I'm selling the '69 H/O hood scoop I have now and using an all steel, 4.5" cowl scoop that will be riveted and bonded to the stock steel hood.
The block off will house two 2-5/8" Ultra-lite gauges (Fuel PSI and Vacuum/Boost) and between the two will be a wire mesh screen of some sort to keep out all of the unwanted debris.

Here's a few pictures of what I am working on:

http://home.woh.rr.com/designsofarch/in ... scoop2.jpg

http://home.woh.rr.com/designsofarch/in ... _scoop.jpg

This is the start of the mold. I plan to use the clay as a mold for the plaster. I'll probably affix it to a large piece of wood and screw down wood strips around the outside edges to give the mold some depth.
Once the clay is molded the exact way I want it, I'll pour the plaster in and let it setup. Then pop the wood off the sides and pry the plaster from the clay.
Once the plaster has been sanded and polished, I'll use it for the mold when laying the fiberglass and resin.
Does this sound like the normal flow of things?
Thanks,

Here is a site with some good tutorials for fiberglass basics.
http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/

As for making molds, I have no experience with that. Only advice I have is take your time....the last thing you want to do is rush it.

Fiberglass itself isn't hard to work with...have a razor blade on hand to use on air bubbles....they don't look good and they weaken the structure.

TOC Admin
Brando

Hi BigBlockOlds, All

My experience in this area was far in the past.

You are on the right track. You didn't mention "mold release" which is a helpful product. Google is your friend.

I've never seen any reason to put any of my gauges anywhere other than in my dash, but thats only me.

Regards, Norm

Definitely. For a mold release I plan to use a combination of wax and PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol).



Well, I guess maybe the dashes on those '50's era Oldsmobiles are a lot bigger.
All that I was able to fit in my dash was a 3-1/8" 120mph speedometer, 3-1/8" 7000rpm tach, 2-1/16" fuel level gauge and a 2-1/16" vacuum/boost gauge. I have the water temp, oil pressure and air/fuel ratio meter in the A-pillar. The console houses a digital voltmeter.
But I had the mechanical fuel pressure gauge that I had been meaning to mount. Its meant to be mounted out side of the vehicle only so I figure this is the best way and should be the cleanest looking as you won't be able to see them unless your inside the vehicle.
Thanks for the tips,

Hi BigBlockOlds, hello All

The original oil pressure, fuel level, water temp, and ammeter are all I need on the street, and the tach at the top right (50s style) comes in handy when collecting timeslips.



If gauges were not a factory option on your car you don't have much choice but to go the way you are.

Vacuum and fuel pressure gauges are for diagnosis and handhelds are better suited to the job.

Electric fuel pressure gauges are made to mount inside if you choose to go in that direction.

In case I've never mentioned it. I prefer to keep mine simple.

Regards, Norm

I have now and using an all steel, 4.5" cowl scoop that will be riveted and bonded to the stock steel hood.

ohhhh yaaaa might not want to use rivets ya they will show up in about 6 months
go to your local body shop supplier and pick up the matt and the resin and pick up while your there a measuring cup fiberglass needs to be measured to porperly harden
your on the right track as far as air bubbles go that is just poor laying of the matting work out any air pockets with resin and a brush
mixing glass is crucial to glass work

The rivets won't be the primary fastener for the scoop. I am using the Fusor 112B/113B metal adhesive to bond the steel scoop to the steel hood.
http://www.lord.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1190#112B113B

Rivets would just be secondary. We may even just tack weld the scoop in a few places to help.
The biggest reason I am going with the steel scoop is for the very fact that it isn't as susceptible to cracking like to dissimilar materials do when bonded together.




Thanks for the tips. Out of curiosity, do you know of a product that can be used to adhere fiberglass to metal? After making the gauge panel I was thinking of attaching it to a metal backing that could then be attached to the hood.
I'm still working out the details on how I will actually attach everything to the scoop. I need to come up with a way to get to the gauges from underneith the hood if I use the hard line plumbing that I'd like to use (which would connect to braided line to make the jump from the hood to the sensor on the engine). If I make an access panel from below, then I can affix the gauge panel permanently. But, if I don't use an access panel, then I'll need to make the gauge panel removeable so that I can get to the connections in the back.
Thanks,

Here's a few pics of the progress.

Clay mold ready for plaster:





And here is the plaster mold made from the clay:





Next step (after the plaster dries) is to sand it using some very fine sand paper to get the small imperfections out. After that I'll be applying quite a few coats of wax to make the surface as slick as possible. The the PVA release agent just before I'm ready to lay 'glass.

One question, should the plaster be sealed with something before waxing? Or will it be okay?

I'm going to try and do my best to keep this mold intact but I have a feeling it may get destroyed in the end when trying to pull the fiberglass. I guess if it does I can always use the new fiberglass piece as a mold for more.

BTW Brando, thanks for that fiberglass basics link! I've read all over that site and its really helped give me a better picture of some of the processes. I may just have to make a new speaker box out of fiberglass now. I still need to make side dress panels for the trunk so those might be made from fiberglass also. That would really help cut down on the weight.
Thanks,

My project for this winter is FIBERGLASS!

I want to re-do my rear deck in FG, includeing speaker pods for my 6x9's and some neons, maybe a bit of plexi-glass etc.

I also want to make some new door panels that have speaker pods and have my crossovers on display, add some neons, and make new door handles to pulll the doors shut, (mine are ghetto! , fallin off n shit)

and I want to line my whole trunk with fibreglasss, and paint it and even make custom speaker box and amp racks.. i duno, but I want to know if anyone could give me an idea of how much the lining of f/g would help to minimize my trunk rattles? i think it would help a ton!

any input??

The fiberglass lining would probably make the rattles worse. You'd want to have some sort of sound deadening material between the fiberglass and any metal surface so that this wouldn't happen.

And from what I have gathered from a friend that does fiberglassing, its very very hard to do in cold weather. The Epoxy resins dry the best at around 70*F. Any less than that and you'll have to add more hardener otherwise it may not harden for a long time.

Yea...unless your doing this in a heated garage, good luck trying to fiberglass in the winter! :?

TOC Admin
Brando

damn thats what I was wondering.... and time keeps going on...its gonna get colder.

prolly dont wanna be doin this in the basement eh.. fumes are prolly quite strong, stink the whole house up... hmm...

Yea, the fiberglass fumes are lethal. They can cause brain damage...you're gonna wanna wear a resperator mask either way.

TOC Admin
Brando

Hi BigBlockOlds, All
The part that separates the men from the boys, is designing a multi piece female mold that can be used over and over.
It's the part the pros don't talk about.
The mold for my '50 Olds hood was an 8 piece puzzle.
Regards, Norm

lol.......oh god i should be dead or a drooln monkey by now lol
i have had bad luck with the fusor product line to me it`s a shitty product
i use and the best around is duramix!!!
and the product you see is duramix`s metal bonding adhesive
product number 4179 or 4176
u need the gun and mixing tips
that stuff is liquid welding in a tube
and it doesn`t rust
tested to with stand impacts
i am telling ya unbelievable stuff