Fiberglassing Over Foam - questions.

[boatdetective]

Probably mentioned- but the hard surface of epoxy means that you will have no chemical bond. At the same time, there is a waxy "amine blush" that develops on epoxy that will cause problems with adhesion. You need to sand thoroughly with 80 grit to key the surface for successive layers.

The binder in mat will not dissolve with epoxy resin (unless the mat is "stitched together). This makes mat more difficult to work with epoxy compared to polyester.  Get yourself some biaxial cloth to add strength

[cappisj1]

Ok. I added "heavy" cloth to the underside of the seat, a wood piece under the seat area and just pored pure resin in the corners around the seat area between the wood and side of seat. I chopped up some fiberglass cloth, mixed it in some resin and smushed the mixture into the top "backrest" area. It weighs a ton but it is solid!  Starting to apply glazing putty now. Again thanks for the help.

[boatdetective]

you've come a long way. Remember that pure resin or resin/chop mix adds virtually no strength. Weight does not equate to toughness. Best to plan out your reinforcement and add roving where needed.

[cappisj1]

Alright, sorry to bring this back up but I have made some progress. Here is the seat with my home made seat pad.  The seat has a coat of primer on it and I have sanded it some as it showed some flaws. I am not a painter either. I have used automotive paint put into a spray can by the paint shop with great success. What "state" should the seat be in before I put color on it. Should it have primer on all of it or is it ok to sand through the primer and still paint?  What should finale sandpaper grade be?

[charlie b]

I'd just use primer until the finish is where I want it.  Primer is cheap and it usually takes me several tries to get all the flaws out.

[Rusnak_322]

I would get two different colors of high build primer. Paint the darker color first, then after it sets, the lighter. that way when you sand, you can see the low spots, they will be the lighter color left over.

Use a sanding pad and sand until at least 400 grit.

A trick is to wipe on some wax and grease remover, it will wet the surface and give you an idea of how the gloss finish will look. If you can see sanding marks at that stage, then go to a finer grade paper.

The seat pad looks good.

[RinkRat II]

 To answer your question, the seat cowl should be all one color of primer. You can spray two or three final coats of primer and then wet sand with 400 or 600 paper to achieve a glass like surface being careful on the edges not to go thru the primer. Dry it good, tack rag it and put on the color. Happy painting!

  Paul B

[charlie b]

PS when they say dry, it is important.  I have rushed paint jobs before by drying with a hair dryer.  Didn't work.  Set the part in a warm, dry location and let it sit for a couple days.  Then paint.

[cappisj1]

Done and I am not sure I will ever do this again.  Four coats of primer, the first two mostly sanded off. I did have a friend paint and clear it. The color has a flake or pearl in it that he said would be best sprayed with a gun. I Had planned on using auto paint in a spray can. So, it turned out really nice and I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from doing it and from you folks. The whole project is extreamly close to being done. Just need to wire the lights and rebuild the breaks.

Also a shot of the front fender that he shot at same time.

[Tom]