Fiberglass is very popular among fans car tuning, this is a fairly well-known material that is great for car tuning. In order to manufacture parts using this material, it is not necessary special equipment or some special place.
Moreover, the manufacture of such parts will not require any significant investment from you. The material itself is impregnated fiberglass with resin. The variety of resins can be different, some types harden at room temperature, while others require a higher temperature. The resin is mixed with a hardener in certain proportions, after which the fiberglass piece of fabric is impregnated with this mixture.
Fiberglass comes in two types: fiberglass and glass mat. The first option has the best strength, while the process of manufacturing parts for the second option is simpler, since the glass mat is easier to process, and besides, it is able to better repeat the shape you need. Fiberglass can have a wide variety of thickness, therefore, it is well suited for adding thickness or volume, as well as rigidity to the finished product.
glass mat
Glass mat, as well as fiberglass, can have different thicknesses and densities. Thinner layers are perfect for the manufacture of parts of complex shapes, having many: bends, edges and transitions. In order to give products with large surfaces the greatest strength, while reducing the mass, polycor is often used. As a rule, it is glued between layers of glass mat with small reinforcing strips.
fiberglass
Before making a fiberglass part, you need to build a layout. Sometimes experts use more cunning options. For example, to make new panel, the fiberglass base is created directly on the door itself, but before that it is pasted over (for protection) with wax or paper tape, or something else. Other alternative materials can also be used as a layout: polystyrene foam, plywood, plasticine, etc.
The next stage is the manufacture of the matrix, it is created according to the layout. To do this, the layout is covered with wax, and a matrix gelcoat is applied as a second layer. This layer is based on epoxy vinyl ester resin. Thanks to this coating, the surface of the matrix becomes smooth and shiny.
After that, a glass mat is laid in a thin layer, this will make it possible to repeat all the existing contours and bends of the layout. Once the first layer is dry, you can start adding thicker layers.
There are several basic technologies for the production of fiberglass parts.
First, I propose to consider manual molding. Manual shaping is quite cheap and not very complicated. The fiberglass fixed on the template is impregnated with resin using a roller or brush. The rolling roller helps roll out the fiberglass, squeezing out the existing air bubbles, as well as evenly distribute the resin around the entire perimeter. One of the biggest pluses This method is low cost and ease of manufacture. However, the quality and result of the work directly depends on the professionalism of the people who are involved in the implementation of these works.
IN modern world the use of fiberglass is common in various sectors of human activity: construction, ship and automotive building. in car service and private workshops for car tuning. The popularity of fiberglass is explained by universal qualities - lightness combined with super strength. It does not rot, treated with resins or covered with auto-filler, it acquires, therefore, the use of fiberglass as a “patch” in a place destroyed by rust is one of the most durable ways get rid of holes, on a par.
fiberglass manufacturing
Fiberglass cloth for car modeling and tuning is widely used for several reasons:
- parts made of this material are stronger than aluminum;
- they are much lighter in weight than steel analogues;
- able to restore shape after damage;
- are not subject to corrosion, do not rust.
Types of fiberglass
Fiberglass is a thin thread obtained from. Under the influence of high temperatures, the fibers acquire special properties - they become flexible, tear-resistant, losing the ability to break like ordinary glass. Fiberglass-based fabrics, due to their acquired properties, have found application in all areas of production and construction as an independent finishing material or a reinforcing element. Fiberglass for cars is divided into three types:
- fiberglass mat;
- ordinary fiberglass;
- thin glass veil.
Glass mat is the thickest and densest representative of materials of this kind. The composition of the glass mat includes several layers of randomly arranged fibers, richly impregnated with resin. Durable waterproof material is used in the automotive and marine industry as overlays to restore the integrity of parts. According to the degree of density, it can be 300 g / m², 450 g / m², 600 g / m², it is produced in rolls 125 cm wide. About 200 rubles per linear meter.
fabric material Fiberglass is used as a heat, electrical and waterproofing material, it is often used for modeling - fiberglass is made. Fiberglass products are stronger than mats due to the orderly arrangement of fibers in even rows. However, for the same reason, it is more difficult to work with a fabric - it is difficult to lay it on a matrix, it bubbles, not perceiving the complex shape of the substrate. The density of fiberglass can be the same as that of glass mat.
Glass veil is the lightest, thinnest and most flexible material compared to the previous ones. It is used in the manufacture of the matrix as the first layer, preventing the fibers of coarser fabrics from protruding outward through the gelcoat and forming a pattern, violating the integrity of the shape of the part.
The last layer is applied to the matrix with a separator, such as paraffin, stearin or ordinary parquet polish. The separating composition is intended to ensure that the subsequently removed casts of parts are separated from the matrix without problems.
Front and rear bumpers Advice. The inhalation of fiberglass threads is undesirable, and polyester resin leaves irritation on the skin. You need to work in rubber gloves, a mask, goggles.
Working with fiberglass and epoxy does not require a specially equipped room or expensive tools. Details of any complexity, up to body panels, can be made in the garage. Moreover, their strength is high - in order to cut the finished part or matrix, you need a grinder with a stone disk.
Methods for manufacturing fiberglass parts
In addition to sequential gluing of layers of fiberglass on the layout, other methods of forming fiberglass and manufacturing parts from fiberglass are used:
- spraying;
- winding;
- melting finished fiberglass composite elements and solidifying in the form of a matrix.
Spraying is carried out by the composition of the resin with individual glass fibers added to it. The substance is placed in a gun, which is used to spray a layer on the layout. The advantage of this method is the ease, speed of application, and among the disadvantages is a thick heavy layer, inferior in strength to products with an inextricable fiberglass thread.
fiberglass machine fender The fiberglass winding method is used in cases where it is necessary to obtain a cylindrical or round object: a frame or a pipe. Fiberglass is impregnated with resin in a container, squeezed using machines, wound special devices to the layout. The process is fast, and strong fiberglass parts are formed at the output.
You can make a fiberglass part by melting prepregs - blanks impregnated with resin. Together with the matrix, they are placed in a special chamber for heating and melting, then they solidify in the form of a matrix.
Fiberglass and epoxy resin are used to make car parts: spoilers, bumpers, hood or roof linings, license plate linings, and others. Tuning using fiberglass modeling transforms the car beyond recognition. The most common manufacture of fiberglass bumpers.
WATCH THE VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS
Fiberglass for cars is a versatile material that allows you to repair complex holes, holes, through cracks, and put patches. With the help of fiberglass, monolithic parts are made that are not inferior to steel in strength.
Homemade car. Body made of fiberglass.
Homemade cars (what we call homemade today) began to be built even with the advent of the first factory models. The use of individual serial units, and entire bodies without external panels makes it possible to build cars with original design and non-standard consumer properties. Moreover, technical filling donor provides homemade car modern characteristics movement and comfort.
The Morgan Aero-8 replica car is built on the chassis of the Japanese executive sedan Toyota Crown. The attractiveness of this donor is in its design. The body of the Crown rests on a full-size subframe (though not rigid), to which all elements of the engine, transmission, suspension and fuel system. For the manufacture of a home-made car on its basis, you can completely abandon the use of native body elements.
The layout of the chassis was left unchanged, the engine did not move, but the radiator was moved behind the engine.
The panels of the new body are made of fiberglass and mounted on a three-dimensional tubular frame. A glass hatch is embedded in the roof. The roof itself is removable and attached to the body and frame windshield four bolts. Rear-view mirrors from Crown are mounted on homemade brackets. Like the prototype, the headlights from the Volkswagen New Beetle are installed on the replica. The radiator grille is made of brass and plated with chrome. Door handles from Alfa Romeo, appliances from Crown.
Interior details are made of fiberglass and upholstered in leather and Alcantara.
At the Autoexotica exhibition in Tushino in 1999, my friend and inspirer of the building exclusive cars exhibited their first homemade car Agatha. A young guy came up to us and asked if we could make a car according to his project. We agreed. My friend undertook to manage this construction site, and I promised to mold, glue and assemble body parts on the donor frame.
First, a donor was found: in fair condition, relatively fresh Toyota Crown.
The prototype layout was taken from a toy store. scale model of the Morgan Aero-8 served as a guideline for building the proportions and plastics of the body.
On the donor stretcher, I unscrewed the frame from chipboard, beams and pulled hardboard over it.
The frame in places where the shape of the body had rounded surfaces, I filled up with plasticine and gave the shape of the plastic similar to the prototype. In general, the proportions and dimensions of the body differ from the English Morgan. Our replica is wider, longer and taller than the original.
According to plasticine, I molded fiberglass and made a matrix. It was my record when I single-handedly glued the body matrix in one week ...
The matrix peels were already removed together. Cleaning them from plasticine and sanding was probably the hardest and dirtiest job. Part of the layout during the removal of the matrix, of course, collapsed.
We screwed the sanded fragments of the matrix and installed the assembled matrix for molding body panels. In this bowl, I had to build in the negative the shape of the inner surfaces of the body parts.
In stages, in the order of the arrangement of parts in the body, I built and sculpted from plasticine the sidewalls of the doors, doorways, lapels-drains of the hood and trunk openings, removable roof flanges, license plate niches, headlights, lights and covers fuel tank. Also, in stages, we molded these formworks with fiberglass.
Right in the matrix, we welded and assembled a light tubular frame along the contour of already finished fiberglass parts. We glued this frame to the body panels along the flanges of doorways, gutters and sills.
As a result, after removing the matrix, we got a hard body top, with doors, a removable roof, a hood and a trunk lid.
A lot of time was spent on installing the top of the body on the donor frame and making the floor. Floor panels, engine shield, trunk bottom and wheel arches we glued from fiberglass. Fiberglass also glued together the top of the body and the floors. It turned out to be a fairly rigid structure, especially since we also reinforced the floor with a metal frame. The floor frame was fixed on the Crown frame on native pillows.
A frame was made under the hood and a radiator with exhaust fans behind the engine was fixed on it. In the front part of the body, we glued the motor shield, on which we fixed the rest of the parts. Since the Toyota Crown is a right-hand drive car, the steering gear had to be moved to the left side.
Unfortunately, the time for the manufacture of the body before painting was limited to six months, and the number of performers was limited by the budget, so in many cases it was necessary to succumb to compromise solutions. To meet the deadlines, in particular, we were helped by a simplified design and technological solution of the hood. We combined the hood with the bumper and fenders, although this made it considerably heavier. All this crust rises on two tubular hinged brackets attached to the body frame above the instrument panel. The fiberglass hood panel itself has a steel subframe and a metal false panel that is located close to the engine. In the lowered position, the entire structure is attached from the sides and front to the body frame. The trunk lid is also reinforced with a steel profile frame and fixed on brackets - hinges to the body frame. For headlights and lanterns, niches are molded in fiberglass that protect the back side of lighting equipment.
In the body of the replica, we immediately laid the construction of a removable hard top. From below, through the flanges, it rests on the shelf behind rear seats and is attached to the body frame, and in front to the frame frame windshield. Rear glass on a removable roof, windshield and side windows flat, made to measure. It was difficult to find suitable seals for our frameless door glass. So we were not able to solve this problem on this body to the end. From now on, we decided, if possible, to use glass with a sealant from a suitable donor.
Inside the door frames, I assembled metal profile stretchers for mounting glass guides, installing hinges, locks and handles. I hung the doors on hinges in the openings and adjusted the gaps. After that, brackets were made from a metal profile and fiberglass for regular mirrors and screwed to the doors. Handles from Alfa Romeo fell into place on the doors.
Armchairs were placed in the cabin and attached through the floor to the body frame. Mounted console with lever hand brake and gear shift knob, pedal assembly and steering column with the steering wheel at a comfortable distance from the seat. According to the seats, window sills, trim and door handles, instrument panel panels and console housings were designed and manufactured from fiberglass. After painting the body, all interior details were covered with leather and Alcantara.
The car has been operated for several years in dry and warm weather.
Thanks to everyone who took part in the manufacture of the car.
Articles about tuning with your own hands.
Many thanks to Mikhail Romanov for the material provided!
Homemade cars (what we call homemade today) began to be built even with the advent of the first factory models. The use of individual serial units, and whole bodies without external panels makes it possible to build cars with an original design and non-standard consumer properties. Change the serial steering wheel to a steering wheel with tuning (anatomy + skin)
Moreover, the technical filling of the donor provides the home-made car with modern characteristics of movement and comfort.
The Morgan Aero-8 replica car is built on the chassis of a Japanese executive Toyota sedan Crown. The attractiveness of this donor is in its design. The body of the Crown stands on a full-size subframe (though not rigid), to which all elements of the engine, transmission, suspension and fuel system are attached. For the manufacture of a home-made car on its basis, you can completely abandon the use of native body elements. 
The layout of the chassis was left unchanged, the engine did not move, but the radiator was moved behind the engine.
The panels of the new body are made of fiberglass and mounted on a three-dimensional tubular frame. A glass hatch is embedded in the roof. The roof itself is removable and is attached to the body and windshield frame with four bolts. Rear-view mirrors from Crown are mounted on homemade brackets. Like the prototype, the headlights from the Volkswagen New Beetle are installed on the replica. The radiator grille is made of brass and plated with chrome. Door handles from Alfa Romeo, appliances from Crown. 
Interior details are made of fiberglass and upholstered in leather and Alcantara.
At the Autoexotics exhibition in Tushino in 1999, my friend, the inspirer of the construction of exclusive cars, and I exhibited our first home-made car Agata. A young guy came up to us and asked if we could make a car according to his project. We agreed. My friend undertook to manage this construction site, and I promised to mold, glue and assemble body parts on the donor frame.
First, a donor was found: in fair condition, relatively fresh Toyota Crown. 
The prototype layout was taken from a toy store. The scale model of the Morgan Aero-8 car served as a guideline for building the proportions and plastics of the body.
On the donor stretcher, I unscrewed the frame from chipboard, beams and pulled hardboard over it. 
The frame in places where the shape of the body had rounded surfaces, I filled up with plasticine and gave the shape of the plastic similar to the prototype. In general, the proportions and dimensions of the body differ from the English Morgan. Our replica is wider, longer and taller than the original.
According to plasticine, I molded fiberglass and made a matrix. It was my record when I single-handedly glued the body matrix in one week ...
The matrix peels were already removed together. Cleaning them from plasticine and sanding was probably the hardest and dirtiest job. Part of the layout during the removal of the matrix, of course, collapsed.
We screwed the sanded fragments of the matrix and installed the assembled matrix for molding body panels. In this bowl, I had to build in the negative the shape of the inner surfaces of the body parts.
In stages, in the order of the arrangement of parts in the body, I built and molded from plasticine the sidewalls of the doors, doorways, lapels-drains of the hood and trunk openings, flanges of a removable roof, license plate niches, headlights, lanterns and fuel tank caps. Also, in stages, we molded these formworks with fiberglass.
Right in the matrix, we welded and assembled a light tubular frame along the contour of the finished fiberglass parts. We glued this frame to the body panels along the flanges of doorways, gutters and sills.
As a result, after removing the matrix, we got a hard body top, with doors, a removable roof, a hood and a trunk lid.
A lot of time was spent on installing the top of the body on the donor frame and making the floor. Floor panels, engine shield, trunk bottom and wheel arches we glued from fiberglass. Fiberglass also glued together the top of the body and the floors. It turned out to be a fairly rigid structure, especially since we also reinforced the floor with a metal frame. The floor frame was fixed on the Crown frame on native pillows.
A frame was made under the hood and a radiator with exhaust fans behind the engine was fixed on it. In the front part of the body, we glued the motor shield, on which we fixed the rest of the parts. Since the Toyota Crown is a right-hand drive car, the steering gear had to be moved to the left side.
Unfortunately, the time for the manufacture of the body before painting was limited to six months, and the number of performers was limited by the budget, so in many cases it was necessary to succumb to compromise solutions. To meet the deadlines, in particular, we were helped by a simplified design and technological solution of the hood. We combined the hood with the bumper and fenders, although this made it considerably heavier. All this crust rises on two tubular hinged brackets attached to the body frame above the instrument panel. The fiberglass hood panel itself has a steel subframe and a metal false panel that is located close to the engine. In the lowered position, the entire structure is attached from the sides and front to the body frame. The trunk lid is also reinforced with a steel profile frame and mounted on brackets - hinges to the body frame. For headlights and lanterns, niches are molded in fiberglass that protect the back side of lighting equipment.
In the body of the replica, we immediately laid the construction of a removable hard top. From below, through flanges, it rests on a shelf behind the rear seats and is attached to the body frame, and in front to the frame of the windshield frame. Rear window on a removable roof, windshield and side windows are flat, made to order. It was difficult to find suitable seals for our frameless door glass. So we were not able to solve this problem on this body to the end. From now on, we decided, if possible, to use glass with a sealant from a suitable donor.
Inside the door frames, I assembled metal profile stretchers for mounting glass guides, installing hinges, locks and handles. I hung the doors on hinges in the openings and adjusted the gaps. After that, brackets were made from a metal profile and fiberglass for regular mirrors and screwed to the doors. Handles from Alfa Romeo fell into place on the doors.
Armchairs were placed in the cabin and attached through the floor to the body frame. We mounted a console with a handbrake lever and a gear knob, a pedal assembly and a steering column with a steering wheel at a convenient distance from the seat. According to the seats, window sills, trim and door handles, instrument panel panels and console housings were designed and manufactured from fiberglass. After painting the body, all interior details were covered with leather and Alcantara.
The car has been operated for several years in dry and warm weather.
Thanks to everyone who took part in the manufacture of the car.
Articles about tuning with your own hands.
When copying an article, please put a link to my blog.
Fiberglass, or as it is also called fiberglass, for a long time It was used only in the defense industry, shipbuilding, aircraft construction and other specific areas where strong, reliable and durable materials were needed. But not so long ago, fiberglass began to be used everywhere, and today its exceptional qualities are actively used in construction and the economy. What this material consists of and how to make fiberglass with your own hands - read in this article.
Fiberglass is unique operational characteristics, thanks to which this material is able to withstand strong pressure, be in an aggressive chemical environment and provide incredible strength to any structure. At first it was used to build boats, cars, airplanes, then buttons, household appliances, snow ploughs, and other useful things were made from fiberglass. Even today, most of us have preserved old Soviet units, the body of which is made of the strongest and almost eternal fiberglass.
In the 90s, it became fashionable in Russia to install fiberglass windows and doors, to which they still like to add the prefix "euro". Impeccable Performance fiberglass allowed him to remain the most popular material for use in almost all industries, from rubble to construction and military.
Today it is used as a structural and thermal insulation material in boat manufacturing, strengthen the hulls of boats, rocket engines, ships, car bodies etc. Helicopter blades are made from it, exhaust pipes, corrosion-resistant equipment, pipelines, swimming pools... The list of products for which fiberglass is used is simply colossal, and if it disappeared from the planet even for a day, the world would plunge into chaos.
Compound
Fiberglass is a composite material that consists of a fiberglass filler and a binder. Fiberglass is represented by filamentous fibers, cloth or mat. Binder - different types polyester resin. The filler gives the material strength and performs a reinforcing function, while the resin makes it monolithic and distributes the load evenly between the fibers. Also, it is the resin that protects fiberglass from destruction by aggressive chemicals.
The strongest glass-reinforced plastics are made up of oriented continuous fibers. They can be divided into unidirectional (fibers are parallel to each other) and crossed (fibers are located at a certain angle to each other). Changing the orientation of the fibers allows you to adjust the strength and adjust the main characteristics of the material.
Properties
The exceptional properties of fiberglass have already been mentioned above, now it is time to consider them in more detail. Why is this material so good, and why is it used in almost all areas of production?
Fiberglass properties:
Classification
Fiberglass can be classified depending on the form of release, for example, sheet and rolled fiberglass are distinguished. Also, the material is different colors, but the main classification occurs by application.
So, there are the following types of fiberglass:
- Structural - used in the form power elements for strengthening rod structures of sucker rods, rubber-fabric caterpillars, belts or cases of electric motors.
- High-strength - reinforced fiberglass for the production of high-load multi-blade propellers that are installed in engines of wide-body aircraft. It reduces the mass of the blade several times compared to aluminum blades. At the same time, such fiberglass increases Engine efficiency, reduces fuel consumption, provides high engine performance during takeoff and increases the service life.
- Chemically resistant - the characteristics of this type of fiberglass depend on the type of resin used to make it.
- Heat-resistant - non-combustible fiberglass with increased strength for radio engineering or structural needs. Working temperature can reach up to 350C. This type of material is mainly used for the manufacture of motorcycle engines, protective covers and screens in aircraft, hoods, etc. Heat-resistant fiberglass retains high stable strength characteristics even with prolonged exposure high temperature. It does not burn and provides high fire safety.
- Electrical - fiberglass used in electric dryers, heaters and other similar equipment. The main purpose is thermal insulation.
Fiberglass manufacturing
To date, there are several methods for the production of fiberglass:
How to make fiberglass with your own hands
In the manufacture of fiberglass by and large, there is nothing complicated. It's just a polyester resin that's been molded into a mold and reinforced with fiberglass.
Mostly home-made fiberglass is used for domestic automotive needs. This is the surest and easiest way to fix the hood, door or other broken part of the car. In specialized firms, the necessary forms and matrices for large parts are pre-prepared. If you want to tackle this yourself, it's best to start with small minor details. simple forms, for the installation of which high accuracy is not required. In the learning process, it is impossible to avoid mistakes and inaccuracies, so it is better not to take risks once again.
Homemade fiberglass can be made according to the following instructions:
The outer surface of the product turns out to be uneven and wrinkled, therefore, it requires additional machining– sanding, puttying and painting. Fiberglass can be easily leveled with sandpaper, drilled or cut with a knife.
You can buy fiberglass and materials for its manufacture at any construction market or supermarket. This strong and durable material will help you fix your car, make repairs and even create unusual artistic sculptures. For example, this video shows how you can make a stylish do-it-yourself sink using a foam mold and fiberglass:
