Hi all,

I am thinking about making a boot box for my car this year after two years driving around with any loose things in the passenger footwell.

Question is, what do I need - understand I need to make a buck etc, but what resin, cloth etc do I need - there are a selection of kits on ebay, ranging from £10 to £80 which appear to have everything needed? but I have no idea how far they would go, or if I would be buying loads of stuff I don't need?

Any help appreciated.

Greg

I bought enough to do a rear panel and box (actually 2 as it turns out) for £50 from a wholesale-type place.

I got;
5l resin
1l gelcoat
1l acetone
5m mat
2x paddle rollers
2x buckets
a tin of wax release agent

Cheaper than anything I could find on ebay at the time.

The place is in Leeds, but I'm sure there are -places like it up and down the country. It's amazing what discount you can get when you mention you don't need a receipt

The actual fibreglassing is easy, nice and simple, but if you want it to look good, spend as much time as you can, and then some on the buck

My original thread with lots of good info from Marc and Hugh is HERE

We've not got much further than this so far..


panel closed

[Edited on 30/3/09 by UncleFista]

I ordered a pile of glassing stuff from CFS and when it came, there was a booklet in the box which told me everything I ever need to know about glassing, moulds, bucks, release methods, materials, etc. And the gear was as cheap as I could find.

Our local contact is East Coast Fibreglass at South Shields - they have an e bay shop or you can collect the stuff and save money ,they have a very useful website and if you have a query just give them a bell,
we found them very helpful and extremely cheap. I notice they are now starting to advertise in the kit car press too.
atb
Mike

have a look on CFS website there is some good info on there http://www.cfsnet.co.uk/acatalog/methods.html

If you're a newb with fibreglassing, take a bit of advice. Get a box of disposable latex gloves and put them on before you touch any resin or fibreglass

The catalyst for polyester resin is methyl-ethyl-keytone (MEK) and it is a really dangerous chemical, particularly when it comes to eye contact. If you get MEK in your eye you'll more than likely lose the sight in it. Handle MEK very carefully and wear safety glasses at a minimum when dispensing it.

Sorry for the 'school marm' tone of this post but my father and I built a 37' yacht from scratch with polyester resin and we had large amounts of MEK to handle during the build.

Sorry, bit of an edit here catalyst is Methyl Ethyl Keytone Peroxide (MEKP) but it doesn't change anything. Both MEK and MEKP are really dangerous chemicals. The post below about the model painter is not uncommon. People who are around volatile chemicals and solvents need to wear eye protection and a cartridge type respirator at a minimum (not a flippin' synthetic fibre dust mask OK) My neighbour who was a panelbeater/spraypainter and ran his own smash repair business has multiple chemical sensitivity and other medical problems directly associated with his exposure to chemicals used in the business. Think on.

(it took 21 years to complete if anyone's interested. Never build a yacht from scratch!)

[Edited on 31/3/09 by Benonymous]

[Edited on 2/4/09 by Benonymous]

I was in a youthful scrap many many years ago in my ice hockey career (nobody I knew ever went anywhere: not a real career), and my nose was broken. After surgical repair (I remember how much it hurt even now), it left my left side a bit odd on the inside with less lining. Fibreglassing has now rendered it with virtually NO lining in my nostril. The stuff is seriously dangerous.

A friend once gave me some MEK to clean out an airbrush. I asked him if it was inflammable... "No, inflammable is not the right word... explosive is a better description!".

He gave me about 100ml, of which I used about 25. When I'd finished I asked him what to do with the rest. "Take it down the bottom of the garden and undo the lid. Go back 20 minutes later and it'll be all gone."

Volatile stuff!

Obligatory serious stuff: He was a professional self-employed model painter who used assorted paints and solvent all day, every day. He was not good at using masks, ventilation, etc. He died of cancer aged about 40, leaving a wife and 2 school-age kids

[Edited on 31/3/09 by David Jenkins]

Mmmmmmnnn, if u take the normal precautions gloves, specs and work in a well vetilated enviroment your are at no more risk from this stuff than u are crossing the road, I do all of the above daily and have worked with poly for 25 years, and played with it since I was 14 and trust me im still normal, well I think I am anyway, others on here may disagree, oh and I wear all the same stuff when I spray paint as well!! Cant vouch for the flux capacitor in the car however?? have noticed my head glows in the dark.....might be the Rum
Shug