has anybody ever tried to make fiberglass hood. im thinking of trying to make it myself. im starting with gauge pod to get used to working with it. really just curious on what i would need to make fiberglass hood. im sure its different from making gauge pod or fixing fiberglass on boats any info would be cool or if its not a good idea to evan try. got alot of time over winter to play with it before i start all the body work
i talked to my friend about doing it and he said its easy except making the mold...
go for it i would have tried but as thefitisgay said mold making has me puzzeled as to which is the best way to do it .im pretty good with glass but i lack in the body work .if you figure it out let me know as i would like to attempt a cowl induction hood
my friend told me to use plywood or maybe he said like medium density mdf or something but you want the mold to absorb the resins out of the thing your making
i also had this really hot body chick say you should bring your hood to me and ill fiberglass a scoop for you
the whole reason i wanted a huge scoop that went up the windsheild is that louvers let water in i figure a big scoop will suck the hot air up and back and out specially the turbo heat which is back there anyway
maybe i should get my practice hood and give it to her
I'm pretty sure that THIS is the best example of DIY glass work on this site!!
there was a link here or the "other" site to making new door skins and vacuforming the mold? Try a search for fiberglass and skin.
hmmm think anybody will wanna buy the stuff if i get it made?
(I'm pretty sure that THIS is the best example of DIY glass work on this site!!)
brian has a talent at that the nose of that car came out great looking the hole car is sweet , wish i could pull that off and make a hood for my car . im only good at making little thing ,i guess if i dont try ill never know, huh but first i have to get a scrap hood
no it wont. at speed, that area at the base of the windshield is a high pressure area. it will force air back into the engine bay.Originally Posted by thefitisgay
if you want to draw air out of the engine bay, you need to cut a hole in the hood further forward and make a little "ramp" in front of the hole closer to the bumper end of the hood. that will draw air out of the engine bay.
Brian
but i dont want a hole in my hood... i dont want water to pour in there ya kno? what if i made a hole like in the middle and put like a 2 or 3 inch tall scoop over that... maybe one of those fake glue on ones?
water getting through your hood vent will not hurt anything
you sure about that? granted water coats the thing from condensation... but if water wont hurt anything why did the cars come factory with a little tray to run the water off somewhere besides the motor?
I have found that they put a lot of stuff under the hood which you don't really need. I have had no drip try on my omni the whole time I have owned it and everything is still fine.
its not any more corroded?
i have a louver hood scoop on my lebaron off of a early station wagon turbo car . the onlt place ive ever seen a problem with water coming through it was when i took it through the car wash(I know DUH) but i forgot about it being unshielded .lots of steam, I knew i had craked my exuasht mani the ,turbo exhaust housing something . but it was fine thank god , I think i just got lucky so dont put that much water to it, and you should be fine i run it in rain storms all the time the wind takes car of most of it, no problems their.
The rain just lands on the intake manifold and valve cover. Since it's all aluminum there really isn't much corrosion that occurs because of it. It doesn't seem to effect anything at all from what I can tell.
i just still cant bring myself to trusting it... i know somehow its gunna get in a plug or somehting
I had a problem one time...I left the V/C unbolted and water ran down the intake manifold and down through the oil gallies and injector holes (rail was off too) and hydro-locked the motor. Pulled the plugs, shot the water out, no problems with the motor (except for the countless head gasket failures).
Drove the car through rain storms that most people wouldn't even drive in, including water puddles that came up to my bumper...trust me, your engine is water proof as long as you keep water out of the intake and everything is bolted down nicely.
main reason for the tray is if you were buying a new car and were not "performance minded" you would be in the dealer every time it rained/washed the car for warranty work complaining it was steaming from under the hood. so some engineer got paid alot of money for that nifty idea
it is no different than running w/out a hood and lots of v8 guys do it so it must be cool(i have done it with my old daytona)
as for fiberglass mold making it is not terrible you just need time extra hands patience and the right materials. this book should help if you can find it still FIBERGLASS AND COMPOSITE MATERIALS BY FORBES AIRD PUBLISHED UNDER HP BOOKS BY THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP.
the other thing is find a fiberglass specialist in your area. lots of guys in circle track,scca and drag guys run glass go to a few events check with body shops and find out if there is a fab shop they use then pick the fab shops brain.
Norm
making a fiberglass mold is actualy pretty easy, its all in the prep.
set hood on a pair of saw horses sunny side up
cover hood with a layer of tape or contact paper.
apply mold release wax to the taped hood ( its just automotive paste wax) use a LOT and cover everything evenly, otherwise the glass wont release when its cured
coat outside of hood with layer of resin
lay down a layer of fiberglass mat
coat with more resin
work out major bubbles with glass roller
lay another layer of mat
coat with more resin
work out bubbles
one more layer of mat
more resin
work out major bubbles and dump remaining resin on hood and use a disposable paint brush to work it around to make sure everything is saturated.
the mat should hang over the edges of the hood all the way around and hang about straight down, but NOT wrap under the hood.
allow to cure completely
separate from hood and trim the edges as necesary
you now have an exact mold of the hood
you may have to go over it with sandpaper lightly to smooth out any rough spots but if you saturated everything properly it shouldnt be a major issue.
once mold has been prepped, coat it with a good thick layer of mold release wax, then spray it lightly with WD-40
coat with resin and begin applying layers of mat making sure each layer is completely saturated and air bubbles worked out. use at least 5-7 layers of mat. allow to cure and separate from mold. trim and prep for paint. to seal the fiberglass so it wont bleed through paint, cover the entire hood with a very thin layer of feather fill type body filler, sand till perfectly smooth, primer and paint. if you break through any layer of body filler you MUST re-coat that area, raw fiberglass and paint dont get along too well.
to speed up the mold making process you can use roven woven fiberglass mat after the first layer of chop mat. should only take 2 layers of that and it will be much stronger
do NOT use the crappy resin you can buy at hardware stores! its not worth the can it comes in. plus its expensive compared to the good stuff. i highly reccomend Select Products. been using thier stuff for years and have had the best results using thier stuff. plus its cheaper- 25 a gal versus 35 for the hardware store crap. you can also find good resin at big boat stores. also when mixing resin, do not add too much catalyst- mix it "cold" -1% catalyst and no more. too much and it will probably gell before you get finished working a layer and the faster resin cures the more it shrinks and distorts your final product.
you can use the same process to copy fenders bumpers doors decklids etc.
after youve made a hood with your mold and everything checks out ok you could take your mold to a carbon fiber shop and have a carbon fiber hood made.
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