1986 Jetta Carbonfiber whaletail

[COcyclist]

Subscribed. Thanks for the how-to and all the photos.

[Varn]

Now the fun part of my project is beginning. Sanding. I am using West systems light weight filler.

I used a bit of Retinex processing to kind of make this surreal print.

I had sprayed on some silver paint to give it a bit better appearance while I drive it around. So the silver patches in the finish are actually low spots. This part is wavier (+- .05") than I would like but it can be fixed.

[aerohead]

Looks like a visual representation of a Frank Zappa song.I like it!

[Varn]

Yeah I just never warmed up to Zappa. Sounded too much like jazz.

Since the technicolor shot. I had a failure to use the right filler. I used some oak sawdust. It left a very hard almost impossible to sand layer.

I now have 3 layers of micro over it and have gotten a flatter part.

Anyway I took the cover off the car. I had glued them onto a layer of duct tape. Just peeled them off.

Here is what they look like on the underside.


At this point I have too much epoxy and filler on both of them, Mostly from my improvised filler debacle. The window cover weighs in at 7 pounds the park bench 3. I am going to trim them and remove most of the foam.

[Varn]

A couple of photos:
When you cut the hardened composite be sure to do it outside and use a fan.

Here I am about to trim the window cover and am using an old furnace fan. I stay upwind of course.

I use an electric 4" angle grinder and cut off of a marking pen line.

I had the window cover unglued from the top for about a day and was getting some warping. A pretty typical occurrence. The part weighed right at 6 pounds. It should have been 3 but oh well.

I didn't want to finish the part as it would surely induce more warpage, so I marked the top for riveting it to the car, one rivet every 4.5". Improving the finish would come later. The car is going to be repainted.

Here it is attached to the car.

[Varn]

I have been skiff sanding and further refinement with the surface.

This picture was taken a couple of layers ago.

I am using spot putty and grey buildup primer. I sand with a skiff between layers. I use a light at an angle to see where the low spots are.

It is probably well smoother than it needs to be now but I want it to look nice.

Once it is sanded I still can see lots of different colors not good.

The back section is off for now.

[Big Dave]

This looks like it could work nicely on my Impala SS.

[christofoo]

That looks nice. The Jetta is the same shape as my 89 Corolla.

Can you show a picture of the trunk up and the spoiler on? That's the one thing I'm not clear on.

Thanks!

[Varn]

Sure that would make a good picture. I designed it so the back of the window screen touches the trunk lid at the front of the whale tale base. I could have made the back slant down to try and catch more of the rear air. Slant down at the back that is.

For the longest time my rear door handles were broken and I couldn't access the rear seat area. I needed the trunk every time I wanted to carry something. It had to stay useful.

I could close in the sides some now that my rear doors are functioning normally Maybe hinge the rear at the front of the window cowling. Too much to do in real life to get everything done.

[AndrzejM]

Subscribed. Good work, thanks for sharing.