Tonight I sanded the top of the hood at the openings in preparation to bend the top layer down. Then I marked out the 4 cuts to be made which will make two 3" long flaps:

I then cleared out all the dust and applied my trusty panel adhesive between the two layers:

And then clamped it firmly in place. The top layer flaps bent downward fairly easy and the bottom layer does not appear to have distorted:

I will let that sit overnight just to make sure it bonds and cures.

Also tonight I cut out the two scoop openings using a dremel c/w cut off wheels and a sanding drum to shape out the rounded corners. I then filled the air bubble with the glass fiber reinforced filler which will also sit overnight.


Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

As to the quality of the 'glasswork you've received from vendors... as I understand, your first two pieces (from Tiawan & DV) are going to be two of your "most difficult" pieces. I have Stage2 Scoops (although from an earlier 'glassworker), and other than a couple of air pockets in the gel coat - they are great quality. And air pockets (at least in small numbers) are just a side of hand-made glasswork that is tough to avoid - I'm just glad you located the voids before you got further along in the process!

quote Originally posted by MinnGreenGT: Sourmug - what an excellent thread! It's good to see someone else jumping in and trying their hand at bodywork. It took me 2 years to start & finish all the bodywork on my "GreenGT" - and it looks like you're getting a much more solid start on it than I did (I ended up having to re-do things a few times because I didn't listen to the instructions as clearly as I should've). The one tool I can't endorse enough is a larger (6" diameter) DA Sander. I picked mine up at Home Depot for around $50 - and it was the best money I ever spent when it comes to doing bodywork (it's much easier to get a smooth plain when you're working with a larger sanding surface! As to the quality of the 'glasswork you've received from vendors... as I understand, your first two pieces (from Tiawan & DV) are going to be two of your "most difficult" pieces. I have Stage2 Scoops (although from an earlier 'glassworker), and other than a couple of air pockets in the gel coat - they are great quality. And air pockets (at least in small numbers) are just a side of hand-made glasswork that is tough to avoid - I'm just glad you located the voids before you got further along in the process!

MinnGreenGT:

Thanks! I actually do have a 6" DA sander but forgot to mention it as it was really only useful for the top of the deck lid. I had done the majority of the top sanding some time back and didn't take a picture of it. But, here is a picture now:


You are right, it makes a big difference on the larger areas.

Speaking of air bubbles, I started to sand the two scoop pieces when I got home tonight, low and behold I found a number of additional bubbles that my "hunt and peck" method with the hammer didn't find. I guess my method wasn't very efficient. These all became evident when I was sanding so a word to the wise "sand your piece first thing and you'll find the holes"!



Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

OK and for the second setback tonight:

I removed the clamps from the hood and it popped back open! The Panel Adhesive didn't stick Well that's never happened before.


The adhesive chipped off the two surfaces quite easily. and is very smooth so I assume the the two surfaces are too smooth for the adhesive to bond to. I used the dremmel to rough up the surfaces, hopefully it will work now.

So I filled my new air bubles and may call it a night.


Arg!
Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

What can I say? I couldn't stay out of the garage.

After we went and got some Chinese, played a game or two on the computer, I went back out. I pulled the clamps off and.....




Hey! It worked!
It's a pretty subtle curve and I don't really know just how much it will help air flow (if any) but it's gotta be better than a flat vertical edge. Besides I like the idea and it just seems more finished.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

And one more fiberglass site to add to the list. I found it yesterday: http://fiberglassforums.com/
And don't forget www.fibreglast.com - go to the forum section.

Bob:

Thanks for the links, I'll add them to my list.

Tonight I added the filler pieces where I bent the top of the hood down. These fill the larger gaps between the two layers of the hood:


Again I used the SMC panel adhesive. The filler pieces were cut from the sheet fiberglass that was once the top of the deck lid. I also made the cut lines on the flaps larger so that these pieces go all the way down and make contact with the bottom layer. Once set I roughly cut the pieces to shape with a dremmel cut-off wheel and sanded to match the top and bottom contour of the hood layers:

The odd shape of the bottom matches the contour of the bottom layer.

Then I sanded and applied filler to the underside of the scoops. Since this will be visible through the hood openings when the hood is in the upright position I want these to look as close to OEM as possible.

And I also began sanding the top of the hood to remove both the paint and the primer to make sure that the scoop will adhere well when bonded and so the fiberglass will stick when it's applied as well.

This is tedious work and not very exciting. I will probably work on this over the weekend before I update this thread again.

Thanks for looking.
Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]