Trying my hand at fiberglass

[ImCannibal]

So dannymax was kind enough to sell me one of his extra rear fenders at a great price (because he thinks the paint job on it sucked) and I am going to chop it into pieces!!! bwahahaha :th_biggun:
Then im going to put it back together, only shorter, but with the factory duck tail intact, then im going to make a mold of it and try my hand at making a solid fiberglass fender for my Max, but ill probably make several of them because I have too much free time... it will probably take a few weeks to get the first one done because all of my fiberglass experience is in one off car audio stuff BUT I think itll be a quick learning experience. Then after I have that down and make a few good ones in fiberglass im going to try my hand at carbon fiber because... well why not? Ill keep this post updated with my progress and pictures as I go along.

 

[davesax36]

Check out this thread on the adventure rider board for carbon fiber stuff.
You might have to join to see pics, but the guy did some pretty serious work.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603891

 

[Redbone]

Cool, sounds like a fun project! If it wouldn't be too much trouble could you bring us along for the project? A few pictures would be great too!
I have no experience (other than a few youtube videos) with fiberglass but I do have some ideas about what my rear fender should look like.

 

[ImCannibal]

I should be able to start prepping tomorrow when the fender and resin show up in the mail, but I won't exactly be doing what was done in that thread, I'll be making a proper mold of the altered fender, then making a piece from that mold that will match the exact width of the original fender, plus the mold will be reusable for when I decide to replicate in cf. But I'll be taking pictures and updating as I go along. Who knows? Maybe they'll turn out awesome and some of the forum guys will want one!

 

[Miles Long]

me love working with fiberglass!
work at Bricklin car factory, many years ago. People say "wear mask, Miles, fumes ruin mind"
No No No! smell GOOD! make Miles SMART!

 

[johnpclynch]

When I work with fiberglass I end up with more on me than on the bike

 

[lawman504]

me love working with fiberglass!
work at Bricklin car factory, many years ago. People say "wear mask, Miles, fumes ruin mind"
No No No! smell GOOD! make Miles SMART!

Hahahaha!!! Thats what everybody told me about Airplane stripper when i used it.....thought i was tough till i almost passed out and got sick. Not to mention my skin peeling off my hands cuz i thought my hands were tough too!

Cant wait to see pictures of this project. I'll be watching close cuz i have a fiberglass boat and a project in mind for that. Good luck!

 

[Redbone]

The rear fender, to me, needs to be flattened out just a little so it doesn't look too short if you extend the swingarm at all, it just looks wrong the way curve of the fender ends up.

 

[sdt354]

Fiberglass was my entry level skill into the boat building industry. It's one thing I'd rather pay someone else to do now.I'm glad I went on to become a mechanic not long after working with this stuff. But, maybe this will help you out. Wax parts multiple times when you don't want the glass to stick to something. Wax paper can sometimes be uses to. The more hardener you put in, the less time you have to work.
If you don't put enough hardener in, a heat gun can help set up time. A vial can set off a 50 gallon drum in time. If it's smoking, way to much hardener. The mat that you can pull apart easy, that's the glue for fiberglassing. It goes in between layers of woven material. By itself, it's too flexible and porous. Glasses, heavy rubber gloves, and a respirator, they told us 30 yrs after I started, is a good thing. Put all youyr layers together on a clean piece of wood and saturate them, then transform then to the sanded area your bonding. Push out all the air bubbles with a squeegee, paint brush, or if you want to get very professional, a roller made for this.This is for Polyester, vynalester,or epoxy resins. The quality is in this order too. West epoxy can be drilled and tapped. If you need to do over head work? My sympathies. But, you can thicken the resin with talcum powder. Or, in the case of epoxy, they sell special products to thicken resin. Acetone is the popular clean up and thinner for cheaper materials. Don't wear shoes or clothes you plan on keeping, though a paint suit and bags over shoes works. PM me if you have a question. I'll answer if the fumes didn't kill most of my brain cells.

 

[ImCannibal]

:bang head: Well my gelcoat doesn't show up until tomorrow so the mold will have to wait

But, as soon as the delivery guy gets here it's chopping time

 

[ImCannibal]

So, I skipped a few steps with the pictures because I got carried away, but here's the beginning of the stubby. Almost ready for the mold after some curing, sanding, filler, sanding, primer, and more sanding, oh boy...

 

[dannymax]

Looks like you're onto something there Cannibal....I never dreamed that fender held that much promise. :clapping:

 

[ImCannibal]

I'm hoping it turns out at least 75% as cool as I want it to, that way it will still be 3x better than the stock look (I think/hope)

 

[PATMAX]

I have one word for you. Vaccum bagging. OK, two words. LOL.
That's how I make my airplane parts.

 

[ImCannibal]

If I had $700 to blow on vacuum bagging equipment that would be awesome, but for now I'm gonna do it the stone age way with a brush and a simple mold. Plus, this is educational.

 

[Miles Long]

If I had $700 to blow on vacuum bagging equipment that would be awesome, but for now I'm gonna do it the stone age way with a brush and a simple mold. Plus, this is educational.

I hear ya. Vacuum bagging reduces the final weight, by compacting the resin required to a minimum, reducing final weight. Somewhat important, when making surf or sailboards, but for the project you are doing, not a big issue.
Party on! Let us see the final result.
Cheers!

 

[sdt354]

So, I skipped a few steps with the pictures because I got carried away, but here's the beginning of the stubby. Almost ready for the mold after some curing, sanding, filler, sanding, primer, and more sanding, oh boy...

Looking good so far.

 

[ImCannibal]

Hooray for more sanding and priming...

 

[one2dmax]

Lots of effort for sure. Exactrep sells a fender almost exactly like that for not too much money. Not sure if you'd want to do a production run of them vs what theirs runs?

 

[Traumahawk]

Hooray for more sanding and priming...

Looking good...cant wait to see what it looks like painted.

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