|
Well, i'm going to start by saying that it will cost more than $100 for materials. The reason companies can produce and sell them cheaper than the original material and equipment cost is because they only need 1 mold, 1 gel gun etc. After the mold is done it's just cost for the actual hood materials, so its a lerger profit on the reproduced hoods. If you're only making one hood for yourself, it going to cost as much or more than buying one, because you're spending money on a mold you're only gonna use once, so that money gets thrown away. I can do a quick write up. I posted a quick how to in another thread but here goes. To make a fiberglass hood you will need the following.
Tooling gel coat
White gel coat
MEKP (to harden the gel coat)
Fiberglass mat
Fiberglass resin
Hardener (for resin)
Mold release wax
PVA (poly-vinyl alcohol)
Stock hood, preferably a spare one
Small aluminum or some kind of metal about 3"x3" 1/2" thick
2more metal blocks about 1"x3" 1/2" thick
utility knife
Then there are some recommended, but not neccesary
Gel coat gun
Spray bottle or airbrush gun (for applying PVA)
To start off asume you are making an OEM fiberglass hood, you can use your stock hood as a plug (male mold). If you want to make a vented hood you will need to cut and weld the hump and modify it to the shape you want using clay, foam wood etc, then sading it smooth. This how to will be on an OEM hood to make it easier.
First off you need to take your stock hood and apply 3 coats of release wax, buffing out each coat. After the final coat is buffed and dried, use the spray bottle or airbrush to apply a thin coat and then 2 slightly heavier coats, letting each dry in between.
After the PVA is dried you can start making your female mold. Using the gel coat gun apply 2 light coats of tooling gel coat letting each coat get tacky. Tooling gel coat is glossier and better for the finished product.
After the tooling gel coat dries to the touch, start layering the fiberglass (resin, mat, resin, mat etc.). I usually do 5-6 layers for my mold so it's stable that way i can use it more than once. You can make the mold thinner if you're only going to use it once. After you get all the layers, while the fiberglass is still kind of wet, trim the extra off with a utility knife, be careful not to trim off too much, you want the mold to be the exact size of your hood, you can leave extra and sand when dry if you want. After the mold is dry, if you applied the release wax and PVA correctly, you can seperate the mold from the hood and have a nice smooth glossy surface. If not, you can use filler and sand (fine grit) to touch up the mold.
Now that you have your mold done, you can start on the actual fiberglass hood.
First lay down the release wax and PVA on the mold as before. Once it dries, spray on 2-3 layers of white gel coat (you can use tooling gel on your actual hood, but the finish doesn't need to be as glossy as the mold, so use white to save money). After the 2 coats of gel are dry to the touch, start layering the fiberglass. As said in the post earlier by someone, 8 layers is usually enough, sometimes i only do 5-6 depending on how thick your mat/cloth is. While it is still wet, trim the extra FG off with the utility, trim about 1/8" or more away, this leaves room for error and sanding. This is where you would vacuum bag, but it is not neccessarily needed if you don't have the equipment. After the hood dries, seperate it from the mold. The finish should be smooth, but it won't be too gloosy, but seeing you will be sanding it smoother and painting, it doesn't matter. Do a test fit and sand the adges of the hood so they are rounded and the hood fits nice.
Now it's time for the skeleton, flip the hood over and use the same process as above to mold the skeleton. After you have a mold of the skeleton, you can start on your fiberglass skeleton the same way as above. After your 2nd layer, place the 3"x3" aluminum block where the hood latch goes, and the 2 1"x3" blocks where the hinges go. This gives you something solid to bolt the latch and hinges to. Finish up with a few more layers, i typically do 4-5 layers for the skeleton. After its dry, put a heavy coat of resin or bonding epoxy on the underside of the skeleton and place it on the backside of the hood. Once the skeleton is bonded and dried to the hood, drill and tap (thread) the holes for the latch and hinges. You should now be able to bolt the hood on the hinges and do your final sanding and fitment. Primer and paint it and you're ready to do. Its alot harder than it sounds and unless you're planning on producing alot of these, then it's cheaper to buy one than it is to get the equipment and materials. If you're willing to give it a shot, go ahead, but you're probably looking at spending alot of time and money. Good luck
|
Search
Printer-friendly copy
5 Users in Chat
