I?ve finally managed to remove all of the interior panels that the carpet attaches to. I would like to replace the cardboards with fiberglass versions before replacing the carpeting. Since I don?t have any molds, I was thinking of coating one side of the panels with wax and then layering up fiberglass to match the same thickness. The wax should allow me to remove the fiberglass once it?s cured. Good plan? Thoughts??
After waxing, spray the parts with PVA, polyvinyl alcohol, as a release agent. Your mold will release without damaging the original part.
Great - thanks for the advice. Will post some pics when I?m done.
Forgot to add, it is water soluble so easy to clean up.
I used West System epoxy on my car because epoxy is supposed to have better strength and adhesion. I also used West System fairing powder to thicken the epoxy for use as a filler. Since I don’t have any road time on the car yet I can’t confirm the above statement; however it is used on boats and airplanes.
The fairing powder works better than polyester filler, and since you mix it yourself you can mix it as thick or thin as you like. Having it thin is nice when you are doing the final block sanding.
Rick
West Systems is excellent stuff and will hold up better than just about any other product on a car for composite repairs…
There are no heat related issues as reported earlier in this thread.
I’ve used it extensively on racing car bodies for the last 20+ years and never ever had any heat related or other issues.
It is always my go-to for any composite (carbon, kevlar, glass, etc) repairs. Honestly, poly resin’s only upside is cost. It softens in heat, and never really gets hard. Some racers see this inherent flexibility as an advantage as it can take a hit and crank less. But I never did.
Rejoice. You made the right resin choice.
For body putty, I have used the west epoxy with faring compound. But it’s heavy and hard to sand. Kitty Hair (also called Tiger Hair) works great and resists cracking.
-Kyle
Another plus for the West System and other epoxies is that they don’t dissolve the plastics used extensively on the interior trim pieces around the dash, and the center console. The epoxy does stick well to these pieces. I believe that they are a polystyrene material. That’s handy for making repairs there.
As for the fairing compound, the instructions say to wet out the area being repaired with straight mixed resin before applying the fairing compound. This is critical for fairing compound that is mixed to a thick paste otherwise the compound isn’t “wet enough” to form a good bond with the surface being repaired. That’s important as I quickly learned. I found this stuff fairly easy to sand mainly because it sands clean and doesn’t clog the sandpaper.
Follow the instructions and this system works great.
I usually think of myself as the “King -o-Cheap”. It’s easy to pay too much and it’s unwise to pay too little. Fiberglass work is so time consuming and the effort required to obtain a good result is high. There is value in using materials of consistent quality with good tech support.
The consequences of a repair bodge appearing after the final coat and polish really suck.
Hi, Tom. Having a bit of composite construction and repair over the past 38 years for my Climax Elites, Sevens, some Europas and Elans, it would be impossible to offer any instruction.on the forum.
All the comments have excellent merit.
If I can assist you, just give a call 510-232-7764 anytime.
Cheers. Mike, in Richmond, CA (near SF).
PS: I do paint my cars,
I am a boat builds so have used various resins all my working life . I am about to start the body work on the S3 I am restoring . I would use epoxy for all the structural repairs as it sticks really well to the old polyester . And use Vinylester ester on the exterior repairs as its has a similiar shrinkage and heatdistortions temp (HDT)to the old polyester . Epoxy has a low HDT so if the exterior of the car gets hot you will see the repairs . Worse on dark colours in hot climates .
As far as I am aware chopper guns spraying fibres and resin mix were not used on the Elan shells.
That came later.
Dave Hughes
To follow on here - is there a difference in repair approach for external facing body panels vs interior (engine bay specifically)?
it’s the same . However, the satin black finish is very forgiving of blemishes 
Thanks Rich - forgiving is good!
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.