Fibreglass/plastic - custom console??

[Outback bloke]

Any one here good with fibreglass or injection moulding plastics? I am wanting to make a new console for my ute and haven't got any idea on how to go about making it.

I was thinking about making it out of mdf or the like but would prefer a one piece light weight unit.

Any tips or clues?

[coupe]

Try this site , there free and have good info and support
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/index.php

[bluesteel]

go with fibreglass


messy, but easy


can always just sand back and try again

[vincentvega]

I would start with a thin MDF basic shape and then fiberglass / bondo up the curves your after from there.

If your finished product ends up too heavy you atleast then have the shape you want, you can take a mold of it and have something made out of light weight glass..

[Jack]

Raid Megan's tupperware cupboard. Cut and superglue some old plastic containers into the shape you're after then strengthen it with fibreglass (or kevlar if you want it to be extra strong).

Brett, what do you have planned with regard to your Brumby's bucket seats? I'm asking because I'm wanting to improve the seating in my Brumby and I dunno if I should get the original seats re-padded and re-upholstered, or try to find a replacement seat somewhere.

I sat in an aftermarket Recaro last week. It was very, very nice but at $1,600 a seat it was a wee bit too pricy for my wallet. 8O

[Craigus]

An alternative method if you have spare dash bits from different cars lying around might be to chop and join bits to get the shape you want, bog up any gaps and then use that as the mould for your fibreglass final product ...

[Fury]

Make a "Plug" from mdf or something you can get a smooth finish on. Finish it to allmost (but fractionally smaller) the size you want.
Paint it with any spare 2 pack, you have lying around.
Wax it with mould release wax.
use a pva (poly vinal alchohol) based release agent.

Cover with 8 oz fibreglass woven cloth and resin.
sand the bumps and repeat the coverage.

leave 1 day and lift off the plug . cover with vinal or sand and paint...
simple

Seriously though, If you want detailed info, pm me.

The above method is actually a simplified method of making a "Mould", which you would cast up as many as you wanted.

You must also "taper" any internal surfaces, so that they will release.
also you can reinforce areas for hinges with timber or alloy , internally, using resin and talcum powder as a "bog" or glue

[Chris_Rogers]

pm fury he has the right idea.

[Craigus]

There a quite a few useful links in this thread:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=14036

[Fury]

If you do decide to do the fibreglass option, I am quite happy to go into as little, or as much detail as you want.

Lots of people think fibreglass is hard to work with, but in fact, if you can paint without getting it everywhere, glassing is easy.

Getting the shapes you want, takes some peserverance, but you can just about use any materials, to make a Plug / mould from, if you can get a reasonable , hard finish to a standard that you want ( a friend carved his radio console from solid foam) once it is stabalized ( glassed, sanded, painted - 2 pack is recommended) it is a relatively straight forward procedure.

I used to make mouldings for show cars, using MDF, chip board, ply, stalpes, vynal and could usually knok up a plug to make a quality mould ( that could be reused over and over) in a couple of hours quite easily.

As I said earlier, Yell if you want sime tips or a detailed plan.

Chris