Fiberglass & Paint Tips

[SchulzeA]

I've also used Summit Racing paint. It sprayed nice and looks wonderful. I'm not sure at this point if it will stand the test of time compared to DuPont or PPG...
I always use a small gun to "edge" the car first. It's much easier to spray small/tight areas, door and hood edges first, then finish it all up with the "Big gun".

[tonypaul]

Thats the same seller and paint I used on my Diablo Roadster but I went with the Mercedes  Metallic Silver. The paint itself is real good, lays out good, clear was ok. I used a high temp activators but it was over 100 degrees in my booth and I had to up the reducer on the clear to get a good spray pattern out of my Sata gun. But it cut and buffed out pretty good all things considered....

I will be repainting mine again soon in metallic silver but I will be using the Summit Racing brand 2 stage paint next time. I used Summits "Silver Rush" on my 1968 GMC swb when I built that truck and it came out perfect. It looked awsome strait out of the gun and really popped when I wet sanded it and buffed it out. "To me" its the best econo priced paint I have used. Im not a professional paint person so consider that, but I have paint atleast 12 cars and "most" have come out really good. For the money this paint is good, not the best but with good body work it should come out fine.

In the end its really all about the body work, which is where Im not happy with my Diablo. After 4 weeks of sanding/blocking I said F- it and sprayed it. I wanted to drive it not spend another 2 weeks on prepping, which was a mistake but I kinda on a time crunch to finish the before my busy season kicked in on my business. For me, my Diablo was the hardest car I have ever painted. All the sharp edges, and recessed areas was tough. I painted mine with all the panels off and it made it more easy but it was still a very hard process....

[01Lambiero]

Anybody know anything good about this paint selling on Ebay?  Excellent price.  My research says that the founders came from House of Kolors.  Their seller feedback seems good also.  They developed the paint with help from the Univ. of Alabama.

Jim

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lamborghini-Lime-Green-Pearl-TriCoat-Tri-Coat-3-Stage-Custom-Auto-Car-Paint-Kit-/270884543781?hash=item3f11fa1d25&item=270884543781&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr

[Tallon]

Digibeam mentioned he was doing that, and kevlar

[SchulzeA]

Just an idea, but how would it work if you completed the body work, then covered it all with one layer of carbon fiber? It would help constrain the fiberglass and make a single surface covering. Then your body work cant show If there is any distortion when the body is extremely hot.

[italianknightrider]

Ideas for Undercoat on fiberglass body/fenders

For undercoating fiberglass I'd use POR-15 Pelucid. A polyurethane that will stand up to anything you can throw at it.

Most fiberglass ,even with gel coat on it still has a transparent appearance so undercoating the body will seal off most of the transparent light from being seen thru the body ... an give your paint job color a rich depth of most factory cars, quiet down road noise an protect from rocks chips an staring from underside an other debris on the road that,s thrown underneath the car.


 

Many of the rodders around here have the undersides of fenders, bodies, splash aprons, and other open-to-the-road areas sprayed with a bedliner material in complementary colors to their paint, or plain black and then spray the matching paint over it. It sure eleiminates the "stars" you can pick up on our gravel-strewn freeways!

[RT]

I love that blue.  I was even going to paint mine that blue but was talked out of it and will go with silver instead, mostly due to the heat issue.  Just don't let a thing like that stop you.  You will have to live with the car and ENJOY IT.
There are two ways to go with the paint on a Lambo; flashy or classy.  I'm going classy and besides it will match my hair.
A "flex additive" won't do much to resolve the issue.  The problem has to do with how much distortion occurs on the surface of the fiberglass when heated.  That shows up when light reflects off the heated body surface and after all that sanding to produce a smooth body it looks like you did bad bodywork.  A flex additive is good for preventing cracks on something when flexed.  If heating in the sun gets that bad, the car would melt.  LOL
Light colors are good but go with your favorite choice and keep in mind the things you can do to minimize the distortion.

RT

[Tallon]

It's a safe color to go with if we're too afraid to go crazy with other colors
There's so many pictures that look good because they're edited, it would definitely be nice to see a monterey blue murcie in person. or turquoise

[SchulzeA]

Will a flex additive in the paint should solve this issue? It would be silly if everyone's car is white. 

[Tallon]

rally from exoticmotorsports told me to not use dark colors as well, the guy on youtube that made all them lambos

[No Bull]

I know a lot of builders will disagree with this advice.  But this forum is to exchange thoughts on building.  Consider what I said and choose for yourself.  We all want to make our builds as nice as possible.
Keep on having fun.

Well said RT and the tips are very appreciated.  I will be rethinking how I'm attaching my body to my frame and I like the idea of "floating it" with a number of secure attachment points.  Thanks for sharing this.

Chris

[SchulzeA]

RT, you raise some very good points. I assumed the fiberglass would expand at the same rate (even with varying thickness) because it's from the same material, not vary expansion by thickness.
I may loose the rest of my hair in the process, but my car will be blue one way or another! 

[RT]

The problem with dark colors on a fiberglass body comes from the extra heat that is absorbed because of the darkness of the color AND the uneveness of the thickness of the fiberglass.  The variations in thickness will cause different expansion when heated.  This will occur more often if you add a lot of ribs.  Every rib will add another place for difference as well as anything else that you have bonded behind the body's surface.
The best way to combat this is to have the lest amount of variation in the body thickness.  That is very difficult because these bodies are molded inside one mold without an inner mold to control the thickness.
Also (and I know a lot of builders will not want to hear this) when you bond or glue the body to the steel frame you take away the ability of the fiberglass to "float" when expanding and increase the thickness at all bonding locations.  If possible, bolt the body to strategic locations on the frame so the expansion/contraction will be spread over a larger area.  Bolting at strategic locations will also help prevent stress cracks caused by the frame flexing.
I know a lot of builders will disagree with this advice.  But this forum is to exchange thoughts on building.  Consider what I said and choose for yourself.  We all want to make our builds as nice as possible.
Keep on having fun.

RT

[SchulzeA]

I've never used coremat. I wonder If the low saturation material would double as a sound barrier...?

The ribs are easy to make. Cut a piece of card board to fit the inner contour of your body. The ribs should be 90* from the outer body surface if possible. Then cut your templates from a sheet of cured fiberglass or you can lay up each rib. Then fiberglass the rib in the same location of the template.  I'm not saying this is gonna work perfect, paint your car a dark color and live happily ever after, but it defiantly has to help a lot. 

[Tallon]

ribs made out of what? probably will be a pain for me to do anyway