killervette666

As you may or may not know my vette was in an accident last fall and we're about ready to buy the new front clip and bumper. But what my brother was saying is that we should get the front end and then make a mold out of it using resin and fiberglass cloth. Then to use the mold to make a one piece tilt front end by laying down fiberglass into the mold. Is this possible? Has anyone tried it?

flood

sounds like alot of work. 1 piece tilt front end? Like a semi? :confused:


[Modified by flood, 5:52 PM 3/18/2004]

killervette666

yeah, grandsportC3 has one and ecklers makes them but they are EXTREMLY expensive, $2500 for one from ecklers


[Modified by killervette666, 6:58 PM 3/18/2004]

442olds

You mean like this:



This is the eklers version. Grandsport has a front end that was glassed together, quite well I might add. Making a mold isn't just that easy. You need to spend many many hours sanding the mold to get it as smooth as possible. then once you get it smooth you spray on some gel caot and sand and buff and smooth the mold again. Then you can add mold release, spray on some more gel caot and then you can back the gel coat with fiber glass, carbon fiber, kevlar, whatever suits your pocket book. the kevlar would be cool, strong light and bullet proof! :D

I bet you could spend 1 year easy just making the mold and getting it perfect.

81' Corvette Guy

Remember, it is not a one piecer...actually 3 pieces and hinge and ext. mods that must be made from what I have read...take your time and research this one out...thanks, Joe!

killervette666

I was also thinking that it would be extremly time consuming and diffucult, but the mold doesnt need to be EXACTLY perfect, you can always sand out any imperfections as long as they are not TOO big. And the carbon fiber/ kevlar option is EXTREMLY cool, maybe if we make the mold good enough we can sell custom made carbon fiber front clips :cool:

442olds

Mine weights about 300 lbs (maybe not sure, two people can lift it easy), if you can cut it down to 200, that would be really awsome.

Trust me a good mold to start with saves pain and agravation later. If you spend a lot of time preping the mold you have a much better chance of actually getting the finished product out. Skip steps and I garantee your going to have more problems than you would want to deal with. Been there done that just on a much smaller scale.


[Modified by 442olds, 2:18 AM 3/19/2004]

comp

:thumbs:

comp

Hey killer are you going to have a chunk of the front end or hood to throw-away ??? i need a piece to do the Chrome air cleaner burns paint test ??
let know i'll send money for the shipping :thumbs:

killervette666

I have a whole bunch of pieces of fiberglass laying around including the whole left fender, just tell me what size piece you need :thumbs:

reidry

Killer,

I'm interested in a couple of piece of fiberglass if you have the hood surround I'm interested in the sections back by the windsheild that span the space between the hood and the quarter panel.

I'm changing from a short to long hood and need to make the fenders match. These sections would be very helpful. Happy to pay for shipping and a few $$ for your trouble.

Thanks,

Ryan

comp

i'll check with post office they have some standard size box's to make i easier
i'm guessing 1ft-2ft max A fender would look real cool on my wall, i'll
check with you tomorrow

comp

12" x 12" will be big enough to use as test piece.... :thumbs:

killervette666

ill see if i have anything tommorow when i go down to the garage, ill email you :cheers: