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Fiberglass question
Question regarding fiberglass repair. I have an '88 Carerra with the tail. There is a linear crack in the fiberglass on the passenger side near the front corner. It appears that the previous owner was probably using the tail to lift the engine hood versus the actual hood which resulted in the crack (I speculate). Anyone have a similar issue? What have others done to repair?
Ruxin    
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Ruxin 1988 Porsche 911 3.2 Carerra |
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06-19-2019, 09:40 AM
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Location: San Diego
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You can grind out the crack, fill with chopped strand fiberglass and resin (they make fiberglass bodyfiller that can work too), grind/sand to shape, add some filler and more sanding, then prime and paint. If you don't grind out the crack and just cover it up the crack will reappear.
Last edited by Cory M; 06-19-2019 at 12:18 PM.. |
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06-19-2019, 11:38 AM
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^^ Yep, exactly what Cory M said!
When you grind it out you need to bevel it.
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06-19-2019, 11:41 AM
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First thing is you need to drill the end of the crack to stop the crack. To actually see the crack you will need to do a lot of grinding.
To fix a crack you need to grind a very wide "V" that is 10 to 12 times as wide as it is deep. (If the glass is 1/8" deep you need to taper the groove out to about 1-1/2" wide.) The best commonly available 'system' to do the repair is West Marine. Their E-glass (epoxy glass) is very commonly used to make structural repairs like this. You want to use a lot of layers of fiberglass cloth and lay a plastic sheet on top when you squeegee the resin out of it. You don't want any air in it but the more resin you remove the stronger it will be. It will not end up flat so you will need to do a lot of grinding/sanding to get it shaped right and body filler or micro balloons will be required to get it ready for priming. A YouTube or web search for fiberglass airplane repair or boat repair will give you a ton of info and I believe West Marine has some good tutorials on all of their products.
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- "Speed kills! How fast do you want to go?" - anon. - "If More is better then Too Much is just right!!!" - Mad Mac Durgeloh -- Wayne - 87 Carrera coupe -> The pooch. |
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06-19-2019, 11:42 AM
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Here is a good basic video even though it doesn't go into using a plastic surface barrier to help with maximum resin removal. Plus a plastic barrier gives a smoother surface finish.
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- "Speed kills! How fast do you want to go?" - anon. - "If More is better then Too Much is just right!!!" - Mad Mac Durgeloh -- Wayne - 87 Carrera coupe -> The pooch. |
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06-19-2019, 11:52 AM
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Quote:
Although the tail is made from cheap polyester fiberglass, use epoxy to fix it. It's much better. |
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06-19-2019, 12:32 PM
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