can anyone find me a complete list of things needed to do fiberglass interior work, nothing real crazzy, I have to make somethign to mount a second set of speakers int he front doors so I'm gonna fallow the interior line all the way around and have the bottom 1/2 hpainted to match the car ones the doors are finished... shoudl I fiberglass it all or just sand and paint?
either way looking for a full list from sugestions on what material to use, to the resin and hardener, sand paper grit ect..
If they are just plastic parts, sand down I use
60, then wash it cause sometimes the grit gets into small holes, touch up if you need some big spots, wash off.
120 take it down more, wash agian
220, full sand wash again
400 wetsand
After primer some painters do 400 some do 600 personal preference
Now if you want to customize...
Depending how wild you want to go, and sound etc. If you are adding in a speaker, look at ztwankys post on his box, use mdf rings for the speakers, and dowels to support it, drill some holes through the door to attach the material through. Stretch the material over it, resin over it. keep adding fiberglass matting for strength 2-3 layers should be good I think sand with the same amounts as above.
That being said to glass
Fiberglass Matting
Resin and Hardener
Gloves
I use foam brushes, or sometimes a puddy scraper works well too,
obviously the fabric, something that stretches some, but nothing too espensive, heck if there is a real ugly fleece there that would work well since its thick and you could fill it up with resin.
primer
adhesive promoter
flex agent
paint
clear
oh ya some 2000 grit sand paper after you clear
buffing compound etc for when its all done
http://www.aplusperformance.com
http://www.modified-motorsports.com
i agree with most of what 03 said. only diffrence i use is, i use 80 grit to start. just seems i put deep gouges with 60 grit. i prefer to use standard 1"-3" paint brushes, not big on foam. dont't forget the acetone to clean up any fiberglass spills. and i dont bother with the adhesion promoter or flexagent. other then that same process.
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whats the difference between fiberglass matting and the fabric... I thought the faberica is what actually gets hardened and used... or is that just to get the shape thn you go over it in the fiberglass matting?
ya the fleece is to get your general shape... once you have the shape you want apply resin to the fabric so that it stays that shape then you add the matt to make it stay strong. A guy I know said that the fabric they use on speakers covers is really good, has alot of stretch to it.
the fleece or speaker grill fabric is what you use to get the shape and. fleece is great because with one coat u can have a very strong piece its, downfall is its not the best at stretching in allot of diffrent shapes. speaker grill type material is great to use when you have a very complicated shape because it stretches a ton. but when resin is applied u wont have a very strong structure so you have to build it up more. i use either or depending on the shape i want.
cloth and matting, cloth is like a carbon fiber type weave. where as matting is just a bunch of strands all mixed together. matting is good for building up areas quickly. the cloth will lay down thinner layers but will be stronger. you can use either one, i just prefer to use the cloth. either one of these is added on top of your hardedend fleece or speaker grill layer to add structural integrity to it. if possible lay it up on the backside of the piece so your front piece stays as close to the original shape as possible.
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as far as the sanding process... how do you go about getting it even hiehg tall the way around ect.. like no deeper areas where your fingers were aplying more pressure then other areas? shoudl I use like a block or the flexable foam pads?
by the way sorry for tall the questions, I just want to do all my reseach now before diving into this, I've never done anythign liek this before I apreciate the help
The biggest part is getting your first fleece stretched perfectly as tight as possible to not create seams etc. It may sag a little, bu as long as there are no ripples in the fleece when it dries, its will be much easier.
That being said, if its a big dip, fill with a small piece of glass, and sand/seal around it till even. I use an electric mouse sander, blocks are good though as well just more work.
http://www.aplusperformance.com
http://www.modified-motorsports.com
asprin or tylonal it causes a lot of headaches
use a sanding block, something hard on large flat spots, on the curves i use a harder foam type pad. other then that its really just trial and error. the poor examples you see are the ones that gave up to early. quality pieces take a while to get right when your first learning, ive still got allot of learning in that department too. anybody can get the part smooth. it takes someoene with skill to get it without waves and dips.
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I agree with the boys, it takes a lot of time but if you are willing to put in the time it will be worth it. I did speaker enclosures for 6.5 component speakers molded onto the door for my first project. I can't believe how ell it turned out, sure it took me two months to get it done. I could only work on it after work and on weekends. The biggest thing is to have all your stuff ready and set up before you start. Once you get going you don't want to have to run to the store. When buying the resin make sure you buy extra hardner as the small tube the provide is almost never enough. Find some plastic containers that you can see thru and mark how much you want to make on the side of the cup or what ever. This help when you want to make more resin quickly. You just have to play around with how much hardner to put in, it all depends how hot or cold it is where your working. I only make about two onces of resin at a time, just cuz I had some start to gel up before I could use it. I like to use the cloth as well as it takes curves better than the matt. Also the matt needs more resin to saturate(sp) it. I cut the fiberglass cloth into small 2x3 or 3x4 pieces, makes it easier to work with. I use latex gloves when I do this, makes clean up easy. For the cloth to get the shape try not to buy too thin of a material as it will sag from the wieght of the resin. Also when I used the fleece I tried to soak the resin right thru it all, but even after a ton of resin it didn't go all the way thru. I don't think you need to go overboard as you just want it to keep the shape. Try not to get any ripples in the fleece as this will add time to your sanding stages. Well I hope this helped a bit let us know how it turns out.
