Making Fiberglass Flares

By "flares" do you mean fender flares? If you have the flares, then the process is very easy.

Yes flares of cooper s mini they can come of the car, They are unavailable to buy,so i don't want to wreck originals when making plug. If i had your email address i could send some pics to you. cheers

If you have the part you want to duplicate, then you really don't have to make a plug -- the piece itself serves as the plug. If you are careful, you can make a mold from the piece without damaging it.

The rules, in working with fiberglass, are that if you want it to stick, it won't, and if you don't want it to stick, it will. As a result, critical bonded parts will fail at the bond, and finished parts will be impossible to remove from molds.

OK, maybe it's not that bad -- but heed Hilltopper's advice re waxing, testing, and using mold release. All that stuff can be removed from the original flares when you are done. Be absolutely certain, however, that you don't wrap the mold around the edge of the original part in such a way that you can't get the part back out, without destroying the part or your mold. (You may find that you need to make a multi-part mold, that can be disassembled to remove the original piece (and subsequent parts) Using an actual part instead of a plug is usually called "splashing" and you can read about it by doing a google search.

Your assumptions re reinforcing the mold are pretty much correct: the mold is generally supported with wood in almost honeycomb fashion, but using squares rather than hexagons. Body putty is helpful for filling gaps and bonding on the back side of the mold.

Bear in mind that if you duplicate the original equipment part, and then sell them in any quantity, there may be intellectual property issues. If these are for your own use, then you'd be better off to find them in a junk yard.

I hope you are talking fender flares. If this is the case, make a mold off of the original. Do any body work that needs to be done,finish to perfection,build a flange out from your part about two inches. This is to make a flange to bolt another piece to so when you are actually making your part so you can have a flange on the inside (kind of hard to explain) The inner flange will need to mate to the flange you made on the outside and extend in side the width of the flange on the original for bolting the flair to the side of the car body. wax the side you are going to lay the glass on with a good paste wax, at least three coats. To check to see if you have enough wax on your part so the fiberglass won't stick, take a piece of masking tape and stick it to the part. If the masking tape sticks to the part the fiberglass will to. Wax and polish more till the masking tape no longer sticks. Then spray on a water soluable mold release agent.( available at fiberglass shop or supply house). Lay up several layers of fiberglass to make your mold good and heavy so it won't warp. To get your original part out of the new mold use air or water to force the two parts apart. Oh by the way ,never go past 180 degs because you will have to brake something to get the mold and master apart. Once you have that all done you are ready to start makeing parts. Clean, polish, and wax the mold to perfection because any imperfection in the mold will show in the finished part. Better yet take your original to a fiberglass shop and see how much it would cost to have the job done by someone that knows how. It will be a whole lot easier and you won't ruin your original.

This is my first time on here, can i put pics up on this site through photobucket or could i email some to you, whats your email address? Thanks alot for your comments, i think the hardest part is forming the flare to hold it rigid i would have to make up some sort of wood frame underneath and put flat balsa curved on that but wider than the flare to make wide plug , does this sound right ? cheers

Boy!! Am I ever glad you guys know what you are talking about!!

My first impression of the word "flares" is a device normally shot from a gun for signalling purpose... and I imagining refabricating the case for such a device out of fiberglass?? (a flare WWII vintage maybe??) Then you have to remove the pyrotechniques from the shell casing and replace them in your fiberglass casing... I want to hide in the corner when you do this.

In any case, I certainly enjoy CR4, and please accept that those of us on the other coast of the Atlantic ie the U.S. might get a little confused at times... as do our Australian. Chinese, etc... but it certainly makes life interesting!!

Bill

Thanks for everyones input, I finaly found the best web site regarding fibreglass,which has a learning centre link........www.fibreglast.com

Stick with it. And don't go mouldy.

2 points.