New here. Lots of ideas for my son and I. He is just about to get his licence and we want to start on a car for him. My question is, If we modify our existing bumpers, will the fiberglass stick to the oem bumper or will we have to replace it completely with the 'glass one? Can the 'glass be "convinced" to stick? We started by cutting coils (I know, not the proper way) and are considering shaving the doors, frenched plate and custom bumpers/hood. I have plenty of fabrication autobody and welding experience, so this is not beyond us.
My last project:
our current project
If anyone has ideas or suggestions for mods to ease him into this project, that would be cool.
Cool looking truck!
First thing I would do is loose those hubcaps and fix that rust...lol..j/k
Fiberglass does not stick to the oem bumpers for long (if at all)....so really its not worth the time and money.
It would be better to stay with one or the other.
I made a custom bumper using part of an oem bumper. I used product like one called "Fusor", its a epoxy designed for that type of work. But it was something like $60CDN per tube and I used about 6 and most likely need at lest one more to finish it off nicely. I was mostly just sticking the two together. So I woudl not even want to think about how much a full custom bumper would use.
If you are wanting to do something all out custom, I think Fiberglass and Carbon Fiber would be the way to go.
the very first thing i would do is either put stock springs back on the car, or spend $100-150 on a decent set of springs/coils. many older cars will be fine running on cut coils, but not our cars....its very unsafe and i doubt you want to have to pry your kid out of a wrecked car. (dont get cheap ass ebay ones either! they are almost as bad)
secondly, fix the rust or any other dings/dents in the body. that way you have a nice blank slate to work off of.
third, no glass will not stick to the abs plastic of our bumpers (not well anyway...itll crack over time due to the plastic and glass expanding at different rates) as ^^^^ mentioned, fusor is the way to go with these types of plastics, although you could always do a full fiberglass bumper by using the stock one as a mold, and then work off of there. but really you could pick up a cheap, used body kit for very cheap and use that as a base to modify. this is probably the best bet for a dollar to work ratio
the shaved doors and frenched plate are very good mods to do and if you have the experience and tools to do it yourself, then even better for you! im a fan of DIY projects and people, so if you get around to doing this, post up pics of the process--i always enjoy watching a project from beginning to end.
that truck is pretty kick ass! i would love to have a truck like that! more pics or a link to more, please!
other than that.....welcome to the .org and good luck with your J!
Thanx for the replies, I plan on getting the proper coils but it was a quickie thing to see how the car would look. I'm driving it back and forth to work (3/4 mi) now so I'm not to worried about that. The prices of bumpers and body kits aren't too bad, it's the $200 shipping that I can' do. I will ask around about a used kit from local shops. Or, maybe I will use the oem bumper as a mold. Might start small with a hood bubble or side skirts just to get the feel of 'glass over foam. Thanx again.
seriously.......i want that truck!
where do you live? your profile doesnt list it. i doubt youll be able to find any used body kits at a body shop, simply because they will want you to buy new so they make more $ off of it, although if you live close to a big city you may get luck at a junkyard. but by far your best bet is to check your local/regional forum here and see if you can find something within driving range for pickup.
If anyone is interested, there is a not-so-in-depth article on this in the current issue of Truckin' magazine. They made a reinforced mold out of fiberglass, made a part, modified it, modified the mold and finally made the new part. I may try to do my mods in foam before I make my mold. What will I need to do to reinforce the lip around the top? Glass in a metal strip or maybe some 1/2" plywood. Would this be a good idea around the lower lip too? Thanks for any suggestions you can offer.
IMO it may be easier to modify a stock bumper with whatever materials you want or have...get it looking the way you want, then use it as a plug and make a mold from that. it sounds like that would take a few steps out of the process for you.
if you need, you can glass in a metal strip for structure. we glassed in some metal support brackets for my caddy tails when we did my rear bumper....
not sure what direction you are trying to go with it, but it may be more beneficial to you to find someone with some fiberglass bumpers for cheap, or even cracked and need repaired, and start with that.
when you get into molding any kind of ABS/urethane/etc with fiberglass, you're just setting yourself up for issues.
My thoughts are leaning towards making my own 'glass bumpers because my ex does a pretty good job of keeping me broke. I also take great pride in building my own parts. They may not be perfect, but any fool with a gold card can bolt crap to their ride. The more you learn, the more you are worth.
Not too bad for an investment of $3.12 and 2.5 hours.
not bad but what are you doing with the bumper now
When it warms up, we will try fiberglassing. I think I will start with a smaller project, a hood blister maybe, then work my way up to a full bumper.. I couldn't get the other pic to post, but my plate light is red. Looks kinda cool at night.
