First Time with Fiberglass Santa Fe

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spawn12336

Member - Posts: 47

Joined: July 11, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: March 14, 2007 at 8:18 PM / IP Logged

A few more shots from today's work (I have some time off)...

In my fight against gaps between the boxes, I tried an experiment, and succeeded. Went out and got some premium shortstrand filler by evercoat (this s*** is gold by the way! I love it!) and figured that 3 years of detailing and armour all would prevent it from sitcking to the panels. BINGO! I was right. So today was spent filling all of the gaps and a little shaping at the edge to flow smoother. It took 2 layers, but the pics speak for themselves.

First Time with Fiberglass Santa Fe - Page 2 -- posted image.

MMMMMMMMM.... TIGHT!!

The only issue is that when you press the filler into the gap, it wants to fill ALL of the space, so it actually wraps around the panel making it slightly difficult to get out. A little carefull prying and "POP" she's out. You have to trim off the excess once it dries. Not a big deal.

This is how I left them tonight. Right up to the edge of the rubber strip on the door baby!

"the universe has a way of balancing itself"

realitycheck

Silver - Posts: 751

Joined: September 09, 2004

Posted: March 15, 2007 at 2:59 PM / IP Logged

Dont get too close you might actually want to pull that back a little bit from the door, and the rubber strip. Trust me I know now from experience the door will hit it will chip the paint and maybe even crack your duraglass. Trust me on this. First Time with Fiberglass Santa Fe - Page 2 -- posted image.

Learning the trade one fiberglass creation at a time!

Ctoh

Copper - Posts: 123

Joined: June 15, 2005

Posted: March 16, 2007 at 9:56 AM / IP Logged

You've got some skills to build on,,,one small suggestion when you float your edges in, run a layer of masking tape where you're going to dynaglass your edges, it will still give you a tight fit but you won't have to clean your panels off everytime and it acts as a release agent. Nice work though for a first build,,,

spawn12336

Member - Posts: 47

Joined: July 11, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: March 16, 2007 at 6:47 PM / IP Logged

Thanks for the props guys. I went up to the edge to give me enough thickness that when I trim it back 1/4" it would still be strong enough to not have to worry about it cracking. Normally I would have run a line of masking tape, but all I had around was green painters tape, and with 3 years of detailing, it was sliding off faster than an egg on teflon. The excess came off with a little acetone and gentle rubbing.

"the universe has a way of balancing itself"

spawn12336

Member - Posts: 47

Joined: July 11, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: March 20, 2007 at 9:36 AM / IP Logged

So I threw on the first layer of filler last week. I will be doing the milkshake on it after this layer, the only reason is that I had some REALLY low and high spots that I wanted to even out that sanding wouldn't have fixed. And now for my question... on the sections between the speakers where the curves are very pronounced, what is the easiest and best way to sand in those tight spots? I can't use either my 5" random orbit sander, or my detail sander as the curves are too heavy and the space too tight for them to fit and do a proper job. The only thing I could think of was wrapping some paper around a pipe and doing it the old fashioned way. Any suggestions from you guys?

"the universe has a way of balancing itself"

Ctoh

Copper - Posts: 123

Joined: June 15, 2005

Posted: March 20, 2007 at 10:22 PM / IP Logged

A 3" DA Sander to get the big stuff then "block" sand the rest, we have a whole kit with like 7 diffrent shaped "Blocks" that help with stuff like that, you're on the right track with wrapping sand paper around something but you do want it to have a little "Flex" to get the contours better,,,I think they may be called "DuraBlocks" or something like that. Run ya about $50,,,

spawn12336

Member - Posts: 47

Joined: July 11, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: March 21, 2007 at 9:10 AM / IP Logged

Only issue is that this is really only for me, I'm not a pro installer by any stretch of the imagination. I don't have an air compressor, although I might look into renting one for a day to see. Can you tell me where to get the Durablocks of which you speak?

"the universe has a way of balancing itself"

david pascale

Member - Posts: 10

Joined: October 07, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: March 22, 2007 at 5:19 AM / IP Logged

very nice. Dosent it feel good to do it yourself? that same job would have cost a fortune at the shop, I an doing the same thing in my durango.

information is the key to solving problems

spawn12336

Member - Posts: 47

Joined: July 11, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: March 22, 2007 at 8:55 PM / IP Logged

Hell yeah, it feels great. Here are 2 shots from last week when I was doing the filler, right after the filler was laid on and sitting for about 30 minutes. I couldn't get over just how shiny this stuff dries, is that normal?. I have sanded 95% of one of them down already. I should have them mostly finished next weekend. Hindsight tells me I should have tried to cheese grater the tight spots, but live and learn.

"the universe has a way of balancing itself"

david pascale

Member - Posts: 10

Joined: October 07, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: March 23, 2007 at 5:12 AM / IP Logged

yes the shiny coat you see is normal. there is a spray to coat that before you sand you can get it from a bodyshop. the spray will help you sand down all the highs and lows, but remember you may still have to add more filler in some spots and the curves around the rings are a real pain in the ass to get just right. are you going to paint or wrap to match the interior?

information is the key to solving problems

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