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Making fibreglass body shells


daz c

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Hi in the future I will be looking for a fibreglass shell for my baja 5b but they are expensive. Would I be able to to use it for a mould to make some myself for the future ? whch way would I do it ? would you use the inside of the shell for a mould or would you make a mould from the inside of the shell and fibre class that ie shell is concave mould would be convex ? Does the gell coat go in first or go on last?

cheers daz

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ive just done one for the xrc ,i use the cling film to cover the shell then fibre glassed over the top ,then used car bodge to cover any holes ,then sand it (alot)

i also dont a savage shell ages ago but that one i use vasiline first then the fibreglass came out much smoother that the xrc one but it did take some paint from the inside on the shell.

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I would make loads but is there a patent on shells ? Could always flog them to your mates though to cover your costs. I just think that things like shells are realy overpriced I mean

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ryt where do i start with this lol if you want to make a fiberglass shell get your original shell and gel coat it on the inside this comes in a range of colours. now take your fiberglass matting and cut it into squares this makes it form to the shell better. now mix up your resin and hardner now get a paint brush and cut the end down to make it stiffer dip it in your resin. take the fiberglass you cut earlier and place it in the shell and dab over with the resin and paint brush keep going till the shell is evenly coated. now take the brush and dab out any air pockets as these will form dimples on the outside once you have done this leave it to dry until it feels tacky but not sticky this is known as the green stage. get yourself a sharp stanley knife or scalpel and cut away the excess doing this now is easier than when its set once youve done cutting of the bits you dont want leave to dry and pull it away from the shell and walla a fiberglass shell/mold to make many more.. if theres anything ive missed feel free to correct it. any questions pm me im a panel beater by trade :good:

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ryt where do i start with this lol if you want to make a fiberglass shell get your original shell and gel coat it on the inside this comes in a range of colours. now take your fiberglass matting and cut it into squares this makes it form to the shell better. now mix up your resin and hardner now get a paint brush and cut the end down to make it stiffer dip it in your resin. take the fiberglass you cut earlier and place it in the shell and dab over with the resin and paint brush keep going till the shell is evenly coated. now take the brush and dab out any air pockets as these will form dimples on the outside once you have done this leave it to dry until it feels tacky but not sticky this is known as the green stage. get yourself a sharp stanley knife or scalpel and cut away the excess doing this now is easier than when its set once youve done cutting of the bits you dont want leave to dry and pull it away from the shell and walla a fiberglass shell/mold to make many more.. if theres anything ive missed feel free to correct it. any questions pm me im a panel beater by trade :good:

Thankyou very much mate very helpful. Would I use the inside of the mould or the outside mate as the inside would be rough ? or would i fill the inside so it was smooth?

cheers daz

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use the inside mate because if you use the out side the shell will end up slightly bigger and the gel coat should smooth things out once youve taken it out get some fine sand paper and water try 800 grit the smoother the better .once youve done sanding get out the polish and buff her up real good :good:no probz mate after all you cant buy knowledge :lol:

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Thankyou very much mate:good: :good: I wont mid paying 120 quid if I get to sell a couple to cover the cost of gear and I get a few spare ones:good:

cheers m8:good:

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dont spend £120 to get a fiberglass shell just to make a mould mate buy a lexan shell i did this a while back when i made a carbon fiber shell for my Baja here is what i did

Made a frame to hold the lexan shell (wood frame) tacked the lexan shell to the wood frame with the tabs on the lexan shell so it dident move and flex in the lay up process (you can get them uncut)

i then used cling film on the lexan shell (to avoid dmg so i could use it after)take your time over this

cut up my fiberglass in to smallish squares applied the agents made a thin mould after your happy with the thickness (this is just a mould) then spend time smoothing and polishing and accentuating the inside of your mould this way i have a very good mould i could then produce my actual carbon fiber shell out of carbon fiber twill which i could use over and over again :)

hope this helps

Edited by B-Master
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The shell I have seen is an all in one I havent seen them anywhere cheap in lexan . Have you seen an all in on 5b shell for a fair price mate ?

cheers daz

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Je spares always keep the uncut baja shell in stock mate JESPARES (BAJA)

If you need any help doing this let me know i had a freind of mine help me when i made mine his profession was to make fiblerglass bathroom items sinks/baths/showers ect he also used to make and sale fiber glass shells went under the name of MQ Fiber shells he was one of the only sellers for a long time :)

happy to help if you need more advice add me to MSN its in my profile :) good luck

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I've never used fiberglass so this is only a thought but if you made a shell by adding fiberglass to the inside of another shell, wouldn't it be slightly smaller? Smaller by the thickness of the fiberglass? I don't know if the size difference would be negligible or not.

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when your wet laying a shell if your worried about the size diffrance (0.5mm) then you can make your mould from the outside and then make your final produce from the inside of your mould but you will end up spending alot more time carving/scraping/fileing out the details on the bodyshell this way and it really is only a .5mm diffrance between the orignal and the one you produce in fiberglass or carbon fiber :)

on a side note i have some high grade carbon fiber twill cloth left over from when i was producing my carbon shells if your intrested in making it carbon fiber insted of fiberglass ;) its no harder to use and looks damn sexy

also the shell you linked does look very nice on a baja :) but maybe start small and cheep make some oringal designs then work your way up to something harder like the one you linked mate

Edited by B-Master
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I like the look of these ones http://www.mmrlarges...og/RCFIB01.html

Ah the marder/leopard esque ones.

The guy that makes them is over on the BajaForum, I'm pretty sure he was selling them cheaper than that to forum members.

Awesome shells and painted too.

EDIT,

Reading the advert on MMR they come supplied in white now, however I'm sure the guy on the forum was willing to paint it for you.

Edited by carlcurtis83
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I think 110 for a unpainted shell is to much imho however they are nice and I dont think the bloke will see that much of that money. Did you get the baja roller m8 ?

daz

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