61 to 66 F100 parts ..... hoods, bumpers, tailgate outer skins, etc US Body Parts now wants $700 plus $300 shipping for a hood with full pay and wait a year Not looking to make a profit or go in business ... a few sets for me and a few close Friends No car show stuff, can have flaws... just needs to be light Ricky.
Its an art... some of it is easy, but other parts difficult. This book is not a bad place to start the learning journey: https://www.amazon.com.au/Fabricate...ocphy=9071764&hvtargid=pla-525204488586&psc=1 Cheers, Harv
And do a few basic, simple practice runs first, that don't have to be useful - just to get a feel for how the process works. Usually you start out making the molds, but the molds are the parts where you have to do the best work, as any mistake there will be mirrored in all the products made in that mold. Taking shortcuts may be tempting the first time, but once you realize you need to put the same amount of work into fixing every single product made in that mold as you could have done to make a better mold to begin with it makes much more sense to make GOOD molds. Since the molds have to be more stable than the products they will always be the most expensive thing to make, might as well do them right and they'll last a very long time.
You're going to have over $1,000 in just doing one piece getting set up to do fiberglass of that size. Go price materials and tooling first. I probably have three hundred bucks just in the small nose for my lakester and it was done off a basic foam Splash disposable form
Have you priced Resin lately? Our resin costs have gone up 40% over the last year. I doubt you are going to be saving much money if any when all is said and done if that is your goal.
Thanks guys !! I have some 4'x8' sheets of aluminium in various thickness, perhaps I could hammer out a left and right side hood and hinge them together ... just kidding.... lol Ricky.
My neighbor has documented building the hood, fenders, doors, and trunk lid on his YouTube blog "Throttle Stop Garage". He made the molds from fiberglass but took the body parts to the next level by making them in carbon fiber. Lots of other interesting stuff besides.
I made a fiberglass scoop/ air filter housing for my '28 Tudor. It wasn't easy. The buck (in your case, your original parts) has to be perfect. Pics & description on page 7-8 of my build thread: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/introducing-my-fuel-coupe-styled-tudor.132127/page-7
Hello, The key question is, how skilled are you and do you have the skills to do fiberglass pop up/out work. We tried to make some small fiberglass hand guns for faster body surfing. They were about the size of the nose of an old mid 60s surfboard, with a concave bottom for a hydro hull effect once on the wall of the wave. Holding out the hand gun nose cone and catching the wave is easily done. The advantage was going to the next step in bringing the hand gun/nose shape under the chest area for a smooth planning surface to go across the wave. In essence, a platform to ride on other smooth surfaces, than just the body surfing technique to go across the wave face. We had a small mold made and the first one looked ok, but it was the finishing technique for all fiberglass lay ups that was the killer. Shreds of fiberglass/resin filled the air while sanding the shape and edges. Yes, face masks were used and better ones are available today. But, the airborne glass/shredding pieces and finite specks of sanded/shredded fiberglass gets in everything including hair, clothes, shoes, the garage, and whatever else is laying around. It is not a pretty picture. Your health deteriorates fast. Jnaki The other main thing is that the mixture for the hand laying cloth surface has to be mixed with resin and MEK/catalyst to fire up the resin for laying the cloth on the smooth surface. That in itself is a bad sign as MEK is toxic and can cause damage to the humans using it. For us, the cost of our health and itching during our covered-up sanding was not worth the effort and the future million bucks for a fancy product we made by ourselves. Ha! It was just not worth the work. Finally, the cost of your parts are not bad considering you don’t get affected other than in your pocket book. But, the result is the factories are prepped for production, the workers are all safely covered up and you don’t have to do anything except send them a check or pay the invoice. If the place is not far away, or even if it is far away, tie the long drive with a scenic location road trip vacation. Or just pay the shipping insurance costs and have what you actually want. The cost is not more important than your health. There are always metal parts from dealers and possible reproductions. YRMV https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...lastic-from-my-headers.1260546/#post-14440829
I took a glass 40,s dash and stretched it and put it in a 97 Chevy pickup. It required making splashes off the dash and them glassing them in.
It's all about how good the mold is, and for large parts the molds need to be extremely well supported so there's zero flexing. Small parts are a bunch easier to not only build molds for, but to build good parts for. I personally dislike working with fiberglass, and am reminded why every time I have a chance to do it again. It's itchy, smelly, and just a PITA to work with.
A buddy of mine made raised roofs for semi truck cabs. It's a big job and very messy. However, he had worked in fiberglass so long he made it look easy, but it isn't fast. I watched him make some cycle fenders for a dune buggy he was building. It takes time and patience to get the cloth to lay down with no air bubbles. For hoods you will also have to figure out some internal bracing as the glass will be flexible. I'm not saying you can't do it, but there will be a learning curve.
I made my roadster fiberglas trans.tunnel. Local boat-hull shop guided me thru the process and sold me products from their inventory. Made the mold from florist foam , shaped and covered it with sheetrock compound , sanded smooth and put on multiple layers of primer. Waxed it and laid the 'glas over it ... Not cheap , and a steep learning curve ,but I did learn a bunch....and have since made a few more parts/ projects from what I learned
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