i'm in a rut...literally ... Ive been working for monthes glassing pods into my door panels and misc dash bad etc.in my free time. and am having a real problem making things look so beautifully smooth ... i worked 19 hours straight on 1 door panel yesterday trying to get it nice and its just not working... .. I've tried alot of different things and hand sanding is about the only thing i can seem to be half way decent looking.. ... How do you guys make your dash/doors so beautiful!?! ... what is your sanding routine ... i.e. hand sand 40, 80, 220, 400 .. or d/a sand w/ 220 then hand sand or what....and what products do you guys reccommend for easier sanding.. i know bondo is a no no unless you've got alot alot of patience..that stuff sands so crappy .lol I've tried so much and just wondering how the pro's do it... I'm waiting on my glass man custom's video to see their technique first hand..and well the body shops around here wont tell me anything they are money hungry ... :S ... ..
Thanks for any input
for panels i have a mouse sander and orbital sander several belt sanders and soon to have a compressor for an orbital sander, but all that is just to get the general shape, when it comes down to finish work the only way u can do it is by hand, i use sandpaper wrapped around a rubber foam type block the bends easily. allot of how it turns out has to do with how good a piece your starting with, if u do a half assed job on laying the fiberglass up then your going to have a miserable time in making it look good, that seems to be the most problem i see with allot of peoples projects on here, they make a half ass mold or frame and dont pulll the material tight enough because they thing they can just slap some bondo on there and will turn out great. the better job you do at the start, the less sanding youlle have to do in the end. bondo is harder to sand, try rage gold, its allot more sandable. also if your are using bondo, or any filler. get a cheese grater from the hardware store, and as soon as the bondo starts getting hard u can use the cheese grater on the bondo to take down allot of the high spots before it has fully hardened.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography
btw i did search, i found alot of technique for sanding the texture off...but those techniques dont seem to work as well for sanding fiberglass.....maybe i just dont have a knack for sanding lol
I'm broke and don't have any power tools, so all of my sanding (interior, and polishing my IDI cover) have been by hand. On my IDI cover, I started with 80, moved to 160, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000. It's purty.
If you do it by hand, sand all in one direction (say, horizontal) with one grit, then sand in the opposite (vertical) direction with the next grit. This will ensure that you don't leave any scratches from the previous grit.
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Interior FAQ -
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i like the opposite grit idea...didnt even think of that... ... saves using a bunch of filler in the end cuz of scratches...
sndsgood your cars interior is 1 of my role models...i'm doing a similar color scheme and looking to do a rear seat delete ... yeah i learned bondo sucks...so its not in the picture anymore....the body shops around my area suggested kromate light... as a body filler....they also suggested somethign called "icing" its a glazing w/ a hardener ... its supposed to be a best friend but i hate it it gets sooo hard..... a cheese grater sounds sorta funny for sanding but you're right..i've used some 40 while its still hardening to get it down easier... .but it still seems like i'm getting nowhere..i've got so many hours of hand sandign and ALMOST done with 1 door panel ... it makes me cringe to think i have another one to go lol... maybe everybody sands for a million hours and they just dont say it ..just seems to me it should go faster... alpine's demo cars make it look so painless LOL..
you can use a 3" sanding disc on a d/a for most of it. I can sand down a sub box in about an hour...all the way from bondo to ready to paint.
to knock down the high spots after you apply your filler...start with a 20 or 36 grit. then move your way up till about 80 and prime. after your prime sand up to 400 then it should be ready for paint. (handsanding can start at 400 if need be)
sand in x's with 80 move your way to a 220 shoot about 3 thick coats of primer filler over you work to fill in all minor sand scratchs then take a can of say black sandable primer or anything that contrast the primer wet sand it with say 400 to 600 continuing in x's the primer will sand offf and you will see the primer surfacer under it coming in the black or whatever color will show all your high and low spots in your work and help you figure where you may need to throw a thin coat of filler repat until everything sands off even then use some primer sealer to seal your work and sand with 800-1000 to scuff it all up and paint
Jason is right about the starting with a quality mold. Make sure (although it's probably too late if you haven't) that each step is as good as it gets. Make sure you sand the fiberglass as smooth as possible, then make sure hte body filler is as smooth as possible, and hten the glaze. Also, make sure that you do pick up a "cheese grater" to get rid of excess body filler. When you have hte shape you want and the product looks near perfect, use a glazing putty to get your final coat. The best product I have ever used is Black Ice. I swear, you could sand it with your finger tip the stuff is so great.
Finally, I feel that you get what you pay for. If you want professional results, you have to use professional materials. Buy your products from an automotive supply store, not Walmart.
anyone that is putting out some quality work will tell you that good fiberglassing is all in the sanding, and it takes allot of time. the alpine cars your talking about are done by steve brown and chris yato, and they work 8-10 hours a day 5 days a week for a half year or more to complete. allot of the problem i think is people think they are close so they start using finer grits, and then they keep using those finer grits to try and fix mistakes. make sure the shape u want is good to go when you using the 60 grit sandpaper, or your just going to waste time on a higher grits, i made that same mistake on my sub box. thinking i was close so i was basically wet sanding, and then when i wetsanded, the waves stood out in a few places so next thing i know i'm slapping more filler on it and basically starting the sanding process all over. most people mistakes come from rushing it. and even if your poor you can find good deals on sanders out there, i paid like 25% for my orbital sander and like 25$ for my mouse sander. that will speed up allot of the process. and fiberglass isnt easy to sand its quite hard, if you followed alpines build of their demo vehicles, youd see how after they get the strentght built up with the fiberglass, they just smear filler all over the entire thing, and sand the finish shape onto the filler itself. dont wast allot of time trying to sand fiberglass, the only sanding i do on fiberglass, is if i have some sharp shards or bumps standing up to high.
as for yoru shops filler, there are allot of diffrent fillers out there. try some of theirs, youlle problaby find its allot easier to work with then bondo. as for icing, thats something i'd use as a finish coat type filler only. its not meant for a heavy buildup. i use icing for like pinholes and deep sanding gouges.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography
For all who dont own a mouse...Buy one!..this is way better than my 1/4 and 1/3 sheet sander... this is my new favorite tool... sanding is so easy, not a bunch of crazy vibration and doenst go as fast as a d/a so its easier to judge!... my god i wish i bought this 6 monthes ago!!! real good for the corners and dips too ... far easier and quicker than hand sanding... still hand sand for detail work but i have to say ...wow! ...
