Anyone know about fiberglass?

[banderso]

I need to make a fiberglass body for a small race car. Does any one know

1. What kind of resins are out there? What is preferable? What about types of fiberglass?
2. What is the best way to mold the stuff?

I have access to a full shop with everything from CNC on down. Just tell me what you know and point me in the right direction. Thanks.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

I use it to glass the insides and outsides of cedar strip canoes. I have also used it to make a snowboard

You will need a mold to form it to, then depending on what you are doing possibly a vacuum bag as well. As far as resins go, we use the west brothers system of epoxy, it works better, smells nicer, does not irritate skin, and cures clear. You will also have a choice in the thickness of the glass and how many layers.

Molding it is the hard part. You need to have a form of the shape you need. Then you just mix the epoxy and begin paining it onto the glass, sticking it into corners and tight spots, after about 15min go back and begin to scrape off the excess puddles of epoxy with a bondo scraper. This will cut down on a lot of weight. It seems wasteful and is to put it on the scrape most of it off, but it is about the only way to get a good result. Otherwise you will be doing a lot of sanding to remove the weight after it dries.

 

[The Hard Struggler]

Please don't buy epoxy from West Marine/ West System!

Go to www.uscomposites.com
They are about 1/3 the price for the exact same product. Even at their price epoxy may be to expensive for a race car body that will just be crashed into, just use conventional fiberglass resin and cloth.

As far as how to build a fiberglass car body... ha! Your going to need to go to http://forums.iboats.com/ and read for about 4 hours! Most of the info you'll find applicable will be in the (Rebuilding/Restoring) thread. I know that it's a boating forum and not a race car body building forum, but most of the mold building, gel coat, layup techniques, will be the same.

I love boat building nearly as much as jeeping!

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

where did the info on UScomposites come from? I admit I never looked into it, dad ordered the supplies, I was just there for the build and finish. I know he swears by West Marine, has used it to build most of a KR2 aircraft before, and we get great results on our cedar strip canoes.

Ill send him the link to see what he thinks. Just interested

edit: I think he probably saw the "semi-clear" line in their writeup and went away. Also, those prices are not that great compared to west system. I dont think he paid more than $300 for what lists on their site for $270.

 

[8Mud]

You'll have to read up some. But basically what we did was make a form from Styrofoam and clay, coat it with wax and then make a mold. Wax the inside of the mold, spray it with gel coat and then matt and cloth.
It's not easy to engineer and figure where it needs to be strong and where to save weight and the best spots for the fasteners. We were constantly modifying our designs, for strength, aerodynamics and weight saving.
The best way would likely to be to make your own molds from an existing design or rent a mold as a start and them modify from that.
The best part of having your own mold is repairs. Pop your body panel in the mold and patch whatever is funked up.

 

[The Hard Struggler]

where did the info on UScomposites come from? I admit I never looked into it, dad ordered the supplies, I was just there for the build and finish. I know he swears by West Marine, has used it to build most of a KR2 aircraft before, and we get great results on our cedar strip canoes.

Ill send him the link to see what he thinks. Just interested

edit: I think he probably saw the "semi-clear" line in their writeup and went away. Also, those prices are not that great compared to west system. I dont think he paid more than $300 for what lists on their site for $270.

From the West Marine web site. 4.3 gal of #105 Resin @ $354.99 + 1.5 gal of #207 Hardener @ $242.99 = $597.98 for 5.7 gal of product mixed at approx 3 to 1.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SiteSearchView?subdeptNum=674&jspStoreDir=wm51&classNum=674&productId=33072&catalogId=10001&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&Ne=69&storeNum=95&Ntt=Epoxy%20&N=377+710+987+4294967141&langId=-1&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&omniTag=Brand%3aWEST+SYSTEM&PopularCat=No&storeId=10001&Ntk=Primary%20Search

The uscomposites site lists a 3 to 1 kit of 5gal of resin AND 1.6 gal of hardener for $243.00 for 6.6 gal of product.
http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html

The uscomposites 3to1 thin epoxy is clear with a slight amber at very thick coats. The West System epoxy with the #207 hardener has EXACTLY the same amber. If you need a crystal clear epoxy (bartop style) you can get 4 gal for $108.00. Bartop is way to thick for laying up with cloth to make it structual, and all epoxy must be protected from UV light or it will turn yellow.



Struggle on....

 

[banderso]

Sorry I kind of neglected my thread. But thanks for all the information.

8Mud - It sounds like you have done this before. What kind of fasteners did you use? I don't remember what ones the team used last year are called, but we are looking for a better alternative. Thanks.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

From the West Marine web site. 4.3 gal of #105 Resin @ $354.99 + 1.5 gal of #207 Hardener @ $242.99 = $597.98 for 5.7 gal of product mixed at approx 3 to 1.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SiteSearchView?subdeptNum=674&jspStoreDir=wm51&classNum=674&productId=33072&catalogId=10001&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&Ne=69&storeNum=95&Ntt=Epoxy%20&N=377+710+987+4294967141&langId=-1&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&omniTag=Brand%3aWEST+SYSTEM&PopularCat=No&storeId=10001&Ntk=Primary%20Search

The uscomposites site lists a 3 to 1 kit of 5gal of resin AND 1.6 gal of hardener for $243.00 for 6.6 gal of product.
http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html

The uscomposites 3to1 thin epoxy is clear with a slight amber at very thick coats. The West System epoxy with the #207 hardener has EXACTLY the same amber. If you need a crystal clear epoxy (bartop style) you can get 4 gal for $108.00. Bartop is way to thick for laying up with cloth to make it structual, and all epoxy must be protected from UV light or it will turn yellow.



Struggle on....

aight, I forwarded him the link to us composites and what you wrote. I don't know what he did, but he defiantly got a good deal. Shipping on stuff like that is a pita too, the first time he bought it, he had to order it and pay shipping, and they classed it as HASMAT.

We use a good coat of spar urethane on our boats. Lay the wood, lay the glass, sand the glass, lay the urethane. It has gotten to the point where you cannot even tell it is glassed.