GSXR-Z

iTrader: (1)

Ok, I know what all of you are going to say, 'why do it yourself when you can buy one for cheaper?'. But oh well, here it goes anyway. Oh, and i have searched through the forum for this.

I have not messed around with fiberglass before, but I want to try my hand at it with an EXTRA bumber i have in the garage. I want to know if anyone can give me any tips as to what kind of fiberglass would be best if i wanted to try my hand ad remolding the front bumper, and what would be usefull as a mold to help guide me. Is there a specific kind of resin that i would have to use? Would i bondo over it? I have read that the resin will harden well so if you use enopugh of it, you can sand it down to a smooth surface instead of using any type of bondo. I am not sure what i want it to look like, all i know is that i want to do it.

I would like to use the stock front bumper as a base to go off of, and maybe custom design and mold a front lip and/or integrate a driving/fog light assembly into the front bumper.

I have dome a little research and have come to the conclusion that i would have to use some sort of styrofoam to cut into the shape that i want it to look like, then fiberglass over it. I may even want to cut into the bumber and re-mold some of the curves just to see what it looks like.

Has anyone here done anything like this? Does anyone have any useful tips or know of any problems i might run into? Pictures of something similar or DIY advice?

Anything from my fellow brothers on here would be appreciated. I just want to be able to say "I made that".

Oh, and i dont care if it ends up looking like poop. As i stated before, it is an extra bumper that i have.

03Zilverstone

iTrader: (4)

Use fiberglass resin and cloth. Use the cloth to make the initial mold, then use fiberglass matt for reinforcement. After that sand it down with 36 grit and use a light weight body filler. I would use a foam that the resin won't break down to make the mold with. You can use a sharp knife to cut the foam just like you want, then fiberglass over it.

GSXR-Z

iTrader: (1)

Thats the basic idea that i had in mind.

Can yo ureccomend any specific type of resin or fiberglass, or is it all about the same?

tonester1011

iTrader: (67)

just go to a local boat store and get fiberglass there...get resin there too, they got the big tubs of like a gallon of polyester resin for pretty cheap...get an extra tube of hardener too cuz the one that it comes with will not be enough. polyester resin isnt very clear but it doesnt have to be since it ill be painted.

vantage350z

iTrader: (9)

Guys he's not making a subwoofer box. If you use cloth and matt and bondo, your bumper will weigh 100 pounds. you need to make a mold of your original bumper out of just the matt. then you can cut and add as you like. try to use as little bondo as possible.

03Zilverstone

iTrader: (4)

I don't care what he's building. If he doesn't want it to look like **** he'll have to use some filler. And why would he make a mold of the bumper? Wasn't he wanting to use his extra bumper to modify? That's how I took it anyway. Also he will need to use the cloth to make a mold. Then he can use the matt to reinforce it from the back. He will surely need that reinofrcement for a front bumper.

GSXR-Z

iTrader: (1)

I really dont want to make a mold of the bumper as i have a spare one laying around. I want to just play around with it a bit to see what i can do, then is i decide that i like the way it looks then i will go from there. I guess i am just wanting to use this experience as a base to do other fiberglass work.

I never really thought about going to a boat supply store though, thats a great idea. I will check it out sometime this week.

tonester1011

iTrader: (67)

hes only molding a lip so it wont even be that much fiberglass matt that he has to use...the extra weight wont be that bad...it shouldnt be that all much heavier.

vantage350z

iTrader: (9)

OH. I thought he was doing a whole bumper..

03Zilverstone

iTrader: (4)

BTW try to make the lip and then mold it on to the bumper. I don't know if I mentioned that in the other post. I may try this sometime. If I do I may do a how-to.

GSXR-Z

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, i will take pictures of it once i begin to mutalate the extra bumper. I dont know about a how to, it might end up as a how-not-to!