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yakrcnut

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i am in the process of making a chev truck body from a different material, that should withstand a lot more abuse than the stock body. I should know more this week . I am gonna make one and try it out , i will let you guys know how it works out later this week. If this works the way I want it too, Im gonna be looking at different types of bodies,(hummer, bug,etc.)


Raymond aka


Yakrcnut
 
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I made a mould out of fibre-glass and when I put the material down over the mould it cracked under pressure,I went ahead with it anyway . Its a chevy body but it kooks like a moose hit it lol.I hit it all I got with a ball peine hammer and it only dented it,so the durability is there just got to perfect a mould, might try and get some funding to make one from wood. I am not sure of the weight yet cause it needs to be trimmed so when I do this I will let you guys know.


Yak
 
Your mould would need to be created from the outside of model and then secured in some kind of foundation so that it will not deform when you lay fiberglass inside of it and the resin starts to harden.


For example, if you wanted to create a mould for the existing Rampage MT body you would do the following:


1) Coat the body with release agent


2) Fiberglass the outside of the body. I'd use large and small piece's of chopmat instead of cloth since it's sometimes easier to conform the chopmat around bends and indentions.


3) After the mould dries, remove it from the body. The release agent should make this a much simpler job.


4) Build a wooden box slightly larger than the mould and slightly deeper.


5) Insert the fiberglass mould inside the box with the interior of the body facing up.


6) Pour plaster into the box all the way to the edge of the mould. This will secure the mould into the foundation which will prevent it from deforming. You could also just coat the outside of the mould with a thick layer of plaster. I prefer the box because it's easier to store and work with. It can be heavy though if you build it to big.


7) Now you can just coat the mould with release agent, lay fiberglass inside of it, and then pull it out for a perfect body everytime. Since the mould was created on the exterior of the body the inlaid fiberglass will come out to the exact size of the original body. It will also be 99.9% finished and ready to prime. If you lay the fiberglass on a mould created from the interior of the body you would then have a hell of a sanding job to get it ready for primer.


Professionals would scold me for such a "home brew" method, however, this method has been used time and time again with many other mediums other than fiberglass.
 
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Demon that is basically what I done but i am not making the body out of fiber-glas I am using the fiber-glas body as a mould. Than the body is made from some kind of very durable plastic.( its the colonels secret....lol) It is mind boggling . The fiber-glas mould when was heated cracked and shrunk in like i said the body looks like it was in a moose accident,but it is very durable as stated before.so now all I need is a $1100 per mould, so i am working on that,time will tell.
 
If you are vac forming the plastic over the fiberglass mould you could stop the stress fractures by filling the inside with plaster or even resin. Most likely ur not fracturing the mould's shell from the actual heat. It's the cooling of the material over the top of it that usually breaks a hollowed out mould. This happens cause it will shrink slightly. Been there done that one. Just fill the inside with a solid material to support the shell.
 
Hey Demon the problem I got is that i just dropped the mold off to buddy than he done the rest and what he says is I need a better mold, something from wood or a solid material,so I don't really know. I guess I got some homework to do,I will try and get pics(not that good with computers)so bare with me.
 
 
Here's another good way to produce a solid mould. I did this for my old Savage body just for to make a few. I purchased a uncut Proline Chevy body for my Savage. Then I sprayed the inside with release agent. After that I filled the inside with pottery clay all the way to the bottom lips of the upcut body. I used a ruler to flatten the bottom. I put it in the freezer for a day so that the clay was rock hard. Then I pulled the lexan shell off the clay. Alot of the release agent should stick to the shell and not the clay. I cleaned some spots on the clay and added a few body lines here and there. Then I coated the clay with a thin layer of pottery paint. It was the kind that leaves a gloss ceramic finish. I took it down to local guy that I found that makes ceramic figurines and the fired it up in his kiln. No amount of heat would damage that thing. It was heavy though and I ended up dropping it on the garage floor and it broke.
 
The problem I got is that he is telling me what he needs i suggested the fiber-glas, the resin, plaster,clay,lead and he tells me that they wont be any good so I got to do what he says I guess its his machine.So i was speaking to someone at the university,they have a cnc machine, and he said he could makr one out of wood but it would cost $1100,that could be a new xb or xt lol. So I called people in the gov, and they wants business plans and all that red tape,so as of right now I am on the fence(investors).
 
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Good luck with the bodies, at least you have a nice market to sell to if you come up with something nice and cheap!!
 
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