TOPIC SPLIT Was: 1970 s2 0453R Reassembly - Now: Fiberglass Repairs

[dakazman]

I also did a little digging into this a little more and found some interesting reading on The MSDS Sheets on this epoxy stating under personal protection to leave contaminated clothing at work.
Lol, how bad can it be. So far this product is a slight carcinogenic to lab rats .! No danger to humans.
Dakazman

[gideon]

Oh boy, I was ready to let this topic drop, but now I've just got to stir the pot a bit more.

Buzzer - what do you mean about epoxy hating tight bends?  I don't understand that.

Surfguitar - I'll add my vote of support for Jamestown Distributors.  That where I get my epoxy .  I'm sure you'll get good advice there.  But - I don't see any nails in any coffins, there are some pretty good reasons to prefer epoxy.

Dakazman - I'd say try to avoid getting any epoxy on your skin, wear gloves etc, but don't panic if you do - just wash it off.

BTW - this feels like a thread hijack. Should this discussion be moved to it's own thread?

[GavinT]

Dunno about the "hating tight bends" thing either.

In my experience the tight bends issue is related to the fact that the glass itself tends to be springy . . usually far to springy to go around an external 90º bend, for instance.

[buzzer]

On the tight bends and epoxy. Polyester is easier to work and allows you to lay it better into profiles. Epoxy doesn’t seem to have the same “wet” adhesion so it allows the glass to delaminate as it tries to move back to its original flat state. So epoxy is more difficult to work.  Easy on flat surfaces.  Hope that explains it better.

[dakazman]

This company has help in all my needs for several years, these are some of the answers to resins.
As an aircraft mechanic for airbus , Boeing and McDonald Douglass in all heavy jet maintenance my experience is to inspect glass panel , remove and replace. The glass shop does all the fabrication and repairs . So I would just like to add this site as a learning tool.

https://www.fibreglast.com/product/about-resin

Dakazman

[dakazman]

This is a great learning guide from the experts. I am not affiliated to this site in any way .
Maybe we can ask them to be a vendor?
Dakazman

https://www.fibreglast.com/product/fiberglass-repair-composite-repair/Learning_Center

[BDA]

That looks like a one-stop shop for all composite projects. It made me think about the story of John Britten building his amazing motorcycle (including wheels) with carbon fiber yarn (at least this documentary implies he only used yarn)! (https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/britten-backyard-visionary-1993). Would anybody know how one would use yarn?

[dakazman]

Very impressed BDA , amazing story.

Did some more research and found this link from John Bollinger on repairing fiberglass.

http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/lotuswest/00BI002.html

Dakazman

[surfguitar58]

I thought I would share my version of the straight-exhaust-through-the-trunk-space solution. Half a trunk/boot is better than none.

I bought a new trunk tub from rdent.com and cut out the space where the muffler goes through it with 2 inches of clearance. Next, I bent a piece of aluminum in a wood frame to the shape of the new trunk tunnel to make a mold and laid-up fiberglass (PVA mold release, black gelcoat and 3 layers (2 would have been plenty) of 1.5 oz chopped-strand-mat (CSM) in polyester resin) to make the tunnel panel.

After trimming the panel to fit the opening in the tub, I bonded it in place on the inside of the tub with a fillet of black Pro-Set thixotropic epoxy in keeping with the theory that epoxy sticks to polyester better than polyester, as discussed earlier in this thread. After the fillet set-up I ground a radius on the outside of the tub/tunnel joint and glassed that over with 2 layers of fiberglass cloth and West System epoxy.

The final step was bending up an aluminum heat shield to deflect some of the radiant heat from the muffler. Aluminum stand-offs (3/4 inch) create an air space between the heatshield and the tunnel. Stand-off screws have hi-temp threadlocker to prevent them from rattling loose. Still, I won't be hauling any chocolate in the boot. It's going to get pretty warm in there.

I still have to relocate the swirl pot the PO placed in the way of the tub (!), but at least I’ll have enough room for a small piece of luggage in case I want to take the wifey on an overnight somewhere.

[BDA]

Nicely done, Surf! Not at all like the chisel and file work I usually do!

[dakazman]

Hey surf ,
Great job , the work you did looks seem less, and well layed out . It should do everything you designed it to.
Btw...BDA probably does not use chisels.lol.
Dakazman

[BDA]

Ok, I don't use chisels on fiberglass! But on metal... 

[surfguitar58]

Actually, I confess to using a chisel a lot to fight back errant resin drips and globs of glass fibers. I won't even go into the monumental screw-up of my first over catalyzed gelcoat failure. The end result may not have been as easy as I apparently made it sound.