can you make your own bodykit?

[Swimminmarine]

I was wondering if there was anyway to make your own body kit... I realize i dont have a DSM but you guys seem more intelligent than any of the other forums that im on.

- Eric

 

[TwinkY]

you could...... you would have to be REALLY good with fiber glass.... but its possible....

and yes... we are alot smarter than the other forums... its gotta be the cars!

 

[Swimminmarine]

I meant like, does anyone know how? im interested in learning...

- Eric

 

[ECTurboDSM]

Your best place to find information on molding fiber glass and actually creating stuff out of fiber glass would be a place that makes small boats. Guys who work on boats are the encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to fiberglass.

 

[Swimminmarine]

Thanks ECTurboGSX, I have no idea how I'm going to find a place like that around here, but its the most useful information i've gotten so far.

- Eric

 

[ECTurboDSM]

Come on, you live in Virginia. There has to be a boat repair place somewhere . I bought fiber glass to mess with, but I am no where near making a body kit, or anything free standing at that.

 

[Swimminmarine]

im not too experienced with fiberglass...but i dont think a body kit is SUPPOSED to be free standing yeah, i just dont know where around here i could find a place like that...i mean i live between the potomac and the rappahannock 2 big rivers, but i dont think im gonna be finding a place like that close by...

- Eric

 

[4G63luvr]

First of all AND last of all it's impossible. I hate to ruin a dream of yours but you need a lot of forms to mold the fiberglass around and HUGE ovens. It is pretty intense work, my best friend used to work for wings west. It's a nice thought though because as we all know they are really expensive.
Chris

 

[jES(i)se]

its not impossible and you don't need a big oven. Just a good knowledge of fiberglass and patience. It will be something I do this summer.

 

[kanlhitit]

Yes,
It can be done... It may take some time and lots of patience, but IT CAN BE DONE...

 

[Swimminmarine]

ok so its been agreed upon that i can make my own body kit, but im still clueless about how to go about starting, any ideas? and incase you were wondering why im wondering about making my own...is because i havnt found one for my car at all.

- Eric

 

[Beef Jerky]

Well what kind of car do you have?

 

[gtrvspec01]

it can be done. but might get very expensive

 

[Swimminmarine]

I have a 1997 Saturn SL1 and i like it. and i dont have the money for a sports car or anything insurance would be too high. i got it from my parents so its not that bad, i just want to make it unique, and in the process aquire a new skill and learn something about cars.

- Eric

 

[Beef Jerky]

Actually they make body kits for that car.

 

[Swimminmarine]

They do? where can i find one? ive been searching for about 2 months and i havnt found a single one. a 1997 4 door saturn sl1?

- Eric

 

[black9d1tsiawd]

Iam not sure did u try, importfan.com asylumms.com sensemotorsports.com ??


Anyways, it is possible. Someone should kno how 2 help u

 

[brcewane]

Swimminmarine.... A good place to go to get started.. is amazon.com... take a look around on there for hotrod books and ones for fiberglass molding...

There are quite a few step by step books out there that would help you get started. I know, because before I gave up my dream of createing the 89 Keaton batmobile, (Yea I am a bit of a batman fanatic) and bought my DSM instead, I was looking into molding and creating the batmobile body from scratch based on blueprints I aquired.

Here is a quick 101 on fiberglass moding/making:

Step 1)
Basically to create your body kit you have to first create what is called a "PLUG".. this is just simply a form that you want your end result to look like... you can create it in clay, foam, wood or whatever molding material you like.

If you are good with wood working or find someone who is (like a furniture maker shop) you could draw out what you want and have them make it out of wood and fit it right on the car with the factory mounting holes and see what it looks like on the car.

Step 2)
Lube up your plug , (vasaline works well) then make a mold out of fiberglass or plaster from your "plug". This is going to be the foundation for your kit. Your choice of material for the mold really depends on how many copies, or "pulls", you want to do from that one mold, or if it is a throw away.

Step3)
Lube up your mold and then lay your fiberglass into the mold to the desired thickness and flexibility that you want.

Step 4)
Pull from mold, sand it and trim it to fit it to the car.

Hope this gives you a better idea of what is involved... if you have any other questions feel free to PM me.. I am by no means an expert but I have done a fair bit of research into the process.

Tim

 

[wicked93GS]

yes, its perfectly possible, in fact I have made part of a body kit before...for my 67 mustang I made side skirts, first thing I did was take some typing paper and mocked up how I wanted it to look(easy enough, just cut the paper and fold and tape till you get the shape you want, if you have a good paint job though I'm warning you, if you use tape thats too good it can peel the paint off on an old paint job) anyway, after its all molded up in paper, take the paper off, untape it all and what I did was get some thin sheets of aluminum(my local newspaper sells them for 75 cents each for a 2x4 piece) and I traced the paper pieces I had cut onto the aluminum so I had a bunch of aluminum stuff that didnt look like much, then I assembled the aluminum(has to have the same bends and all as the paper) in the same way the paper was and taped it from the back, this left me with a solid mold, only problem was there were seams where the pieces fit together, so I used bondo to smooth them all over into one solid piece, this gave me a mold of sorts,( only problem with aluminum is you have to be really careful bending it, because it kinks easily and kinks will at least dealy if not ruin the project entirely, other people using molding foam and just carve it by the way) anyway, after I had the mold, I simply got fiberglass and layered it all over the mold, then lighter fiberglass cloth and laid that over the fiberglass mat, bondo to smooth out any places that needed it , sanded, then never got around to painting them(still in my backroom) anyway, these were not simple side skirts like say a ford explorer has, these were side skirts that flowed into wheel flares, anyway when I finished the skirts ended up looking like the ground effects on a 5.0 mustang, but better(always liked the classic mustangs better) so it is perfectly possible, I just wish people wouldnt say stuff is impossible just because they arent willing to try it themselves

 

[Swimminmarine]

Thanks alot for that information brcewane! its really helpful

Thanks wicked93gs for your idea also. do you have pictures of the ones you made? on or off the car? id like to see how well that came about.

- Eric

 

[rubbersidedown]

i can think of a somewhat easier way to go about it... say you wanted to make a bumper. You can take the bumper you already have or find one at a junkyard and use it as your base. from there you can cut it up or add areas w/ bondo, clay, cardboard, or whatever you find works best. I think it would be much easier for a first timer to start off with a base rather than make it entirely from scratch. When you complete that then that'll be your "plug" as stated above. its just a though.

 

[Swimminmarine]

Thats definatly worth a try first, thanks alot.

- Eric

 

[wicked93GS]

yes, just take the pieces you already have, I had to start from scratch because I had a 67 mustang and at the time no one had ground effect kits for them(thats changed since though) also made a front spoiler for it, but never finished it, anyway I'm sorry I dont have any pictures, I have no camera right now digital or otherwise it was a lot of work, but it made my 67 look similar to a 5.0 except with the classic body lines, then I had to sell it, it sucked, it is a lot of work, but its definately worth it....oh yeah, I have since found that it helps a hell of a lot to draw it up on paper first, my first attempt was a pain in the ass because I didnt, nothing like when someone asks where you got the body kit and you tell them you made it yourself custom, he he

 

[dsmnate]

Check out www.fiberglast.com for tutorials on how to work with fiberglass. They used to have free online tutorials but that may have change, I haven't been there in a while. I know they sell anything and everything you would need to do what your talking about though.

 

[Swimminmarine]

Thanks everyone for your help, all the retards in the saturn forums said no you couldnt make your own body kit...well screw em! they dumb anyway. im gonna start making one sometime soon, i'll let ya know how it goes...

- Eric