Blocking my POS Gibbon body

[Henry Rifle]

I've been blocking the gelcoat on my POS Gibbon body, and most of it coming out prety well. They used a pretty nice sandable gelcoat/primer. However, the hood has a problem. Oh, it fits OK, but they never finished the underside of the hood. The mold was a reverse of the top of the hood, then they blew chopper gun glass into it, laid in some coremat, then brushed glass resin all over it. It looks like crap.

I'm thinking of two options:

1. Since this coupe is going to be a driver, just glue in some nice hood insulation and let it go at that.

2. Get out the glass mat and resin and spend a couple of weeks laying in some light glass. I'm shying away from that option because even with the hundreds of tools I have, finishing the curved inside is going to be a B**CH.

Just venting, I guess . . .

[brianrupnow]

Paint it black and don't worry about it. Every fiberglass hood I ever had looked like that on the inside.

[Henry Rifle]

Brian,

Good idea. I like a man with a plan. Now I just have to decide which color of black.

[pat mccarthy]

d.a with 80 grit sand out the lows with 80 grit and mud it sand it out prime it and paint flat black

[firebird77clone]

use the aluminum backed insulation, with the aluminum showing to the underside of the hood. It will look great.

[HOTRODPAINT]

...or shoot it with undercoat for a texture, then black it, or you can use trunk paint, for a speckled finish.

[76GMC1500]

If you want the underside of the hood to be smooth, rough it up with 80 grit, go to your marine store and buy some West System epoxy resin and #407 filler to make a high strength fairing compound. Putty up the inside of the hood real good and sand it down just like Bondo. I'm sure you could just use Bondo, but the West System system allows you to regulate the viscosity so you can spread it on real thin to minimize sanding. It still has good density so it wont absorb all of your primer, either. Enough resin, hardener, and filler to make a quart will run you about $55. If you have any left over, this stuff can be used to wet out glass just like polyester, but is actually stronger, and it can be used as an adhesive, all you need to do is buy different thickeners/fillers to match it to your application. A big can of additive is only $8. #404 and #407 will serve your every need.

[SprayTech]

My Gibbons Glass Hood I got for my 37 Ford is like that too , I was just going to get some of EverCoats Tiger Hair Body Filler , and sand smooth , then prime , paint body color .
The Tiger Hair has Ground up fiber glass in it so it should Lock on better then just plain filler .

[pat mccarthy]

yes the west system is good. and made here in bay city mich. a bit over kill.i have a friend that builds air planes with it. but a thin coat of filler will do the job sanding is not bad if you put it on smoooth this is the way i did air plane cowls and fared out the plane parts but if you want to spend the money you could use the west system and use the saran brown powder with it.it sand very good

[Irelands child]

Isn't it great that Gibbons (Kyle Bond) can no longer produce junk as he did over the past 4-6 years. Someone else in VA has bought some of his molds and is making cars and parts - and yes, I have had my encounters over POS pieces with him that finally came close to him taking a swing at me at the Syracuse Right Coast Nats a couple of years ago.

[DA34GUY]

Hit it with 80 grit to knock it down, then 150 to smooth abit. Then get some Gator guard Truck bed liner ( tintable )You can tint it with the same color of the car. Shoot 3-4 coats,covers a multitude of sins and gives the textured finish of a spray-in bed liner, Been doin this for years and most guys can't figure out how I did it and comment on how nice the texture looks.

[Don Meyer]

I'd spray it with shultz undercoating. It drys hard & leaves a nice finish. It is also paintable.

[Henry Rifle]

I have had my encounters over POS pieces with him that finally came close to him taking a swing at me at the Syracuse Right Coast Nats a couple of years ago.

Did he have to stand on a stool to reach your jaw?

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I'll work something out - although I probably won't try to make it smooth like the outside. If I could DA it all, I probably would, but my DA won't work on the inside curves, and I've got enough work just getting the outside straight.

And, it's too bad about Gibbon. Kyle took the old man's business and ran it into the ground. The only reason I bought from Gibbon was because I had done business with Dwight, and at one time, Dwight put out quality products. I should have checked more closely when I put down the cash, but . . . live and learn. Where are Sherman, Peabody and the Wayback machine when you need them?

[HOTRODPAINT]

A good way of sanding inside curves is to wrap sandpaper around a piece of large radiator hose.

[pat mccarthy]

A good way of sanding inside curves is to wrap sandpaper around a piece of large radiator hose.

well my d.a will hold it at a 45 angle to the in side curves run it at a slow speed and you could use a rolling pin to with sand paper on it