Almost another fiberglass thread

[Chaparral2f]

I've been reading about the frustration you guys have with parts suppliers for fiberglass parts. Well you should try to find anything for a Z31.  I need a one piece fiberglass tilt front end, because the one I built weighs almost 150 lb. and has a tendency to flex  where the metal hood meets the urethane front fascia.  I have found a local shop who will build one for me for $3000, and even though I understand how much work is involved that seem a little steep.  Is it?  I really could use any advise because I'm way out of my depth with composits.

 

[JMortensen]

Having exactly one big FG project under my belt. I can tell you what I did that worked for me and what didn't work.

I read and re-read all of Terry Oxandale's posts about a billion times, then tried foam house insulation hot glued together and glued to the fenders, and tried to shape it with sanders and knives and saws, etc. Complete and total failure. I know it works for a lot of guys, but I'm apparently not one of them. It also made one hell of a mess in my shop.

 

Then I learned about "fleecing" which is building a frame, covering it with fleece (literally sweatshirt material). This sounded like a better option because I could make a frame from steel, and I'm a much better welder than a sculptor. I made a frame for the front which the fiberglass is dzus fastened to, and I cut most of the original fenders off and then dzused the fiberglass to what was left so that I didn't have to figure out how to attach it in the rear or have to get all the door gaps correct, etc.

 

After the frame was built I used packing tape and skinned the frame with that. To get the final shape I was going to use drywall mud. I didn't think the mud would stick to the tape, so I put a layer of packing paper on top of the tape and then put the mud on top. The mud turned out to be way too thick and wouldn't dry, so I started looking for other answers and came up with 2 part polyurethane foam. Mixed up the foam a little bit at a time and added it on and sanded to shape. One day I had gotten the pass side fender absolutely perfect. Had my 7 yo girl out there sanding with me, it was great. Came back out the next day and it had sunk. I probably screwed up the mix on the foam, but it had gotten soft and sunken in. At this point I went back to the mud. Put the mud on top of the foam and finally got the shape I wanted. 

 

Once the shape was done I went looking at fiberglass options. I did the fleece the front, and having done it that way, I wouldn't do it again. I'd just do the straight fiberglass instead. I used a fiberglass cloth called Knytex. Knytex is layered glass which has mat, then 45 degree weave in one direction, then 45 degree in the other direction. It does curves pretty well, and you can get it in different weights. I used 17 oz the first time, that worked pretty well. It was pretty difficult to saturate the 24 oz cloth that I used, so I would suggest two layers of 17oz cloth if you're going to apply the epoxy to the cloth directly and not use a mold and vacuum it in.

Here is the thread I made for my project: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/110952-starting-on-flares-for-15x14s/page-2

 

$3000 doesn't sound too bad. If they could expect to resell them you might do a little better, but the Z31 isn't that popular from what I've seen.

Edited October 20, 2015 by JMortensen

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

It's a lot of work, that's what you're paying for - the labor mostly.

 

You could do the work yourself for much cheaper.

 

Personally, I'd turn your current hood setup into a plug. Then splash a mold from that to make your 100% composite part.

 

 

There are so many different ways to do this, and so many variables - like resin type/processes involved, so it's hard to gauge what is "fair"

[johnc]

You're lucky they are not charging you $5,000. There is no market for this part so they can charge what they want. Tooling itself is at least 50% that price. Be grateful you found someone that would do it.

[BluDestiny]

That seems like a great price. I know the C4 corvette FG front ends are about $2000. and for $1000 more you're getting a custom part. Makes sense to me. 

[zeeboost]

Yeah I'd say $3000 is a good price given they are qualified and don't do a half ass job with it. I paid $1500 for mine used, $1800 for some hack to butcher it, then another $1500 for the third person to undo the butchering and make the proper modifications I initially requested.