i need some info on fiberglass work, basically im going to be making another lip for my front bumper. I made my last one with gutter guard and then once i got the shaped, i began to apply fiberglass.

What else would be a good thing to use when making the frame of the lip? gutter guard worked ok but i want something smoother and crisper to work on. I wanna make my next lip damm near perfect and then im gonna make a mold of the bitch.

i was thinking foam and then laying glass over to make a mold but the lip has to bend with the countour of the bumper and doubt that would happen....

basically just looking for ideas, i need something to use as the under-structure for my lip project and dont wanna use gutter guard again because it was a pain and i spent 10x more time making it look right and trying to get it to bend right then i did actually applying the fiberglass, i know there is an easier way out there.

 

In some European car magazine a few years back (I think it might've been Max Power or something) they showed an Accord wagon with a completely custom one-off body kit. What they did was cut large foam blocks to fit over the front of the car, then started shaving material off until they got all the shapes and dimensions they wanted. After that, the foam was used to make a female mold (not sure on the mold material) and then a bumper was created by laying fiberglass into the mold. I'm sure a similar process would work to make a lip, and then you're also not limited on material to make the lip out of (i.e. vacuum bag/carbon fiber ).

 

thanks

im gonna buy some foam this weekend and start experimenting

 

Its a special type of foam, as the resin from fiberglass is very hard on some materials. You can also make a Mold from Wood, or Metal ie...sheet alum. I have made molds before with sheet alum, Its easy to work with if you use a thiner thickness. You will need to et a release mold wax, That wax will keep your Fiber glass, or Gel Coat from sticking to the mold. I recomend using gel coat or otherwise you will end up with a very Raw piece of Fiberglass, thta wil need alot of work to make perfect!

Eric

 

i was gonna use foam that can be purchased at most hardware stores to make my shape, then i was going to cover it in aluminum foil and make sure everything is nice and tight, then ill apply the mat to the foil and then fiberglass to the lip on the foil and spread it evenly and once its all hardend and dry ill remove it from the foam mold and begin to add more layers of fiberglass to strengthen and clean it up