copying body plasitc with fibergalss

[nilla]

i'm looking at copying my 1125R and XB9S-R body plastics with fiberglass so that i can make a spare set for cheap, and paint/play with/have for trackdays.

has any one done this? does anyone have alot of experience with fiberglassing/copying/moulding body pieces?

again; i'm not trying to make show-winning fairings, just copy the OEM plastics and have useable pieces to paint/mess-up on.


thanks
-matt

 

[DustyXB]

From what I understand fiberglassing is relatively a simple process. So long as you make a good mold that'll hold up well for multiple uses. I've been pretty interested myself but never sat down to do the research. Maybe ill do that today on my lunch. Ill let you know what I come up with [up]

 

[wolfo68]

Yes. And its something you want to take your time on. If you've never worked with fiberglass before start with the small stuff and make sure you are capable of working small before you go big. For making a mould, It's really up to you I like to work with aluminium cans and have a bunch cut up and ready for art projects. They're easy to bend and fix together. And give flexibility toavoid damage to the original piece.

 

[J_Undisputed]

I remember someone on here saying something about using thick layers of bondo to make molds of the original pieces. Not sure how to keep the glass and resin from sticking to it though. or the original piece, for that matter. Maybe someone can shed a little light. I've been interested in this myself.

 

[ct1200]

There is a local guy that is currently unemployed did a CF gas tank for his sv650, and is starting on Fiberglass body work.
He has a lot of free time on his hands and is the type that can't sit still.

The CF tank saved him close to 10lbs but took over a week, but most of it was figuring it all out at first and getting the right tools and supplies.

Now that he has the basic process down the fiberglass is moving a bit better.
But still about 3-4hrs to setup a part, over night to cure, then another 3-4hrs to separate from mold and clean up the part.
So far he just has the front fender done.
He has started on a all new tail section using insulation sheets for a mold.
He is a mad man at times, if you can't tell.
Oh and he has a rather large garage and had number of tools before he started the projects.

 

[xtreme]

You can use a large piece of foam, mold that first and then apply the plastic made for fiber work then lay away Pretty easy process.

 

[wolfo68]

A thin layer of Vaseline or even using cling wrap should make separation easy

 

[buellbradski]

I used to work for a fiberglass pool company. So when we would build a mold there was a special wax we used so the mold would not stick .then you would paint with a gel coat apply a chop layer roll flat a woven layer soaked in resin chop again woven and another chop. The mold was thicker than pools and reinforced stronger to prevent warping.then after 12 dry time separate and you have a insideout pool ! Then you need to repeat to build the product. It's a lot of work and if you have the time and pataints you can do some cool stuff with it. That being said I would just buy another set of plastic or a fiberglass one from Trojan horse.

 

[BuellyBagger]

PVA is what we've used on corvette parts. Its a liquid u can spray into the mold(as a release agent) b4 gel coat and glass or on the outside of marine gel coat when ur doing the outside of a part to seal it off from the air (makes it cure). it washes off with water but i also agree

I would just buy another set of plastic or a fiberglass one from Trojan horse.

 

[stang65pony]

at school we used a toilet bowl wax ring. basically just rub it onto the mold (or plug depending on what part of the process your at) and remove the excess. it worked and was cheap.

 

[nilla]

thanks guys!
i appreciate everyone's contributions to this thread. and please; keep 'em coming!

i see how i could easily throw a bunch of money into this to have all the right tools and materials to 'do it like the professionals do' and then spend countless hours in the garage, but that's not what i'm looking to do.

so despite the obvious MSDS risks to health, safety and the chemical chain reaction known as 'fire' .... i think i'm gonna get some supplies and try to copy the nose fairing and pods. probably start small with the pods. my pods are all ready scuffed. ...

-i'll be keeping in mind that this will be primarily a learning experience which will secondly (hopefully) result in some spare body pieces-

don't hold your breath waiting on me to post pics and tell you guys how it went, cuz this will be one more thing i put on my list of things to do ...

 

[motoqueiro]

I've made some copy's myself, but I use the cheapest possible way to do it, basic tools included
The molds I make out of plaster, non reusable, but good enough for the intended purpose,

 

[nilla]

Motoqueiro, Tell me more

 

[motoqueiro]

OK
I go to my local pharmacy and buy those rolls of plaster, like the ones they wrap a broken leg or a broken arm on, a hell of a lot of rolls, just in case, and they are cheap.
Then you just make a mold of the part you what, for example the one I made for the air box (the one were the buell logo is, and you have to say to people it’s not the fuel tank), I made two halves from the inside, the left side and then the right side, marked the joining parts so I can mate them after removing from the air box, (you can’t do it in just one piece, not possible to remove).
When you have it out must reinforce the part where you are not fitting fiber to, in these case the inside, because the resin and the fiber are heavy, and hot, and will deform the mold.
Then I paint the mold, yes paint it because whelps removing it from the fiber, when the paint is dry apply the wax you by whit the fiber let it dry and start doing the fiber whit the resin.
When you are happy whit the thickness let it dry and trim the edges, start removing the plaster mold whit air pressure, if you are lucky you can remove the mold whit no major problems, if you are like me and have no patience to prep the material properly first, you can remove the mold layer by layer and finely whit an angle grinder whit a metal brush
After all that just soften the fiber and go to paint
Good luck nilla