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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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590470 No.590470 [Reply] [Original]

I'm hoping someone here has a little fibreglass experience.

A few months ago I was browsing kijiji with a friend, and ended up making a bet with him that I couldn't take a basket case of a '86 GSX550, and make it fully operational and looking decent for under $500 ($300 after taking out purchase price of the bike).

So far I've got everything assembled and running perfectly, I'm just working away at cosmetic stuff.

One big thing that has me stuck is that I am missing two panels. My bike looks almost identical to the one in the pic, but I am missing the two front fairings that mount just above the engine (I have the main front fairing). The bike is not common here in Canada, so I can't find the two panels without completely blowing my budget.


I'm thinking since they have a relatively simple shape, I could make them from scratch out of fibreglass. I have a good amount of woodworking experience, and a bit of metal working and automotive body work under my belt, but little to no fiberglass experience.

My plan is to build the panels out of layers of cardboard, then covering them in fibreglass. I'll then give the whole thing several coats of fibreglass resin, then skim coat with Bondo if I need to.

Does this sound like a good plan? Should I stretch fabric over the cardboard, or would that be a waste of time/materials? Will the finished product be stiff enough to use bondo?

I have a very limited budget, but all the time I need. Any tips at all are appreciated

>> No.590471
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590471

The cardboard, fiberglass, bondo idea sounds fine as long as you can make it so it mounts correctly to the mounting points. Which should be easy enough just cutting out cardboard to match the shape you see in pictures until your satisfied. You might even be able to get some specs online on the front fairing dimensions. I guess when you make the front fairings you could do it two ways;

1. Cut cardboard out to shape then fiberglass over it on both sides, bondo and sand down...

or

2. Cut cardboard out to shape then fiberglass over it on ONE side, bondo and sand down. Then dissolve the cardboard in water or whatever.

Either way fiberglass is easy (yet very messy) to work with and Bondos about the same. So good luck.

>> No.590473

>>590471
Awesome! I'm thinking I'll end up throwing one or two layers of fibreglass on the back side, that way I can get the thickness of the panel correct and hopefully add a little strength. I've got to make a small subframe out of steel anyway to support the bottom of the panels, and I plan on cutting the cardboard to fit into the existing mounting points long before I break out the fibreglass resin.

Glad to hear it shouldn't be too much trouble. I'm actually looking forward to being able to customize the look a bit to show off the curve of the tank, and hopefully give it a more streamlined look.

>> No.590475
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590475

Does this sound like a good plan?
Yes

Should I stretch fabric over the cardboard, or would that be a waste of time/materials? Will the finished product be stiff enough to use bondo?
It would probably just be easier to start off in manageable sections; i.e. (paint a little resin, put cloth on it, paint resin on that, repeat). There shouldn't be any need to stretch the cloth over the cardboard because it should take the shape when you wet the whole thing down then dry that way. Then you can add more coats of fiberglass to build it up. I would just make sure the cardboard doesn't get too soggy from the resin which I don't think it would. After a few times with cloth and resin it'll be stiff as hell and hard as a rock. Sand that bad boy down a little, Bondo it for smoothness, then sand that down. Bondo tends to crack as it dries so it may take a few coats to get it right, unless you think it's worthy after just the fiber-glassing then you can just paint it and gloat.

>> No.590478

>>590475
Sounds good, I was thinking cloth might make it easier since I won't really be sculpting the cardboard, but cutting it out layer by layer, but the fiberglass should be workable enough anyway.

Should I give the cardboard a coat of resin and let it harden before adding the mat to stiffen it?

>> No.590480
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590480

>>590478
I guess you could do a coat of resin but I have doubts it would make it hard enough with just the resin to make it easier. If it were me, I would cut out the card board in as big of sections as I could, or at least tape all the pieces together to make a big panel and somehow have it keep that shape for the first cloth coat. Maybe break up the fairing into three sections, right side, front, left side. The hard part will probably be having the cardboard hold that curvy shape while the first coat dries.

Granted I've only ever used fiberglass on boats, but it's surprisingly easy to get the hang of.

>> No.590487

You could use Styrene sheet and heat form it to your required dimensions.

>> No.590490

>>590480
The two panels I need are actually pretty flat and rectangular (Hard to tell in the pic, it's the one that mounts below the front fairing). I also don't have to make it exactly like the original, so I'll likely eliminate some of the curves.

>>590487
I like that idea. Would you fiberglass over top or would the styrene be thick enough on it's own? Would I still be able to use a cardboard mood?

I'll take a crack at it with the cardboard and fiberglass I have kicking around in the garage tomorrow afternoon. I'll post up pictures of whatever mess I end up with.

>> No.590492

>>590475
Mecha guy?

How is work treating you?