HELP!!!!! Need Measurement

Grant65 said:

Speaking of the work required to make fiberglass parts fit, does anyone have a link with some basic tips/tricks/etc for someone who has never worked with it before? I'm not planning on anything too drastic, but was considering a hood and front apron. I've read plenty about how they don't fit the same as steel parts, and that you have to be willing to work with them, but haven't heard any kind of examples of what needed to be done...

Grant

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It's not that complicated, it's just a PITA. Get a book or google some articles on making fiberglass parts, and most of the same concepts are what you use to rework them. In a nutshell, you have to cut a section out of a piece and put the halves back together to shorten it, or add material to lengthen it. Chop up a nose section, for example, until all of the key elements bolt up where you want them, then fill in the gaps where you had to cut them apart. You use a combination of fiberglass matting, resins, and filler to make it happen. You'll have low spots to fill, high spots to grind/sand down, and lots of smoothing to do to get the lines right.

My secret technique: take it to a body shop that knows how to do it. I always get my glass work done at a body shop that does hot rods or Corvettes -- they know how to work magic with crappy glass.

The sad reality is that the body kit market is so competitive that more and more corners get cut. This is due to the fact that 90% of consumers purchase on price first and foremost rather than quality. Most of these kits are made by laying the glass matting in a mold and wetting it out with polyester resin, then curing it at room temperature. The fiber/resin ratio is way off, and there is a lot of shrinkage during and after cure.

Some bold soul could come along and use high-quality glass, epoxy resin, vacuum bag the whole thing, cure it at elevated temperature, and produce a much lighter, stronger, dimensionally stable part. However, it would cost twice as much so nobody would buy it. This is coupled with the fact that the makers of the crappy stuff tell you their stuff is "premium quality" and the prevailing acceptance in the car world that aftermarket fiberglass products, by nature, require a lot of rework.

Am I bitter?