hey there i want to customise my interior myself. is fiberglass ok to work with? can anyone teach me how to work fiber glass? mainly for kickpanels

send dasdubber a u2u or check out the threads on his cars for inspiration and hints on interior and in particular speaker pods and kick panels etc.

Hi,
I book marked a link at home, I'll put it up here later tonight. It's from Das' thread that points to caraudioaustralia and the link is from there. Great read on making fibreglass kickpanels with MDF speaker rings and stuff. I've got all the glass 'n' crap, just need to get motivated.

Having problems editing...on caraudioaustralia.com there is a technical section, inside is a fibreglass topic. The link I mentioned is broken but the 12Volt.com one is good.

Ctefeh

[ Edited on 15/2/2007 by ctefeh ]

Hi guys,

Here is the link to the pics of how I made my f/g kick panels (without having to troll through pages of text on forums):
http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/album221 

Definitely check out the fabrication/installation section on caraudioaustralia as they have heaps of links and useful tips which can speed up the learning process. It is not really that hard, just messy and time consuming. That is why a pair of custom kick panels (like the ones I made) would cost around $800+ if they were made by a car audio shop (yes a reputable shop gave me that estimate after seeing the finished product).

If you are carpeting over them (or even vinyl) instead of paint, it will save you hours and hours in paint prep as every little pin hole has to be filled before paint goes on.

Good luck - shoot me a U2U if you have any specific questions - unfortunatley I don't have the time to help in person but I'm happy to help with advice/questions etc.



[ Edited on 18-2-2007 by Dasdubber ]

It is best to try and find someone who can show you. My mate made Darth Vaders suit for star wars, so I took one of my rear gaurds off and we made a mould of it! The thing that takes a while to perfect is the timing. The good thing is you can just keep adding to it if you make a mistake..
I use two release agents..rub on wax and then spray on blue pva, which is water based so you can use water to break the mould. My mate also uses clay to make all the returns/edges or to fill in any holes such as rear tail lights. For securing the item you are making or moulding, they use plaster bandage and plaster it to a temporary frame which they plaster to the table. It hold it perfectly still as they work, and just snaps off when finished as the bangage is brittle.

Good luck,
Matt

Regardless of what you do when fibreglassing make sure that you have one of those little grooved rollers to get the air out of the material that you are laying. To not roll your work is to not maximise strength.

thank you heeps for your help guys... after checking out the sites and all i think i have a good understanding now.one thing though where can i get the products at?

Learner,
I just let my fingers do the walking in the Yellow Pages, but go to a dedicated fibreglass place, not bunnings or some other hardware store.
The correct resin and mat type/amount are the bulk of the expense. MKP (hardener), roller and some mixing cups were pub change.
Also you need to stock up on Acetone and get some crap paint brushes for "stippling" and laying on the resin/hardener, which bunnings is good for.

And don't forget a proper face mask/filter!


Ctefeh