Gelcoat, fiberglass, HELP!

[T!mmy]

Alright I know we've talked about this several times but I'm ready to do it. So here's my question...I want to have the shiny, hard dash and I've been told I ca fiberglass or gelcoat it. As fiberglass would be harder know it would work. One thing I've got to keep in mind is I'm going to make a custom place for a screen mounted in the dash, relocate all the lil buttons, etc etc. Really custom. I'm not going to just leave the dash like it is. So I'm thinking this kind of rules out gelcoating. So it's now to fiberglass. What I want to do is start with the standard dash. Wrap it in aluminum foil (so hopefully I can just pull it right off). Then from what I've been told I can jsut mix the resin and hardener and pour it over the dash, let it dry and pour some more. But if that won't work I guess I'll have to cut the matte and put it on the dash and then take a paintbrush and 'paint' the resin on. Question: do you have to cut strips or could you take like a strip long as the dash and about 6 inches wide?
then after I get the dash glassed I TRY to pull it apart from the oem dash and then I have to do whatever custom design and molding for the screen and then I have to do some mad sanding on it so that I can get all the little fibers in me actually I'm going to go ahead and stop here because FIRST I want to get the dash glassed and then I'll come back for more info.

If all this looks correct or if you have any suggestions on different ideas...please post. I could use all the help I can get. During my project I will take pictures and write tutorials and what not. Hopefully the weather will let me do it sooon. What are fiberglassing temperatures for best results?

Thanks in advance

[T!mmy]

[lkailburn]

how are you going to attach your custom dash to your car once your done making it all phat..lol.. did you think about that first? i'm talking about the back side of your current dash, how it clips on screws on etc, how will your custom dash do this

[T!mmy]

Originally Posted by lkailburn

how are you going to attach your custom dash to your car once your done making it all phat..lol.. did you think about that first? i'm talking about the back side of your current dash, how it clips on screws on etc, how will your custom dash do this

true maybe I should use the original dash with glass over it

thanks

[lkailburn]

ya, didn't mean to burst your bubble, it would be sweet to come out with two dashes in the end, that way you can bring it back to stock when you want. but i just don't know how you would be able to attach your new glass dash. it could be possible. let me know if you think of a way

[eckoman_pdx]

There's a guy that used to come in here named Zippeay that could answer all your questions, but I haven't seen him in here in forever (I think that's how his name is spelled. I'll look it up and if I am wrong I'll correct it tomarrow). Maybe you could send him a pm and see if he gets it, or do the "send email" option. I'd think he'd get an email. Anyways, that's all I can think of, sorry I can't help more.

[gotrice95civic]

if i glassed over my dash.. would it stick to the vinyl?

[lkailburn]

it would stay to an extant. but i know when people are trying to get glass to 'stick' to plastics, they will drill holes in the plastic so the resin actually drips down throught the hole a little.. kinda like haveing a tab sticking into the hole.

[lxndr]

OK T!mmy, youre all messed up and I'm going to try to set you straight so you don't mess up your car.

First thing, get a book on how to use and mold fiberglass! This way you have an understanding of what fiberglass is capable of.

You can use fiberglass at most any temperature since a fiberglass bond is actually a chemical reaction and it will generate it's own heat (unlike paint where the solvents in the paint need to evaporate)

Second, do you want a complete custom dash or do you just need modify yours to allow more room for components?

You can't just cover your dash with resin and aluminum foil to make a mold, this just won't work. The resin mold will be too brittle and will probably crack and crumble as you try to remove it from your dash or try to use it as a mold. The aluminum foil will leave so many groves and crevices in the mold that you will spend more time smoothing out the mold than you will actually constructing the new dash!

The best technique for making a mold of your current dash is determined by the ammount of modification you are planning to do. You may end up building a custom dash from scratch!

Here are a few ideas:

To make a mold of your current dash you can do one of several things. You can pull it out and do all of the cutting and shaping that you want. Sometimes I use chicken wire and bondo, wadded up newspaper and plaster, or foam and a sanding disc to sculpt new shapes. When you get it looking the way you want spray it with mold release or paint it with latex paint and spray it with wd-40 (this will allow your mold to be pulled off of your dash easily). Then you will need to make a wooden frame that closely matches the contours of your dash (this will give your mold strength). Start covering the dash with fiberglass and after you get a couple of layers on place the wooden frame onto it and add a couple more layers of fiberglass. When it is ready remove the mold from the dash and you should have a workable mold. Then spray the mold with mold release and start making your dash the same way you made the mold (without the wooden frame).

You can also make a mold by covering the dash with plaster and chicken wire with a wooden frame. this is a little easier than the fiberglass mold but is not as strong. The benefit of this is that you can make changes to the mold if you need to.

You can also create a fully custom dash by using fleece, Bendable plywood, fiberglass and bondo. You can pick up bendable plywood at most lumber supply houses (not at Home Depot). Fleece you can get at any fabric store, and I'm sure you can find some Bondo. You will be building this dash in your car, so remove the interior, unless you want it covered in resin and sanding dust!

Use the bendable plywood to construct long curved pieces or convex gauge clusters. Get creative! You can cut and use it just like normal wood but you can bent it to almost any curve. Once you have the wood pieces in place, you can then lay on some fleece. Staple it to your wooden frame and pull it tight where you want it, basically it just fills in between the wooden structures. Soak the fleece with fiberglass resin, then fill in with bondo or fiberglass filler. You can then paint it or take it to an upholstery shop and have it covered (if you plan take it to an upholstery shop talk with an upholsterer before you start decause they might have some special needs on order to cover it)

Creating a custom dash is not easy if you have not used fiberglass before, so do some trial and error before you start in on the dash. Also do some drawings of how you want it to look and think about things like heater/defrost vents, steering column, ighition, and how the rest of the interior trim will fit up against your custom dash. Become familiar with the materials that you will be using, get some books and maybe see if you can talk to someone at a local boat build/repair shop.

There are still other ways to achieve what you are asking for, but these methods will be the easiest for a beginner.

I am a professional upholsterer and have built many custom interiors, so if you need help, just ask.

By the way, you can make just about anything from speaker boxes to body kits using these techniques.

[eckoman_pdx]

OKAY PEOPLE.....LISTEN UP...

CHECK THE THREAD DATES.

This thread was dead when a certain someone brought it back, dead for over 5 months, dead sicne 11-29-03. Check the thread dates and try not to post in dead threads. Start a new thread if you must. Everyone else too, Check thread dates.

[lkailburn]

.. idk.. doesn't it save bandwidth?

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by lkailburn

.. idk.. doesn't it save bandwidth?

It's commen forum policy. Ask the mods, like KrNxRaCer00 or ask another respected member like Whtteg. It's commen forum Policy to leave dead threads dead...so as I said, check the thread dates. I just wanted to point that out

[lkailburn]

okey dokey. thanks for the heads up buddy:thumbup:

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by lkailburn

okey dokey. thanks for the heads up buddy:thumbup:

LOL...no problem...I always point it out when I see it happen, otherwise you end up with new people bring 25 dead threads back...which floods the board with dead threqads and bumps thew new relavant ones to the 2nd or 3rd pages...etc. That's one of the reasons it's commen policy to try and aviod bring back dead threads when you can.