Ok I will be practicing using fiberglass for the first tome tommorrow or in w few days and I was wondering if anyone could give me any pointers as to what to do...I searched til my eyes popped out but I didn't find a single thing. Also does anyone have any pictures of their dash fiberglassed?

when mixing the hardner and resin, have everything ready and know where you are going to be laying the cloth material. if not, the resin/hardner mixture will cure within 5 minutes. so once again, work fast, plan what you are going to do(i.e. go ahead and precut/shape the cloth in the desired pieces/size)so you don't waste or have to make more mixture. anyways, it's pretty simple really. i'm about to do some more fiberglassing on my chin spoiler again:rolleyes . fucking thing didn't break but cracked. but the part i fiberglassed last time was virtually undamaged:thumbsup

later

Mixing the right quantity of resin and hardener is impossible to get right. If in doubt add more hardener. It will shorten your working time, but otherwise you’ll be left with goo that never hardens.

Ok thanks guys.

dont forget wear gloves fiberglass itches like a bitch and buy some acetone for your brush so it doesnt freeze up

also precut the matt it helps alot and never put acetone in a plastic cup haha i learned that the hard way

and long sleeves if sanding it..... it will itch for about a week

dont mix it in a plastic cup either...i learned that the hard way. it heats up as it hardens and it eats through the plastic. also, have many brushes on hand. even though i soaked mine right after use, they still would harden up. just get lots of the cheapo kind, much easier that way.

i use some 12oz cans of soda (or beer) w/ the tops cut off for mixing cups for the resin/hardener (make sure to rinse them out first, lol). if im doing a big project, ill use a 3 liter plastic bottle w/ the top chopped off and line it with a couple plastic grocery bags, that way when im dont i can just pull the bags out and toss them. if you use a dash of spray adhesive on the bottom, theyll stick to the form better, but still be removable.

as some have mentioned, the hardener/resin combo is nearly impossible to get right. as a general rule, the hotter/drier your weather is the less hardener you will want to use. if you end up with a piece that will not dry, put some hardener in a spritz bottle and spray it on the entire piece, or rub it on with your hands (gloved, of course, lol
).

another point mentioned earlier: your brushes MAY survive if you soak them in acetone, but dont count on it, plus its a lot of work to get them totally clean. just buy 10 or so of the 80 cent brushes at the hardware store.

when laying fiberglass, do it like this: brush a little resin on the area before applying the strips. the resin will act as a glue to hold the strips in place so they dont slide around everywhere. then dab more resin on the areas that have not soaked through. if the piece is not going to be too thick (less than 4 layers or so), you can immediatly add more layers over wet ones. if its meant to be structural (like in a sub box) or is going to be thick, lay up a few layers and then let it dry a bit before applying more. because the resin/hardener will produce a signifigant anount of heat while curing, a huge buildup of layers can case cracks and warping.

if you are going to be doing several layers and mixing up several batches of resin, add a couple drops of unique food coloring to each mixture. this will help you locate the areas that have not been covered on multiple layers.

for a beginner progect, mat fiberglass is much easier to work with than cloth, plus it builds up faster. its easier to press out the bubbles w/ he mat as well, leaving a more rigid product.

to remove fiberglass from your hands/arms: fast orange (or any petrolium based cleaner) works well, expecially on dry hands. if you have some sand laying around, that works well to get the majority off.

dont ever mix or lay resin on any pourous surface (like cardboard), as the hardener will soak in at a different rate than the hardener, messing up the concentration. the same goes for bondo.

if you can tell that the resin is starting to get "jellified" on you, hit the weakest surfaces with it first. anything that will be vertical or subject to stress should recieve the most attention. because the resin will run before curing, you shouldnt have a problem with vallys and the like.

the most important part of glassing is the SANDING, TRIMMING, and final prep. when you lay down those first few layers of fiberglass youll probably think to yourself "oh shit, this looks terrible!", but dont worry, just make sure you have the area adiquitly covered so that you can trim and sand it later. if you plan on carpeting the piece, you dont have to be very meticulous, but if you want to vinyl or paint it, make sure EVERY bump and dip is taken care of. you can get away witha bit more if you vinyl it, particularly if you plan to back it with some sort of matting material.

well, thats all i can think of for now. best of luck to you. ;)

wow thanks...I really needed a writeup like that :thumbsup

The only thing I did not see listed was to sand once it dries before you try and add another layer. Maybe I just missed it.

don't sand it before adding another layer, you don't need to, it will adhere to itself. you can rough it up if you feel like

and if you use that strainer kind of file thing, do that before the glass is fully dry, like 5-6 min after it's on/mixed, then go at it and sculpt, after that it just gets too hard (i'm assuming hair fiber fiberglass) a.k.a. tiger hair

heh, even a disk grinder with a sanding disk on it is great (yeah, i did that and cheated when doing bodywork)

Hmm I was lying in bed just now thinking about all this (going to be starting tommorrow hopefully) and I wondered what can I use to frame out something different. I mean like framing out gauge pods on the dash or something because this is what I want to do to my dash once I feel I can do it.

you can do anything with it man. i just started on my spoiler again today and i have to fill in 3 missing sections. i did half of the work today alone. the whole front got done. but anyways, take your time with it and plan ahead what you want to do. if not, the mixture will harden and you'll have to mix some more. again, good luck with your project. it's fun:thumbsup

later

I just did one layer of mat fiberglass..how long does this take to cure rougly? It is about 70 degrees or so where I am doing it. TIA!

don't forget a mask if you are sanding or cutting the glass.....bad to breathe in IMO. And good luck on your endeavures, i am hoping to start the same thing soon :thumbsup

you dont need a brush, just buy some latex gloves and use your fingers to spread the resin. it usually takes about 15 minutes to fully harden. if you got some bad hardner it wont harden at all, just get gooey. just go back to lowes and buy some more hardener

Definately use a brush... using your hands would be difficult at best...

And like the others said, keep a can that has just acetone or even thinner in it, so you can drop your brush in there when you arent using it. When I did that, my brush lasted 10x longer.

Like shuwa said... the most important part is planning. Have everything planned out, pre cut, ready to lay before you mix up the resin/hardener, because once you do that, you're on the clock.

Not enough hardener is much worse then too much, because then it may never fully harden, and all you'll have is some nasty lookin jello. Too much hardener just means you have less time to apply it.

Good luck!

>don't sand it before adding another layer, you don't need to,
>it will adhere to itself. you can rough it up if you feel
>like

it will, but it wont be a good bond. you need to rough it up, 2 smooth surfaces wont stick as well. you want the matrix of the resin to grab onto the gouges in the hardend resin and expand in them to grip it.

"Definately use a brush... using your hands would be difficult at best..."

actually, i also just use my hands. ive tried using brushes before, and i just prefer to use my hands, i can smooth out air bubles and position the strip of material better. chrystler kid is the only other person ive heard of who just uses his hands as well. with that method, though, you go through MANY pairs of gloves because they become too sticky to be useable after a while. i guess it just depends on what you are comfortable with, lol. ;)

HondaHater...that vid in your sig is hilarious.

Just for an update...my first atempt failed...never hardened.

Second atempt was better although it took a long time to harden...I was thinking maybe that I left too uch of the resin/hardener mix on it?

using too much hardener/resin mix on the material wont keep it from drying completly (it may take a LITTLE longer), but it can reduce structural integrity and cause cracking if the piece will be under severe stress, not to mention it will creat a bigger mess to sand and trim later, lol.

if it makes you feel better, i cant count the number of times ive messed up the first layer of a fiberglass project. once you get going and learn to account for the weather and particular batch of resin/hardener you are useing it gets easier. :thumbsup

Has anyone tried using west systems epoxie resins? It is alot easier to mix not to mention stronger and has a longer pot life than poly based resins. No smell either.

west systems I only like for epoxy resin, I just looked up in the yellow pages and got the # to a fiberglass distrabuter, got 5 gallons of resin for $75 and 10yrds of matting for $18