Fiberglass Enclosures

[BurnBarfield]

Okay, I have made small fiberglass enclosures before, I have two in my hatch right now, a 12" in each where it goes in on the sides of the hatch.

But, I've lately wanted to do something bigger, and more showy. I want to make a enclosure to cover most of the hatch, but I don't know how to make it curvey, smooth and sleek. Can anyone tell me how to do this?

 

[DSMhelex]

goto walmart and get some fleece from the crafts section and then lay it over where you want the curves to go... make sure its exactly how you want it using staples and clips holding it in places you want. Then paint liquid fiberglass over it. when it dries, lay a few layers of fiberglass overtop of it and sand away, and then paint. vola!

 

[Flash]

Use a belt sander to make everything easier.

 

[devlish]

check my website for some How-To's on fiberglass enclosures. it may help you out a bit... let me know if you have any questions, i've done a ton of them, and have taken pics along the way during a few of them and posted them on my website, even did a write-up on one. it's pretty basic and quick, but it might just help out a bit

 

[Thomas91169]

its pretty easy but very time consuming. dont expect it to be a weekend thing.

http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/
pretty helpful site. i went by that and went straight into a huge backseat enclosure for my spyder, with zero previous fiberglass, body work or prep experience.

and dont use a belt sander. its very cumbersome and hard to make curves. get a DA sander if you have a compressor handy(one that can run a DA sander at constant psi), itll make short work of bondo/body filler. after that, i used sanding sponges from harbor frieght in medium and fine grit to smooth everything out, then wetsanded with 500grit just for shits and giggles. primered, sanded and wetsanded after that, then basecoat black, followed by more black, and then more black.

 

[dsmnate]

FYI... You can also get electric DA type sanders that would work if you do not have access to an air compressor.

Just a note.... expect lots and lots and lots of sanding and filling and sanding to get it nice a smooth.