Could I lay fiberglass myself?

[blykins]

After I made the move to floor mounted pedals in my SVC, I keep reminding myself that I have a couple large holes in my driver's side footbox. I thought about just covering it with aluminum panels....but that seems like the cheap/shotty way out. I think I'm gonna just cover the holes with fiberglass and see if I can restore it back to the original virgin footbox.

Is this too big of a job for me to do....? Should I have the body man do it when I paint the car....?

The engine is out of the car, so now is the perfect time to get in there and get at it....

If I can do it myself, can a couple of you post and fill me in on what materials I'll need..?

I imagine I'll need some cloth and some resin....

[*13*]

I'd ask the guys down at your local paint & body supply store about materials. They know the newest & best methods. Sounds like your project is doable. Just wear long sleeves & a decent respirator

[Toby]

Blykins. this is not hard to do. I just finished widening my foot box for more pedal room, and it was a simple step be step process. I went to a local automotive paint store for supplies and advice. Remember when you designed your new pedal box? this is LOTS! easier.Good luck, If you have any specific questions I will help if I can.

Toby

[Clois Harlan]

Brent,

Much easier than you think. I made some small parts using serrand wrap over an object. Use several small pieces layered to build up your thickness rather than large coverage pieces. Use the serrand wrap as a backer and hold it on with duct tape on the back side. You will do a great job!

Clois

[blykins]

Thanks guys....I really wanna fix this right....and I feel like this is the way to do it...plus gain some "fix-it" experience as well.

How does it usually work....lay down the cloth and apply the resin over top?

[*13*]

I've never filled a hole but I would guess it would depend on the size of the hole. You need some type of reinforcement...Things I would ask anyway..

[Art Burtt]

If you have some pieces of fiberglass left over from cutting out the head light hole for instance, use a hole saw to cut a piece to fit the hole. Use some fiberglas mat and resin to hold the piece in place. I used saran wrap and duct tape to hold it until it set. By the next day you'll be able to sand it and it will look like the hole was never there. I drilled the wrong sized hole for my interior lights and used this method to just "glue" the piece back in place ,then re-drilled the hole to the proper smaller size. It worked like a charm! Resin and mat should be available in any parts store.

[mickmate]

Start with a good roughed up edge that bevels back into the parent material. That way it will bond and have good strength at the joint. If you have a larger gap to fill in stick a piece of cardboard across it to back it. Seran wrap is one way to non-stick it, wax paper works too. Ask the guys at the body shop supply for a good quality low shrink resin. Overlap the edges of the cloth patch across your bevelled edges and build it up a layer at a time. Be sure to allow cure time per instructions, temp etc. It's a little stinky and messy but other than that very easy to work with. Don't use mothers scissors on the mat, it takes the edge right off them. You'll be fine, get on with it!

[Sydney]

Hey blykins,

I have over 100 hours of fiberglassing on my SV body. Once I got started, I couldn't quit. I did mostly what mickmate did. I had very good luck with Evercoats laminating resin. and a combination of fiberglass cloth and mat. The cloth is very strong, the mat layers better and smooths out better. Mine took about 12 to 15 layers to get 1/4" thick. A body filler spreader works pretty good to squeeze out the air pockets. Be sure and buy a box of latex gloves.

Sydney

[Dwight]

Stores like Wal-Mart set kits for about $8. You can use plastic bottles, bowls, just about any thing for a mold. Cut it to size and cover it with duct tape and petroleum jelly it help it break free after it sets up. The soft foam that is used in shipping packaging make a great tool to move and place the resin soaked mat. Wear thin rubber gloves with petroleum jelly on them, it helps to keep the mat from sticking to you. I've made my front brake ducts out of fiberglass using Mountain Dew boxes, duct tape, jelly and $8 kits. I had to cut a large hole in my trannie tunnel so the bell housing would clean. I made the patch with a 1 gal plastic ( 1/4 of it ) and a couple of kits. Black paint and you can not tell it was repaired. If you screw it up, just wait till it drys. Cut it out and do it again.

Dwight

[Ant]

Blykins,

Fibreglassing isnt that hard, if you are using Polyester resin, and MEKP hardener, as Mickmate said bevel back say if your work is 1/4" or thicker you might want to bevel back 3 - 3.5" . Polyester resin doesnt have a great bond strength, hence 60-80 grit sanding for it to bite to, plus be careful with cleaning, use Acetone and wipe with paper towels. If you are doing a strength repair you are far better using Epoxy resin it has 6 times or more bond strength, it is easy to work with, as long as you use the measuring pumps, but the bottom line with both products is they are better than the cheap kits available, and for myself I wouldn't introduce petroleum jelly to the mix, I would use a parting agent, and then you have to make sure it is washed and solvented off before any sanding or further repair, can be done to that area.

Another point is temperature and if you live in CA its probably not a problem, but no polyester glassing should be done lower than 15 degrees, Epoxy can be lower, as the rest of the part, or body acts as a heat sink and the secondary bond you are doing has less grip, remember the body is a primary bond as it was done basically altogether and cured together, wheras now you are doing a secondary bond and its only as strong as the bond surface your are glueing to.


Having said all that for a small area one of these kits may be just what you need, look at the chemical makeup or take it to a body shop and ask them, as if its based on epoxy or a two pot mix it will have a good bonding formula, much better than normal polyester as mentioned, but if you are doing big jobs, refer to what I mentioned in the first paragraph or look up on the Web there are many good websites on how to do glass repairs etc. One point though with these kits or epoxy, a good wet sand, paper towell off etc after it cures, as there can be a waxy residue that will make it hard to lay more over etc.

[blykins]

I'm looking at basically covering up a bunch of master cylinder sized holes in the end of the driver's footbox.

Could I use cardboard as a backer? Plywood?

So I would back it up, then maybe cut some cloth out in the size of the holes and resin it in....repeating until I get the thickness I want?

I am definitely a rookie in this department....Never have touched the stuff...don't really know where to start.

[Ant]

You could use plywood, but it will need duct tape or release agent attached to it, boat builders etc use aluminium sheet, so if you have some alloy sheeting or plastic just whatever to form your mould, as mentioned by Dwight duct tape, alloy sheet or plastic doesn't need a parting agent at all, they should just lever carefully off. Using a smooth surfaces like these leaves a nice job that will need less preparation, and the non mould side make sure you keep that with the brushed resin/matt side, or identify which side needs to be a nice finish, and what doesnt in placing your mould backing.

If you can make your mould so when you move it a small distance it clears all the glasswork, (there is a name for this principle) as in big jobs the mould must clear the job and not compress or damage the job as it comes off, so the moulds largest area should be at the end further in on the job.

[Toby]

Brent,
On a small repair of this sort you could cut a piece of filler,(I used hardware cloth) to fit the hole and cut your matt in the same shape but 1/2" larger, be sure to sand/feather the edges of the hole for a good bite then sandwich with matt and resin on one side at a time to the desired thickness. On my project I never worked more than 4 oz. of resin at a time. Kind of like, how to eat an elephant? one bite at a time! Anyway, once you have the patch thick enough, just sand and paint. Like someone said earlier, even if you screw up you just cut it out and do it again. You WILL need some acetone for clean up! and rubber gloves help.

Toby

[trularin]

Yes, call me.

[fastraxsg]

Another one to try for backing is aluminum foil with a stiff backing and duct tape, avoid wrinkles and keep it smooth and it leaves a nice smooth surface. Along with the long sleeves, some goggles to keep it out of your eyes, and a respirator (check what type of canister it has it in, there are many different types) and hose yourself off with cold water to keep your skin pores closed and the fibers out of them. Glassin' can be a lot of fun and you can make some really cool things including things for non car projects. ken

[sharpe 1]

With all of the things you have done in building your car, laying a little fiberglass is the easy part.