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Wed Feb 29, 2012 3:19 pm

Since I have time and a few bodies to work on I figured I would do a thread on repairing fiberglass that has been "ripped" through.

I have a Manx that had an "awesome" :wink: bumper that was bolted the the bottom of the hood by the PO. It must have been lifted by the bumper or hit something to push it up. In doing so it ripped the hood.

You want to start from the backside. Grind/sand the ripped area, bevel the edges and remove all loose fiberglass.

I figured while I was at it I would prep the filler hole since it will have a center fill.

I used a ratchet strap to bring the hood back into shape and hold it while I glassed it. I pulled it a bit tighter since I knew it would spring back a little once the glass cured.

I then glassed the area with mat.

I made sure that I put enough glass at the edge of the hood since that is where most of the load is.

I then flipped it over and test fitted to make sure everything lined up.

I then ground out the ripped area and made sure I got out all the loose glass. I also ground out a deep stress crack down to the underlying glass.

(sorry I thought I took a picture of that step)

I laid up a few layers of mat, including the filler and headlight support.

I then sanded the area fair.

The next step will be to skim coat the area with filler and sand all the paint off the hood.

Vince

Wed Feb 29, 2012 3:29 pm

Looks great Vince! Quality work!

But one question - I've been to your home, but where have you been hiding all the bodies? :lol:

bryan

Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:18 pm

This is the internet Bryan! Don't talk about hiding bodies or the Feds will swarm on Vince.

Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:20 pm

Like anybody with a body to hide, I'm sure Vince keeps them in his crawlspace or basement.

Vince does such a good job documenting these procedures, I think they would make a great sticky.

Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:23 am

Great work once again Vince! :!: :D

It makes me feel a bit more comfortable with trying my repairs. I just gotta figure out how to do them all...

Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:33 pm

Bodies?? What bodies?? :wink:

Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:11 pm

surfnc wrote: Since I have time and a few bodies to work on I figured I would do a thread on repairing fiberglass that has been "ripped" through.

Vince

Vince,

What would you recommend for a procedure to repair a crack if you can not get at the back of the area? I am going to have to glass my side pods on the body because they fit like crap and I would like to make sure I do it right the first time. I searched for some of the older threads where people have done this but I found most of the pictures have been removed from the threads that show the process.

Would you suggest to use laminating poly resin? Alternate mat & cloth or just use mat? How many layers would you suggest?

Thanks,
Jeff.......

Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:42 pm

Vince,

Found your "Rick's Restoration" thread. Pretty much all of the information I needed was on that thread. Sorry to ask question before I had completed my searching.

Regards,
Jeff......

Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:24 pm

Jeff
Sorry for the delay in responding. Post a picture of the area you are going to repair. If I understand correctly you could use some light cloth, maybe 4oz and tape one layer in place. Then wet it out and let it cure completely. Then you can use mat or cloth to laminate as many layers as you need to bring it up to the level of the surrounding glass. You may want to make it a bit higher so that you can sand it fair and have very little filling to do.

No worry about the questions ask all you want.

Vince