fiberglassing stock dash ?

[Oleh]

im taking out the heater/ac and i want to fiberglass over the vents. what precautions should i take so it doesnt crack ?

[Datsun350Z]

Sure you want to fiberglass over a few perfectly good gauge pods?

 

Gauges mounted in the factory vents look clean.

 

Anyway, i'm sure a few layers of glass mat should be pretty solid, it's a fairly small opening, and has minimal flex.

 

If you want to you could probably spray some expanding insulation foam in the holes, then trim and sand it down so you don't have do do as much buildup where the mat might depress into the holes.

[boodlefoof]

I don't have any experience bonding metal to fiberglass (yet), but I've been reading up on bonding fiberglass to metal recently. The trend appears to be that the best adhesives for this type of application are urethane adhesives rather than epoxy. Supposedly they allow more flex between the parts than epoxy, which is more rigid.

[Guest markland556]

What i would do is sand/cut all the high spots down that you dont want such as the pod's or w/e. Then drill alot of little holes around where you will be fiberglassing. That way you can let the resin flow through a little and hold really well. Id just get a nice epoxy resin from a marine shot and some fiberglass chop mat off ebay or some places online for super cheap.

 

The expoxy is very rigid, if you are looking for a flexable type im not so sure where you could look, go for the marine route because they will be more familiar with fiberlglassing patches and what not.