34 Ford Fiberglass Body Progress

[CharlieLed]

Here is the first couple of pieces that I have laid up from the 34 Ford molds that I bought recently. I was rather pleasantly surprised when I saw that ALL the molds have been cast directly from a stock 34 3W. Since I started this venture I have been paying closer attention to some of the better known bodies out there and from what I have seen they really cut corners on their bodies. For instance, I haven't seen any that have original door molds like this one...and after I laid up this inner door I see why. Getting the glass to lay in all the nooks and crannies in the stock inner door mold was a challenge. I think it's worth it though because now I have a door that looks like an original door instead of some flat panel. I haven't bonded the inner and outer door together yet because I need to design the inner supports for the hinges, latch, and window mechanism...

[CharlieLed]

Outer door skin still in the mold...

[CharlieLed]

Out of the mold...

[CharlieLed]

Pieced together...

[CharlieLed]

Last pic...

[Rocky]

WOW! Impressive. Are you gonna go for manual or power windows? Hidden hinge packages?

[lulabelle]

NICE!What do you use to adhere them?

[CharlieLed]

My main concern with the doors is the inner structural support for the hinges and the door latch. Late model F-Body cars (Camaro and Firebird) have fiberglass doors and they use a metal plate behind both the hinges and the latch. These two plates are connected across the inner door by a length of tubing to give the door support. My plan is to fabricate a wide sheet metal bar that will be laminated to the inside of the door skin and welded on each end to a stiff metal plate that will be used as a mounting for the hinges and latch. The inside of the inner door panel will have structural supports added as well so that the window mechanism (either power or manual) can be mounted.
These first panel layups are just to give me an idea of how all the parts will fit together...

[Tman]

I dig the mustard GELCOAT! I will admit, I am eyeing your progress and would be interested in a body down the road...............

[CharlieLed]

[ QUOTE ]
NICE!What do you use to adhere them?

[/ QUOTE ]
Industrial bonding epoxy, the same stuff that the car manufacturers use to bond pickup truck beds together. The stuff is bulletproof. Somone on the HAMB posted a procedure where he bonded a roof mounting ledge onto I believe a Model A pickup so that he could chop the top and still use the stock roof panel mounting...he used the same adhesive instead of welding.

[choprods]

Charlie-what would a pair of three window doors run[left in two peices for me to assemble later].are they all chopped or can they be stock too?

[Tuck]

thats looking GOOD.

are you gonna sell the bodies?

are you doing this outta your garage?

I just got done with a sculpture useing fiberglass molds and plugs and Partal wax rules!

tuck

[bustingear]

Did you buy the mold for the entire car? Also out of curosity how much were the molds?

[34Fordtk]

Man that door looks GREAT!! I think the inner looks perfect,if you did not say it was glass it would be HARD to tell from a pic.Cant wait till you get one complete http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif I guess the first one is yellow????

[hiboy32]

I am incredably impressed with your progress. Those parts look great. It is cool to build your own 3-window body. Sign me up. What would it take ta have lay up the glass and send me the pieces ta put tagether?

[CharlieLed]

Yes, I have the molds for the complete body...er, that is, everything except the hood.
This is a stock body, the roof is not chopped...however I do have a set of chopped door molds but until I can modify the body mold they don't do much good.
I just bought a set of cherry original 34 hood sides though and I am thinking about casting a mold where I can build carbon fiber hoods...these would be strong, lightweight, and wouldn't be susceptible to heat damage at all.
The reason the inner door is black and the outer is yellow is because I did the inner one first and when I got around to the outer, the black gelcoat was used up. The panels get painted anyway so the gelcoat color doesn't really matter.

[mr.midnite]

that inner looks like a stamping, right down to the wrinkles in the corners. And the reflection in the outer shows a very straight piece. Very nice indeed!!!

[Mike Paul]

Looks great Charlie!!! I was curious how you were coming with those molds. Looks like the guy that had them before you did a first rate job of building them. Can't wait to see the body!!...Mike

[CharlieLed]

Yeah, the molds are 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick...just what you need to hold the shape and absorb the heat without distorting. I did find one "problem" with the passenger inner door mold, the original part must have had a ding in the upper edge because the part that I made is bowed out in one section about 1/2 inch. No problem though, that's the section just below the window opening that will get the window track supports added so I'll just straighten it out with the bracing...

[yorgatron]

Charlie;not to hijack your thread,but are you still looking for sleeves for your LS1? www.dartonsleeves.com (http://www.dartonsleeves.com)

[choprods]

Charlei-I think the fact your mold is not chopped is kind of a plus......it would give a guy an old hot rod l ook /stock roof and could channel it or even other ideas.......Kenny

[CharlieLed]

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Charlie;not to hijack your thread,but are you still looking for sleeves for your LS1? www.dartonsleeves.com (http://www.dartonsleeves.com)

[/ QUOTE ]
George, these guys are right down here near SD...specialize in sleeves that allow you to make a 454 ci motor out of an LS1 block. Big bucks. Thanks for the heads up...

[CharlieLed]

[ QUOTE ]
Charlei-I think the fact your mold is not chopped is kind of a plus......it would give a guy an old hot rod l ook /stock roof and could channel it or even other ideas.......Kenny

[/ QUOTE ]
Here's a pic of the finished car that the guy who built the molds took...the windshield looks a little strange without the chrome trim and the grille insert is a little plain but it does give you an idea of what the stock body looks like. So many are chopped that you forget what a stock one looks like sometimes...

[choprods]

Isn't that because he did a glue in and removed the whole frame leaving it too tall.....

[CharlieLed]

[ QUOTE ]
Isn't that because he did a glue in and removed the whole frame leaving it too tall.....

[/ QUOTE ]
Must have been...I know that with a frame around the windshield, the actual glass area is much smaller. I am looking at various vendors now who build aluminum winshield frames for 34's, I think that with a polished/chrome frame that the appearance of the car will be enhanced measurably over this pic...

[thirtytwo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Isn't that because he did a glue in and removed the whole frame leaving it too tall.....

[/ QUOTE ]
Must have been...I know that with a frame around the windshield, the actual glass area is much smaller. I am looking at various vendors now who build aluminum winshield frames for 34's, I think that with a polished/chrome frame that the appearance of the car will be enhanced measurably over this pic...

[/ QUOTE ] ...........if it hinged it would be even better!

[raaf]

charlie,

that looks incredible. you kick out some great stuff from that shop of yours...

-- raaf