This is going to be an Ongoing tutorial, because if i don't start it now, i never will. And i get questions all over from a ton of forums, on how to fiberglass stuff, because i used to do it back home. So i figured since I'm fiberglassing my dash, i can help everyone out and do a tutorial. Another will follow on making two fiberglass enclosures for the rear of your 240 on those two triangular shaped pieces where your back seat used to be.
SO here it all starts
supplies needed
1. 1 gallon fiberglass polyester resin (do not use Elmer's brand, use bondo or the kind at home depot, American housing or something like that)
2. OZ measuring cups (the plastic kind from Lowe's or home depot with ounce measurements for your resin/hardener ratio)
3. Paint brushes (i use the 3 inch kind to make it faster)
4. Razor blade
5. Dremel tool (if modifying your dash like i did)
6. Sandpaper (from 60 grit to 800)
7. Bondo or kitty hair (i use bondo because i cant read kitty hair in Japanese)
8. Fiberglass Matt, or fleece, whatever you want to use, either will work
9. Spray adhesive
(if i forget some ill get to it later)
Procedure- Take your dash out of the car, self explanatory
- Begin removing the colored vinyl covering on the dash. It will be a PITA and could take up to 3 hours as mine did because it was SO hard from being in the sun, it just kept breaking and i had to take it off inch by inch. It sucked.
- figure out what you want to modify. I had to personally cut a half circle by the edges, for where my 7pt cage front bars go through and rub against the dash, So i needed to channel it so it wouldn't stress my dash once installed.
- Clean the dash off with rough grit sandpaper to get any crazy unevenness out
- Use your spray adhesive to put the fiberglass matt onto the dash, It doesn't have to be perfect, but make it as perfect as you can, it will cut down your sanding time HUGE!
(its not completely trimmed and ready for resin yet, but you get the idea.)
- Take your time and make sure that trimmed everything before you mix your resin, you will have minimal time to do your work after it is mixed.
- Now go ahead and apply your resin to the dash from left to right. I do it like that so i dint miss anything. Make sure you overlap the edges onto the plastic, so that everything is covered, you can trim that with a Dremel later. and it just makes it easier than having to go back over it after your other coats because you missed a spot. It should look something like this right after your done applying resin. My first coat too 24 ounces to cover the dash with a small amount to spare/
You can see here where i notched out for the cage
This is the point I'm at now. Ill update tomorrow for the thread, should be complete by Wednesday