Mounting fiberglass panels to car using rivets and epoxy

Anything goes in the world of fiberglass and plastic



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PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 5:53 pm
So i am mounting a 6 pc fiberglass kit to my car, my plan is to use rivnuts with #8 countersunk screws to hold it in place and then use epoxy and http://www.westsystem.com/ss/406-colloidal-silica to bond it to the metal

If this procedure is correct about how far on the fiberglass from the metal do i want to epoxy it, i was thinking maybe a quarter inch of epoxy on the metal and the same amount on the fiberglass

As well how thick of a layer do i want to use

The panels will be attached to the door, fenders and quarter panel and i am assuming i would want to put a bit more on the door panel due to the stress from open and close

This is a DD

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:23 pm
It is not that your procedure is correct or incorrect but what does the manufacturer of the kit recommend? Every kit car or styling kit that I have ever built I based my mounting on what I saw the kit manufacturer do in a build manual, video, what past customers had done, or looked at builds in progress at the manufacturers shop. That information is especially critical for a car that is going to be a daily driver like this. I have had some door panel overlays where the entire panel was slathered in epoxy for bonding. On my Superstepside truck my entire roof panel was bonded to metal using Fusor with no other type of hardware. On the Finale I built it was mostly mechanical fastening using original hardware mount points with almost no real panel bonding.
There is a lot of variables when mounting kits like these.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:09 am
Well the kit was sold on ebay and i cant find the manufacturer any longer so i have to figure it out myself and since it is a DD i am collecting information before doing it

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:45 am
Okay, if that's what you've got to work with.... I'll need some pictures of the panels and if you can dig it up.... a picture of the panels mounted on a car i.e. a finished car.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 6:34 am
Get yourself some Fusor Panel Adhesive which is specifically designed for what you're doing. They offer various products but will have what you need.

I used Fusor T-111 years ago to bond fiberglass to my Mustang Fastback, it set up like a weld. I think the product number has changed but if you Google Fusor products you can find something similar.



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PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:45 pm
these are some that i found
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:46 pm
2 more
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 10:23 pm
Okay, then. These panels are large enough I'd definitely would be using an epoxy like West because you need a lot of "open" time before the stuff starts kicking off. This is very much like the Finale kit I did on a Fiero. Lots and lots of alignment issues and checks. I would guess ( we don't have instructions, right?) that starting with those lower rockers would be the place to go. If you are going to rivet to hold stuff in place while the epoxy kicks off just make sure they are not going to be visible rivets or if they are in visible places I would drill them out when done and fill and surface with the epoxy. From there I would dry align the rest of the major body panels, hell, duct tape them in place if you have to so that you can see if you have to trim or add fiberglass to your edges. If you trim, leaves things a little "tight" for clearances as you can fine tune those gaps with sandpaper wrapped around a paint stir stick later. It takes 2 to 3 times the man hours to put back profile edges if you've trimmed too much. As for your original thoughts on that quarter of an inch of epoxy.... no way. Where there is any contact between these panels and the metal I think you should have 100% contact or they are just going to pop off later with road vibration. When bonding to metal get that surface to a 40 to 80 grit scratch at least with a DA.
This might be of some help....
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7938&p=48940&hilit=Darrelk+fiberglass+kit+build#p48940
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 2:34 am
no instructions :)

with the quarter inch comment, i was talking about the top part of the quarter panel area where i was wondering how much epoxy should be on the fiberglass and how much on the metal

for the rivets they are threaded and then i am using countersunk screws so they will be flat

with the epoxy am i putting it on the outside or the inside of the fiberglass panels to mold it to the metal

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:41 pm
Okay, got it. So your countersunk screws will just be showing and not filled over right? I would also be inclined to spread that epoxy out some more.....might get some "hard" lines that would require more fill work to feather.
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