Fiberglass

[Drew]

Hey,

I need to make some copies of headlights and tail lights in fiberglass
Has anyone pref. in Victoria that has any experience with fiberglass that could help me out?

Or alternatively someone here that can tell help me out with the basics of it

Thanks,


Drew

[Bayani]

Get Fibreglass, Resin and Catalyst.

Resin and Catalyst are mixed depending on brand.
More catalyst = less working time. (too much means you can't mould and sets too quick)
Less catalyst = more working time (too little means it takes ages to set)

MOULD! (Use foil over the originals to buffer it)
Lay the fibreglass, and brush the resin on.

Trim!

That's all I can help you with I guess... =/

[Red_EG4]

Take a look around at the Projects and Materials/Techniques on http://www.westsystem.com/
at school I use west system resin and hardener for carbon fibre and fibreglassing.
If you are going to use the Lights as the mould make sure you have plenty of wax on the cover or as Bayani has suggested use some foil to keep the resin from getting on the lights.
I use a mix of 5:2 ml Resin/Hardener. I use West System 105 Epoxy Resin and 206 Fast Hardener.
You can use either polyester resin or epoxy resin, research them to find out which one you think would be best for you.
Make sure you wear gloves and throw them out as soon as you have finished with them and dont reuse them. Keep the resin and hardener off your skin or your clothes. You will probly need to vacuum bag also. That is placing a bag around the mould and removing all the air. When I have fibreglassed I have used a general house paint brush of around 2" in size to "smash" the resin into the fibres. The fibre glass was then placed on the mould and a small bit of plastic, cut from a milk container for example, was used to drag out the excess resin.
(As I was writing this I was thinking you may need to make a mould of the lights to make them able to fit, you would make the mould and them the copies using the mould. You can make it out of fibreglass also or some form of foam, sorry I dont remember what it is though.)
Check your local yellow pages and look for composite sellers, boat repairers are usually available, head on down to them and they might be able to give you some more help.

[vinnY]

saw some pre-packaged diy kits down at bunnings which might get you started, not too expensive i think for a 50x50cm sheet + cat and resin

[muhhan]

The amount of work time you get once you mix the resin and catalyst is also affected by temperature so with this freezing @$$ winter we're having at the moment the process may be slower than normal. The amounts that bottle says is at room temperature (I think that's 24 degrees C).