6 replies to this topic

[siroller]

hey mea. first up i had better show you all what i am hoping to fibreglass. the side and rear panels in my vl's cargo area (its a s/w)





now its 23 year old chipboard with a vinyl covering and ofcourse it is pretty brittle. seeing as it is moulded my couple of years of contemplating the issue has turned up glassing up some new ones as the only option (feel free to throw me a bone with any ideas i may have missed.)

the originals are in pretty good condition so i have a good guide. my issue having never glassed anything before is where to start?? most people set up an mdf base, some rings, then stretch matting over it and start laying on the glass mixture.

ith my situation i am guessing i will have to make a mould from the originals and then attach matting to the mould. what do i use to make a mould?
what do i lay over the panels when making the mould so it doesn't bond? vaso? alfoil (i just saw in one tech thread they used alfoil) ?

so my thoughts are...
1 - take off the panels, tape on some alfoil and then use expander foam to create a mould.
2.- seperate mould from original, lay down more alfoil on the mould and lay matting over that then start the glassing process with matting, glass and spray filler.

i am guessing any type of lubricant will contaminate the surface and stop the bonding of matting and glass? finally if i just lay the matting over the mould would it be fine or does it need to be stretched? if i stretch will the weight of the glass force the matting around the curves? thanks guys for any help :/ just a bit lost at where to start or the best way to attack the problem.

siroller 9

[Banned.ScrewYouTeam.inc]

so you just want to make replacement side panels? nothing else integrated into them? just flat panels?

I'd just cover the originals with carpet, and be done with it, possibly reinforce the backs with something, but trying to make large flat, straight panels entirely out of fibreglass may not go very well.

[shiny_car]

Yeah, are you making a subbox into each side, or just rebuilding the side trims?

[Drifte.au]

If you attempting to add some subs in there, rip out the old trims and use them as templates on fresh 18mm mdf so you have a 'glassable' surface/baffle.

Then rip out everything, masking tape it up, spray glue, aluminium foil the glassing area. Then lube it up and lay some matting and resin don't forget the dropsheets.

Pull out your new dry mold off the foil, lay more layers, trim up edges, then attach your fresh mdf front panel.

That's pretty much it, its really not too hard but can be messy.

I can expand later as I've typed this whole post on my phone while waiting for my girlfriend to try on clothes at chadstone

[siroller]

lol, nah no subs, i am still rocking the tape deck and some cheap 4"s.

just trying to fix up the sides. as they are starting to get bashed in and mine are the best nick ones i have come across. it is largely a flat surface but it is curved around the rear, the top and the wheel well. so a flat piece of mdf carpeted is out. reinforcing another set is something i hadn't considered. being a chipboard base though i'm not sure how much i could reinforce it without adding excess weight or bulk? call me picky but i still want a decent fit / appearance and carpet starts to look a bit tacky and worn v quick.

thoughts on reinforcing some spares if i can get a hold of them? and how would i do that? add some fibreglass around the points where it is secured and wherever it is bashed in? (usually around the grille area on the back.)

[KGB]

I'd paint the back with resin to reinforce it and maybe re-cover the front in vinyl or carpet.

[Captain Kermit]

ugh, these things are the worst. Of course it's a station wagon, there's going to be things in the back sliding around the joint, and Holden puts chipboard crap on the sides.

I'd be doing your best to strengthen the ones you have up and re-cover them, although I'll be buggered how you're supposed to remove them in one piece. I think you need to remove the rear seat belt reels. My VH was a nightmare, in the end I just went with bare metal. It was one of those things that I was going to get around to one day but never did.

There's a bloke on these forums, "Wagonz", had a VB wagon and attached 12 or 18mm MDF to the chipboard and carpeted it. Threw some 6x9's in, looked pretty good. If you're on SC I think he had a build thread over there, but his name on SC is VBK.