Did a bit of a search, but didn't find much... Have any of you any advice on fibreglass repair?I took my Bomex sideskirts off my Zed on Sunday - boy does she look different! Anyway the reason I did it, was because the previous owner seemed to use the side skirts as a method of brail parking (read: they are cracked, chipped etc.). I would like to repair them, but have absolutely no experience with fibreglass...Are those fibregalss repair kits much chop? How difficult is fibreglass repair for a beginner? Am I better just taking them to a panel beater? I'm keen to give it a go, but don't know what I'm in for...My Dad said it was a bugger when he tried to repair a fibreglass dingy back in the 50's as a boy :-0 - have things got better?
I've repaired a rear wing on my old Ford and a number of old fiberglass pieces including the side of a boat. There was a pretty impressive hole in my wing and I just got a kit to repair it. There's not much to it.1. Make sure the surface is very clean before you start putting fiberglass on it2. Sand back as much as you can around the area...even if you do put a bit of a dip in it3. Don't be too concerned on sanding it back to like 1200 grade wet and dry cause the primer needs something to catch onto before the re-spray goes on.4. It is a very dirty job though. But if you take the time, it saves you heaps of money but it comes down to how perfect you want it to be because you could spend days on it trying to get the littlest scartch out or something
Fibreglassing reasonabley easy Have a go, you can't realy do any unrepairable damage. Grind away all the damaged glass. You can use an angle grinder if your careful. Repair kits are ok but are often an expensive way to buy it. All you need is resin, hardner and some glass.
Of course you can repair them > yourself, but you will need to get a bit of knowledge before hand, as there are time constraints in working with resin. You are better off trying to fix the chips/scratches with something like Plastibond( a two part automotive putty) as you can mix small amounts and use them quickly. Plastibond is NOT very successful for holes or splits, as these need the re-enforcing qualities of glass fibre or woven glass fibre to obtain structural strength, this is where you will need that knowledge.If it were me, I would take the bits to a Fibre Glass Pool manufacturer or maybe a local Surfboard Builder around the Northern Beaches area, and try to look sad and forlorn. Cheers mate Lloyd
As someone who has almost finished (longish rebuilding a fibreglass bodied car (6 years) I can say that working with glass is not difficult if you have a bit of know how in what to do. As someone before said, for the chips and scratchs just use filler as you would on a steel panel. If there is only a little bit of repair work needed,it is probably not worth trying to do it yourself. Try a boat repairer or a panel beater that does glass work. If glass is not repaired correctly it will show up under the paint in a short time.If you can't do it right, don't bother doing it, because you will regret it later. If you are still keen to have a go yourself,Kits from a hardware shop etc are too expensive. Go to a fibreglass material supply place for your materials. They quite often have "how to sheets" that they will give you. There is also a good book you can get called " How to restore Fibreglass Bodywork" by Miles Wilkins Osprey Publishing. Repairing glass is very messy, you will need a 100mm angle grinder with a rubber sanding disc backing pad and some real course discs (36 grit) at the very least. A die grinder with a couple of rotary burrs is good for getting into corners as well. You will also need a good qual respirator with a cartridge suitable for glass dust. Paper overalls with a full head cover are very helpfull as well. You get the dust on your skin and you will scratch. for hours. If you grind in a shed the dust will go over everything. I know from my own experience. There is a lot more stuff which will make the job easier but I'm getting a bit tired just now. I'm quite happy to pass on any info I can help with if you are still keen to have a go. Have a look at my web pages and you can get a bit of an idea whats involved in doing glass repairs. I haven't updated them for a few months though. www.users.bigpond.com/bollie7/ Hope this helpsregards Peter Marr
