fiberglass caps for the inside of the hatch

[lostforawhile]

well i'm working on a project kind of like this,but in black tweed for the inside of the hatch. I wanted to cover the two giant ugly plastic pieces in the hatch,but due to their complex shape,it's very difficult. what I have done is create a mold for each side of those pieces,I'm overlaying fiberglass mat in the molds right now,when it's cured and trimmed,I will upholster the fiberglass caps in the tweed,then they fit right on over the plastic in the car. when I created the mold,I created an area for a six inch monitor also,this is raised and fits right over the existing plastic. it's all blended so it looks factory. the monitor is for an atari flashback console i'm putting in the hatch. forget playstation,it's been overdone,I want eighties video games in an eighties car. it doesn't take an space in the hatch,as I am utilizing non used space. ok I posted this last night,here are some pics,I put this in it's own thread. it's all trimmed up for the passenger side,but I ran out of film before I trimmed it.now I need to upholster it and install the monitor when I can afford it.

[w00tw00t111]

Lookin' good Tim. If you don't mind sharing how'd you make the mold?
P.s. I love the Atari Idea. So true 80's games for an 80's car but, for that matter I just love old school vgs!

[lostforawhile]

well I used an actual plastic piece from a hatch,I put a wood block on it for where the monitor goes,then it was a lot of filling and shaping with bondo,then I covered the entire thing with duct tape,fiberglass resin peels off of ducttape. then it was simply laying mat into it and saturating it with resin,then trimming the entire thing after it was peeled off. it fits over the plastic in my car but has extra space now for the monitor.

[lostforawhile]

ok here are some pics,it's temp mounted in the hatch,I still have some trimming and fitting to do,then I have to take it out and upholster the entire thing in the black tweed. but this is how it fits anyway.

[Selfmindead]

Thats an awesome Idea man, which flashback are you using? Id use the flashback 2!

[lostforawhile]

I didn't know there were two different flashback systems,what is the difference? I can't do the other side until i get the system,I need to make the cap for the passenger side,but I'm going to build the system into it. I like my eighties games,I'm not much into the modern games. BLEEP BLOOP BLOOP

[Selfmindead]

The flashback one uses a Nintendo chip, & the emulation isn’t very good, the flashback 2 is 2600 games only, made from real 2600 hardware, plus the original controllers, heaps better apparently

[Cheeseburger]

thats going to look sweet tim!

[lostforawhile]

ok some progress,I'm almost done with the main fiberglass piece that holds the monitor,I'm finished with the two smaller fiberglass pieces that also go on that side,they are also upholstered,I have to do some filling and some more sanding on the main piece before i cover it,but i also made the piece that holds the monitor controls out of aluminum.
it's snowing aluminum!!

the piece after being machined from a block

[lostforawhile]

hmmm,maby I should hav put this entire thread in audio video?

[carotman]

Hmmm Looking good so far

[lostforawhile]

for a note,the black pieces on here are already covered now,this is what the main fiberglass piece will look like when it's finished,I was going to glue today,but we had a line of severe thunderstorms go through here,and the humidity is way too high for upholstery glue. have a bit of filling to do yet on that piece,but not much,the areas on the plastic part in the car not covered by material will be painted graphite black. then the fiberglass pieces attach with trim clips to them. maby by next thursday i'll be able to get this thing in.

[jigga89SEi]

Hey Tim... How would I go about making an entire mold of a bumper?... Or what kinda company should I get intouch with to do this? I'm making a fiberglass bumper... But I'd like to get a mold made so that I can make another "back-up" bumper...

[lostforawhile]

hmmm,not sure on that,why are you making a fiberglass bumper? are you making one like the original or for something like a body kit? if it's a body kit,i would get a used bumper and inner frame, mount the bumper to something then use clay to mold it to the shape you want. once you do that,you can coat the entire thing with mold release and lay fiberglass matt over it. thats how I did my caps for the hatch. I made the mold from an orignal piece and built it up the way I wanted too. you can use clay, wood,whatever you want to get the shape you want,the fiberglass will take the shape of the final piece. if you want to mold something really wild,you can always get a junk front clip and use that to make your initial mold. the problem with that is it involves buying a salvage vechicle and having the space to store it. but you would always have it for making parts. a lot of these companies that make body kits have an entire fleet of non running vechicals that these use for making molds.

[jigga89SEi]

Well it's a "drift style" bumper I'm "creating" for the 3g... Just a one-off type thing... But even though my car will look like a show car... it will still be a daily driver... So I have assume that these fiberglass body parts i'm making will not last... therefore I want to have a backup...

U have any idea of what type of company I'd wanna look into to have this done for me?

[A20A1]

I think foam is good for holding shapes over a large area...

Are you doing that really nice looking AE86 style drift bumper?

[lostforawhile]

Well it's a "drift style" bumper I'm "creating" for the 3g... Just a one-off type thing... But even though my car will look like a show car... it will still be a daily driver... So I have assume that these fiberglass body parts i'm making will not last... therefore I want to have a backup...
U have any idea of what type of company I'd wanna look into to have this done for me?

there is no reason it shouldn't last,this is the same way they make fiberglass boats,they just lay matt over a mold and saturate it with resin,they build layers until it's the thickness they want.

[jigga89SEi]

Well i'm just thinking about the first time I take a corner to fast and hit a curb.. or god forbid something bigger... You know... Just a back-up... Plus I'm considering getting a hatch and dropping a turbo a20 in that... .Since it's been decided the SEi will NEVER have a turbo...

[A20A1]

Fiberglass was expensive I spent like $100 and got only a few thin layers of matting out of it.

[lostforawhile]

I was lucky enough to get some at work,we have an eight foot by 100 yard roll of matting in the old hanger that probably hasn't been touched in twenty years,but my boss about had a heart attack when I wanted to get some of it. had about a foot of dust on it.

[3G Jester]

use an old blanket or some shit.

[lostforawhile]

use an old blanket or some shit.

Oh he let me get some,they have a lot of junk that has been colecting dust for years

[Cheeseburger]

sweet going tim!!!

[88Accord-DX]

I'm ready to see what came out of all that body work & some paint sticking to it. Anyhow, nice fiberglass molding there.

[lostforawhile]

so do I,so do I, now we have to repair more damage from that idiot backing into my hood, but school starts back today so i'll get busy on it.