Building a body kit

i am just about to undergo building two kits...one for my 99 cougar and one for my brothers 86 MR2...what do you need to know?

i dont have a web site but there are thousands out there to get you started...

Ive been making body molds using the same type of techniques as stealth boxes and such.  I dont know how much youve been following this site regarding the concepts, but heres in a short nutshell a how to.  Cover the areas such as fenders, side panels/door, rear valance, and front bumper, ect., with the blue/ or the green tape that doesnt leave its adhesive behind.  Spray some aerosol adhesive (3M's "77") all over the taped area, then attach sections of FG sheet, I usually do 2 foot sections at a time.  Wet the FG sheet lightly in a few areas and wait until these few areas give heat (cure).  This "Cured" areas will stick to the tape (if you do the whole section, it will heat the glue and will make the sheet sag and ruin).  Now you have theses "cured" anchors, finish saturating the whole area.  Do this to every part involving your "Body Kit".  Dont remove the FG yet.  Put your/or customer's imagination to use.  Figure out the style/shape you want.  Next, just like MDF speaker rings, I use MDF to make my shaping, these take all kinds of tools, but only you know what you can do with what you have.  Afix the MDF to the cured FG panel.  You can use thin cloth and staple it to the MDF.  Cover that cloth with resin, let cure, this is just to make a shape to build the ground effect, air dam, or rear pan/valance part.  When the cloth is cured, cover with a minimum of 3 layers of 2oz. FG cloth/mat.  Cover with body filler, and then finish out the rest as if you were preparing for paint.  I know I left alot of detail out, but at least that is the concept that can be used.  This is one of five ways I have done this, but this is a fiberglass forum...not urethane or carbon fiber, ect type forum....  If you want more detail, just send me a personal message.

i use similar methods to that of the NSX...block foam and spray foam work as excellent mediums for build up...also try to follow the Alpine picture tutorial of there X5 build up...though incredibly extensive it will give you the idea.

however unlike he said a couple posts up i tape everything, spray with glue then using a roller, i roll on aluminum foil everywhere there is going to be fiberglass and then some...then you can super glue mdf ABS what ever you want to use as vent shapes and what not...you can the also build up with block foam etc...no need to do small sections and wait, do it all at once..

when you allow sections of resin to cure you are supposed to sand it before applying new layers, when fiberglass cures it releases wax, that if not sanded there is a greater chance of the resin not sticking properly to the additional layers.

IF you use Block foam you have to tape it off before applying resin, or it will eat right through it...

hope that helps...also feel free to PM me with more questions if need be..

Very good Crazyoldcougar, good points.  There are plenty of missunderstandings that I tend to take for granted everyone knows, my bad.  Yes, do use a roller.  Also, dont use cheap crap resin that HAS wax, use good marine grade.  You can lay up sections or one long length, its doesnt matter.  I use 4 inch wide tape and start at the bottom and go up.  1/4 inch overlap is all thats needed, to prevent seepage (less distance (or components such as extra foil and even more tape) between the car body and the fiberglass equals more precision).  This method is with fiberglass, when I use urethane or carbon fiber, its all different.

I didnt bring up block foam.  Glad you did.  Crazyoldcouger is right, if you can, get it and sand it down to your desired shape, it is easier than MDF/ABS.  I have even seen some jobs done with several cans of expanding insulation foam! LOL  Oh well, if it works, do it I guess.  I use a multi-stage heater/foam sprayer, I make all types of shapes with wood panels and fill them to make my desired blocks.  I dont always use  this but it happens. 

Also, has everone forgotten about sheet metal?  I fabricate some parts out of sheet metal to serve as a permanent skeleton.  Cover it with foam, glass it, and finish with body filler.  Theres soooooo many ways to do anything you desire.  Its all up to the individual. 

Check out the sites listed above!  The NSX, and the Apline Demo BMW X5, they provide great information that I have taken methods from as well.  Everytime I fabricate something, I find a better way...  Anyone else have any good methods?

5150azn wrote:

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Where do you guys get block foam?

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i use the white stuff at homedepot...not the best but it works..

as for the other question..it depends on the part your making..some pieces of the design may require some of foam to be left in there...

custom making a widebod if you know what your doing will likely cost you a little less in kit materails as opposed tobuying one...probably 40-50% less if you include the shipping and prep work you will have to do to a bought kit.

as far as i have found eby has pretty much the best price for chop strand mat you can get 25 yards X 50" wide for like 70$ plus 25 shipping...that is for one full sheet..there are other on there that sell pieces of scrap mat for like 30 bucks for 50 pounds...you figure 8sq ft is about 1 pound your getting about 400 sq ft of glass...you will need a couple gallons of resin and a gallon of duraglass, and probably a gallon of filler...i never use spot puddy any more, i just use high build etching primer...that stuff will fill in 100 grit scratches..(Proform 649) is the primer i use..

Yah, it'll work.  Hey wait, it gets hot....wonder if it will melt the bag?LOL  I know the 2 stage foam I use reaches un-friggin-touchable temps during its reaction time and up to the quarter end of curing, anyone know about the can type's curing temps?  I do know that it will heat up enough to warp 2 layers of FG!  Also, check out the directions, water misted onto that kind of foam causes a fast cure.

Hey, here you go....   Get some kind of cardboard box (only for a block form, disired size), place the bag inside it, fill the bag while its inside the carboard box, that way you can have a block of foam.

cbegnaud wrote:

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I have used the " White foam " from Home Depot and after shaping i coat it with sheet rock spakle (sp) then i sand and primmer and use this to make a mold or glass right off of it.

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By sheet rock spakle do you mean, drywall mud? i know "Sheet Rock" as a brand name has product called 90...that is used to fill larger voids in drywall and it hardens up nice...if so...wow good idea....you cant beat going that route....cheap quick and easy to sand...just hope there is no little wee holes in it...lol...resin is like thermite to styrofoam...lol

Yeah, also along with that, I read in a past post or maybe a website that someone used paper mache to cover the foam.  Seems drywall putty would be better, shapable, ect.....Kool!

Also, you can make a plug to reproduce parts as well this way eh?  Think about it, use the foam to make a form.  Plaster this form shaped foam with this plaster, use solvent to disolve the foam, clean the plaster part good, spray some anti-stick, spray in some gelcoat, lay down some glass, when its cure pop out the new component.....hmm....just learned we have been doing this for years already...LOL

i will see if can find some pics to scan...i did a lot of this before i owned a digital camera...

https://newcougar.org/forums/showthread.php?t=86444 well since the allowed pic size is tiny here i posted a link to the car forum i frequent..the link should lead directly to a little bit of fender work i did recently..you can see inthe first page there was some significant damage..the third page has pics of it fixed..

And here is a link to some kick pods i made for my neighbours car...https://www.newcougar.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8634     

i am having a hard time finding build up pics of parts i have made for people though...in a couple months i will have some nice pics of my brthers MR2...it is need of some major body work just to restore it to a point where i can start to build off of though...so that is gonna take me a couple weeks to fix up..since i dont have time to go at it daily or even for continuous hours for that matter..LOL the fenders are so bad i am just going to cut the flares off and build it out to be a wide body...LOL he doesnt know this yet though..it will just be easier then repairing the existing rust condition...

lack of significant disposable finances has made me push my kit until next fall...i will just have to drive around with a busted ass bumper all summer..  :(

I found a couple of other links everyone might find useful. The first one is urethane foam block supplier, the other is a site that shows the basic steps on how to go about building a car from foam all the way to fiberglassing the foam. For more indepth detail it also allows you to purchase planes the build the different vehicles.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/ (Foam supplier)

https://www.rqriley.com/frp-foam.htm (foam designing and modeling)