Info on some fiberglass parts

"original tooling" is well worth the extra money. Fit and overall quality is far superior in most cases. As far as fiberglass is concerned, none of it fits very well and requires a lot of extra work. Mustang Depot and Mustangs Plus sell Maier Racing fiberglass parts. Mustang Depot also sells Fiberglass Specialties. Currently we are fitting a Maiers Racing rear deck lid with the spoiler to our '65 coupe. I had to add ~ 1/4" to one side to fill the excess gap. We are also having to repair voids in the fiberglall, one as long as 6 inches. These companies are the better ones availble!! Our lower front valence (with provisons for the bumper) is from Fiberglass Specialties, we havn't started working with that piece yet.

truck....

just wondering what side you had to fill in the 1/4" with. My rear decklid is from MD, and I have a fairly big gap between my 1/4 panel and decklid on the driver's side.

allcarfan said:

truck....

just wondering what side you had to fill in the 1/4" with. My rear decklid is from MD, and I have a fairly big gap between my 1/4 panel and decklid on the driver's side.

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me and truck ( my dad ) also had to do the 1/4" on the driverside. ours is from Maier racing, so if you got yours from MD good chance yours is Maier also.

the "fix" although extra work, is fairly simple. Here is how we went about it. If it were steel it would be a B---

Supplies you will need:
1) Laminating resin
2) Fiberglass cloth
3) Fiberglass mat
4) Fiberglass Tape 1" wide don't have to have this, but it is neater
5) "kitty hair" filler
6) small paint roller (real small, 2-3")

1st, make a template of the side (end view) you are going to add fiberglass to. Use a piece of cardboard. Simply stand the deck lid on the end and draw it. Add about .5 to 1" excess on each side of the outline.

Using a good FLAT surface (use a board etc.) lay out the template (redraw it) and cover it with household wax paper. the wax paper will allow you to seperate the built up fiberglass from your pattern easily. An important note, be sure that the surface (against the wax paper) is the side of the piece you are going to make, is the side which will be bonded to the deck lid. this side will be very flat and mate fairly easy to the deck lid.
you will need to cut oversize the matt and cloth to your pattern

You will want to apply multiple layers alternating between cloth and matt over your pattern on the wax paper. I built up the following layers and I did not wait for the resin to cure. Put resin down first and between each layer

cloth
matt
cloth
matt

this should be very close to 1/4" in thickness, if you add more, fine, you can always grind some off to get your gaps right. the real trick here is to minimize air pockets (voids). You can do this by first being liberal with resin, run the roller over each layer thoroughly saturating the cloth and matt. after you have built this piece up, let it cure overnight.

Next day, pull up your part and trim with a grinder, sander etc. Be sure and leave it oversize, you'll size it later once it is attached to the deck lid

The approach i used to attach the new piece is as follows:

On the deck lid, you will have to grind the gelcoat off and get down to the actual figerglass. If you don't nothing will stick.
Wax paper down first, lay your piece on it with the flattest side up. Cut another piece of cloth slightly oversize lay it on your new piece and apply resin and be sure that the cloth is saturated with resin. I stood the deck lid on edge (straight up -as I was doing it by myself) and allowed the weight of the decklid to hold it in place while it cured. This "sandwiched" the new piece to the old piece. Best way would be to have some help and apply clamps, but as I said, I was working by my self. Just be sure if you used my method that the lid is perpenicular.

After this is curred overnight, breakout the grinder/sander and grind to shape.

your almost done.
To be sure the edge won't be prone to breaking off, I did the following:

Now, on the inside of the deck lid, grind down (carefully) to the actual fiberglass. The inside piece is very thin around the edge, try not to go thru the glass, but if you do, simply add some cloth. After grinding to the fiberglass, add resin , your grinding should go back to approximately where the trunk lid seal goes ~3/4" - 1" from the outside edge. this is where the fiberglass tape comes in. I used two layers of the fiberglass tape over this area, again working our any air bubbles. I left ~ 1/4" of the tape hanging over the edge to be later ground off. I followed the same approach on the top side, but used only 1 layer of tape.

Now sand this area with ~ 80 grit disk.
apply a THIN layer of the Kitty Hair (short strand versions work great) over your joint

sand and your done. Need to prep for primer surfacer

On the inside of the deck lid where the inner support has been glassed to the outer lid, it was really crappy along with the back edge where the two pieces meet. I simply lightly ground thru the gel coat and applied the fiberglass tape with resin. After curing, lightly sanded and lightly applied filler.

Hope this helps, may be more than you wanted. If your want any additional data, send an email.

Great writeup truck90278! I plan to do this to my "short" fiberglass shelby hood and was looking for a way to attach an extension without it breaking off.

fasttback said:

Great writeup truck90278! I plan to do this to my "short" fiberglass shelby hood and was looking for a way to attach an extension without it breaking off.

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this should work just as well for your hood. what I forgot to add to the earlier post was that all the items, with the exception of the tape is available at the local hardware store. Usually, you will have to find a plastic/fiberglass supplier for the tape. The advantage to it is it won't unravel on the edge like regular cloth does when you cut a larger sheet of cloth. alternate the layers for strength. From fiberglass suppliers, cloth and mat come in various weights (thickness), I would suggest going with the lighter material as it is easier to saturate with resin. Tap comes in various widths, for your piece, you may want to use some wider 2" or so. depends on how short you are. to test the joint, I hit the strip with a plastic hammer about 15 times with no ill effects. Feel free to contact me for any additional info.

I made a sheetmetal R model valance for my '66. If you are interested in directions, I can help. If you aren't equipped, or capable, I could probably fab one up. Just a thought since those 'glass ones are A) inferior material, B) don't fit and C) are expensive. Here is a link to how it was made if you're interested. All Metal R Model Front Valance
Grant