Duplicating a fiberglass body?

[oktr6r]

Not exactly a car, but I have an old Velorex sidecar sitting in my storage that I'd like to try making a copy of. The body is fiberglass. Somehow, I keep seeing a cloned body used to make a 4 wheel version, complete with an engine.

Any tips or hints on a good way to make a copy of a fiberglass body, without damaging the original?

Thanks,

[jim zag]

You have to make a mold. Lots of good books out there. Keith Noakes has a good one I bought from Motorbooks International. If you read enough about it you can make your own parts. I made some inner fender molds for my Cobra kit car and then made my own inner fenders. Better than the ones that came with kit.

[Flatman]

Try a seach for the thread on making a mould for a funny car body. It was step by step and very informative. The body he moulded was a Challenger, if I remember correctly.

Flatman

[Unkl Ian]

Should be basic Fiberglass mold making.

If the original is particularly fragile,I'd consider making a rubber mold,
backed up with a 'Glas Mother Mold.

The upside is it will be easier to get the original part out of the mold,
less chance of damaging it.The down side is it's more work to make,
and probably more expensive.If you are only doing a couple,you could
make the mother Molds from Plaster,reinforced with burlap.Plaster should be less expensive than resin.

Check the Smooth-On site for mold making info.

[klemmy]

first off, i'd pick up a copy of Tex Smith's How to build fiberglass hot rods and Forbes Aird wrote another excellent book on fiberglass. those two books should help out great in making a mold off the original and on fiberglass in general.
i think the most important thing is to have a good release agent if you're going to pull directly off the original. Tex smith recommends a liberal coating of quality carnuba wax applied to the original. I've heard PAM being used, but what my brother is doing for his lawn tractor speedster is using aluminum foil to cover up the body mold and then laying fiberglass over that. he apparently saw it on some show on Spike or discovery, they did it off a mold for some fender flares for a mustang and it worked out on there. hope this helps and i'd love to see this idea of yours become a reality.

[jimdillon]

I used to make a fair amount of molds. I tried a number of release agents and techniques but found PVA (poly vinyl alcohol) the normal release agent to work best, use a couple of coats and a good coat of wax in addition works pretty well. Also sometimes I would glass in a couple of air fittings (with the opening covered with small piece of tape) and pop the part out of the mold with a bit of air, especially with molds that have a tight radius or corners. If your part is fragile this method may keep you from distorting the original when trying to separate the mold. Make a good mold with your first coat of laminating gelcoat just brushed in the mold (it will come out smooth) and your part will require less work to fill in the small voids. In your finish part you can use finish gel and get a beautiful part. Just buy your gelcoats in small quantities and it wont eat your wallet too much. Good luck-Jim

[carbon guy]

I would call Joel over at Applied Vehicle Technology, he sells everything you will need and small quantities. I get alot of my carbon fiber and fiberglass stuff from him, great guy and with lots of kow how. If your part is in good shape, I would use mold release paste wax, wax the dog snott out of it (about 8 to 10 coats) then whipe on PVA, or you can spray on. Then brush on your tooling gel coat, just covering, not too thick. Let it kick, come back with another a little thicker, and then start applying your glass, thin stuff first to get around tight corners. Then start building it up thicker. Do not do too many plys at a time, maybe two or three, you will start to build up heat and may warp on you. Just take you time and make shur you get all your air out of the lay up with your roller and brush.Easy, I've been doing composites for 13 years in racing. If you need any more help let me know.

[blackjack]

Making a car out of a Velorex sidecar? I think Velorex beat you to it ;-)

[storm king]

Well, I've got 30+ years in the advanced composite industry; aerospace in Tulsa, actually. Unfortunatly for you I moved my compnay to Bowling Green last year!
Here's what I'd do...I'd go down to Indepenedent Material on Owasso street near downtown tulsa, it's just west of Peoria, first left if you are traveling north on Peoria as you go under 244. get a bag or two of Ultracal 30 Gypsum and a bale of hemp. That will make a quick mold for you. You can simply mix some machine oil with Vaseline to use as a release agent, and it won't harm the original.
Anyway; there's several guys around town who can give you a hand if you're interested, pm me. Joel Walsworth at Applied Vehicle Tech, like someone mentioned here already; is a great guy, always ready to help, and he sells small quantities of materials most folks only want to sell in bulk. I can advise on some good material choices form Joel as well. It just depends on if you want a good, stable high quality result, or something that turns out like a catalog bought piece of crap fiberglass most companies sell.

[storm king]

Incidently, anybody see that old sidehack some guys old lady built into a four wheeler for him as a surprise b'day gift, oh, heck, 12/15 years ago? It had a 45 inch Hardly Ableson mounted on the left side. Very cool ride!

[FrankBoss]

I bought PVA at Hobby Lobby in Norman... I bet they have it in Tulsa

Best of luck
FrankBoss

www.PintoWorks.com

[butch27]

Can I use the gypsum and hemp instead of glass cloth and resin which cost me a fortune for a race car seat mold?

[storm king]

Yeah, You can use it to build the mold as long as you don't need a pretty unpainted finish on the part. You can still have a real smooth part; but the plaster puts a cloudy finish on the part which you'll sand off if you intend to paint the 'glass or carbon part. There is also a way to makje a hybrid mold ( or more correctly, tool ) which uses 'hydrophobic resin and surface coat (which cures in the presence of water) back up by gypsum and hemp. So the tool surface is epoxy and really slick and durable, but the tool back up structure is the gypsum and hemp. As you might imagine, it's a pretty hefty tool. But it is a fast build and relatively cheap.