Irukanji
101% Lunacy
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 111
- Reaction score
- 5
- Points
- 18
- Age
- 33
- Location
- Heathcote
- Members Ride
- 2000 VT Exec LS1 A4
Ok, here goes.
I picked up a Clubsport copy body kit for $100(front and rear, no skirts) in poor condition. The front bumper had a lot of rash(they cable tied it on...), and a large chunk missing(~3cm x 5cm on the front lip). The rear is a different story, haven't started yet but it will need a lot of fixing.
Ingredients;
Fibreglass repair kit(it has some ~200gsm matting in it, with some poly resin and catalyst)
Scissors
Gloves and/or respirator(depends how "crumbly" the fibreglass is)
Wide Paint brush or roller
Sandpaper(80, 180, 240, 400, 800, 1000+)
Sanding block
Primer/undercoat
Spray paint of choice
Acetone
Paper towel/rags
Chinese food containers
Cooking Instructions;
1. Prepare the work piece. Either hose down or degrease and scrub depending on grottyness level. Cut the stray fibres out of the hole. Peel back any large flakes, they cut up your sandpaper.(1-2mm is fine)
2. Grab some 80 grit in your sanding block and go over the whole area on and near the repair site, on the paint side. Get it down as far as primer but since you're going to re-primer it shouldn't matter. I ended down at the black layer on the majority of the lip.
3. Sand the non-paint side, near the repair area. On the bodykit I was repairing, it is a tight fit underneath the opening so expect some sore knuckles.
4. Wipe the area down with acetone, both sides and in between the fibres. Probably overkill since there would be no grease after it's all sanded off(and dusted), but it never hurt in the past and I had a whole bottle of acetone.
5. Mix up the resin as per the kit. Measure out the required amount of matting to cover the hole plus 5cm all around. Wet the area with resin, then lay out the cloth into position. Dab more resin onto the cloth until it is wet and it has all "changed colour"(it basically goes translucent). Wait 24hrs for it to dry. Give it a few taps to make sure it's solid before proceeding.
6. Clean the area again with acetone(paint side only now). Mix up your choice of bog/body filler(polyester seems the favourite, easy to sand, easy to mix). Mix until it is all the same colour, no streaks, not too many air bubbles. Spoon it into the voids until it is 1mm or so above, and relatively smooth/uniform. The stuff I used had a weird liquidy stage and I ended up with a 3mm blob and a cavity. At the same time I filled in the rash on the bottom of the bumper, the tips of the kit at the front were gone so I put enough bog there to reshape it to normal.
7. Wait 30 mins to cure(or as stated on your product). Load up your sanding block with 80 grit and start sanding. Use long strokes to remove material. Get it down until it is almost flush with the surrounding surfaces. Leave just enough to catch a nail on, so you can smooth the area flush with the surface using some 240 grit to get rid of the gouges 80 grit leaves.
8. If you need to repair damage to complex shapes(ie. ridges), the sanding block will help you match the profile as you sand the bog down. Use long strokes along the entire edge using 240 grit after the majority of the material is gone to hide any imperfection and improve your odds of having it look right. It will take a lot of sanding by hand(no block) to fix some of the curves and get both sides looking right(ie. the divider piece in some front bumpers).
9. Once the repaired areas have been successfully bogged and everything is hunky-dory, hit it with some primer. I only primered the repaired areas for now. Let it dry, then go over it with some 240 grit gently to even out the surface. Now, rub down the entire bumper with 240 grit by hand(no block). Get as much of the first layer off as you can. Hose the dust off. Now, wipe down the surface with some metho or similar. I used acetone but it removed some of the primer, so metho would probably be better. Give the bumper a coat of primer(patchy is ok). When dry, go over it with 800 grit. It's what I used and it seemed to work. Don't worry if you remove some primer, most paints will stick without it so this is just insurance.
10. Paint it. Long even strokes across the panel with a bit of a sideways flick at the end. It's kinda hard to explain, watch some youtube, most of them do it the same way. I managed 1 full coat with 1.5 cans. Spray light amounts over the panel then go back over a few times to even out the colour. Hard to explain. I'm choosing to stop at this stage, but if you're using a colour match paint you will probably want to wet sand with some 1000grit, and give it a few clear coats to bring out the colour/sparkle.
I only have a picture of the finished product. I'll remember to snap more when I do the rear, but I suspect there is more to do structurally so might make for some easier shots
http://oi58.tinypic.com/xfaji1.jpg
Well, the fit is pretty crap. The bits around the headlights don't match properly(3-4mm out side-side and a big gap underneath each headlight. Ultimately it only cost about $200 all up for the front and rear bars, plus all the gear to fix them. Learning a lot, but most of the techniques are just improvements from fixing motorbike fairings. Still need to determine if the way it is mounted will be adequate to hold it given the lack of cast in platforms to lock into the stock mounts....it's a future write up.
Feeds 4. Your results may vary.
EDIT: Seems to hold ok, the platforms for the driving lamps should be fixed whilst you're doing it(if applicable), the ones in this bumper aren't terribly square. Just fibreglass a piece in and have a way to hold it whilst the resin cures. I'll probably fix it when it's time to do the colour match(def promise more pics).
I picked up a Clubsport copy body kit for $100(front and rear, no skirts) in poor condition. The front bumper had a lot of rash(they cable tied it on...), and a large chunk missing(~3cm x 5cm on the front lip). The rear is a different story, haven't started yet but it will need a lot of fixing.
Ingredients;
Fibreglass repair kit(it has some ~200gsm matting in it, with some poly resin and catalyst)
Scissors
Gloves and/or respirator(depends how "crumbly" the fibreglass is)
Wide Paint brush or roller
Sandpaper(80, 180, 240, 400, 800, 1000+)
Sanding block
Primer/undercoat
Spray paint of choice
Acetone
Paper towel/rags
Chinese food containers
Cooking Instructions;
1. Prepare the work piece. Either hose down or degrease and scrub depending on grottyness level. Cut the stray fibres out of the hole. Peel back any large flakes, they cut up your sandpaper.(1-2mm is fine)
2. Grab some 80 grit in your sanding block and go over the whole area on and near the repair site, on the paint side. Get it down as far as primer but since you're going to re-primer it shouldn't matter. I ended down at the black layer on the majority of the lip.
3. Sand the non-paint side, near the repair area. On the bodykit I was repairing, it is a tight fit underneath the opening so expect some sore knuckles.
4. Wipe the area down with acetone, both sides and in between the fibres. Probably overkill since there would be no grease after it's all sanded off(and dusted), but it never hurt in the past and I had a whole bottle of acetone.
5. Mix up the resin as per the kit. Measure out the required amount of matting to cover the hole plus 5cm all around. Wet the area with resin, then lay out the cloth into position. Dab more resin onto the cloth until it is wet and it has all "changed colour"(it basically goes translucent). Wait 24hrs for it to dry. Give it a few taps to make sure it's solid before proceeding.
6. Clean the area again with acetone(paint side only now). Mix up your choice of bog/body filler(polyester seems the favourite, easy to sand, easy to mix). Mix until it is all the same colour, no streaks, not too many air bubbles. Spoon it into the voids until it is 1mm or so above, and relatively smooth/uniform. The stuff I used had a weird liquidy stage and I ended up with a 3mm blob and a cavity. At the same time I filled in the rash on the bottom of the bumper, the tips of the kit at the front were gone so I put enough bog there to reshape it to normal.
7. Wait 30 mins to cure(or as stated on your product). Load up your sanding block with 80 grit and start sanding. Use long strokes to remove material. Get it down until it is almost flush with the surrounding surfaces. Leave just enough to catch a nail on, so you can smooth the area flush with the surface using some 240 grit to get rid of the gouges 80 grit leaves.
8. If you need to repair damage to complex shapes(ie. ridges), the sanding block will help you match the profile as you sand the bog down. Use long strokes along the entire edge using 240 grit after the majority of the material is gone to hide any imperfection and improve your odds of having it look right. It will take a lot of sanding by hand(no block) to fix some of the curves and get both sides looking right(ie. the divider piece in some front bumpers).
9. Once the repaired areas have been successfully bogged and everything is hunky-dory, hit it with some primer. I only primered the repaired areas for now. Let it dry, then go over it with some 240 grit gently to even out the surface. Now, rub down the entire bumper with 240 grit by hand(no block). Get as much of the first layer off as you can. Hose the dust off. Now, wipe down the surface with some metho or similar. I used acetone but it removed some of the primer, so metho would probably be better. Give the bumper a coat of primer(patchy is ok). When dry, go over it with 800 grit. It's what I used and it seemed to work. Don't worry if you remove some primer, most paints will stick without it so this is just insurance.
10. Paint it. Long even strokes across the panel with a bit of a sideways flick at the end. It's kinda hard to explain, watch some youtube, most of them do it the same way. I managed 1 full coat with 1.5 cans. Spray light amounts over the panel then go back over a few times to even out the colour. Hard to explain. I'm choosing to stop at this stage, but if you're using a colour match paint you will probably want to wet sand with some 1000grit, and give it a few clear coats to bring out the colour/sparkle.
I only have a picture of the finished product. I'll remember to snap more when I do the rear, but I suspect there is more to do structurally so might make for some easier shots
http://oi58.tinypic.com/xfaji1.jpg
Well, the fit is pretty crap. The bits around the headlights don't match properly(3-4mm out side-side and a big gap underneath each headlight. Ultimately it only cost about $200 all up for the front and rear bars, plus all the gear to fix them. Learning a lot, but most of the techniques are just improvements from fixing motorbike fairings. Still need to determine if the way it is mounted will be adequate to hold it given the lack of cast in platforms to lock into the stock mounts....it's a future write up.
Feeds 4. Your results may vary.
EDIT: Seems to hold ok, the platforms for the driving lamps should be fixed whilst you're doing it(if applicable), the ones in this bumper aren't terribly square. Just fibreglass a piece in and have a way to hold it whilst the resin cures. I'll probably fix it when it's time to do the colour match(def promise more pics).
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