Fiberglass help

[V8VW]

Being I am a novice, I am asking for help/advice. I would like to make some flat, strong fiberglass floor panels. My question is this. If I were to make a mold, let's say from 1/4" tempered hardboard, what is the best material to use. Material or strand sheets? How do I add stiffeners for support and what type of material can I use for the stiffeners? I would like the panels smooth on both sides if possible. Will a roller work on doing that? I need all the help I can get.

[astroracer]

Hey Tom,
I frequent this site more then I do Hotrodders! I can repost my reply to you over there if you want but that's probably not necessary. Check out my van thread and the 'glass work I have done to the engine cover.
Linky...https://www.pro-touring.com/showthread.php?t=20086&page=22&highlight=bad+ast
The actual cover work starts in post #425. :)
Adding strips of steel (as I did) or wood to your floor pan will help increase the strength also. build the glass up around the stiffeners and it will be plenty stout!
mark

[broken1234]

I can't make the van pics show up... most are red "x"'s... I would be interested in seeing them.

What is Hotrodders? Another forum?

[astroracer]

Hmmm. I just replaced the link. Everything shows up when I open the thread.
Yea, http://www.hotrodders.com/

[broken1234]

Thanks, So you left all the metal "formers" inside this cover? The structure ended up being the metal, a piece of cardboard, a piece of T shirt material, and how many layers of glass?

Some of it was polyester and some epoxy? No adhesion issues between the two?

[astroracer]

Yes, as it sits now, all of the structure as you see it in the thread is still there. The issue is, it is getting very heavy. I plan to finish the outside and use that to pull a mold. The cover will then be made out of carbon fiber which will be a LOT lighter and stronger then the "mutt" we have right now.
The cover is all one resin. I believe it is an epoxy type, I'd have to look. The new carbon fiber piece will be built using epoxy resin.

[Z06killinSBF]

One option: use rope in an "S" form on 2 sheets of fiberglass mat. Make the forms where when sandwiched together so the rope doesn't interfere. Then sandwich the 2 pieces together with some sort of adhesive.

Something like these AWESOME MSPaint skillz

81686

[minendrews68]

This is a lot of trouble, but something I did for some of my RC boats. I used fiberglass cloth (in your case I believe I would use mat). I made a piece 12" x 12" x 1/8" thick. I "wetted" my cloth, and put it on a piece of scrap granite. I did this several times until I had what I thought would end up being 1/8" thick. (it was actually thicker when I started). I then took another piece of granite and laid it on top of the laminations. I did wax the shiny sides of the granite so the fiberglass wouldn't stick to it. Then I put some more pieces on top of that piece of granite for weight. I let it sit overnight. The next morning I had a perfectly flat piece of laminated fiberglass. You could almost put a micrometer on it and it be the same. This process worked very well and gave me the strength and smoothness I was looking for. In response to your question above, you can roll the fiberglass out with a roller, it will still be somewhat un level. The way I did it was slick as glass. You will have to trim the edges so if you try this make it bigger than you actually need, so you can trim to the size you need. Have any questions let me know.

Carl

[jlcustomz]

Many newer fiberglass products use a product like coremat to add stiffness without being overly heavy.
https://www.google.com/#q=core+mat

[69stang]

I've used kevlar strands from scraps of raw laminated kevlar sheets to add strength & rigidity. You can buy rolls of 1 & 2 inch wide kevlar. Also think you can buy kevlar in string form.