custom gauge pod

[Schmieder]

ok well i just went to check on the fiberglass status and after about 5-6 hours its still sticky/tacky to the touch. how long does it take to dry? i woulda swore i saw 2 hours somewhere so im kinda worried. i added more than enough hardener. it said in the kit do it proportionally. if you use half the resin use half the bottle of hardener..which i did..so im confused. it's cold in the garage..idk if that has anything to do with this.

It can take longer the colder it is. Heat is a byproduct of the curing process and IIRC the less heat, the longer the cure. Don't worry about it, just let it sit overnight in a warmer room. It does vent bad fumes though so keep it away from little children. If anything, you mis-mixed the mek with resin, it will just take longer to cure as I am sure you didn't mis-mix way to far off. Like wise, if it dries too quick, it can crack. You should be fine.

As far as the sheen is with paint, test a piece of material similar to the pillar. That should be a good enough test to let you know if you like or not.

[Rootie524]

ok well i just went to check on the fiberglass status and after about 5-6 hours its still sticky/tacky to the touch. how long does it take to dry? i woulda swore i saw 2 hours somewhere so im kinda worried. i added more than enough hardener. it said in the kit do it proportionally. if you use half the resin use half the bottle of hardener..which i did..so im confused. it's cold in the garage..idk if that has anything to do with this.

[Rootie524]

thank you for those tips. im glad you did that because i probably would have f-ed up at the primer stage already haha. i have a paint in my garage that i used to paint some other interior pieces. what i did was when i had the universal gauge pod it was black but i have a tan interior..so im like i either paid my border/pillars black or the pod tan..i was bored with the look so painted the pillars and border and whatnot black. it actually looks pretty good because my malibu already incorporates black trim..so it looks OEM. but my point is i have a paint that i used that i think may have some gloss to it..so ill find that can and run it by you and you can tell me if its good or not.

[Schmieder]

Just knock down the tits on the fiberglass. If you must sand, use 80 grit and clean it off very well before adding bondo.

When you sand th ebondo, use 120 grit softly, or rub two pieces of 120 together to soften the paper up. Again dust of well before primer.

When priming, if you are using a spray can, DO NOT over paint. All your hard work will look like shit real quick. The first coat of primer should be sparse and incomplete. Otherwise, you WILL get runs and they are a PITA to sand out. Pay special attention to areas of overlap. You must avoid overlapping the primer much.

Better to apply little, let dry, apply some more later. Runs and sags are the worst and look absolutley terrible.

After the first two coats, lightly sand the primer. Now you are ready for finish paint.

Do not use flat, semi-gloss or gloss. You will want an eggshell sheen. The paint store will know what that is. It has a very mild shine. So it is not like flat getting dirty quick and it is not like semi-gloss making your item mismatched to the rest of the interior.

If you need any painting advise, I'm the guy you are looking for.

Good luck

EDIT: btw, if fibergalss resin fumes are anything like epoxy, as I think they are similar in nature, drink a tall glass of milk after breathing the fumes. It will help your body clear out all kinds of junk in your blood from the fumes. After any epoxy job, that was what we all did. It really does help clean your blood. Something about the calcium, I forget, but there is a science behind it.

[Rootie524]

good point..bondo needs something rough to stick to..so ill change that aspect of it..but does everything else sound good? will it last? i dont want it to crack and whatnot.

[neo71665]

1000 grit is too fine, you want something with more tooth so the bondo can grab on to it.

[Rootie524]

well after talking to you guys, people at autozone, friends and family..everyone said fiberglass. so..i sucked it up and i did it. got a fiberglass kit at autozone for $15. cut the cloths down to size put it over slapped on the resin and hardener and now its alittle more than half way dried and i have to say im happy i did that instead of half assing it and regretting it later.

now lets see if you guy agree for my next steps. after its dry rough sand the fiberglass pretty good then smooth sand it with like 1000 grit. then put a layer of bondo on it (the red stuff..body filler) to fill in the holes, cracks, empty space, etc. then sand down the bondo smoothly..then spray a layer or two with filler primer..then paint.

its a multi step process but hopefully worth it in the end. does it seem like that will work.

and holy crap i gotta get some of that plio grip. that could be very useful for many things.

[robertisaar]

http://www.pliogripbyvalvoline.com/

you would NOT believe the shit plio-grip stands up to...

my dad occasionally does demos of it for his customers and he got two quarter panels and welded one to a frame correctly, then just plio-gripped the other.

then something was used to pull the panels away from the frame, eventually the welds broke after the panel distorted a bit, but the plio-grip held on long enough for the panel to look ~5 times worse...

after that, i was convinced.

[Schmieder]

ill definitely look into that..but since it is alot of work i just want to see what other options pop up..but no doubt that would be the best thing to do..so thanks for the tips!

and yeah..universal my ass..thats the pod i had only the two gauge version and it didnt even come close to fitting. and for the longest time it bothered me until i had enough of it and decided to make my own. why cant people make gauge pods for a malibu!! ugggh

Like I said earlier, I never built a custom pod so my idea may be flawed. Usually when I build something, plans may change in process.

But I can say this, break it down in parts then perfect each step. (1) physically secure pods nice and tight, (2) Cosmetic, cover up the securing methods. Rarely will a product do both well enough. That is coming from a pro painter of 10 years.

[Rootie524]

ill definitely look into that..but since it is alot of work i just want to see what other options pop up..but no doubt that would be the best thing to do..so thanks for the tips!

and yeah..universal my ass..thats the pod i had only the two gauge version and it didnt even come close to fitting. and for the longest time it bothered me until i had enough of it and decided to make my own. why cant people make gauge pods for a malibu!! ugggh

[Schmieder]

idk ive just never really fiberglassed before. there are alot of different fiberglass products and things out there i wouldnt know where to start. that seems like the best possible method to fiberglass then bondo over..but im try to explore other options before i resort to that.

General fiberglass resin isn't hard to work with. You just need to be prepared. If you secure the cloth well, all you need to do is mix the resin and the mek supplied with most resins sold at many hardware stores.

Just be sure to brush the resin/mek mix quick enough with a disposable brush.

As far as securing the cloth, spend some time setting it up nice. Get out a sewing needle if you must, I would. Get creative, fiberglass resin is almost like paper mache.

If the cloth is secured well, I wouldn't worry about seperation from the plastic, the resin/cloth form will hold its own over the plastic.

Sand it down with a rotary tool to shape the edges if needed.

I admit, it is one heck of a detailing project.

Glowshift sells universal gauge pods like the one you are designing. Though, I never used the universal pods. link

[Rootie524]

lol, I didn't see your wishes to avoid fiberglass resins.

Why not use fiberglass?

You could try drilling small holes for steel zip ties or some other securing clamps then use a strong caulking to hide the ties. Prime and paint.

Other then using fiberglass, I don't know.

idk ive just never really fiberglassed before. there are alot of different fiberglass products and things out there i wouldnt know where to start. that seems like the best possible method to fiberglass then bondo over..but im try to explore other options before i resort to that.

[Schmieder]

Bondo brand is red. Polyester filler material (common called bondo) can be any color the manufacture decides to put in it.

And no you do not want to put poly filler over the top of Fusor products. Fusor is an adhesive and filler so use it to glue and shape.

The problem with most adhesives (like fiberglass resin) is plastics emit natural gas and oils and sorta "breath" over time. If not designed to deal with this it will crack loose. The loosing of oils is why vinyl drys, cracks, and shrinks and other harder plastics get brittle.

What about using a plastic welder? That might work out great. But I never used a plastic welder. Only the mig welders for steel.

[Rootie524]

so i could use the fusor to do it all? when it dries is it sandable and paintable?

[Schmieder]

i always thought bondo was red..but ive never really used it all that much..

but if i use a good adhesive like fusor and then bondo over that you think it would turn out well without having to fiberglass?

lol, I didn't see your wishes to avoid fiberglass resins.

Why not use fiberglass?

You could try drilling small holes for steel zip ties or some other securing clamps then use a strong caulking to hide the ties. Prime and paint.

Other then using fiberglass, I don't know.