Anyone ever play with fiber glass?

[wheel1856]

So here's a question carried over from the Civic 92+ forum for ya...
My old man used to own a boat and consequently dealt with fiberglass moldings and such for various applications. From talking with him it sounds as though its not that difficult a medium to work with - easier than bondo it sounds as you can control the time it takes to harden by how much catalyst you add.

So here's my question...anyone ever play around with this stuff? make anything?
Here in Y-town half the town is employed by GM and subsequently, aftermarket honda is hard to come by, outside of a few type-r stickers and some neons. So it would be fantastic if: 1. I could build body kits, for myself and for my fellow pocket rocket enthusiats. 2. It could be done for less than buying them - (although I hear the chemicals needed can get pretty pricy)

So, can it be done? Is there a certain type of fiber glass I wanna use? A certain grade of screen that is easier or better to mold body kits with? Any tips, warnings, cautions, or experience that can be shared here?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
-wheel

[kicker1_solo]

That sounds like a good idea if you could do it. My cousin and I were thinking about making a fiberglass mold for the 5th/6th gen fenders. Like that conversion that I did of putting the 6th gen front end on the 5th gen civic. Well the fenders were the hardest part of that so we were thinking about making a mold of that and making the fenders out of fiberglass and selling them on ebay or something. There's definately some money in it if you can find the right area to sell. I say go for it.

[wheel1856]

thanks for the encouragement kicker, and BTW while I was doing some past thread homework last night I saw that "how to paint your car" thread - WONDERFUL! major props.

but here's my question, should I decide to undertake this making of body kits and such, how do I do it!?!?!?! If I wanted to make a front end body kit for my 5th gen, should I make a mold of the bumber and fenders and work from there? Should I just make a molding on the car and go from there? What are the best materials for this stuff? If I send them to you would you paint them for free? If I make a mold over top of these things wont it be just a hair too big to fit right?

All these questions!! AGH! I hate being a noob, I cant sleep at night!
anywho, any insight is always apreciated.
thanks
-wheel

[kicker1_solo]

Yes, you should take the bumper off to make a mold and then reshape the mold a little bit to make it a different shape. The hard part that you're going to run into is making the brackets on the fenders to bolt them on. No, I won't paint them for you :finger:
And about the mold being a hair bigger than the bumper, that's how it's supposed to be. The mold will be a little bit bigger, but everything you make inside of it will come out the same size as the bumper. And I'm not too sure what the best materials for this would be since I haven't done it yet, just thinking about it.