I'm new to fiberglass and I would like to know if I can fix a damaged fiberglass side skirt. Here is what needs to be fixed:

- a crack on the corner of side skirt
- at both ends of side skirt there is a break at the sides (the part that goes into wheel wells), sort of like cut inside half way the height of skirt
- about a 1-2 feet humangous scratch at the bottom/side
- about 3-4 ripped out holes at the bottom (0.75-1 inch in diameter)


Now, roughly how long it will take to fix that stuff (prior to sanding/painting)? What is the approximate cost of materials and what exactly is needed?

Thanks to whoever takes his time to help me out with this.

 

Do you have pictures? It doesn't sound like it would be too bad and materials would be inexpensive.

 

I don't have pictures, but I can take them tomorrow morning and post them up if that will help understand the problem better.

 

i'm wondering also.

 

Ok, so here are the pics as promised...











This is one of the holes:

 

Most of the damage is the gel coat cracking and falling off the glass. THe cracks and holes can be fixed by getting alittle fiberglass and resin. The entire skirt should be sanded then Bondo'd in the areas where there are cracks and imperfections. This isn't terribly hard to do but time consuming. Prep work will determine how this will come out. Take your time and be patient. Body work and fiberglassing is very tedious.


Modified by msmotorsports at 11:39 AM 4/15/2005

 

Grind it lightly with some 36 grit and throw on some duraglass (bondo.. but harder) on the less severe areas. The cracks may need to be grinded a little and backed with some resin and fiberglass.

 

Those cracks need to be ground out and re-glassed, be careful not to grind all the way through. In the areas where you have holes, glass the backside of the skirt first, then repair any cracks around the hole, then glass the outer.

You will need some polyester resin, a catalyst, and some 1-1.5oz. fiberglass, preferably the interwoven cloth and not matte, for strength. Besides that, just some scissors, a brush, roller (remove air bubbles), and a heat gun or a warm atmosphere so the resin will kick. A dremel would be handy to grind out the cracks too.

 

kitty hair.

 

Ok, it is fixed and waiting to be painted. It was an easy fix overall.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Odessa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ok, it is fixed and waiting to be painted. It was an easy fix overall.</TD></TR></TABLE>

want to make a DIY? what materials did you use? the ones listed above? pictures of the finshed skirt?

 

All I used was Bondo resin, fiberglass and some filler. It cost me CAD$25 for the resin and fiberglass at walmart, and now I have a bunch of it leftover for later use. I'll try to get pics by tomorrow.