Fiberglass with own hands

Not everyone from the tuning enthusiasts can afford to order original elements of the interior or a body kit in a specialized firm. But this is not always and necessarily - the car can be made unique by mastering the technology of manufacturing various parts from fiberglass.

Fiberglass with its own hands is made of polyester resin, which is applied to the mold before polymerization and reinforced with glass fiber or woven cloth woven from it.

Naturally, the masters of garage tuning should not try to compete with professionals from companies specializing in this. But the manufacture of parts from fiberglass of small size, such as car skirts or interior details, is beyond the power of many. It is best to start with small minor details of simple outlines, which, with subsequent installation, do not require high accuracy of mating. Subsequently, the acquired experience will make it possible to undertake the production of more complex elements.

The most laborious moment is the manufacture of a pig. Its shape will exactly repeat the future part of the interior or cladding, so from the very beginning you need to take care of the symmetry, the cleanliness of surfaces and the correctness of each line.

It is important to make the right choice of material for the blank. Large parts with a large radius of curvatures, for example, bumpers, it is desirable to make on a foam base, which can then not be removed. Smaller parts are sometimes made on a plasticine or clay blank. Often used wood, and if the primary processing of wood blanks seems difficult, then their fine grinding with sandpaper is not difficult.

It should be decided at the same stage, which way will be removed the product. If the shape of the part allows, you can simply remove it from the blank. Sometimes you can cut or cut the fiberglass with your own hands and separate the halves. In any case, to separate the plastic from the blob, it must be lubricated before waxing with any waxy substances.

Epoxy or polyester resin used for gluing a product from fiberglass, plastic becomes only after it is added to the hardener. The components are mixed according to the instructions.

Pre-fiberglass with their own hands is calcined on an open fire or a hot electric plate. After the heated fabric ceases to smoke, it is necessary to stop burning: now paraffin and other protective substances have evaporated and nothing prevents the resin from filling the space between the threads.

Correctly made resin finally hardens in about a couple of days. After the crust ceases to stick to the fingers, it can be separated from the pig. When the resulting part is woven, the outer surface will turn out to be non-smooth, therefore additional mechanical processing is required. Fiberglass with their own hands can easily be processed with sandpaper, cut with a knife or drill.

When it is necessary to obtain fiberglass parts with particular strength, the mold with impregnated glass fiber cloth is vacuumed for the duration of the polymerization: it is placed in a plastic elastic bag, from which air is evacuated. Under the influence of the atmospheric pressure of the resin, the layers of the glass cloth are densified and due to this the density of the obtained materials is reached. Thus, fiberglass, made by hand, becomes stronger and will last much longer.

While working with an exclusive sample, the mold is cut out of foam, which is pre-glued to the car. Naturally, the shape is not recovered after polymerization of the resin.