Dallasb84

Big project for the trackcar.

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Dallasb84

Dallasb84

It's cold so progress is slow.

Dallasb84

Dallasb84

Dallasb84

Sorry for the sideways pictures I'm using postimage.

Anyways, I have been battling a bad upper respotory infection and well haven't been feeling too well lately. Cold weather, being sick and having to work full time takes a toll on you.

So here's an update of what has changed. I block sanded the flares using a light guide coat. After a few tight wipes she's straight... Well... Yeah straight. Whatever. Both fronts were blocked and then primed once over again.

Now the tricks of the trade. This I normally don't share but what the heck. It's called wax patterning. And in the last photo you can see how I cut a 1" strip of the brown colored stuff. That is sheet wax. It comes in different thickness and serves to allow the mold to incorporate a nesting effect on the flange to the fender faying surface. Whoa!!!!! Wtf does that mean? Well if I were to make a mold of a flares fender straight up.There would be a slight shrinkage because of the thickness of the flare. Then the flares won't fit. So... You can quickly do it with wax. And it also will wrap the side skirt, lip, splitter, and side splitters.

In the last shot you can see a close up of the 1" wax flange and the flare. Look closely and you will notice I taped off and filleted bondo in the seam between the wax and the flare. I won't trip to hard about the slight imperfection on the flange or fillet... Ill sand them smooth after I pull the mold.

So what's left??? A lot. More sanding polishing a molds to be made.

Until next time.

TracerAcer2.2L

Sub'd to learn something. In addition to welding, working fiberglass is something else I've been wanting to learn.

And I have a little bondo project coming up soon

bspeed

Keep it coming Dallas, love it.

Dallasb84

Well I worked on the flares shortly tonight. I got them sanded, flanged, polished and waxed. The thing is. When you brush pva (pay attention here I'm giving away little bits here) the brush leaves very slight brush marks. So.... Why polish your plug to a mirror shine if... You brush pva... Don't its a waste of time. Do it after you pull the mold and do it mold side.

"And what the fark is pva", you ask?

Pva polyvinyl alcohol (iirc) is a release agent that has a great track record for easy use and just plain works 100% better than wax or a semi permanent alone. It allows your mold to pop off the plug.

So,,, I applied 3 coats of pva in hopes to apply a .5 mil dry film thickness. Apply one coat wait a few hours. Put another one on... And so on. The more the better.

It also creates a barrier that the styrene in the gel coat and fiber glass shouldn't penetrate into the plug. I say shouldn't because things happen. And they do often.

Reason why u do t want that to happen? Two reasons the styrene will wrinkle the surface of the cured paint, primer, polyester resin, or whatever you built your plug out of and ruin ****. This happens be cause polyester resin has a two part bond that is broke. By a fre radical in the hardener. That free radical breaks a double dond for a single bond and a chain reaction occurs. Double bond breaks from a free radical forming a single bond and a radical that breaks a double forming a single bond and a free radical and so on... This reaction creates heat and is what is happening when the resin gets hot. Well..... 98% of the molecules bond and that tiny 2% can react from new mold resin styrene penetrating the pva layer and coming into contact with left over double bonds in the plug. Causing sticking, wrinkles, and head aches. It happens.

Well enough science class.

So that's all I did. Finish the flanges, wax mold release and pva for the night.

Oh and I rounded the flares... The crisp edges didn't jive with me.

So here it is also note how the flange goes all the way around the flare and over the running board and lip for fasteners!

Dallasb84

Yay I finally got heat!

So what I have here is gel coat being applied. This is laminating gel coat. It does not cure unless pva is sprayed over it or layers of fiberglass and resin is applied over it. This is different than the gel coat that have wax in them.

I also added low density filler to thicken it up a little bit. I brush it on using long medium strokes and as smooth as possible. Making sure I work it into any small tight spots bubble free baby... Yeah!

So it's 30 degrees f and this stuff is supposed to cure in 30 minutes. well it took 4 hours till it was tacky to the touch. I ripped up a bunch of chopped strand mat and dabbed resin all over it. Laid glass and waited.

Started ripping away at her and it popped right off. Molds can only be as perfect the plug you can see how messy it looks during the process but I assure you when I'm done this mold will look pretty.

Well here you go!

Dallasb84

Ok so I pulled the molds and separated the plug from the mold. Everything went as it should. Cleaned pva off with water and wet sanded the mold surface to 320. Now, you have two choices. Polish out the gel coat or finsh it with a coating. I prefer the later in some cases. This being an exterior piece I have decided to coat with primer and block one more time before polishing. I had a few flaws I had to take care of. No big deal.

I used a high build sanding primer. I prefer duratech high build primer. I polishes smooth and has a great bond.

Getting close!

Dallasb84

Couple better shots at the mold

powerneedy

Looking great!

Dallasb84

Thank you very much! I am a fan of your car! This is my first year competing time attack and circuit racing. I got hooked fast.

I have a bunch of questions for you.

mellul05290

Looking good bud.

Dallasb84

Well more progress. Got the rear flares attached and decided to be lazy and re use the front plugs on the rear quarters. Simple trim and fit. I used hot glue to tack them up in place and a tape measure to double check alignment.

Same process as above so I won't go into details with the rear flares! But here's a few teasers to please my attention whoreness!

Dallasb84

Dallasb84

Decided to go for it and lay up the passenger side fender flare. I laid the fabric and vacuum bagged the whole mess. Pulled the part and it turned out great!

Happy holidays!

Dallasb84

Dallasb84

Dallasb84

Small teaser money shot.

Tyler Dirden

iTrader: (3)

That is quite nice craft. I very much admire those that can work well with CF. My experience with it is don't grind it without full body protection and breathing filtration. I ground on some CF in a past project and went home itching for a whole day and possibly breathing in the mess too.
A lesson well learned for me.

A very nice project indeed. I am sure you could recoup your time by making a few sets for other HT members desiring the same effect. A set of carbon fiber flares etc., could bring hard cash to your pocket.

Dallasb84

Thank you very much. It's really not my goal to make money here it's more show how easy it is to build nice stuff in a garage. It's not exactly a simple under taking but it's not very hard. Small projects can be done quite easily!

This project is for my car and is probably going to be hard to make for a wide range of people. Yes it will allow zero offset 9-10" wheels on the dc2 for a performance application. The integra is a badass platform even in stock form. Extra sticky may just prove to be a fantastic racing platform. I'm trying to make my parts bolt on so if I wreck I can easily make a new part or salvage what isn't destroyed for a new shell.

I have generated a lot of interest so far but... Gotta finish it! There is a thread of a guy doing a full carbon hatch here! If you thing this is cool check his work out! It's stunning!

powerneedy

This looks great! The flares make it look like older touring cars and I love it! Pm me anytime

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

I can't believe I'm just finding this! Great work. I am a huge fan of the Duratech primer too.

Now that I am getting settled in to my new place I am looking to start some new projects.

keep up the great work.