Shaving things using fiberglass

[markpa]

Before i start i know theres a faq on how to shave things but it really doesnt cover much. So anyways today i went out and baught some resin and fiberglass cloth, and maid myself a new door panel, not finished yet but looking quit good. So here are my question when a shop shaves lets say the taillights that are part of the trunk what do they use? Is it fiber galss, sheet metal or what. Would fiberglass work, by just filling the whole sanding and then primeing the thing. Heres another question how do shops mold bumpers into the body of the car? Do they use fiberglass or what. Lastly Has anyone installed by themsleves these z3 style inserts into their fenders? Cause i got a pair and im gunna be putting them in this weekend, so if anyone has any tips, please share them.

[95civicman]

well with the taillights they usually use sheetmetal and i don't think that fiberglass would work. and people usually use bondo or tiger hair(i think that;s what it's called) to mold the body kit's in. i haven't heard of anyone using fiberglass sheets tho. i don't know about the z3 inserts but how much were they?

[markpa]

$60 for the pair. I got a real good price cause i also got my kit at the same place

[crxlvr]

yeah they mostly use sheetmetal when molding in and shaving shit.

as for the inserts, get a nice cutter, mark out the section, make it even on both sides, and just plop them in.

[wagsaccordsir]

I made a few post on here as some of you may know, more so the post/instructions on how to shave door handles.. If its not too late please diregard those instructions.. I will be deleting them by the end of the day. As some of you may know my car is in the shop and has been for about 4 weeks. Prior to that Me and a couple buddies shaved the door handles. They looked and felt perfect. We used the fiberglass and bondo method. The reason for this was that welding sheet metal in the door can cause the metal on the door to warp and it is very risky. Anyways, 4 weeks later the car is done, well almost. I went to the body shop on Sunday evening after my guy sprayed it... OMG did she looks hella good, very clean.. It was hot and sunny, and she was gleaming, upon a closer look, I noticed I could see all the outlines of where the doorhandles used to be.. Holy shit was I pissed! My guy said he would resand them and refill them. So I went down Monday morning to see what the progress report was, and to our suprise they were gone. I was happy so we continued on with another problem which I will post another thread on. Later in the day I got a call from him, shortly after the sun had came out.. It did it again, you could again see those damn outlines.. We were puzzled, so he made a few calls to paint shops and a few experts. Well what we found out was that the fiberglass was too thick.. So when the temperatures created by the sun were casted upon it, the fiberglass swelled(Which is normal for fiberglass to do). You could not feel anything but you could see it. So we have welded sheet metal in the holes.. No this is not your normal arch welder, this is a "Wire Fed Welder" that runs off of "Argon Gas" This is the welder is needed to do this project to these newer cars with the thin metal.. Its almost like not applying any heat, its simply instaneously welding, how it works I don't know but the difference is that it uses Argon. Hot Rods back in the day were made like iron, so welding them was an easy task. Now days the metal is so fragile, it can't be welded the same as back in the day.. Now they look great no problem whatsoever. I apologize if anyone followed my directions.. I will not be responsible either, but none the less I do apologize.. If your loooking for something temporary then by all means go for it, if your not worried how it would look with a 3000 dollar paint job, go for it, but if you are anything like me, and learn from lessons and mistakes, then don't do the method that I posted. Luckily for me, my guy is repairing it free of charge (Well he's one of my sponsors) but any other body shop would cost an arm and a leg to repair, let alone do the task from scratch.. Most shaved doors are done in a garage with a few guys and a few beers with the hopes of woman showing up looking for some.. LOL Anyways, take care and good luck in the art of shaving door handles.. If ya got any question hit me back..

[wagsaccordsir]

As far as the molding the kit to the body, my body shop did mines, and they used some black gooey stuff, and then grinded it somewhat smooth then bondo'd the rest.. It looks hella clean.. I will find out what it is called and post it on here for ya.. It is some good shit... We beat that shit with hammers, and it wasnt going anywhere... I was impressed..

[markpa]

Thanks for the tips, for now ill just insert the inserts, and mold my rear bum,per. Thanks again.

[the1much]

fiberglass DOESNT swell,,once kicked off with resin there is NO waY it swelled,,maybe delaminated sounds closer,,and thats usually caused by poor fiberglass work,,newaYz,,you can use fiberglass to fill any hole, in a car,,and is easier and safer then welding,,specially when ya think about sparks hittin the paint 20 feet from where your working

['97ventureowner]

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CLosed.