Fiber Glass Repair

[Carter]

Yesterday while clearing brush and vines from land I plan to build on my tractor's sun shade got tangled in a wild grape vine and was damaged. I have no experience with this type of repair and could use some guidance. What materials do I need and where to get them? I saw a couple of vids about this but believe there might be more to it than what is available on the net. Help appreciated.
Thanks Carter

[Monkey Man]

Fixing this sort of the thing in the past we have always cleaned the edges, drilled and stitched the break using 1.5mm hard drawn copper wire then using chopped fiberglass, a stiff bristled brush and resin re-layered and packed the break. You have to sand it off afterwards of course and maybe re-coat the whole assembly with 2pack or gelcoat to get nice colour uniformity but we have never had one of these repairs fail from vibration or weathering, only from further knucklehead abuse...
(And I am Not saying you're a knucklehead Carter, I was referring to my own occasional cave man behaviour )
Oh - and any hardware store worth it's salt will have all you need, remember to wear gloves and dont snort the fumes or you'll end up with a mental capacity similar to mine ( not good )

Best Regards - MM

[Brett]

Carter,

I do epoxy floor coatings for a living. We also do fiberglass linings in containment pits etc. Just last week we were doing a fiberglass wall system in some showers that were leaking badly. So I've got a fair amount of fiberglass experience. My first recomendation would be to get a quote from a fiberglass repair shop. They will be paying a lot less for materials than you, and it would be a simple repair for them. For instance I bought a 100# roll of fiberglass mat last week for $120 that was 4 ft wide and 400 ft long. Compare that to what you would pay for a tiny piece of mat at a hardware store or parts house. the price difference on the resin is about the same.

All that being said, if you want to try it your self it can be done. To do it right you will first want to remove enough material from the break that the top will relax to its original shape. Do this with a cut of wheel, sawzall, jigsaw, whatever you got. Then you will want to fill this void. you will want to make a paste by thickening whatever resin you are going to be using. I would over fill it, let it harden, then sand it. Then you're ready to start with the actual fiberglass. You can probably do all the fiberglass on the underside of the top. First you need to agressively sand where you will be applying the fiberglass so you get a good bond. I would use a sanding disc on a 4-1/2" grinder. sand about 8" on either side of the break 16" total, then wipe clean with acetone. I would do at least 3 layers of fiberglass mat. 8" wide on the first layer the 12" then 16". to apply the fiberglass mix up a small amount of resin and brush it on liberally. then lay the mat into the wet resin, and press it in to place. then brush on more resin until the mat is fully saturated. let it harden before applying the next layer. Unless you wait a long time between layers like more than 24 hrs. you shouldn't need to sand between layers of mat. This should get you pretty structurally sound. if you want it even stronger you can do the fiberglass on the top side as well, but its probably not necesary. now you can make it look pretty with some paint and some body filler if you want it or need it.

As for where to get what you need, Probably the best place would be a boat supply store like West Marine. You can go with either epoxy or polyester resin. the epoxy would probably be better for a beginner as you've got more time to work with it. you'll need some type of filler to add to the resin to make your patch paste, and of course the fiberglass mat (fabric). you'll also need rubber gloves, mixing containers, rags, acetone, Etc.

There's probably more I could add, If you want you can give me a call and I'd be glad to talk you through it. just shoot me a PM and I'll send you my number.

Brett

[Carter]

Thanks Tony and Brett, I have decided to check out West Marine for supplies since I will try to make repairs my self because you both have provided such detailed guidance and advise.
Not enough $$$ on hand to go the pro shop repair route as we had bought the 10 acres of land with cash and also have signed on the dotted line to have a new house and shop built on it so money is scarce right now.
That vine must have had a steel cable in it to do that ammount of damage. It was a 1 1/4" tree climbing vine that extended to the crown of a 35' +/- tall tulip poplar, no damage to the vine until I cut about a 1' section out of it to see how well it will do after that.

[Tanner]

West Marine will be expensive - if you feel confident in your skills/abilities, contact Eastern Burlap in Norfolk, Virginia.

http://www.easternburlap.com/

But you should be able to source quality polyester fiberglass resin & cloth locally.

I'm currently repairing a fiberglass dune buggy body & have a good deal of experience in the making fiberglass repairs.I'll add some info -

At end / 'V' of crack damaged area, at the vertex of the crack, I drill a hole maybe 1/2" in diameter to stop the crack from progressing further. Do NOT use resin alone in thicknesses more than 1/8", as the resin has no strength without using fiberglass mat or fiberglass cloth. Polyester resin is fine to use on the repair area; it'll be less expensive than epoxy resin. I'll agree with sanding the edges of damaged area by feathering them back from line of crack - you only need to go back 4"-6" total on width of repair (2"-3" feathering on each side of damaged area). Use a 60-80 grit disc sander (I use a flap-wheel 80 grit disc in a 4" grinder) for cutting back the damaged area on top side & bottom side of repair area.

You want it to look like this in cross-section when done ><

Wipe the sanded area down with acetone to clean out the debris/dirt/etc, then wipe dry. I buy disposable thin plastic cutting boards to tape to underside of area to be repaired to provide support for first glass layer, then I glass in my first 1"-2" layer of fiberglass & mix enough resin to join the crack. I let this harden. Most of the resin you'll buy locally has wax added to assist in drying the resin, as the wax rises to surface on repair & assists in curing the resin. After the first layer solidifies, I scuff sand it, then wipe it down with acetone to remove the wax. I want the first layer to hold the repair in place. Then, I pre-cut all of my fiberglass in wider widths (if I started with a 2" wide strip, then I have next layer 1/2" to 3/4" wider on each successive layer, depending on how many layers I need to build up). On successive layers, it's fine to continue laying them up wet on top of one another (outer surface) until you get sufficient thickness to bring repair to slightly higher than top surface. In my repairs, I use a 3"-4" wide aluminum fiberglass roller to roll out the air bubbles between layers, and I buy a dozen or so cheap 1" - 1 1/2" wide wood-handled chip brushes ($0.49 or so each from Home Depot or Lowes) & cut bristles off until they are about 3/4" in length - is use these to dab in/apply resin to cloth.

Then, after these layers dry/harden, I flip the panel over & remove the taped plastic support panel, then start doing the layers again; 1" wide/2" wide/4" wide/6" wide until I buildup sufficient thickness to bring repair above the original panel thickness. Then sand both sides until cows come home & you get repaired areas flush with adjoining surfaces.

There are some good tutorials on Youtube detailing fiberglass repair. Biggest mistakes I see people make is in not getting damaged area prepped properly & not getting the layers bonded together as they laminate successive layers together, creating voids or air pockets that weaken the structure.

'Tanner'

[Monkey Man]

I am confident in Carters skills, If He can't fix it then it just can't be fixed at all, That fiberglass top will look better than new once finished.

MM

[Carter]

I'm going to give it my best Tony, we'll see how that works out.
Tanner, thanks for the info, didn't see your post before I began work yesterday. After getting resin & hardner yesterday and stopping to see my friend Gordon who, when told what I would be doing, offered fiberglass cloth from a roll that must have held several hundred feet of 3' wide material. I dressed the fractured edges of the top and in doing so found it was built of 2 thin molded pieces with a small amount of sprayed on fiber/resin mix between them but mostly air filling the void between layers. Made in China quality

On the back side I taped mold release plastic sheeting given to me years ago by a friend in the industry and after mixing resin/hardner I dipped pre-cut lengths of cloth in it, pulled it between gloved fingers to remove excess and rolled them into tight rolls and stuffed them into the unfilled voids between layers to provide some strength.


Then placed layers into the top's damaged sectiond until most of it was covered.


Today I will sand and recoat as necessary then start on the other side. After that I will work on repairing the damaged edges.

[Tanner]

Yuck... I hate repairing the fiberglass shells with an insulation layer in between.

[Brett]

Looks like serious progress

Brett

[T. Highway]

Carter,

That is looking better already. Keep up the good work.

Bert

[Carter]

Tanner I didn't know that was what it was called but it sure is a pain to work with and doesn't seem to be very strong.

Brett & Bert, I guess I am doing it right and having to delay while the last batch cures gives me a chance to wonder if I am.

I put some progress shots in my webshots tractor album so as not to clutter up the forum here.

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/alb ... w?start=24

[Monkey Man]

It's everyones forum Carter, including yours and all info is good info, post away.....
I think the bulk of the strength in your fiberglass top is going to come from the frame it's bolted to, have you tried a test fit yet?

MM

[Carter]

Oops, maybe I should fit it before I go much further, that will include a bit of a drive. The canopy is here in Maryland and the tractor is 30+/- miles away at my land in Pennsylvania but a nice scenic drive I'll make tomorrow and reinstall it temporally to see if it fits like shown here before it got damaged.

[Monkey Man]

I have no doubts Carter, it'll be fine.

MM

[Carter]

Done