The Prius Experiment

[freebeard]

The added drag would be trivial.

[Blacktree]

OK, so I finally got around to redoing the mirrors. Or at least, I got a start on it. I chopped the mirror bases off, and sanded everything flush. Now we're left with a bunch of holes that need to be filled. I'm going to use fiberglass for that. Probably tomorrow. Because now it's dinner time.

[Blacktree]

Hey guys! I decided to do the fiberglass work in 2 parts. First, I'm going to fill all the holes in the existing piece. Then I'm going to put a thin layer of fiberglass over it, to bind everything together.

Today, I did the first part. Here's how I did it. First of all, I stretched some painter's tape across the holes. Then I mixed up a slurry of resin and glass powder. I added glass powder until the resin was the consistency of peanut butter. And I used that stuff to fill all the holes. See photos below.





I'm going to let it cure overnight, then do the other side tomorrow. The resin won't bond to the tape. So tomorrow, I can tear the tape off and get back to work.

I should also note that I scored all the surfaces with sandpaper and a small file. You need to rough up the surface, so the resin can stick to it. Also, this "phase 1" will need to be sanded before I apply "phase 2", so they can bond together.

BTW, I put a garbage bag on the work surface, to catch any stray resin. It saves me the trouble of grinding it off later.

[freebeard]

I was going to suggest exactly that, but I'm a little sensitive about having to comment on every post.

I think you're on track.

[Blacktree]

Last time I did fiberglass work was about 10 years ago (on the Fiero). So it's been awhile. But dusting off those skills felt nostalgic.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I was going to suggest exactly that, but I'm a little sensitive about having to comment on every post.

I think you're on track.

25,454 posts and counting.

I have always seen people refer to scoring as cutting partially through, so they can fold cardboard or coroplast, or snap plastic or glass.

[freebeard]

25,454 posts and counting.

Scary isn't it? Facespook and Twitter's loss is Ecomodder's gain.

[Xist]

Without a doubt!

[Blacktree]

The fiberglass layup is complete. These parts are pretty simple, which makes it easier. I also decided to use thin glass cloth (4 oz), because it's more flexible and conforms to the surface better. Plus I don't want to build up a lot of thickness. I just want something strong enough to hold a mirror.

Anyway, here are a couple photos.





Now it needs to cure overnight. And we can do the finish work tomorrow. The body filler hardens a lot faster than the resin. So if all goes well, we should have primed and painted parts tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

Side note: I like to have scrap pieces of glass fiber on hand, in case I need it. For example, one of the mirror bases had a low spot where the tape wasn't flat. So I used some scrap to fill in the low spot.

[Blacktree]

Yesterday, I made some progress on the mirror bases, but wasn't able to finish them. I was able to sand them, and smooth them out with body filler. And was able to apply the primer. But it was a rainy day, and the primer was taking a long time to dry, because of the humidity. So I decided to let the primer dry overnight. Later today, I'll do the final sanding and painting.

Here, the parts have a fresh coat of Bondo. Last time I used Bondo, the hardener was red. Now it's blue? Interesting.


Fast forward a little bit. Both parts are sanded. One of them has a coat of primer. I saw some rough spots on the primered piece, and sanded them smooth. That's why the primer is missing in some spots.


Fast forward a bit more, and both parts are primed for paint. After that dries, I can sand it smooth, and drill the mounting holes for the mirrors. And then the final paint. BTW, when I took this photo the primer was still wet.


On a side note, I almost forgot how dusty fiberglass work is. Especially sanding the Bondo. I wore gloves and a dust mask, and had a fan blowing the dust away. But I still got covered in sanding dust.