Any fibre glass guru's out there?

[RazMan]

My kit car's front section is really designed to take recessed lights with a polycarbonate cover - but I want to be awkward and mount BMW Mini headlights in the larger square holes. I will need to make an infill panel between the headlamps and the existing body.

Where do I start?

I have spent the best part of today scratching my head about this - and I think I have a plan....which saves me having to make moulds (coz I'm lazy )

I intend to mount the headlights in position with ally brackets fixed to the inside of the wing. Then, working from the inside, I lay fibreglass matting across the 'void' between headlamp and existing body. This will form a rough shape to apply filler (on the outside) and fine tune it until I am happy. I can then remove the headlamps and tidy up the inside.

A couple of questions to any fibre glass guru's out there.

1. Will the bond between the matting and existing body be strong enough?
2. Is the filler liable to crack if I try and keep it to a max thickness of say 10mm?
3. Is there something I can use as a non-stick surface to prevent the resin sticking to the headlamps? Mould release compound maybe? Vaseline?

Am I close to a masterplan or complete cock up?

[steve_D]

RazMan said:

........1. Will the bond between the matting and existing body be strong enough? 2. Is the filler liable to crack if I try and keep it to a max thickness of say 10mm? 3. Is there something I can use as a non-stick surface to prevent the resin sticking to the headlamps? Mould release compound maybe? Vaseline? Am I close to a masterplan or complete cock up?

1. Give the existing glass a good roughing up to both clean it and provide a key.
2. The filler will not crack if you use a flexible type.
3. I would start by wrapping the headlight in something like bubble wrap and tape then a layer of cling film. This will protect it and provide a gap between the light and the GF when the wrapping has been removed. The cling film will prevent the GF sticking to the wrapping and making it difficult to remove the headlight. I don't know this light unit but you may need to provide extra space in your new housing for the unit to move when adjusting.

Good luck
Steve

[RazMan]

Thanks for your input Steve

The light unit is a really neat design. It contains all the beam adjusters (left/right & up/down) so I just need to get the mounting roughly right and then fine tune the adjustment.

The bubble wrap idea is inspired - it will allow me to extract the light unit even if the resin really grips on hard and prevent any mess once everything is removed

[Incorrigible]

Bubble wrap will give a nice cushion, ie become a gap after you've made it

However, GF will stic quite relentlesly to it. I've found (for roughish things likr this) that tin foil is a good substrate (just put it over the bubble wrap) it easily peels away afterwards

BTW good luck, that sounds like a good idea

[hot wheels]

my 2p worth, if you dont want fiberglass and resin to stick to somthing then use that brown packing tape the really shiny thin stuff it makes a brilliant release surface polyester resin will positively not stick to it so just cover your component in it and splodge away

[RazMan]

Thanks for the ideas guys - The packing tape dodge would seem to be the easiest way as I have loads of it available to me

I'll be having a go at this in a couple of weeks when I take some holiday. I'll let you know how I get on.