Fitting and prepping fiberglass body

Anything goes in the world of fiberglass and plastic



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PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:48 pm
I'm a retiree who has purchased a Factory Five 33 Hotrod. Body is fiberglass with oversize doors and deck lid that have to be fitted. Body is not the greatest I've seen. Will need considerable filler, primer and sanding! I am quite handy, have done some metal body work years ago, chopped a couple tops, replaced panels, etc. Some of those jobs took me way too long but did have good results. Don't know squat about fiberglass and have no illusions about doing the final work or paint but would like to be able to get it close. Not sure I can get all the help I need from a forum but here are some of my questions: when I grind a body mold line down and remove some gelcoat do I seal that area before filling? Similar concerns when I cut and radius door and deck edges? What is the proper steps to take and in what order? New materials?? Epoxy primer good? Can it be used to build up? What type on fillers? Guess to sum it up I need to learn what materials I should be using, where and when? Any good up to date books or courses?
Thanks,
Mark

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:40 pm
Well, welcome to the madness. Yes, fiberglass is a brand new world if you've mostly worked in metal before.... In some ways much easier, but requires a lot of "thinking outside the box" when fitting, grafting, etc. First place you should go would be the Factory Five Forums, there's a bunch. You should see one specifically dedicated to your build. Sign up right away and start reading. I'm very familiar with their manufacturing process and know what you are starting with. And, yes the first thing you are talking about is what are called "mold flash lines." If you understand "how" these are created it will make sense what you need to do with them.... They are formed when multiple already molded pieces are put in a much larger mold and "bonded" together. This makes for a much larger piece which for overall body shape is good but from a "finish surface" is bad in those areas. What you run into is air voids, and bubbles in the resin that was used in the flash process. The normal way of handling this is taking a die grinder or Dremel tool and opening up these seams for filling and "fileting" out. I used to use epoxy resin to fill out those seams followed up by feathering out further with a good sanding filler like Rage, USC's Body Icing, etc. I've updated this method a little bit by trying (just give them a call) to keep "like" resins used by that manufacturer for the process, then still do the Bondo style cream out. Doors are going to be a little more tricky if you've never done them before with fiberglass. A paint stir stick wrapped with peel and stick sandpaper can be the "gap guide" around the door. Most manufacturer's build manuals will tell you about a point to start at and go from there establishing that gap. Biggest thing I learned early on with kit cars some 30+ years ago is that it is 3 times faster to take fiberglass "away" as it is to try and "add" it back.... so go slow and gradually gap your doors and panels in.
Books, current materials.... almost everything is out of date although some basics do apply. Go to www.fiberglast.com and do some reading in their learning center. And, again I can't stress this enough... this is a Factory Five unit so get on those forums, make yourself known, and just ask guys how they did what.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



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PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:08 am
Hey, thank you for the reply. Matter of fact I have been following FFR forums in fact just recently found their original forum. Just starting on this project and will continue to follow both forums. Like the fact that some on this forum have much experience under their belts and their work has stood the test of time!

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:25 am
This might be of some encouragement to you... this body is much rougher than what you will deal with...
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7938&hilit=Darrelk+fiberglass+kit+build
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



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PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:10 pm
Great work and your right that is encouraging! Makes mine look like a cake walk!

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:08 pm
See? Factory Five fiberglass products are probably within the top 5 or so of stuff that we typically see in kit cars now. There was a lot of great fiberglass craftsmen back in the 1960's, even 1970s.... then stuff went to Mexico, then to Brazil, and well, now we see Chinese, Malaysian, etc. Americans can do great fiberglass molding but the money just had to be there with upper line kits and more "serious" kit builders. Trust me, you'll have a lot of fun with it....
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

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