Body Work?

[Team Race Reddy]

Havnt been on the forums in a while. I got bored with the protege after my last accident and figured i would just sell it off for another car. After a few months, i still havnt been able to part, dont really know why, lol. I've been doin research latly on fiberglass and custom body kits etc etc. Long story short, i had the day off of work, and was pretty bored / curious. I was able to fabricate a custom front bumper for the protege. I wanna post step by step pics, but it's gonna take forever to upload all the pics tonite nd i still gotta do a research paper, lolz. I'll post a few pics so that you guys can get a jist of whats all goin on. My plans for later in the week are to fabricate sideskirts and a rear bumper.. I laid the glass on the front a few hours ago, we'll see how it looks in the morning.

[Team Race Reddy]

[Team Race Reddy]

[Pox]

Styrofoam body kit FTW! That doesnt look too bad tbh. Well see when its done! =P

[Kitty]

You shouldnt mold the bumper to the fenders.
It'll crack.
You also shouldnt use that bumper.
Im not saying you did a "bad" job just that you could use that as a mold and have another one made out of that. I dont think the styrofoam will stay there long.

[firelizard]

Bondoing your bumper to your headlights corner lights and fenders was a very bad idea. Now your lights are ruined. The filler will crack like 98b/w said.

Also, don't put filler on top of paint, it'll chip off. Leave at least a finger width of bare substrate around the filled area. You can get filler on the paint, but sand it until you see bare plastic or metal all around the filler.

So far your mold looks like it'll be okay.

Oh, and your resin should be dry already. You can put another layer on while it's still tacky - in fact, I find it helps keep the mat in place.

[beetle_orange]

hmm, just noticed you are from chicago.

[Team Race Reddy]

after my accident, i was holding my bumper up with bungie cords, any other alternatives? I closed the gaps using masking tape and laid the bondo on top off that. When it dried, i sanded it all down but its still not smooth. I can take it off fairly easy but then how would i keep the bumper up? My front crash bar is gone and the side clips are cracked. dont feel like buying a new bumper, so didnt know what else to do. Is there any way to take off the enamel i laid on the front lights? Another thing, its hard for the resin to cure because i live in chicago and its been in the 30- 40's since yesterday

[MD323]

after my accident, i was holding my bumper up with bungie cords, any other alternatives? I closed the gaps using masking tape and laid the bondo on top off that. When it dried, i sanded it all down but its still not smooth. I can take it off fairly easy but then how would i keep the bumper up? My front crash bar is gone and the side clips are cracked. dont feel like buying a new bumper, so didnt know what else to do. Is there any way to take off the enamel i laid on the front lights? Another thing, its hard for the resin to cure because i live in chicago and its been in the 30- 40's since yesterday

resin hardens by chemical reaction, it sounds like you had your harderner ratios wrong or it was not completly mixed.

I like the idea on the lower bumper, but the methods are a bit off and please dont take this as flaming. I learned the hard way working in body shops and im happy to provide some insight but you cant cut corners.

if you need a crash bar, get one, if you cant, make one

[Team Race Reddy]

resin hardens by chemical reaction, it sounds like you had your harderner ratios wrong or it was not completly mixed.

Being the first time i ever touched fiberglass, i think thats the case. I noticed i did a half ass job mixing the harderner. Tomorrow around noonish i'll make a second attempt at the fiberglass/hardner. What should the expected cure time be if i properly mix the fiberglass and hardener?

Also, What do you guys suggest i do about the bondo situation? Would it be possible to remove the bondo, lay mat to connect the fender and the bumper, then fiberglass it?

One more thing.. Anyway to remove the enamel i put on the head lights? [paint thinner/nail polish remover/alcohol]?

Thanks in Advance!

[MD323]

headlights id wet sand with 1000 grit, it will take along time.. then do 1500 and then 2000 , then polish

the bumper need some sort of support other than the fiberglass work. id make a simple metal crashbar and nab some hardware from the junkyard

[firelizard]

Well, the catalyst and resin combo I was using was 1% per weight catalyst to resin ratio. I mixed about a cup and a half of resin at a time and put about 1/3 of a capful (milk jug cap) of catalyst, it gelled pretty quick (about 5-10 minutes work time) and was hard-ish after about an hour, hour and a half. Of course, that was in a warm shop. Your materials should have instructions for the ratio. These instructions are for a temperature of 21 degrees celsius usually. You'll need more catalyst than listed to make up for colder temperatures.

You really, really should get a new re-bar. Or at least, bolt your bumper corners to the fenders, and bolt the center to something solid, use brackets if it doesn't reach.

Filler more than 1/4" thick is usually a bad idea. If you have a dent deeper than that, pull it or tap it out a bit. Filler is just for filling low spots, not holding things together.

You can try spray gun cleaner on your headlights, but I can't guarantee it won't dull them, different plastics react differently to gunwash. If it dulls them though, you could save them by wetsanding and polishing them. Before you try something like gunwash, try acetone (nail enamel remover) and paint thinner first though.

[Team Race Reddy]

[Team Race Reddy]

i made the side skirts and was able to mount them on and fiberglass it. I remixed the resin/harderner correctly, everything turned out great!

Im making the rear bumper tomorrow morning, along with a front grill. Thinking about fiberglassing halo foglights into the grill along side the headlights. What do you think?

Once everthing is made, mounted, and fiberglassed, im gonna get the whole car repainted a bright white. Sound good?

Let me know what you think!

[firelizard]

Don't forget to remove the foam