DIY $40 make you holla fiberglas radiator shroud with bondo kit

saylor

saylor

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the madness continues.

ever since i bought my car in 2013, the temperature was not right. when i got it, the PO had a pusher electric fan rigged up to a manual on/off switch under the dash. one of the first things I uninstalled. also the PO was running it with no thermostat.

I have since changed coolant, replaced all the hoses, proper tstat + cap, new overflow bottle and hose, etc. the car does OK, but in traffic, in TX, in the summer time, it gets to the edge of hot, like 210 ish, and i start getting nervous hoping for the light to change.

so i was looking at summit for a new pusher fan, and found the thermocure rust o snake oil crap. and bought that. and was going to do a writeup about that.

so THEN the other day I was out at the car, draining the rad and filling with the snake oil, and got to looking at the shroud. its not the correct shroud :/ i never really paid attention to it until the other day. it overs the whole fan blade width, is smushed flat on the bottom to fit in, and is about 2" to wide a circle for the fan diameter. WTF. And the shroud that is there now is about 3/4" from flush, and is only about 90% coverage, about an inch or radiator hangs out past the shroud edge.

that changed everything - I need a proper fan shroud, and my hot issue would probably go away.

summit to the rescue! - at $150, and you have to wrastle the thing in to place. BAH.

so, I figured it is time to learn how to fiberglass :)

I took a bunch of measurements and ended up at 24 1/4" x 17 3/4" radiator inside seam. center of fan is 8 14" down from inside seam. Fan is somewhere very near 17 3/4" diameter. from backside face of radiator to farthest edge of fan blade 4".

so the form I made is 24"x17 1/4" x 4" - the 4" is the round part, which I will cut to 3 1/2" at the end of the project.
20170704_144329.jpg
 
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with these measurements, I needed to build a form. I have no money, so I went to the garage and studied some options.
20" bicycle wheel with pumped up tire is a decent diameter compared to the fan. check.
Large piece of plywood size of radiator inside seams. check.
old t shirt to stretch over everything for fiberglass form. check.

i cut my 3/4 MDF base to 24x17 1/4" and measured the middle, then 8 1/4" down for center of fan. since this is a bike wheel, it is 3/8" hole, and stab the axle into the MDF.

cover with a t shirt, stretch tight, and staple to the underside.

the staples make a nice foot for the project to sit up off the work table - added bonus.

20170704_144244.jpg
 
i wore my printing specs, gloves, n95 paint mask, and had 2 fans behind me blowing outwards to outside - i heard this stuff was bad. and i have never done this before, only watched my homeboy ace do it, and he had a full respirator on, so i figured i better at least act like i was trying to be safe.

i mixed up some goop, and started slapping the stuff on. tried a foam brush first and switched to a standard paint brush quickly.
20170704_180122.jpg


i also FORGOT to wrap my tire form in aluminum foil.....

i DID however remember to tape the edge with 3 layers of blue tape.

the wheel is not bolted, and after it cured 3 hours I let the air out of the tire.

When I opened the middle of the shirt i could still smell it curing after 3 hrs! so I decided to just pack it in and let it sit overnight.

thats where we are right now sports fans
 
saylor said:
i wore my printing specs, gloves, n95 paint mask, and had 2 fans behind me blowing outwards to outside - i heard this stuff was bad. and i have never done this before, only watched my homeboy ace do it, and he had a full respirator on, so i figured i better at least act like i was trying to be safe.

i mixed up some goop, and started slapping the stuff on. tried a foam brush first and switched to a standard paint brush quickly.
View attachment 131756

i also FORGOT to wrap my tire form in aluminum foil.....

i DID however remember to tape the edge with 3 layers of blue tape.

the wheel is not bolted, and after it cured 3 hours I let the air out of the tire.

When I opened the middle of the shirt i could still smell it curing after 3 hrs! so I decided to just pack it in and let it sit overnight.

thats where we are right now sports fans
Click to expand...


Looking Good, I always wondered about making stuff like this.
 
not much to report yet - got up and got the 1st layer of cloth down. tried mat first, and the stuff does not want to bend or fold easily around corners and contours, so i peeled it off the form and stuck it to my fence :) well see how that goes lol maybe the neighbors will like it.

the cloth is much more user friendly, and mostly went down without too much fight. the 90* corners are difficult.

20170705_102148.jpg


edit: look in the driveway,, that piece of mat fell off the fence, and now looks stuck to my driveway. even better.
 
Unless you were going for a perfectly flat finish towards the inside of the form, you don't have to worry about mat. Boat building, you shoot your gelcoat into the form then you layup two separate layers of mat before you lay up the roven .. the two layers of mat eliminate "print through" from the roven being laid up right over the gelcoat (print through is the woven pattern showing through the gel coat).

If you cut the 90˚ and overlap them kinda like wrapping a present, they should be fine then just grind her down once she kicks.

Awesome work man! Definitely stayin tuned!
 
BeatersRus said:
Gjs,it sounds like you have exp.
ive been considering making some hoods up for the 65-66 cars.
think it would be worth doing?
Click to expand...
Depends, really. Not sure what process would be best to build them (though I have a few in mind) and Im not sure what the market viability is.
I sucks because if I could just set up and start making metal panels, I'd be certain there was a market .. I could easily set up and make fiberglass panels, but who the frig is gonna buy em?
 
I think there would be much more call for fiberglass interior parts (some of which are already done) like seat trim, consoles, etc.

Fiberglass exterior panels... if I was worried about shaving 50 lbs I wouldn't have started with a C body.
 
have some of you tried to lift your current steel hood?
ive had mine off countless times in the last 2 months.
holy Crap they weigh a ton,so a fiberglass hood would be nice.
and you can shave 50lbs just switching to a electric fan and alum water pump/housing.
not sure why shedding weight which makes it easier on the driveline to begin with would be sneered at.


to Gjs,yeah,ive been researching the materials,
i have a good idea of the form and release setups.
as far as whos gonna buy them,ik theres a coupla fury guys who have been looking for fiberglass.
i was thinking more of making a few just to get the feel of it.
see where it leads...not really focused on the profit side yet.

plus,more than anything else,if i can get it right,then we could make scooped hoods.
me and my friends have been discussing various scoops/looks/viability.

the Ops setup is a great example of getting creative.
theres a lot of people out there with shitty shrouds or no shroud.
 
BeatersRus said:
have some of you tried to lift your current steel hood?
ive had mine off countless times in the last 2 months.
holy Crap they weigh a ton,so a fiberglass hood would be nice.
and you can shave 50lbs just switching to a electric fan and alum water pump/housing.
not sure why shedding weight which makes it easier on the driveline to begin with would be sneered at.


to Gjs,yeah,ive been researching the materials,
i have a good idea of the form and release setups.
as far as whos gonna buy them,ik theres a coupla fury guys who have been looking for fiberglass.
i was thinking more of making a few just to get the feel of it.
see where it leads...not really focused on the profit side yet.

plus,more than anything else,if i can get it right,then we could make scooped hoods.
me and my friends have been discussing various scoops/looks/viability.

the Ops setup is a great example of getting creative.
theres a lot of people out there with shitty shrouds or no shroud.
Click to expand...

They do weigh a ton, can't argue there!
I've got nothing against shaving weight, just wish I'd taken a lot more time to learn about metal working in my life!

Anyway, if you do have any questions, let me know. I spent many years building luxury yachts and picked up a lot of knowledge in glassing!
 
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