Question about fiberglassing doorpannel
08-13-2004, 02:18 PM
#1
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 410
Well, I've come to the conclusion I want to build new doorpannels. So before I dive right into a project I've never tried I thought I would check the net for some info. And I came across a bunch of guys who have done theirs and what they did was just take off the bottom half of the pannel, then fiberglass/mold whatever to the bottom, then reattach it and put it back into the car.
My question is... these guys mostly seemed like they just fiberglassed right over their stock plastic doors... and I've been around fiberglass a fair bit and to me it's ALWAYS been never fiberglass to plastic. It will crack or goto **** over time.
Here is a link to a guy who did up a cav somewhat like what I'm thinking of doing.
http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/7886/9
And take a look at these pic's, you can easily see they glassed over the plastic
http://www.tribalvisiontruck.com/doorpanels.htm
Is there somthing I'm missing here... maybe there is some way you can put glass to plastic that I don't know about.
So yeah, my question is: Is there anyway to reliably bond fiberglass to plastic or vinyls? Is there some form of chemical treatment you need to perform prior?
Dunno...
My question is... these guys mostly seemed like they just fiberglassed right over their stock plastic doors... and I've been around fiberglass a fair bit and to me it's ALWAYS been never fiberglass to plastic. It will crack or goto **** over time.
Here is a link to a guy who did up a cav somewhat like what I'm thinking of doing.
http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/7886/9
And take a look at these pic's, you can easily see they glassed over the plastic
http://www.tribalvisiontruck.com/doorpanels.htm
Is there somthing I'm missing here... maybe there is some way you can put glass to plastic that I don't know about.
So yeah, my question is: Is there anyway to reliably bond fiberglass to plastic or vinyls? Is there some form of chemical treatment you need to perform prior?
Dunno...
08-13-2004, 02:45 PM
#2
Yankee
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 219
i am no expert for sure but i have experience with fiberglass. everytime i get into a situation where i must glass over plastic i take a rasp and rough it up as much as i can and then i put a thin coat of glass on top of that --as to make it "sticky"-- and then go from there. it has worked well for me. When i build kickpanels. i take the stock kickpanel out and cut off the part that fastens to the vehicle. i glass around that so the kicks will fit properly. not saying my word is law though by any means. best words of advice for ya though is to practice and be prepaired to do it more than once if you have to and don't depend on the plastic or vinyl to support any weight. if you must glass over then do it so that the fiberglass supports all weight...if that makes sence.
08-13-2004, 03:26 PM
#3
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 410
Yeah I was thinking about roughing the ever living crap out of the plastic with somthing like 24 grit, and maybe even drilling a few holes through and glassing the rear of the doorpannel also.
The thing is, it would be 10x easier to just use my stock door and fiberglass over the whole thing then to **** around trying to build a new one and getting everything perfect. Plus I have a set of spare pannels I don't really want anymore.
But, I want to be fairly sure this will work and not a year down the road have it looking like ****.
The thing is, it would be 10x easier to just use my stock door and fiberglass over the whole thing then to **** around trying to build a new one and getting everything perfect. Plus I have a set of spare pannels I don't really want anymore.
But, I want to be fairly sure this will work and not a year down the road have it looking like ****.
08-13-2004, 04:24 PM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Another thing you can try if you plan on covering the build-outs in vinyl or cloth is to tape off or wax the plastic of the door panel and then lay 3-4 layers of matte flat to the area you want the buildout on.
When dry, drill through the glass and door panel in a couple of spots for future alignment and then you can pop off the glass base you just made and build off that.
When done a few screws or bolts through the door panel from behind keep it all together.
If you remove a lower section of the panel like in the first link just make sure to glass all the way around the edges and the pod will be locked to the panel piece.
When dry, drill through the glass and door panel in a couple of spots for future alignment and then you can pop off the glass base you just made and build off that.
When done a few screws or bolts through the door panel from behind keep it all together.
If you remove a lower section of the panel like in the first link just make sure to glass all the way around the edges and the pod will be locked to the panel piece.
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