My second fiberglass project is a pillar pod for my garmin gps. After doing the console box, I have some practice in the basics of fiberglass fabrication so I decided to go at it again on a smaller scale.

Required Items:

Fiberglass Resin
Resin Hardener (Usually comes with the Resin is buying Bondo brand)
Fiberglass Mat/ Cloth (Suggest both)
Small paint brush (cheapo you can throw away)
Mixing Cup (marked for volume)
MDF or Particle Board
Fleece Cloth (I hear any cloth will work, fleece is thicker)
Bondo
Bondo Hardener
Saw/s (Jig Saw or Dremel)
Sander/ Sand Paper (Various Grits)
Masking Tape (see Rubber Gloves below)


Suggested Items:

Orbital Sander
Dremel (Sanding/ Cutting)
Respirator (Resin fumes are DANGEROUS)
Rubber Gloves (Resin and Bondo suck to get out)
Tin Foil (helps with masking and covering)
Hot Glue Gun


First I removed the pillar by pulling the bolt caps from the "oh $#!t" handle to expose the screws, remove screws and the pillar will pull out. Its a couple clips and seats under the front dash piece. I decided to lay down the tin foil over the main part of the piece I was going to focus the glass work on (left side of pic).



I then started masking, around the edges first then decided to mask over the foil too. I found out that resin isnt too hard to remove from the plastic, but you can never be too careful. I decided to mask over the foil to make it smoother,I didnt want the glass to be harder to remove due to small imperfections and lines in the foil.




After I covered everything, I cut my fiberglass into small workable pieces and this was the best decision I could have made! I used mat and cloth. The idea was to use the mat first for strength and the the cloth for the finish. The cloth lays much smoother than the mat. If you read my post on the console, I answered my own question about strength. The mat definitely provides a sturdier structure. Now when if comes to tensile strength I still don't know for sure. If you're wondering why ask me later and I'll elaborate.



Once the pieces were cut I mixed my resin according to mfg instructions, 10 drops of hardener per ounce of resin. I found that 4 oz worked well for the first coat. Begin by "painting" on a layer of resin onto the work-piece about the size of the strip of glass you are using. Place the glass over the painted area and use your brush to "tap" it down. You can dip the brush back in for more resin if the glass strip didn't get "absorbed" into the laying resin. You'll be able to tell if you soaked your piece enough. Once done, repeat on another section of your work-piece until you've completely glassed the entire piece. Ensure that you overlap your strips about 1/4in for durability. Work quickly as the resin will begin to get unworkable after about ten minutes. Once done, I emptied any leftover resin out of my mixing cup and put the brush inside and placed the cup at an angle to gather in one side as it dried and around the brush. Once it completely dries all you have to do is roll it in your hands a little to release it from the sides and pull the brush out, viola! All the hardened resin and brush come out and you can re-use your cup.

The first layer I used the mat, the second I used the cloth. Again, I did this for the finish, the cloth lays much smoother than the mat, which in turn will make it easier to smooth the bondo if you decide to use it for a paint finish.

Use a sharpie to trace the edges of the original pillar. Remove the fiberlgass, carefully, from the pillar and cut to size.

For the mounting ring, I traced the outside edge of the garmin and added about 1/4in, traced around again and then cut out with my jig saw. Sand to preference.

Now comes the part of deciding where and how to mount your ring to your fiberlgass base. I used hot glue and another small wedge piece of particle I cut. I re-installed the pillar to the truck and inserted my base piece over the pillar. Once I had it where I wanted, I marked the base with a sharpie where the wedge and ring were going to connect. Remove ring and base and glue together. Re-install base again to pillar to verify location. If pleased move on to the covering.

For the cover I used fleece, I believe that the material and thickness produce a sturdier base for the glass. I cant really tell you step by step how to do this. All I can say is that my hot glue gun came in handy. Stretch your fabric over any piece that you want covered. In this particular case I didn't fleece over the ring like I did on the console box, but behind it. The hot glue stuck pretty even after resin soaked into so it should be good to go. Once the piece is covered, mix some resin and "paint" a good coat of resin over fabric and allow to dry. It is very important to make sure that you saturate the fabric so there arent any soft spots and it will provide a better structure.

Once cured, cut some more strips of mat and cloth, mix your resin and glass the netire work-piece. It was pretty nice outside so my drying time was gretly shortened by placing it in the sun. It doesnt have to be completely dry between coats, but it does need to be stiff and tacky to the touch. If it is still dripping let it dry more. Once you have all of your coats done and the piece is dry, use your sharpie again to trace your edges and cut any necessary edges.

After all cuts, I mixed the bondo, again, according to mfg instructions. For a glob about 3 inches in diameter it uses a strip of hardener about 3 inches long. Mix thoroughly, until it is a uniform pink color and apply to work-piece in any places you need filled or smoothed. I did the whole piece, but you can save on sanding if you don't do the whole thing. There is a period in the bondo curing called the "green" period, when it is hard enough to easily sand and remove quite a bit of material before it gets too hard. I started sanding at about 20 mins of drying and it worked well. I used an orbital sander with 60 grit. The lower the grit, the rougher the paper and the more material you will remove, the higher the grit the smoother the piece will be. If you want to paint, it is suggested to sand, bondo, sand, bondo until you reach 400 grit. Not this guy, I dont have the patience. I sanded, re applied bondo once, sanded and called it good. Its not perfect but it's good enough for me.

Before you paint make sure you have sanded and finished around your ring enough to fit your gps or whatever else you may be mounting before you paint. I used a high filler primer, and some double coat rustoleum paint, that happens to match the gray pretty dern good.

Paint and finish to preference. I already had the wire ran behind the dash, so I cut a small hole in the piece at the bottom and inside to hide it. I removed the "oh $#!t" handle, installed my piece and put the handle back on. The fit was good enough I didnt need to glue or taped the piece in.





I know, I could have spent 3 more hours sanding for a perfect smooth finish but I didnt. It does the job for me and I'm not doing it for anyone else and Im certainly not getting paid for it so there you go. If you have any questions let me know.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with creating your process---its honestly very helpful to anyone looking to do anything similar!

Nice results too----nothing to be ashamed of one bit!

 

Good job man! Looks great

 

That's awesome man. Great idea