The Amocat- 2005 Tacoma

[wdb]

Wow!

[aerohead]

She looks like low cost fuel to me!
Once she's closed in I'm pretty sure that you'll like the results at the pump.
Lift will be drastically reduced compared to the open bed.
Nice goin' !

[wdb]

I'm sitting here thinking -- not for the first time -- how many you might be able to make from your original mold...

[freebeard]

Slick.

You have a sill that's inches thick on the sides and a fraction of an inch on the top. Have you worked out the detail cross section? One would assume fixed windows on the sides and a hatch on top?

[aardvarcus]

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement.

WDB,
Unfortunately at my current rate I could turn out 2 or 3 every decade.

Freebeard,
It only is that thin at the back of the top, it gets thicker as it goes forward to a max of around 3 or so inches. I did it like that to maximize the view. I am going for fixed windows all the way around, and plan on hinging the entire cap to accommodate larger items.

As an update, I started to put fiberglass on the cap yesterday evening, and promptly ran out of epoxy resin and hardener when I continued this afternoon. I seriously underestimated how much it would take to make the initial coat and wet out the first layer of epoxy to the extruded polystyrene.

[aardvarcus]

Attached are some photos of the fiberglassing in progress.

I also purchased some bondo to use on the shell as well. My plan it to build up around the windows with bondo, to make the windows appear recessed into the cap. I also may need to skim coat parts of the shell, depending on how smooth I am able to get the fiberglass. I hope not to add too much, as bondo isn’t the lightest thing in the world.

[rumdog]

Great progress man! Keep it going!

[freebeard]

If the rear window is non-opening, then the thickness is probably Okay.

Why don't you route a 1/4x1/2" ledge in the edge of the foam? And my folks used to use sheet Mylar plastic and squeegee the resin out under it. It doesn't stick (maybe test first) and when you peel it off you get a smooth, even glossy, finish.

[aardvarcus]

Freebeard,
I thought about cutting lips into the foam for the windows, but I was worried about getting my fiberglass to follow the step. The mylar trick sounds neat, I will have to try that sometime. My current secret weapon on the fiberglass has been pushpins, to hold it when it wraps around inside corners.

[aerohead]

After glassing,I have sabre-sawed a line at the outside perimeter of where the glazing will be,then slid the loose section in (like a drawer) until its depth is a little deeper than the glazing itself.Then re-glassed this loose section like a patch to bond it,forming a nice landing zone for the glazing.Then,cutting out the smaller area which will actually be the visual opening.
Short of having a mold with joggles formed in,it's a quick and dirty way to end up with flush fitting components.
Blacking out the inside of the glazing perimeter gives a nice OEM look.