pre-lit steve Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 If trying to repair a big hole on westfield bodywork would it be best to bond in a similar piece of fibreglass (thickness and shape) and then fill the area or would it be best to try from scratch with a fresh piece of fibreglass cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin (Mr T) Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 If trying to repair a big hole on westfield bodywork would it be best to bond in a similar piece of fibreglass (thickness and shape) and then fill the area or would it be best to try from scratch with a fresh piece of fibreglass cheers How big is a big hole? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pre-lit steve Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 The cut out around the carbs is to big so I wanted to remake the bodywork around them and then cut the hole to suit what I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 That's ambitious, but is do-able, I did consider doing the same on my old car, but when I looked at the work involved and cost of materials, a second hand bonnet seemed quite cheap! it sort of depends what sort of quality repair you want. Race car, or show car, (or somewhere in the middle). Race car - structurally sound, cosmetically, looks ok from ten or twenty foot away! Show car - can't tell it's been repaired no matter how close you look... There's a few ways of doing it, in theory, you would fit the bonnet back in the mould, make sure it fits precisely, with no gaps around the opening to be filled, then coat the mould where the opening is with gel coat, making sure it runs right up to (and overlaps slightly) the old bodywork. Then, once it's gone off, layer in new chopped strand mat, from the back, again, overlapping the edges of the hole. Once fully cured, you'd remove from the mould and assess what work was needed on the outside - it might need a bit of wet sanding to blend the edges, followed by polishing. Assuming of course a good gel coat colour match. Without the full mould, you could ideally do with some way of making a part mould over the opening that you could lay the groundwork into, as above. Otherwise, the "traditional" way of repairing or modifying panels like this, is sort of the opposite of the above, it does pretty much assume you'll be painting over the repair though. Essentially, you would build a rough "mould" out of whatever suitable materials you had, that would cover the opening to the rough lines and shape of the bodywork, the closer the better, then cover it from the inside again with plenty of layers of CSM, making sure that where the opening itself was, is nice and thick, with plenty of meat to work with. Once cured, you'd then work from the outside, with the mould stripped off, it's a case of sanding and filling until you've got a seamless blend between old and new sections and the new patch follows the lines of the bonnet. At which point, you'd then prep it and paint it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory's Dad Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Essentially, you would build a rough "mould" out of whatever suitable materials you had, that would cover the opening to the rough lines and shape of the bodywork, the closer the better, then cover it from the inside again with plenty of layers of CSM, making sure that where the opening itself was, is nice and thick, with plenty of meat to work with. I'd bolt a bit of aluminium on the outside of your bonnet to make the mould and proceed as Dave suggests. You could make the aluminium a good fit as it's curved IIRC and you would just need to fill the bolt holes when it's done. Please keep the look of your Westy authentic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory's Dad Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Make a template for the cut to fit round your Webers from some card to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Yep, aluminium is great for this, anything with a nice smooth surface that can be shaped to match the bodywork. The quality of the surface of the "mould" will be the quality of the surface of the gel coat you get. So a mirror polished mould will give the best quality gel coat surface. A rougher surface on the mould face will transfer to the gel coat; you'll then need to wet sand the gel coat smooth and polish it up. While you can make your new gel coat nice and thick to allow for sanding, the problem can be the existing gel coat on the bonnet. You'll probably* be able to wet sand it a little, but not too much without the risk of breaking through to the CSM layer, at which point you'll need to paint the bonnet. *typical Westfield gel coat, especially on older cars is really thick. You can attack some older stuff with 240 grit even, with no issues, whereas some of the newer, I'd be careful at 1200, though most will take 800 grit. You just need to assess the surface and take an educated gamble! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pre-lit steve Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 Its keeping the authentic look that is my biggest problem! I had an ally bonnet made up a couple of years ago (not cheap) but it didn't seem right when i put it on so back to my original bonnet! Thought of making an ally cover to go around the hole but not sure. I have got an old scuttle that has similar shape that I have thought about cutting up and bonding to the bonnet to see how this works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDuff Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I am currently in the same position, having cut a hole for the Webers in my narrow body but using my own design rather than following proven shapes seen in photos of Westies etc. I do not like the result. So I have made a small air intake/scoop which fits over the hole I drilled out and, although a work in progress, looks quite acceptable so far IMHO ! Will post some photos if that would be of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pre-lit steve Posted September 24, 2015 Author Share Posted September 24, 2015 If you wouldn't mind trying to get ideas cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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