Fiber Glassing

How do I fiber glass things or molds? I have a 93 civic and I want to extend my center console to include more accesories and I was wondering how hard it would be to do it myself. I really don't want to pay all that much to get it professionally done, even though I know it might look better. What kind of materials would I need?

for fiberglassing...u need fiberglass and resin i think

... and the catalyst (hardener)

Dont forget mixing cups, brushes, stirring sticks... gloves, tape...

Why dont you just buy the audio console? Thats a solution right inbetween doing it yourself and paying a pro to do it... and it will damn sure look alot better then doing it yourself.

What is an audio console and where can I buy it? What does it look like?

you can buy it right from the honda dealership, and it looks like the 96-98 center console.

For info on fiberglassing, check out termpro.com and look at the Fabrication forum, there are some very knowledgable people over there.

I've worked with fiberglass a lot and you can't just add to a plastic console, fiberglass won't stick to plastic no matter what you do to it. I suggest getting the stock console, look on ebay that's where I got mine, its about $200 though.

I've worked with fiberglass a lot and you can't just add to a plastic console, fiberglass won't stick to plastic no matter what you do to it. I suggest getting the stock console, look on ebay that's where I got mine, its about $200 though.



Fiberglass WILL stick to plastic, it depends on what resin and mat you use.

Fiberglass WILL stick to plastic, it depends on what resin and mat you use.
Have you done this yourself before? Why would you put matting on plastic in the first place? I'm not some punk kid who doesn't know what he's talking about, I've been doing custom hot rod interiors for 5 years. And not some cheesy hot rods either like $150,000 hot rods. If you can get fiberglass resin to stick to plastic let me know how because I'd like to know. The only way I've got plastic to smooth out like they do for show cars is to clean the crap out of the plastic and sand it with 180 grit sand paper until its almost smooth, then use high build primer on it and sand that until its completly smooth, then paint it. O and the only reason you would use matting on anything is to make something from scratch. The matting holds the shape of whatever your making, if your covering plastic the shape would already be there so you wouldn't need to use it. Also another reason fiberglass resin won't stick to plastic is because plastic is oil based and oil is used as a parting agent to get the plastic out of the mold. So unless you take out all the oil "which is impossible" then the plastic acts as a parting agent. I know this because I work on Air-frames for aircraft, a lot of parts on the F-16 are made of fiberglass and carbon fiber. The fiberglass resin will stick a little to the plastic but after a little while it will peel and bubble. You can do it but I don't recommend it.

I second Zippeay, (ive done some CF layups) and in order to get anything composite to look like it does in your car, you need a mold or ALOT of time and patience. Its very hard to get CF (probably Fiberglass too) to stay the way you put it and to get it to come out real smooth. It also doesnt like to stick to non pourus things very well, especially overly smooth objects, like your plastic and body panels. Albeit, it does stick initially, but for how long, and how much pressure before it just pops off? If your trying to make a part thats complex like any part of your dash, its usually eaiser to go buy it. However, sooner or later I'm going to try making a CF/fiberglass hood, well see how that goes. But that is a much more simple object than your typical dash pieces.

But if you really want know what you need, your going to have to get some fiberglass cloth, and an epoxy resin (usually 2 parts - they usually come together). Also some basic tools, like an epoxy spreader (a paint brush/paint roller would suffice for one use) and some mixing cups etc. The kind of resin and cloth you use will determine how strong it is, and how smooth it will look. Also a big factor to how it looks is the skill of the worker, the cloth is usually flexible, but likes to wrinkle and fray (at least with CF) so if you don't like spending alot of time in your car figuring out how to do it the first time, I wouldnt suggest trying it.
Also, since your making it from scratch your going to need to make something to lay the FiberGlass on, so your gonna need to make a frame (in the shape of what you want), put on some underlay and go on top of that if you want it to look decent. Then after it's done you can make it "stay stuck" with some screws. :biggrin:

HTH
Buzz1167
Jon N

I said it would stick, I didnt say it would be show quality, I wasnt trying to insult you or anything. I never tried it but ive herd of methods to doing it. I was looking through termpros website and I saw a post on it. www.termpro.com then go to fabrications

I've gotten resin to stick to plastic plenty of times, its a pretty common thing to do in car audio. For example: if your making a set of kick panels and you want to build off the original panels you have to rough up the plastic in order for the resin to adhere. If you don't, you're wasting fiberglass. First things first tho, visualize the project plenty of times and get a firm picture of what you want the end result to look like. The frame itself will be the most important step tho. Try using 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch mdf. Once you have the "skeleton built" wrap the entire structure with fleece or grill cloth. Any fabric that allows you to wrap the structure with no wrinkles is best. Any fabric shop should have something along those lines. after a few coats of resin and glass your ready fr bondo and sanding. If you intend on carpeting the whole thing then you don't have to be to particular about sanding. But if you want vinal then you have to be super careful. Good luck!!!

I've gotten resin to stick to plastic plenty of times, its a pretty common thing to do in car audio. For example: if your making a set of kick panels and you want to build off the original panels you have to rough up the plastic in order for the resin to adhere. If you don't, you're wasting fiberglass. First things first tho, visualize the project plenty of times and get a firm picture of what you want the end result to look like. The frame itself will be the most important step tho. Try using 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch mdf. Once you have the "skeleton built" wrap the entire structure with fleece or grill cloth. Any fabric that allows you to wrap the structure with no wrinkles is best. Any fabric shop should have something along those lines. after a few coats of resin and glass your ready fr bondo and sanding. If you intend on carpeting the whole thing then you don't have to be to particular about sanding. But if you want vinal then you have to be super careful. Good luck!!!

... and the catalyst (hardener)

Dont forget mixing cups, brushes, stirring sticks... gloves, tape...

Why dont you just buy the audio console? Thats a solution right inbetween doing it yourself and paying a pro to do it... and it will damn sure look alot better then doing it yourself.

I dont know, my friend Mike, ci5ic on here is doin his projects, and its turnin out really tight. Its the first time he's ever worked with fiberglass, so I gotta give him props for how good its looking....

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=106666&highlight=ci5ic

check it out, it may not be much, its its cool considering it was his first time and all

fiberglass is VERY easy to work with.. i picked it up and messed with it once or twice before i started any of my projects..and so far the fiberglassing has been the easiet part of all the projects.. the hardest thing is worrying about the little end details and making sure it will look exactly right.. this is something you have to plan for and think about before you even START to build the project..
my two fav sites for fabrication: www.termpro.com and www.carsound.com
go to the fab section on each site.