SD4 IMSA help (Page 8/10)
Sage OCT 20, 04:52 PM
Sounds like you are talking about warpage as opposed to shrinkage. Not to "split hairs"...but they are different things technically.

Warpage can be caused by your mold not having sufficient bracing, or laying up your parts too thin (not enough layers of mat/cloth. Can also happen if you don't leave the part in the mold long enough to cure to the point it'll hold it's shape. All fiberglass (at least hand layup) takes quite a while to fully cure...like 6 months or more! Until it's fully cured, it's referred to as "green". You can take a part out too soon (less than 24 hours) and not have it warp too bad as long as you get it in place (where it'll end up) and fastened good. Just some stuff from my own experience, it's why I always leave my parts in the molds a MINIMUM of 24 hours.

Maybe you followed all those guidelines and still have the problem? Could also be not quite the right mix on resin to MEKP, or the lack of gel coat. The gel coat thing is sort of "grasping at straws" as an explanation, but doing the gel coat first in your mold, not only gives you a nicer finish to work with, but also helps stabilize the laminate.

It's been my experience, that warpage, 90% of the time is from the mold being warped, even if it LOOKS straight. Just my 2cents, since you asked! (Your results may vary )

HAGO!
MinnGreenGT OCT 21, 08:28 AM

quote
Originally posted by Sage:

Car is looking great. Kind of puts me in mind of a wide body that an outfit down in FL did back in the 80's or 90's, but sorry, can't remember who is was exactly. Theirs was a little bit more "extreme" on the WIDE aspect, but the body was all molded together, sort of how yours is coming along, and the wheel wells were particularly "eye catching".

Maybe somebody else remembers the one I'm talking about and who did it, and maybe even has a pic or two. I believe it (the car) was at the Daytona show one year too. It was painted gold.

HAGO!



That would be the B&B Spyder Widebody!



I thought that someone resurfaced (on Facebook?) with those moulds, but I haven't seen or heard anything specific!
Awalker W02 OCT 21, 01:00 PM
I’ve just had bad experience with gel coated products in the past hiding air bubbles under the surface. That was more from bad workmanship with the parts manufacturer than product though, and I’ll be honest going onto this I didn’t have much experience with anything this big so I wanted to ensure that I getting the glass laid down right. The last wide body I did I didn’t build off of a mold but I did allow all the glass to sit for 6 months after I built it before I painted it again. I just assumed that my warpage was from an inconsistency in the thickness in areas of the hand laid glass and it all curing at different rates. Everything stayed in the molds for 24 hours after being laid out except my wheel wells but the went right into place after I popped them off. I still have the fronts to do, as well as fixing some gap issues that don’t meet my quality. But I figured it best to wait the 6 months as I did on the blue car to address the issues otherwise I’m just going to be readdressing them again.
Sage OCT 21, 09:55 PM
Yep...."voids"....something every fiberglasser works to "avoid"....but inevitably, all have had to deal with at some time, either in their own work, or in prepping somebody else's.

The hell of it is, the part looks "perfect" until you start sanding....the more you sand, the thinner the gel gets, the more likely you're going to expose a void. That's what experience and the roller are for.

Very hard to get a part done without a single void, but it has happened on occasion. I, and I'm sure everybody else who hand lays parts, strives to not get voids, but they are kind of "inevitable" That's why the prep work before paint is so critical with glass parts. Gel coat is supposed to be fairly thick, (like 20mil), but it usually isn't. Voids occur most commonly in corners and "sharp" bends...that's one of the reasons mold makers usually try to observe the 3º rule. That means that even if a part is supposed to be 90º...it's usually best to keep it 3º shy of that. Also makes it easier/better to pull the parts out of the molds.

One way to help "avoid voids"....is to after putting the gel coat in your mold, applying a "slurry", ( kind of like duraglass, but you mix it up yourself with resin, talc and mekp), into the corners, sharp angles in the molds after the gel and before the reinforcement. Sort of "rounds" any corners that may be hard to get the cloth/mat to conform to, more "gradual". Anyway, you already know what you're up against doing the finish work with no gel, so have at it!

If you have places where your reinforcement is thinner than others, then that's probably where you're getting your warpage. 3 1/2 layers of ounce and half mat is pretty much industry standard for a part, but whatever you use, it should be uniform thickness.

You do good work, so do it whatever way you know works for you. What you've done so far looks completely acceptable, considering you are more than willing to put in the time/effort to bring it to the point of a stellar finish.

HAGO!

Yes Rob, that's the one! B&B also correct. Boy I'm tellin' ya'.....after you get your head full of crap for more than 6 decades....some of it starts to all sort of "run together"...and it's often difficult to stop the rolodex at the right spot! I guess the color is actually more of a "bronze or copper" than gold, but that IS the car I was thinking of. Man...the wells on that do stand out, don't they!

[This message has been edited by Sage (edited 10-22-2020).]

Awalker W02 FEB 28, 09:32 PM
Well 6 months of rest is almost up so it’s about time to get back in the ball game working on this body. Just one crack has shown up and just a warps as the glass shrank. No I’ll start working on making all my gaps even and make sure the body gets blocked straight. I think I’m going to modify the bumpers at the lights to look more like the 87-88 coupe bumpers


Here is a look at the fiero as we got back from our trip in October. As you can see things were a little frozen.

[This message has been edited by Awalker W02 (edited 02-28-2021).]

Awalker W02 MAR 09, 09:46 PM
Was playing around a little bit trying to stylize the rear a bit more. This is just a rough photo shop and I may play with the design a bit more. The spoiler is going to change as well. Not sure if I’m going to m just widen it and mold it in or if I’m going to go back factory with it.


Any ideas or comments?

[This message has been edited by Awalker W02 (edited 03-09-2021).]

Will MAR 09, 09:50 PM
Image doesn't work
Trinten MAR 09, 10:18 PM
The image is loading okay for me? Unless he fixed it already.

I can see the appeal there. It's a little bit Ferrari, but not trying to be a clone of any kind. Has a sleek 80s exotic car vibe to it.

[This message has been edited by Trinten (edited 03-09-2021).]

Awalker W02 MAR 10, 11:03 AM
Yea my cellphone is weird and won’t allow me to post the photos in the initial comment. I have to go back in and edit the comment to add them.
Awalker W02 JUN 23, 11:05 AM
Finished up my last customer so it’s time to get some work in before the next.
I recast my driver door skin as I was having some delamination issues with my fist. That panel was the first time I had cast from these molds and the largest cast really I have ever done so it was a trial to be honest.

I then moved to the front wheel liners and fiberglassed in the ps arch I had to move the whole opening forward about a half an inch to center the wheel so some additional body work was needed and as you can see still in progress.


My next objective is to figure out if I want to proceed with moldings or not? I have some half round Urethane adhesive molding. They will get painted but Thoughts?

[This message has been edited by Awalker W02 (edited 06-23-2021).]