Author Topic: fiberglass prep (Read 431 times)

cmanf · « **on:** November, 23, 2008, 05:56:41 AM »

Hey Guys,
Looking to smooth out the underside of my hood.
It just the rough finish now.
Do you sand it down or add resin then sand?
Didnt know if removing material would weaken the hood.
thanks.

Laurie S. · « **Reply #1 on:** November, 23, 2008, 12:24:30 PM »

Check out my website, we smoothed the underside of both the hood and decklid so we could stripe it. But, a warning, if you want it right, it will take hours and hours to do. It's worth it, however. ;D

http://www.tucsonpony.com/Troublehood.html

cmanf · « **Reply #2 on:** November, 23, 2008, 03:06:10 PM »

My god Laurie that is beautiful!

Still the hours dont scare me I am a sign painter and do on a daily babsis the same things as any body guy painter does except I just havent done any fiberglass this rough yet.
Question still is rather to add resign or filler or sand smooth the rough underside?

Your example inspires me very much, still waiting on Davesasnbone (lol) to rip me an new one and give me the info I need about fiberglass. After much questions and smart azz responses on my other board I followed him here.

Great guy hard azz to deal with but much respect goes out.

Laurie S. · « **Reply #3 on:** November, 23, 2008, 05:24:14 PM »

If it's like mine was, it will be hard to sand without adding filler. I believe we lightly sanded it, then began adding filler, sanded it, and repeated. We didn't use any resin, just a regular Evercoat filler. And lots and lots of sandpaper. Almost all of the sanding was by hand, probably 90 percent of the effort.

daveSanborn · « **Reply #4 on:** November, 24, 2008, 06:35:47 AM »

As Laurie stated, this isn't a "weekend job" for the do-it-yourselfer and due to the amount of man-hours involved, it's not something that you'd want to farm out to a body shop. It's a "labor of love" project.

The underside of the hood/deck lid would best be positioned downside up on a painters rack where it would likely remain for a couple weeks worth of labor. Any high spots in the rough FG should be "knocked down" with 80 grit. You're not trying to get the surface smooth, just smoother than it currently is by knocking down any unusually high/rough areas of FG. Once the high areas are knocked down, as Laurie stated a skim coat of Bondo can be applied. If you'd rather use FG resin.... you can, but it will be harder to sand smooth and you'll probably end up applying a skim coat of Bondo anyway. Due to the structural webbing of the underside of hood/deck lid, the use of pneumatic/electric sanders is almost impossible for most of the area and it will have to be sanded smooth by hand. This is the time consuming part. Obviously, once you're satisfied that it's ready, it will need to be primed/painted.

If you're building a "driver" car.... this is a project that is best done when everything else has been finished for a year (or ten) and you're just looking for something to keep you busy during the winter months.

Good luck and if you decide to do it, document and report the progress for others!