missing section to body kit repair

Anything goes in the world of fiberglass and plastic



Non-Lurker
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:27 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:33 pm
i just purchased this car and the front bumper is missing a section of the lip, i know how to do dents and cracks ect, but ive never had to make a section before its fiberglass. is there a diy here with some step by step? im new here and this is my first post so im not used to site yet, im steve btw and thanks in advance, ill post some pictures to better go into detail about the lip :)

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:35 am
Welcome, and yep, pictures really help us here. Doesn't sound like a big deal. Edges and lips are pretty easy to rebuild and don't require much tech. My last kit truck had a forklift fork rammed through the custom tilt nose. Took out a basket ball size chunk and of course they threw the piece away. Because of the way the curves were in the piece I ended up having to use modeling clay underneath to get my shape, pain in the butt and time consuming. Get an overall pic. of the area and also see if you can get a close up of the thickness/sandwich of the layup.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



Non-Lurker
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:27 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:37 pm
sorry about the delay ive ran into timing issues aswell.. ill post pictures now..

Image



Non-Lurker
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:27 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:39 pm
im almost done with this spot too.

Image



Non-Lurker
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:27 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:44 pm
i saw a guy use some kind of fiberglass bondo??? it was like a green color?? im really new to body work so as much tips and walk throughs as i can get would be great lol :happy:

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 11:43 pm
Okay, good news/bad news kind of thing here. First, good news is this appears just to be a simple layup part which doesn't require SMC compatible materials so you can buy fiberglass stuff even at your local auto parts store however it will probably be fresher stuff if you can get it from a local paint & body shop supplier. The bad news is that's not a simple shape you've got there. How good are you at carving and shaping stuff? The green stuff you saw the guy using was Duraglass which is a short strand strengthened fiberglass filler, yes, very much like bondo. We do use that a lot in building kit car parts to get an overall shape, then lay fiberglass mat built up in layers to get a strong surface. Behind the part some layers of cloth are resined in for support. Looks like you could fiberglass or epoxy a short section of steel square tube across that void, then build some Duraglass over that and start shaping that up. Surform files working the suface just after the Duraglass has kicked would be the easiest way to get your shape. If you let the Duraglass get to hard it will be very hard to shape. Once you've got your shape I'd get some throwaway brushes and coat over that filler with resin and feed in some chopped up fiberglass mat and do a couple of layers. Over that can just go regular bondo feathering out into a larger area or you could do something like Body Icing (thinner bondo type product, easy to shape). Again some resin and cloth can be added to the back side for more support.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



Non-Lurker
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:27 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:01 am
i have good news and bad news of my own lol. good news is i found this fourm and you are all very helpfull. bad news is the bumper is one pieced to the fenders and i cant take it off :( my job just got a whole lot harder...im going to try to attack this after i figure out my timing belt situation, how much as a guess am i looking at for materials for this job?



Non-Lurker
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:27 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:06 am
sorta confused on how to start this though. whats best to block the hole so i can start to make my lip? i thought about body patches then maybe some expandafoam or something...never done this before..

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:50 am
Well, I was already figuring that you would do that in place as most of these kit noses are one piece. First, materials, $20 to $60 depending on where you buy them at. Second, sure, you can just go to your local Home Depot and buy some of that Great Stuff foam and lay up a big slug of it across there and carve that up to shape. I'd still try to get some type of steel tube across there epoxied in first and blow the foam over that. The only downside to using that type of cheap foam is that once you've layed your resin/mat over it you should probably dissolve most of it from the back with acetone. These cheaper foams can continue to "gas off" and cause problems in the successive layers of your surface materials. This method of making parts is called the "lost foam" application. Once the foam is dissolved from the back you can still ad cloth and resin back their to give more strength to the area.
When I do this type of "in place" repair I jack the car up so I can sit on my mechanics swivel stool and have this in my face. Once I've got most of the shape I lower the car to look at it from a normal view, start smoothing it up with my filler and jack it up one more time to check everything.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



Non-Lurker
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:27 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:00 pm
thanks for the replies! im about to get on this project and will take tons of pictures along the way :) im still doing my reaserch so i am properly prepared for this crazy adventure.
Next

Return to Fiberglass and Plastic

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 49 guests