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making flare mold and flares


jpuga

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:hs:i know a lot of you here in this site have made your own flares. there is a couple of ways to do them i thought the easy way was to buy the florist foam and make a mold out of it. i havint seen anyone here do that yet and if they did i didnt search good enough! well after im done with the mold im going to fiberglass it and hope for the best. i guess im just looking for some advice from the pros. this is the first time doing this and i have taken an autobody course just for the resto of my z. ill post some pic of what i have so far as soon as my wife gets back from walmart she took the f-n camera. give me about 30 min. thanks.:hs:

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You are correct using the floral foam. After discussing the application with BlueOvalZ, Terry gave me a crash course on making custom flairs. After applying the green floral foam, use a sure form shaper to rough out the shape. Sand using progressively finer sandpaper. You do not have to cover the foam with duct tape, metal tape or for that matter any other. One characteristic of floral foam is that is is unaffected by resin. You can go right over the top. After completing the resin, kitty hair and/or cloth, use a finishing resin for final top coats. Sand down hardened resin until smooth. Prime with a high build filler/primer then color sand and block out your finished flair. If you use a white type foam, it may have a reaction to the resin...but, not the green floral foam. When you are done, simply wash away the foam with acetone. That will eat away at the foam, but leave you with a finished flair, already in place and ready to paint. Here are some pics of the Two40MuscleZ using the green floral foam. Also check out Terry Oxandales' site and his BlueOvalZ. Good luck.

 

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VAN

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:hs:i know a lot of you here in this site have made your own flares. there is a couple of ways to do them i thought the easy way was to buy the florist foam and make a mold out of it. i havint seen anyone here do that yet and if they did i didnt search good enough! well after im done with the mold im going to fiberglass it and hope for the best. i guess im just looking for some advice from the pros. this is the first time doing this and i have taken an autobody course just for the resto of my z. ill post some pic of what i have so far as soon as my wife gets back from walmart she took the f-n camera. give me about 30 min. thanks.:hs:

 

Good thinking. Muscle Car on Speed 2 did that exact same thing on weeks ago. They covered the foam with aluminum foil and laid glass over that. They said there ere going to make molds after they were done so they could have extra flares. They did it on a '65 Mustang they were building for SCCA racing.

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Say where di ya get the floral foam at . Ive tried places hobby shops florists and such with no luck . I even show it to them in flower pots with fake flowers and they go duh no idea

 

Jason

i got the foam from MICHAELS they had a big ass piece wich i thought was expensive for 11bucks it was about 2in thick and 3ft long i got blocks of 4 and they were 3 bucks for 4 of them. also to make them stick im using spray adhesive doesnt work right oway but it gets the job i also use nails to hold them wile the the adhesive dries if anyone has better idea on what to use besides me let me know because the drying part its getting on my nerves.

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Great thread. Whats the trick to getting the foam to sit tight and stick against the body, and also how do you bond them when there done?

 

Also, has anyone tried tackling a ZGish pocket flare?

 

with fiberglass and mud well at least thats what im going to do

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  • 2 weeks later...

One thing I read, don't remember where, is that you should hit the fiberglass with mold release when you are totally done to fully cure the resin. When using molds its the first thing you put in the mold. But building by laying glass its the last thing you do. Spray it or paint it on both sides, leave it for 6 hours and wash it off with water. You cna get it at most marine centers like west marine.

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One thing I read, don't remember where, is that you should hit the fiberglass with mold release when you are totally done to fully cure the resin. When using molds its the first thing you put in the mold. But building by laying glass its the last thing you do. Spray it or paint it on both sides, leave it for 6 hours and wash it off with water. You cna get it at most marine centers like west marine.

 

Partially correct, for polyester resin anyway. If using polyester resin, on your last coat, you need to add a Surface agent to the resin/hardener mix (a styrene wax solution used to cause polyester, and vinyl ester resin and gel coats to cure tack free). If you don't add this to your final resin coat, it will not fully cure, and will remain tacky, and won't be sandable. If you are using an epoxy resin system, then there is no need for a surface agent, as it will fully cure on its own. I prefer epoxy because it doesn't stink as bad, and it is stronger.

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Partially correct, for polyester resin anyway. If using polyester resin, on your last coat, you need to add a Surface agent to the resin/hardener mix (a styrene wax solution used to cause polyester, and vinyl ester resin and gel coats to cure tack free). If you don't add this to your final resin coat, it will not fully cure, and will remain tacky, and won't be sandable. If you are using an epoxy resin system, then there is no need for a surface agent, as it will fully cure on its own. I prefer epoxy because it doesn't stink as bad, and it is stronger.

 

Oh boy, more confusion, LOL. If I make the parts using polyester resin is it alright to then add a final coat of epoxy resin over top of that? I assume then I would not need the curing agent, is that correct?

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