Rotary Noob

Yes, IT is in the mold. And i have pictures of it. It has a few air bubbles though...and a couple high spots where the fiberglass clumped. Nothing some sandpaper and a few more layers wont fix, its taking forever to cure...(40 degrees outside)

Enjoy.

Im planning on putting 2, or possibly 3 more layers on tomorrow, and then try to remove it when its hardened.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign062.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign061.jpg

Like i said, it has a couple bubbles, actually, i take that back, lets be realistic. It has a rather large number of bubbles, and wrinkles. It also has a couple globs, but after a few layers, that should be much less of a problem, and after I sand it, shouldnt be an issue.

So there is your update, should have more tomorrow afternoon.

snowball

you need to move slower, work out the wrinkles and bubles while its still wet. On another note this exact same style headlight is already being made by another forum member.
http://rx7pro.com/e-commerce-solutio....0.html.3.html

Rotary Noob

Its not the same headlight...its a very similar design, yes, I would agree with that. Im making them for myself mainly, and then if they look decent, ill sell them.

When I set it out to dry, it was fine, it bubbled because i was using a worklight on it, and had it too close. When i set it out though, there wasnt any of that.

Im about to put a few more layers on it, maybe they will dry in time so i can post pictures of it before school.

NOPR

I will never buy from a site that blares shitty techno music when im trying to shop with no (or atleast no easy to locate) off switch.

Rotary Noob

^LOL

Uhm...owned. Moving on, I got a second layer down today, and have a couple pictures of it while its wet...

I have a fan drying it instead of a heatlamp, maybe it wont wrinkle/bubble as much.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign065.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign064.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign063.jpg

might try another layer tonight depending on what this one turns out like using the fan. I dont want to die of resin fumes.

Rotary Noob

Unfortunately, i cannot put another layer on now...the one that i put on today isnt quite dry enough. Its still rather tacky to the touch. However, it does look much smoother (and far fewer air bubbles...) when i let it dry on its own, instead of using a heat lamp on it. It looks pretty much the same as the other pictures i posted today, so im not going to put anymore up till i get the third layer on there.

So far so good though, might have it done before thanksgiving.

Mx6-Rx7 Addict

Fan drying the glass will not help speed the curing time. Its a chemical reaction and the only catalyst to decrease time is heat.

As far as your glass laying technique, i have learned the best way to lay fiberglass is to get a large peice of plastic 2-3 times thicker than a grocery store plastic bag. Dont use too thin or it will be hard to spread the plastic.

Lay the plastic square down and make it 2 times bigger than your glass cloth. Place the cloth onto one side of the plastic, and mix your resin, pour it all over the glass. Don't use too much resin or else cure time will be forever and messy. Add more if you need. Fold the plastic over so it's a sandwich. Get something like a roller (dough roller for example) or something round like a D battery, etc.. And just use it as if its a steamroller over concrete. Push the resin all around until you can see right through the glass. Make sure all of the white is out.

Once the cloth is fully pregnated, you can use scissors and cut out all sorts of shapes much easier, and it will hold form rather than stretch. Pull the plastic off your cut out piece, and slap it on.

You should check out some stores who sell fiberglassing products and get some Peel ply. Its a single ply light cloth that you can put over the glass and it will help get air out, and when it dries, you just peel it off and it leaves a good smooth cure.

If you really wanted to get into glassing professional style, you could look into vaccum pumps to draw down and get every air bubble out to make perfect products.

I've been to advanced composite repair school for carbon fiber/kevlar etc and i currently do composite work from time to time on helicopters for the navy.

Good luck, please don't take my advice as critisism, just suggestions.

Seeya
Justin

Rotary Noob

It does make it smell less since im doing it inside though.

Im not trying to be professional about this, just trying to get a headlight done, i can use plastic filler and sandpaper to fix what it has now.

Thanks for the advice, i will think about some of it, but since I dont know how to use the stuff you just talked about, and the plastic idea sounds messy, i will deal with what ive got. Thanks for the input though. I may try that peel ply though when I start either on the second one, or on the left side.

I just woke up, had a long night, and so I will not be laying any glass till tonight. Also i think i put a bit too much resin on, as it is still tacky on one side.

Rotary Noob

Just finished laying the third layer, after sanding it down to be fairly flat...When I bring it out of the mold tomorrow, im going to sand it front and back really quick to make sure that I get all the big lumps out, and then smooth it out with 800 grit. After that, Ill start work on the shroud for the lights, and get that bit done.

I should be popping it out of the mold tomorrow, and then ill finish it with some plastic filler, and make it as smooth as possible. After that, ill check fit it in the car to make sure its right, and get some pictures along the way. If I dont get to it tomorrow itll be at least 3 or 4 days before i get to it again, since ill be 440 miles away.

Anyways, just shooting you all an update on whats going on with them.