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This is the right side tube. You can see the fine surface rust in the weld area.
How does on keep these tubes wet with the acid etch for 10-20 minutes??? To keep the tubes wet with acid etch....I use paper towels wrapped around them to keep them wet. Another great use for Bounty towels.
A close up... after the acid etch was used and the rust is gone. Let the chemical do the work for you....whenever possible.
Passenger side tube is ready for epoxy.
A bit of time and effort and the inner passenger side tube is cleaned up and ready for epoxy primer.
The tubes were painted with charcoal metallic paint single stage enamel paint.
Matching the paint to the powder coating is proven to be a challenge and a bit of tinting is still possible. I will wait and see what happens when it is dry can check it again.
Getting ready to make a piece of sheet fiberglass for a repair/modification. The first photo is the piece of baked enamel aluminum I have that has been coated in the mold release wax.
I will rub it off an apply the mold release wax 2 more times. Then it will be ready for me to laminate. I an not applying PVA on it due to I have done this numerous times and I have no fear that I will be able to pop the fiberglass off the panel.
Close up view of the mold release wax I use. I can say...that this wax is AWESOME for use on the dark press molded spare tire carrier and floorboards. Provides a rich luster and when applied correctly three times... it is really hard for anything to stick to it.
I applied 3 layers of ounce and half mat with 2 quarts of resin. This is when using a roller really pays off due to being able to correctly saturate it without getting the mat to wet with resin.
This job would have been a royal pain in the backside if someone where to do it with just a paint brush.
After the three layers of mat were applied and rolled out. What it is needed for is coming up soon.
I applied 3 layers of ounce and half mat with 2 quarts of resin. This is when using a roller really pays off due to being able to correctly saturate it without getting the mat to wet with resin.
This job would have been a royal pain in the backside if someone where to do it with just a paint brush.
After the three layers of mat were applied and rolled out. What it is needed for is coming up soon.
DUB
so, is that 3 layers done at once or is it one at a time. Thanks for all your knowledge...it's helping out more than you know.
I applied resin onto the waxed surface of the aluminum. Then I applied one layer of the mat and made sure I got it wet with the resin....then... I applied the second sheet of mat that I cut. Making sure that I got it also wet and saturated with the resin and paint brush. Then I took my roller and rolled it out to get the air out and work out the excessive resin.
Knowing that I now have some of the resin now on top of these two layers of mat. I lay the third piece of matt and begin to roll it in and get it to soak up what it can of resin that is laying on the second layer...and with my bucket of mixed resin..I put some out on the ares of the third layer of mat to get it to absorb in and work it in and around til I get the piece almost 100% saturated.
Thanks for asking a question...and glad that this is helping you out in some way.
VOILA...the piece came off the waxed piece of baked enamel aluminum I applied it on. Literally it took about 3 seconds once I got it started.
If you notice ..the reflection of the fiberglas is quite dull but yet is fully saturated and that is how I like to do my lamentations. I do not like a lot of pooling of resin if I can help it. Not that it is a bad thing ( to a point) (in my opinion)...but I strive for a certain look of my laminations regardless if I am going to grind on it and prime or apply something else on top of it. It is like a challenge to me and I like getting it how I want it. Call me picky and weird....I know I do.
This is the side that was contacting the painted aluminum. As you can see it is shiny as all get out and that is not wax doing that. It is because the surface of the aluminum was so slick and shiny...the mat and resin was going to come out that same way as long as the resin and mat contacting it were applied correctly and not have air pockets or dry spots due to lack of resin saturation.
DUB, a question on your aluminum sheet you work on. How thick is that? I'm thinking it must be 3/16 or 1/4" as you need it to stay flat in order to end up with a non-warped fiberglass panel. Cheers, Bill
Let me guess DUB, you're preparing this firewall for Vintage Air and can't stand those chinsy tin blocking plates they provide for the heater core & blower motor holes? Bill
That sheet of aluminum was a sheet that was used in manufacturing Fruehauf Trailers. I think it is .045" thick... if that.
I have a flat piece of plywood under it that is not seen.
DUB
Thanks DUB. The key for thin aluminum is to use something stiff under it to ensure the panel stays flat during the process ... assuming a flat sheet is what you wanted to start with. Cheers, Bill
08-13-2017, 06:59 PM
