Ok guys so i am planning on makeing a rear lip for my celica. I am going to be making it out of fiberglass. this will be my 1st fiberglass project. i am going to be using styrofoam to shape the mold. then begin the fiberglass


do any of you guys with experience have any advice or tips?


Thanks


-Brent

D-Man will jump on this one just as soon as he sees the thread...

Right you are griff!

Okay good sir, DONT start with that lip. Play with the glass on some card bord boxes, it wont take long for you to get the concept down. (nor much resin) (15-20 min and you'll have the concept down, just coat something with FG and fiber)

Buy yourself a HIGH quality mask! DONT cheap out; bc you can really fcuk yourself up!

Do you want to make it fairly flexable? or do you want it to be harder? (this way i can help you decide what kind of fiber to use, and what kind of Ratio to mix)

What questions do you have before you get started? (be blunt, Be specific, Learn first, Act On Knowledge)

Remember to cast yourself a frame mold on the OEM lip so that you get the bracketing down correctly. Sanding is the KEY!! i hope you like hand sanding

Body filler is another thing you want to "play" with before you go applying it to the final product.

Get your feet wet, so you have a basic idea of how it works.

Rubber gloves are god-sent!

Feel Free to PM me and i'll help you plan it out. I'm doing something similar starting in august. I've already got it maped out quite a bit

And finaly (most of you probably saw this coming):

"The hardest part about fiberglass fabrication, is staying sober while it's drying" [/Legendary_Quote]



This post has been edited by D-Man: May 6, 2008 - 12:05 PM

a) don't use Styrofoam it will melt.
b) Fiberglass & resin from home depot/advanced auto will be sufficient/cheap enough for you at this point
c) Make sure your resin:hardener ratio is correctly followed (directions on the container) and if its warm out (65*+) take out a drop or two of hardener
d) cheap .94 cent brushes and a fair amount of them
e) use many smaller pieces of fiberglass (4"x4" for example) rather then few larger pieces.
f) WEAR A MASK
g) easy way to start a lip is to wrap the oem bumper in saran wrap or tin foil and lay fiberglass on top of that. this will give you the surface shape you need to mate the lip to the bumper...then build on top of that.

h) take your time and have fun

not using those skirts i sent you now huh?

lol. Styrofoam will be fine as long as you tape it, besides, your shooting to use it as a mold right? Personally i'd use that green "Form-Foam" at local hobby stores. the styro will deform during the curring process.

Again, there are many different ways to form fiberglass, if you want it to have the properties of glass (hard and breakable) then run Playr's ideas; if you want it flexible (harder to do) the run less hardener and use the braided Fiber cloth in larger sheets. that way it'll bend before it'll break, but it'll be more prone to bending at high speeds too, depending on how thick it was layed... you really gotta decide how you want it, and what's best for you application.

Deff MANY brushes, you'll be changing em out ever 20-30 min, because the glass will dry on em. (wal*mart has a 15 pack assorted sizes for like 4 bucks. Best deal ever!) personally, i like the paint brush style. The foam ones dry WAY to fast even for me!

Also, when you mold your OEM, it's important to take the most time and effort cloning the edges, the center is where you'll be playing with your designs the most, So make sure you have the edges copyed PERFECTLY so that it'll pretty much, bolt right on kep the middle part of the bumper weak, if you even bother working with it until you have your Styrofoam formed and ready to go.

also, that blue painters tape is freaking gold! Foil and Syran wrap work too, but where the sides come together, it's really prone to leaking thru. (the layering) also, foil has a bad habit of sliding while your working

This post has been edited by D-Man: May 7, 2008 - 9:27 AM

i thought u had a set of trd curren splitters? are you going to mold these into the new lip or start from scratch?

uhmmm sounds iteresting..............
i might give it a try also!
what would be the cost of doing something like that?

post pics asap =)

>



i do. im not sure which one i wanna do tho.

>

if you not buying nothing but basic suppllies: around $150ish to a maximum $300 if you've done something CRAZY and HUGE!! & depending on how soft you want to make it.

The hard style of fiberglass is cheaper, because that fibercloth in random lacing is way cheaper than braided. Plus you would deff wanna use green foam, [EDIT]: You'll also need brushes; and gloves. if you already have a high quality mask you'll be okay, but if not, you wanna spend ATLEAST 35+ dollars. those cheap ass doctors masks just wont cut it![/EDIT] I personaly like getting resin in bulk, that way i have it when i need it unless i'm out and just doing a toutchup then i'll get a small kit, but for like this; i'd buy atleast 2 gallons of resin...

IDK, if it was ME personaly, i'd just buy a case (4 gal) and that'll run you about 200 bucks list price, but i dont pay list so

http://www.fibreglast.com/showproducts-cat...Hardener-9.html

the second item is what you'd want on that page. not the laminate, the poly. The iso is good stuff too, but thats's more than what' you'll need. But really, it's all about the effect your' going for.

just know your resins, like an epoxy resin to make patches, (ex: to repair a busted fiberglass bumper) and a vinyl to make something that'll be exposed to fluids (except water) like oil or WD40 or something...

everything has it's advantage and diss, really, i'd think you'd want to use a polyester resin, Fleece for the shell, and braided fiber for the inside (oreo effect) then a nice bondo-body fill on the outside of that should make it strong as sh!t and still allow for flex supposing you bottom out or back into a curb or something. (it happens all the time ) then your sh!t bends like polyurethane instead of shattering like glass.

(Hint Hint )

But it's really all up to you

This post has been edited by D-Man: May 7, 2008 - 3:29 PM