fiberglass wing repair
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Anyone good with fiberglass. I have this 69 TA wing to repair and I’m sure what would be the best way to attack it. I used a cutoff wheel to dig it most of the old filler. Was thinking I would need to drill holes in each end of the crack to keep it from going any further. It is partially hollow inside the crack, maybe 3/4″ deep down in the crack. Any ideas?
V-out the crack. I use a dremmel tool or what ever you call it. Then feather the outside a little for a little mechanical bite. Find what ever you use for fiberglass repair, not tiger hair, but the fiberglass resin and such. Apply it. rough it out. Then proceed to do your filler work. That’s assuming you cant get to the other side. 2 sided repairs are always stronger than one sided repairs. :cheers
I like using 3m 05885 . It is a 2part epoxy used for rigid parts repair. Handles nice, finishes out real good and dries fairly quick. Drill the ends like you were talking about and v out the repair area a little more and clean it with acetone. Follow the sheet that comes with the repair kit and you should be good to go. Let us know how it works out for you.
Chuck
They don’t call it “fiberglass” just for the hell of it, the resin alone is as brittle as real glass, u need to reinforce it with the cloth, or mesh or “tiger hair” so it will work properly, the strength is in the fiber, the resin keeps it together and bonds it. Good luck. :wak :cheers
My biggest concern is the hollow area inside. Whatever I use I have to pack it in there to strengthen it. I’m not too worried about finishing it, that shouldn’t be too bad to do. The local rep recommended I get “fibertech”. I have to call tomorrow and find out what it is. He said its what they use to fix cracks in semi’s.
Like mentioned, V it out and grind back around it for adhesion. Use fiberglass resin (or SMC resin, which is ok ontop of fiberglass). Get some mat and pull off pieces for the repair. You will want several layers with resin inbetween. Make sure to use enough resin (no dry spots) and ensure there is no trapped air. With the mat, overlap and stagger all seams and tear the edges ( don’t cut them straight). Make sure all fibers are coated well with resin at the end. A diuble sided repair is best.
When hard, grind as nicely as possible to the original contour. Fill with normal filler and putty. If it is to the point of needing kitty hair (fiberglass reinforced filler) then you may want a second application of resin/mat.
You should spray epoxy over the repair before proceeding to primer surfacer. Fiberglass will wick up moisture and rot…the epoxy is a must.
Ben gave you excellent advice the only thing I would change is the epoxy and 2k.Just spray poly the snot out of it and finish up with 2k,it works better on fiberglass repairs where the gelcoat is damaged or not there.
Yeah you know me bro…I will lay some Slick Sand on it.
Unfortunately, I cant get to the back side to repair it. I have to find a way to fill that cavity, unless I am misunderstanding what some of you are saying. The spoiler is a few inches thick, and in the crack there is an empty cavity I have to fill. Could I use fiberglass matte and resin that I could maybe soak the matte in the resin, then stuff it down into the crack to add some strength?
I did v out the crack the best I could, like I said its semi hollow in there so there was very little to v. Then i used a roloc to knock the top off so i had some room for building.
I would use a 2 part epoxy for fiberglass and reinforcement mesh tape or backer (looks like drywall tape that has holes). You can grind it down and lay some reinforcement tape on the outside and epoxy over it. You can make a low spot so the tape is lower and won’t be exposed after sanding. I personally use 3m panel bond for everything. Its slow unless its heated.
Resin and mesh is messy.
[quote=”Jayson M” post=31562]Ben gave you excellent advice the only thing I would change is the epoxy and 2k.Just spray poly the snot out of it and finish up with 2k,it works better on fiberglass repairs where the gelcoat is damaged or not there.[/quote]
It’s funny that I’ve never really thought much about using poly primer on fiberglass repairs… Good suggestion.
Looks interesting. I may order some to play with some day. I see it needs no reinforcement.
It says it shouldnt be more than 1/4″ thick so I may need something else in there to help fill the hollow spot before I use something like fiber tech. If I do that, I may as well fill it far enough that i can just use some Duraglass that we already have at the shop.
If you used a reinforcement tape it would have something to hold the repair material up. Or if you do use something like fibertech you can do what we call hot patching, at least around here. Its for when you gotta hack fill a hole from the outside only. Use something the material won’t stick to. Its tuff for something that long in one shot. Tape works, or plastic. put the repair material on the tape and put it material side down over the crack and squish it around till covers everything and make it low. When it dries pull it off and it will be filled. The tape holds the material from falling in.
I was thinking this crack could be glued back together then repaired, I guess its missing some.
Yeah I think its partially hollow from the manufacturing process. I measure it and I really cant squeeze it together any. Id like to just find something I can fill the void with so its good and solid. Then do a normal type repair.
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