Thread: Fiberglass Forms

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I'll see what I can dig up,


This was made using a solid block of pour foam the sanding it to shape then glassing up, bondo sealer then finally cover with leather.

After looking at Recovery Room's work I hesitate to post my cobbled mess, but here's a few pictures of what I've been doing - not sure it will ever make it into the car.... It's just a simple cup holder and shift boot base, before body filler. I didn't put in much work to get all of the little air bubbles out of the resin as it is not really a stuctural piece. The flat vertical will get an aluminum panel holding my power window and seat heat switches, if all goes as planned.

Get it sanded out then coat with Bondo, It will turn out fine. Having the soft looking corners makes it. Your on the right track

Yeah,Roger,that looks ok,,I dont actually do a lot of that sort of work for customers,mainly repairs and T buckets/coupes,etc,,but that makes me think that I should diversify a little..

I was at the dealership last week and the sales guys were talking about "fleecing" all the customers.....were they making fiberglass replicas? Hmmmm.......

Cool thread, getting ready to upholster the trunk. need to line the sides with something to build upon..this place is great for ideas thanks guys.

Originally Posted by 406Rich

Cool thread, getting ready to upholster the trunk. need to line the sides with something to build upon..this place is great for ideas thanks guys.

Rich, look back at the "cut & glue" thread - Lynn (RumRum) had some good pictures of his trunk, before & after, showing the luan plywood panels held in by velcro. I'll be going that route.

yes I remember that tread Roger, I`ve been bouning back and forth between the two, and silly me, my father used to builds boats as a hobby, using door skin and fiberglass, one that he built was 14 ft small hydro hull, put a 25 hp merc on it, man that thing was fast...boat weigh about 110 lbs filled with styrofoam.

Here's the little beast after sanding out the fiberglass, quite a bit of bondo shaping to the front "cleavage" area, and a first coat of Dolphin Glaze sanded out with 80 grit. I also taped on the aluminum subpanel that will hold the window switches and the seat heat switches (big points w/ the Mrs for the seat heaters!! ), and the cup holder inserts, all set in place in the car. The existing Hurst boot is secured to the floor to seal the opening, and the console will get a "leather" (vinyl) boot retained at the bottom by a walnut loop. It may be OK after all, considering that I cannot afford to eat into the tunnel space up front due to my size 12's

Thanks Roger, and note to self to build new door panels for `64 pickup...

i also use the skeleton/fleece method. i scored a massive roll for nothing!

the fleece method is good if you want a flowing curve or transition from one shape to another. like roger's cup holders, it goes from 2 round sections to a reasonably straight(looking down) edge. getting these shapes even and the same with the solid foam method is a bit trickier and takes a keener eye.

it is great fun and you can make anything you can dream up. I love fibreglass.

So when I thought I was done I set the piece in place and noticed that the top leaned forward equal to the rake of the chassis since I did the layout "level". I made some adjustment to the sides and front, and it is ready to start sanding again but I'm not sure about it anymore. Functionally it serves a good purpose, but I'm not sure of the "look". Here's three shots from different perspectives, understanding that it is not yet finished, plus one of the side perspective minus the console. I like the idea of the cup holders for cruising down the highway, but not sure I like them. Whadda ya' think??

Roger, you're headed in the right direction, picture it in finished form, it's going to look great. You were thinking ahead when you put the heaters in the seats, think ahead again, your wife riding around in those warm seats, needing a place to put her hot cup of latte. Where is she going to rest the cup if you don't put the console in?

Mike

I think it looks good. I plan to do something similar, but I hope to fit a narrow console between the seats too. I like how you didn't make it go up further toward the firewall. I want all the foot room I can get. If anything I would say make it a little lower, but you have that panel made and I don't think it's worth changing anything.

Mike,
Thanks for the input, and I agree on the functionality. No cup holders is just asking for a mess later...

35FordCoupe,
Thanks to you, too. My seats are only about 2.5" apart at the bolster, barely room for the seat belts, plus I put my e-brake at the front so no room between the seats for me.... Before raising the front my height was set for the bottom of the cup inserts to clear the hump by about 1/4". I may look at trimming a bit off of the bottom to drop the whole thing down, making the back part around the shifter lower, but it's nearly into the hump now. I'll look at it....

I'll do another round of sanding, filling and sanding, and see how it looks mounted. Need to stitch a boot and make a nice walnut trim ring for the base.