Factory Front fenders in Fiberglass?
01-20-13, 12:48 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Factory Front fenders in Fiberglass?
Afternoon all,
I am in the process of building my FB into "something else".. and wanted to make a post, just to see if anyone else is interested before I start down the path too far.
I am going to be making a new front end for the car, wide fenders airdam etc. And was thinking of making a mold of the front factory fenders, and creating them as factory duplicates.
SO were talking a duplicate of the factory front fenders, with holes for lights, and all the factory mounting points... but made of fiberglass. Vacuum bagged, and light. Possibly with some core between layers for rigidity. But will have to pull a fender before deciding.
SO I am going to DGRR 2013, and IF there is interest I can bring fenders to it.
If there isnt sufficient interest, I will skip this part, and just make the widebody front without the hacked up glass front fenders as the base for my parts. (cost savings)
I am in the process of building my FB into "something else".. and wanted to make a post, just to see if anyone else is interested before I start down the path too far.
I am going to be making a new front end for the car, wide fenders airdam etc. And was thinking of making a mold of the front factory fenders, and creating them as factory duplicates.
SO were talking a duplicate of the factory front fenders, with holes for lights, and all the factory mounting points... but made of fiberglass. Vacuum bagged, and light. Possibly with some core between layers for rigidity. But will have to pull a fender before deciding.
SO I am going to DGRR 2013, and IF there is interest I can bring fenders to it.
If there isnt sufficient interest, I will skip this part, and just make the widebody front without the hacked up glass front fenders as the base for my parts. (cost savings)
01-21-13, 10:38 PM
#2
Full Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: York, PA
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I dont quite understand the post, do you just wanna make stock fenders in glass? or widebody fenders? If you wanna make just the stock fenders that is pretty easy, but if you wanna make widebody fenders, I would make a mold of the stock fenders, make a part from the stock molds, then rig up a jig to fit the front fenders and front bumper and stuff together in your garage just like they would be on the car, and then you can modify those fenders in your garage and make a new mold for your wide fenders.
You might have to use Carbon fiber, Fiberglass would be too fragile, especially after it is vacuum bagged. If you sit down and look at the cost of materials for carbon fiber parts isn't too bad if you are looking at doing it yourself. I work for a company that builds GT1 corvette bodies and the layup schedule we use for most carbon body panels is. 1 layer 3K carbon, 1 layer 10oz. glass cloth, core material, and then a layer of kevlar, we also lay 2 layers of 10oz glass tape around the edges of the parts before the kevlar, and a layer of carbon tape around the edges after the kevlar. Keep in mind if you decide to go with carbon you will also need things like "Cabosil" which is a paste you mix up to fill into hard corners on the mold when you are making the part and an epoxy gelcoat.
You might have to use Carbon fiber, Fiberglass would be too fragile, especially after it is vacuum bagged. If you sit down and look at the cost of materials for carbon fiber parts isn't too bad if you are looking at doing it yourself. I work for a company that builds GT1 corvette bodies and the layup schedule we use for most carbon body panels is. 1 layer 3K carbon, 1 layer 10oz. glass cloth, core material, and then a layer of kevlar, we also lay 2 layers of 10oz glass tape around the edges of the parts before the kevlar, and a layer of carbon tape around the edges after the kevlar. Keep in mind if you decide to go with carbon you will also need things like "Cabosil" which is a paste you mix up to fill into hard corners on the mold when you are making the part and an epoxy gelcoat.
01-22-13, 11:19 AM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Yes thats the plan actually.
I work with a formula car team, and help with a lot of composite and machining etc. So they have the system similar to yours as well. Mostly dependent on where the part is and the amount of wind its keeping out of the chassis LOL.
But to answer your question. Yes. Build glass factory replacements for those that would have a neeed/want for them. Carbon as wanted. I was trying top gague interest in them, to decide if I should pop a few extras out of the molds after completion, in addition to the couple I will make for myself.
And yes my plan was to hand them the proper width for clearance and then modify them as needed to accomodate the creation of the new body. While retaining the original body lines/shapes.
On the generation specific section there are a few interested in factory glass body panels. But I think with the factory steel stuff being so light its a wash.
I work with a formula car team, and help with a lot of composite and machining etc. So they have the system similar to yours as well. Mostly dependent on where the part is and the amount of wind its keeping out of the chassis LOL.
But to answer your question. Yes. Build glass factory replacements for those that would have a neeed/want for them. Carbon as wanted. I was trying top gague interest in them, to decide if I should pop a few extras out of the molds after completion, in addition to the couple I will make for myself.
And yes my plan was to hand them the proper width for clearance and then modify them as needed to accomodate the creation of the new body. While retaining the original body lines/shapes.
On the generation specific section there are a few interested in factory glass body panels. But I think with the factory steel stuff being so light its a wash.
