Ok I have been dabbling in the art of fiberglass for a few months now... Endlessly trying to make a good mold of the STOCK hood before I even attempted to move on to bigger things like hood scoops and headlight intakes....

My first attempt at a hood was just a "layover" I wrapped the hood in "industrial" shrink wrap and then just layed fibermat (boat mat) and fiberglass over it.. it came off and due to the HUGE body fitment gaps on the first gens it fit! a little tight but it fit. I experienced some flexing due to the fact that it had no backing..
So i quickly realized that this wouldn't do..

I have tryed making a mold but it hasn't been going smoothly at all so i have a new plan.. Tell me what you think and if yuo have any sudjections at all lemme know.

I was thinking of REMOVING the ACTUAL OEM hood form the skeleton backing (the hoods crossmember) and sanding the underside smooth, then waxing it with mold wax, spraying it with mold release and using the hood itself as a mold.

Think this will work? and if so do you have any sudjestions on how to separate the backing from the hood without damaging the hood?

Thanks for your help.

Trevor

 

Talk to Manntis. He's doing/done a fiberglass and possibly CF hood.

 

I beleive he PAYED someone to make the mold for his hood didn't he? I may be wrong..

 

Why not just use mold release on the top of the hood and make your mold from that?

 

Yeah i've been trying that.. Maybe I suck at this... They always seem to flex a bit..

 

you got to really lay it think. are you using on glass mat? try adding some cotton materal if its onlu going to be a mold, but man the price of this junk adds up quick.

 

Yup, I paid laborers to do the actual work. Between writing screenplays, running three retail businesses, and acting as vice-president for a provincial charity I didn't have time to cut metal nor lay mat. The irony is most of my workload involves me plunked in front of a computer, so I do have downtime in which to fart around on the internet

That said, how it was performed was simple: My guys laid mat over the hood and created a negative that became the mold. No plastic sheeting required. The back bracing was cut away, but only because I designed a new one to fit around the vents that were crafted into the original metal hood (which became the 'buck'), thus included in the mold.

The mold itself was made very thick and braced so not only did it not warp when separated from the buck, but it'll last as we make dozens of hoods from it without shifting or warping as each hood dries and tries to flex it.

 

What do you plan on charging per hood?

 

alright u may or may not like this advice b/c itll cost a **** load of cash....but if u take fleece and u lay it on top on the shrink wrap....and u soak the fiberglass resin into the fleece it pretty much turns into a rock....still light weight but very solid...then lay the matting down on it and then u should have a complete replica made of some fleece and fiberglass....itll cost a little bit more then expected tho b/c the fleece will absorb a **** load of the resin so ull need to spread it slowly and generously as it will not spread once its applied

im doing this for the front end piece of my 7 so that its strong enough to withhold a little bit of bottoming out but it wont break off...and so it doesnt get damaged from wind when traveling at high speeds...home this can help u a little bit

 

Don't give up on it. You just need to use more materials and make the mold thicker. I would also use some wood and build "strakes" or "ribs" on the mold and then glass them into the first layers you had laid down. That should keep it from flexing when you remove it from the buck.

Try this:
http://www.hotrodder.com/32Blowpar/page8.html

-billy

 

it's not so difficult one has to be creative, and think out the steps in advance. theres using , and creating a mould that can stand up to producing 5 or more units if that is what your going for. that requires a stock oem hood to start with that is straight.
if you've got the space build a wooden ' tub' about 4-5 inchs tall with a plywood bottom and leave about 2 inchs on each side. it's just the same size as the hood and the hood will fit inside the 'tub' . buy some of mould making pvc foam, it a 2 part process that mixxes in 1 bucket. it's pretty expsensive stuff. i've found using plain 'ole axle grease as a release works as well as any expsensive release and apply a thin even coat over the entire surface of the top (outer) side of the hood. no cloth is required with the foam . pour the foam liquid into the 'tub' and place the hood inside upside down. it's a good idea to allow the foam to raise up and over the edges of the hood while keeping presure or some weight evenly across so no air pockets form and allow to dry or harden. to remove the hood start at 1 corner and peel it away. trim any access foam that may hold the hood and foam together around the edges.
the foam will have to be sanded some to a smooth surface , check for pits from air bubbles and fill with a body filler, sand smooth. to make a 'skin' using the mould first apply some release over the entire mould and mix up enough gel-coat to cover the entire mould. some use a spray gun, big bucks !. me, i use paint rollers and apply an even coat and allow to harden. next comes more gel-coat but first lay down the cloth. gel-coats come in grey, white, clear. with the clear gel-coat you can do what you desire. if you want to have carbon fibre, then buy the material (one piece) or sea glass cloth, chopped strand, whatever you desire. if you want a carbon fibre hood then all gel-coat should be clear to allow the material to be seen through the top of, but will be the bottom of the mould to start with and you won't be able to see it untill all layers are hardened and the skin is 'poped' out of the mould. if your just wanting to use sea glass or matte cloth for a fibre glass hood and you want to match the colour of the car add the paint to the resin before adding the hardener ( catylast) and mix real good together then add the hardener and use rollers (paint) to apply the resin. rollers do a pretty good job but still air bubbles will happen just stay on top of them untill the resin starts to heat up and harden. remove the roller from the paint roller before the resin sets if you want to reuse the paint roller again. atleast 3 layers of cloth for the skin. if you use carbon fibre then 1 layer of carbon and then 2 layers of matte cloth or chopped strand or wover roven or whatever allow the whole thing to sit 24 hours and is cool to the touch before removing from mould
blah, blah , blah, it goes on and on. it's exspensive and makes a mess. the best resin(s) i've found are system three brand. costly but good ****.