Need advice about fiberglass repair

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:43 am

Did you have the body bead blasted?

flaboyjim · Post by **flaboyjim** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:28 pm

I sandblasted the exterior of the body but the outside and the interior are the product of lots of sanding - it is down to the 400 grit here - I have some pits that I have to fill in now, and start over again... etc, etc, etc. It is labor intensive, but I will be able to say that I rebuilt it.. I found that a random orbital sander with 80 grit really takes the gelcoat off, 200 makes it "smooth" enough for glazing - then I started the hand work. I may shortcut the entire process and wrap the body with vinyl. Karl (racetearoffs) is in the business and got me very interested in that process. If that is the case, I will go to 400 again and lay the vinyl. I am trying to decide what graphics to use, if any. We tried the new metalflake calendered vinyl, but it is not flexible enough. If I could find a metalflake that is flexible enough, I would go with that.... It sounds do-able, and someone has to pave the way - I may be the one.....!!! First Buggy with vinyl.

UncleBob · Post by **UncleBob** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:36 pm

I like vinyl. Saw a splitty at Bug-Jam last year that had wood-grain vinyl below the beltline. It looked GREAT. I never thought about using it for a buggy. I'm curious how this would work out. It shouldn't be ungodly expensive even if it doesn't work. I wonder if a heat-gun would work to form the vinyl around the curves? Also, you'd need a very large belt, or there would be seams, at least down the middle of the hood. Maybe a good place for a pinstripe? My buddy is into vinyl printing/graphics. I'll ask him.

House · Post by **House** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:45 am

So to fill in all of the screw holes left from an old snap on top would you guys suggest Kittyhair, Gel, or Resin?

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:25 pm

I found the finer "Kitty Hair" works best and you do not have to mess around with the resin and mixing a batch up that will end up being more than you need, before it sets up. It's cheaper to make your own Kitty Hair, I just shred and cut up some fiberglass matt materials into about 1/8-1/4" pieces and mix it in the resin & catylist, in a small plastic cup and apply with a small paint brush, dabbing it into the holes. Kitty Hair works like Bondo, but more strength, pull a little out of the can, onto a piece of cardboard, stir in some catylist and apply. Then it's sanding time ,after it hardens. My :2cents: Worth Jimbo

joemama · Post by **joemama** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 2:07 am

to fill small screw holes, I would add a thickner that is used to make the resin into a paste (the thickner is basically a fiberglass powder, and you can get it at places like West Marine), then use a squeege like the ones used for Bondo, to apply/squeeze into the hole.

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 2:58 am

Depending on what you are doing you may be able to use just fiberglass resin, roving and a little elbow grease to fix the cracks. I have been working on a buggy hood and most of the repairs are just fiberglass with no filler. Here are a few pics of the progress. http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/album189

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:33 am

I am sending the body out for walnut shell blast this weekend. Then hopefully I will get some warmer weather so I don't have to do the glass work in the living room. It would likely end in divorce. ( bet I would get the house though)

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:16 am

[QUOTE="newmanx59"]Depending on what you are doing you may be able to use just fiberglass resin, roving and a little elbow grease to fix the cracks. I have been working on a buggy hood and most of the repairs are just fiberglass with no filler. Here are a few pics of the progress. http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/album189[/QUOTE] Wonderful job Jerry. Very informative pics. Surface cracks in glass, Should they be cut with a roto-tool and then filled? or just filled?

joemama · Post by **joemama** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:57 am

my experience is any cracks that are not covered with matting, will eventually just come back. Got to remember that many of these cracks occur because these areas are stressed, and without reinforcing, they are still suceptable to stress cracks.

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 12:48 pm

[QUOTE="WuZaBuG"]Wonderful job Jerry. Very informative pics. Surface cracks in glass, Should they be cut with a roto-tool and then filled? or just filled?[/QUOTE] I used a grinder to "V" all the cracks from the inside and outside. Then I laid roving/resin in the "V" on the backside of the crack and overlaid it with several layers of fiberglass mat. Once that cured, I used the same method on the outside if the same crack. Make sure you work all the air bubbles out of the mat as you apply it.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:07 pm

[QUOTE="newmanx59"]I used a grinder to "V" all the cracks from the inside and outside. Then I laid roving/resin in the "V" on the backside of the crack and overlaid it with several layers of fiberglass mat. Once that cured, I used the same method on the outside if the same crack. Make sure you work all the air bubbles out of the mat as you apply it.[/QUOTE] Thanks Jerry. I thought I read a post about that method. The clone I picked up last year has 100's of tiny cracks everywhere. I think they are from leaving the body out in the weather. Should I do that to all of them? that would take a very long time. Remember this buggy is just for camping and fishing on a saltwater beach. I'm not looking for perfection but then again, I only want to do this once...

joemama · Post by **joemama** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:27 pm

You have to determine wether the cracks are caused by flexing, or might just be the gelcoat dried out and cracked, if the cracks are caused by flexing they will come back, if its just dried out gelcoat, filling the cracks might be all you need. I have in the past, on a boat, just built up laminating resin to fill small surface cracks, wet sanded smooth, and painted with a 2 part epoxy paint that Sears used to offer in their boating catalog, worked great. I wonder if this type of paint is around anymore.

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:49 am

The hood on my Sand Shark was hit pretty hard and had a bunch of hairline cracks. I laid up a couple layers of glass on the backside of the hood, I hope it will prevent them from coming back, seeing the cracks were the result of the impact and not day to day flexing. I hope my assumption is correct.