just thought i would start an update thread for this car now. started on the wide body today. think i got quite abit done in the couple hours i have spent on it.
and the shot to see how wide its going to be
thats all for now. C&C always welcome. also tips to make this process work better and easier is appreciated!
Well I know this might a little late, but I would stripped everything and ruffed up the metal and let the fiberglass and cloth bond with the body of the car instead of the paint that is then bonded to the body. Cause now the glass can easily crack cause it is not really body with the car from what I been told. I'm soon to start my project on mine in the next month or son. Also on great tip is when you use cloth(you should use this instead of the cardboard)ruff up the end cause it helps lay flatter. Also the smoother you make it before it starts to dry the less sanding you have to do later.
thanks for the tips. i have roughed up the area real well before laying the glass down and i gave her many of firm tugs and its holding up really well. i have done this on many things. so what do you do about roughing up the edges? never heard this before
Well the only way I can really help you understand is to take some of the glass and cut it in a line, and take your fingers or really anything and pull apart the weave. This will let the weave spread out more level at the ends of where you cut. I really hope that helps, and good luck with the sanding.
TheGreenMachine(isnt so green) wrote:thanks for the tips. i have roughed up the area real well before laying the glass down...
No, you really didn't. At least not enough from what I can see. There is still primer (paint, as mentioned above) under the areas where the 'glass meets the body. This NEEDS to be removed so the 'glass will not crack/break away from the body as easily. And yes, it will happen - That looks like polyester resin (cheap) and you're bonding it to metal (or paint in your case). The fiberglass and metal expand at different rates in high/low temperatures - eventually one will not flex as much as the other and - PRESTO - cracks galore. If it was me, just for the sake of getting a little extra time before I have to re-glass the widebody onto the car, I'd cut everything you allready did off the car then take some 40-60 grit sandpaper and get all the areas that will make contact w/ the glass down to bare metal.
Just remember, the earlier on you catch problems, the easier they are to fix. Since you just started, I would listen to everything people have said and fix it now.
Wide Body Progress
did you leave y our clothes an beach towel inside the box? i see disaster ahead unless you stop now and start over correctly....
To add a little bit to my previous post - something that works really well at making basic shapes and such for fiberglass projects - floral foam. It's the green stuff in the crafts aisle @ walmart and various other craft stores. It can be shaped w/ your fingers, a sanding block, or whatever you want to shape it with. That will save you a bunch of time, and you won't have to use a cardboard box
ScreamSayonara wrote:To add a little bit to my previous post - something that works really well at making basic shapes and such for fiberglass projects - floral foam. It's the green stuff in the crafts aisle @ walmart and various other craft stores. It can be shaped w/ your fingers, a sanding block, or whatever you want to shape it with. That will save you a bunch of time, and you won't have to use a cardboard box
Great idea. I have been using insulation foam from home depot. It works, but the floral foam would be much easier to shape.
Wide Body Progress
The bodywork here kills me for multiple reasons, but I'll stay out of it.
Best of luck.
please tell me. what is wrong with this and what should i do to change it.
i want to do it right. no need to be douches
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Sunday, July 08, 2007 7:45 PM
Yes Take OFF that primer/paint and get to bare metal. When I started mine, the first fender I glassed, I didn't sand off all the paint all to well...luckily I changed my design and re-did them the right way. It just won't bond as nicely.
ummmm...well the glass work needs some work on still. It's very wavey and will take some elbow grease to get it level again. The trick is trying to get your glass work as smooth as possible from the starting. This saves you so much more time in the long run.
have you done a lot of glass work before?
try another method in making your widebody strickly from cardboard boxes.
kk ill take off the primer ok. i know the glassing has to be smooth and it will be. yes i have done quite a bit of glass work before. and about strictly from cardboard boxes, what do you mean? are you saying not to use the wood? and why not? it is screwed into the body of the car i was using that so it was the same width on each side. also what should i fill the gap between the body of the car and the fiberglass with?
what body line are you going for here, exactly? because it kinda just looks like a random box stuck to the side of the car. I'm not getting a real clear idea of what shape you're trying to make out of the panel.
wood and fiberglass will add a lot of weight to the body. Big Poppa is using expanding Foam to fill the gap in his wide body and add a little more weight but not to much. If you did the photoshop work in your sig then you are good enough to use photoshop or ms paint to do a quick drawing of the body lines you want to accomplish. if we had that information it would be easiest for us to tell you what you can do to accomplish this work. Wide bodies are awesome when done properly, if not then you can throw the car away. big poppa and skeeoff have been working on theirs for over a year, so expect that this is something you won't finish this summer. Good luck with it, because i like to read these threads and see how much of a lazy ass i am compared to all the people out there doing this custom mods.
you better listen to vince he is a fiberglassin god i tell you , ( thats why i sold my widebody kit) im not even close to vince or joey
everything vince said is totally true. get the 1/4 panel down to bare metal and then glass it. also, try to find something a little better to mold off of. i used the 1/4 itself and just peeled the glass off (hooray duct tape!) but if you want that line that the boxes will give you the foam others have suggested would be a great idea.
as far as filling in the space between the widebody and the car....vince did expanding foam. i'm not putting anything behind mine. i've kicked the side of my widebody with steel toes and it just makes the car wobble side to side so i'm not really concerned about it.
best of luck. can't think of much else now.
Well yes I did use foam...however Jason and Fetter were saying that the foam could expand and contract with the temperature changes...with that being said I pretty much ripped out all of the foam from behind just incase. There is a better two part foam that you mix yourself, and won't expand like a spray foam from homedepot would.
Some ways to make a mold:
chicken fencing
foam (sand it to your design) (do not use styrafoam, the resin will eat through it like butter on a hot plate.
make a frame work and stretch fleece and staple it down
modify another widebody kit to fit
tape works after a few times getting used to how to use it as a mold.
since you aren't too far along right now, try a different method than glassing a box to the side of your car. even making a mold of the stock panels and extending those off of the car would help you out more than the box would.
to tell you the truth i never even thought of the molding it to the side lol. im kinda slow. also im not worried about wieght.
the part that is circled is going to be a kinda "ledge" and the drawn part is going to be where the wide extends too.
I am just starting my widebody as well. The one thing I would suggest is make sure you have your design down before you actually start glassing it. It will save you a lot of time. I don't have photoshop, but even in mspaint you can get a really good idea of what the car will look like.
Wide Body Progress
Cmon chris, it looks like you went diggin in the garbage for widebody materials. Grind it all off do it right man. Your not too far along to start over.
well guys... i tore it off and redid it
shaped it with foam and ground down to bare metal. no pics for awhile cause my rents stole the camera and brought it to the cabin. thanks for telling me how to do it right.
TheGreenMachine(isnt so green) wrote:well guys... i tore it off and redid it shaped it with foam and ground down to bare metal. no pics for awhile cause my rents stole the camera and brought it to the cabin. thanks for telling me how to do it right.
Good man. You'll be much happier doing it right. Nothing like spending hours upon hours on it, and paying all the money for paint and then having it crack/fall off.
Wide Body Progress
