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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:24:01pm Quote Report to Moderator
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Okay, after having withdrawal symptoms from 'Sneaza's fibre glass parcel shelf' thread. I have felt both inspired and motivated to have a go at making some fibreglass gauge pods for my capp! So here are the pics I have been taking over the past month...

I say the last month because I fractured my ankle over summer so had a lot of spare time! Any tips or advice would be most welcome as I post the pics.

I had decided that I would need four gauges for the car;
Water temp,
Oil temp,
Oil pressure,
And one more for fun, pos exhaust temp?
These would be mounted on both A pilars next to the windscreen.

All may become clear as to what is in my head as the photo's upload! But it could all go horribly wrong too! Remember - this is ALL your fault Sneaza!!!!!!!!

Last modified Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:33:18pm by george
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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:30:07pm
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I was going to build the pod moulds out of mdf - however decided to use some premanufactured pods from a civic and cut them down to size as they were massive!

I managed to get two A pillars from a scrap cappo, just in case I mess them up - however the fibreglass should just peel off (and I plan to use lots of masking tape!).

So started by positioning the pods ready to be cut to size...

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:31:34pm
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Getting the angle right, cut some thick card to use as a template...

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:32:57pm
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Cut to size - glad I have a dremel!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:36:49pm
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Cut the end off - and attached to the pillar, the plan is to use expanding foam to shape the back of the pod so that it looks good when looking inside the car from the front windscreen, will worry about exact positioning when I put into the car.

The idea is to balance two pods on each side of the windscreen!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:37:30pm
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Another view...

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:39:46pm
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Starting to position both together. I want a small gap in-between both, which means when the sun visor is down then the top gauge will be slightly obscured - however - I am prepared to live with this, I can always make some new ones when the pods are fitted into the car!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:43:34pm
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Trying to get the angle right was quite tricky, so spent a good deal of time moving them until I was happy...

Remember these are just the moulds before I put lots of fibreglass over them.

Ordered everything online - face mask, brushes, resin, cleaner and matting. http://www.cfsnet.co.uk sorted everything and all arived nicely packaged - really looking forward to mixing it all up and making mess!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:45:44pm
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Other side - these will stick out more so that the driver has a good view - hope they won't obscure the view for the passenger to much?


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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:46:57pm Quote Report to Moderator
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No moaning about the score tax disk please! It matches the red leather!!!!!!!
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Andy
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 12:53:54pm Quote Report to Moderator
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You would only have to worry about that if it was a ClubCappo sticker appearing on SCORE George

Drop me a PM if you would like to be added to the ClubCappo Member Map.  More details can be found here.
We now have an official Facebook group as well as a page! See here
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Badger
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 1:48:29pm Quote Report to Moderator
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Sorry George....my bad...??? Looks good and glad I could be o some creative help...at least I know someone else is reading my drivel...lol

Suggestion: Once you have got your FINAL POSITION, get a pair of the Wifes' STOCKINGS......and stretch them over the entire thing.....paint on a couple of coats of resin, then, if need be, apply a layer of Glass to stiffen up, then sand off and light filler if needed...???this is how I did MY A-Pillars for Tweeters and Capgun did similar to his in 'Smashie'

The Stocking will give you a really good/smooth flowing curve and fill in the gaps and 'SQUARE' edges. Hope this is helpfull...???
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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 2:44:46pm
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Cheers Sneaza, all is going well so far...

Here's some pics from the outside to try and line them up.

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 2:45:37pm
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Any excuse to try and up my posts!!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 2:47:47pm
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Now to coat them all with masking tape them fill with insulating foam (or I like to call it 'mouse foam' as it fills holes to stop the little fellas getting into my kitchen!).


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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 2:49:06pm
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Ha ha ha ha ha - I love this stuff! Just don't get it on your hands!!!!!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 2:51:52pm
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Here it is dry - then to trim it all off and then get filling - the stocking idea would of course be a lot better than lots of filling and sanding, but I am past this stage. Maybe next time...

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 2:55:03pm
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At this point my Dremel packed in - I was most sad! 

However - they arranged to pick up the broken tool, and replaced it with a brand new unit and posted it back free of charge! Such lovely people!!!!

So I was back up and running in little over a week, after sanding and cutting the next few stages by hand.


Last modified Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 2:56:05pm by george
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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 2:57:23pm
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Starting to shape both sides smooth, lots of mess! May I suggest lots of dust sheets! Deffinately use a face mask.

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:00:43pm
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After spending some time repositioning the pods in the car - decided to alter the angle of the front of the dial.

Cut four small circles out of thick card and attached them to the desired angle. One advantage of this was that I had a perfact template to sand up to, knowing the circles would be the same diameter as the gauge dials.

Of course this added a lot of time and a lot more dust to the garage. As you can see I was banned from the house!

Used some car body filler to smooth over the foam, plastic and card.


Last modified Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:08:18pm by george
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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:01:29pm
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Ahhhhhh the return of the dremel!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:03:11pm
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Looking well sanded and getting ready for a layer of foil to stop the fibreglass to stop from sticking.

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:06:37pm
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Used spray adhesive to attach the foil and carefully smoothed out the creases. Of course at this point I should be putting a stocking over the mould. This would have saved a lot of time as Sneaza pointed out.

At this point i'm getting quite excited about mixing the resin. Little things please little minds... 

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:07:20pm
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another view...

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:11:11pm
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Cut the pieces of matting to fit, this was a comlete guess as to how the matting would overlap such a tight curvy shape, with the crisp circular line at the front to follow.

The sharp edge would prove to be the most difficult to get air bubbles out of.

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:18:05pm
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Here are the tools - had to ask the rabbits if I could borrow one of their medicine syringes as it was perfect for measuring the right mix. 2ml activator for each 100ml of resin. Also got a little mixing pot and marked 100ml measurements up the side. I later discovered about 75ml would be perfect to cover one of the pod set.

This is of course where I made a HUGE mistake!  > In my quest for power and glory I forgot just one thing! I mixed 0.2ml instead of 2ml, (good job it wasn't the rabbits medicine!)

So I waited and waited and 3 days later the b*****rd still wasn't dry. So with rather sticky fingers had to remove the damn stuff off both pods and start again...


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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:19:20pm
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See it did look good! When I removed it it had partly dried and of course took most of the foil off with it.

You live and learn...

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:21:05pm
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Notice the smug expression on Florence, she can't have her medicine until I get a new syringe.

The missus is a bit cross!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:26:50pm
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William on the other hand - was just chilled as always!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:30:44pm
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Now at this point you will notice that there might be a few photos missing.

Needless to say I did re-apply the first coat and then sand all the sharp bits of and apply a second coat - but there was so much sticky mess everywhere I didn't take many pics as I like my camera too much!

You may also notice it is sunny! MY GOD! Quick get out the BBQ!

I have started to take off the A'pillar and remove the mould - very satisfying!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:35:46pm
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It peeled off right nice! But unfortunatey the pod bits stayed well and truly in the fibreglass. This I discovered was because the first lot of runny resin had seeped into small crevices and effectively locked the mould in place!

Nil desperandum! I just chisseled the lot out. At this point it has taken me roughly 5 weeks to get this far - not working everyday. But not bad for someone with a fractured ankle!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:50:42pm
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And there goes summer! Oh well - mustn't grumble!

Now I have picked all the mouse foam and filler out and congealed foil. They are so light, now I just need to find some time to fill in the little holes and gently sand back the skin, cut to size and fit in the car.

But my leg is now fixed and I have to return back to work...  I guess I need to earn some money to actually buy the gauges!

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george
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:51:21pm
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One last one for good measure.

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crisp
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 10:16:41pm Quote Report to Moderator
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Looking good there George!
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Badger
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 10:33:11pm Quote Report to Moderator
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Quoted from george, posted Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 3:18:05pm at here
Here are the tools - had to ask the rabbits if I could borrow one of their medicine syringes as it was perfect for measuring the right mix. 2ml activator for each 100ml of resin. Also got a little mixing pot and marked 100ml measurements up the side. I later discovered about 75ml would be perfect to cover one of the pod set.

This is of course where I made a HUGE mistake!  > In my quest for power and glory I forgot just one thing! I mixed 0.2ml instead of 2ml, (good job it wasn't the rabbits medicine!)

So I waited and waited and 3 days later the b*****rd still wasn't dry. So with rather sticky fingers had to remove the damn stuff off both pods and start again...





LOL..........if you had mixed ANOTHER BATCH and re-applied over top, it would have Hardened........did the same thing very first thing I 'Glassed', only Parcel shelf a bit bigger
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Badger
Posted on: Sunday, September 14th, 2008, 10:40:16pm Quote Report to Moderator
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WELL DONE ......looks good  and will look perfect once you get some paint on 'em.....
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capgun
Posted on: Monday, September 15th, 2008, 2:33:47am Quote Report to Moderator
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Very good effort They will look great with a coat of paint like Sneaza said!
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george
Posted on: Monday, September 15th, 2008, 8:50:43pm Quote Report to Moderator
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Cheers everyone! I am itching to finish them - all my neighbours say i'm making bras! But what do they know?? Can't wait to finish them, although I am still picking bits of fibreglass shards out of my arms! There really is no easy way to remove all the tiny that embed themselves into your skin! Argh!!!!!!!!!
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Andy
Posted on: Monday, September 15th, 2008, 9:08:14pm Quote Report to Moderator
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Quoted from george, posted Monday, September 15th, 2008, 8:50:43pm at here
I am itching to finish them



That'll be all them fibreglass shards

Great job you are making of them though, especially as it's your first attempt.  I've been inspired but I know what a sticky mess I'll get myself into

As for your neighbours saying you're making bras, I'd hate to think what breasts they have been looking at! 

Drop me a PM if you would like to be added to the ClubCappo Member Map.  More details can be found here.
We now have an official Facebook group as well as a page! See here
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Badger
Posted on: Tuesday, September 16th, 2008, 6:56:59am Quote Report to Moderator
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Guess you'd have to GAUGE that for yourself........I'll get my hat...lol
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