Making a fiberglass bumper?

[combinationLock]

In the midst of studying for finals my mind jolted and and now i want to make a bumper for my boring looking gen2 over the summer.

has anyone had experience working with fiberglass?
what kind of materials are needed? (please be specific)

i already drew some designs but i want to make this b!tch of an imagination come to life.

And no, its not going to look like those photoshops i did a while ago.

[PXLpainter]

Good luck! I wouldn't try something like that without some prior experience working with 'glass!!

The lazy way - slapping fiberglass and Bondo over your existing bumper and "shaping" it and wait for cracking down the line...

The right way - create a mockup design shape and create a mold off that - use gel coat and layer in fiberglass/resin and then you can make several if you choose. Make a good design and you could sell a few!

Do some Google searching on working with 'glass and get your chops up on some smaller sample projects.

[unbalancedwood]

Roll the fenders...?

[combinationLock]

molding the bumper from foam is a piece of cake. its just the resin and fiberglass... fabric.. stuff that bothers me.

what exactly is rolling the fenders?

[trdkamuri51o]

rolin the fenders is pushing the inside lip of that fender up and more of a V shape (for lack of ability to show in letters) rather than a L

this allows you to run wider wheels or wider tires...

[Sentinel]

why not go the full monty and go carbon fiber? It is about th same difficulty as working with glass cloth, just a little more expensive for the stuff. although for the best properties you want a combination of kevlar and carbon fiber.

Check out www.aircraftspruce.com for all your needs, you'll need a bum-load of stuff to do it right. they have how-to books and vids and mini-kits to try stuff out, if I remember correctly. (Many "kit-planes" use these techniques)

Make a form from foam, cover it in no-stick material, work your matrix material (resin) into the fiber and lay it over your mold. get really snazzy and do a vaccum-form in an oven.

Question is: do you have the time, patience, shop space, money and skills required?

[combinationLock]

the answer to all your question is.... yes. well space is limited to my garage but i doubt it really needs anything bigger than that. sculpting is a piece of cake.

[PXLpainter]

^^ If you had skills/experience working with the materials before then why the original post?

[combinationLock]

my apologies for not being more specific.

i have the skills, (not to be a bitch, but if it involves anything with art, i will be able to do it). its just that working with fiberglass material is new to me.

[PXLpainter]

It's more than just being artistic... you're dealing with chemicals, timing, temperature, humidity, sanding (lots of it!), bondo (more sanding), mold prep, release agents, gel coats, and the list goes on...

But knock yourself out! You've got all Summer to do it - so not like you're tackling it over a weekend or something!