The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post - Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass

Mordachai · 08-01-2009, 06:41 PM

Well, in between working on the second mold and doing a few small odd jobs here and there, I made the first glass fender, just pulled it from the mold yesterday!!!!!

Fresh out of the mold:

And then I trimmed it up and sanded down the parting lines. I used some white gelcoat that I had leftover from some repairs I made to my dad's boat awhile ago. It had kind of gummed up a bit, and was too thick to spray(I don't like thinning gelcoat - and gummed up it might not have helped anyways) So I brushed it on, not ideal, but for the first run it's ok.

and the inside of the fender

not too bad huh? Frankly I'm impressed with how strong this darn thing is. I think it weighs around 20# or so, I need to get a scale to weight it on. (BTW- does anyone know what a stock fender weighs?)

I made it with only chopped strand mat too! so when I make a 'real deal' fender with some cloth instead of the mat, it will be even stronger, and a tad lighter(CSM has a higher resin:fiber ratio than cloth)
Also, I now realize I need to build the parting lines up with more gelcoat, so when I sand down the seams, I can down to a nice gelcoat, instead of having to sand to resin/glass like I did. Nothing wrong with that per say, but I'd like to have a better surface for painting, so I'll be sure to build the gelcoat in those areas. Also I brushed it on, so up close you can see a few thin areas in the gel in the form of a brush stroke. I did have some little bubbles in the rear edge of the fender too, if you look close you can see them. I think this was also because of the old gelcoat and it was at the very edge of the lay-up.
I also laid down some of the white gel on a fiberglass plate, and it cured very slowly and then lifted in some areas when I tried to glass over it. I've taken to always doing a test with old material for just this reason.
The next one should be flawless.

I need to take my weights and stack them on the fender so you guys can see how strong they are. Unfortunately pictures don't really give you an idea of how strong they are. Somewhere somebody said something about 50# of mud being a problem, well I can guarantee that it will hold 50# of mud, that is if you can get 50#of mud to stick to it!!!

So I'm getting ready to have the second mold finished, and about to make the drivers side for the GMC and 68 chevy fender style. Since I don't have the passenger 69-72 fender front it looks like the GMC style will be the first matching pairs I can sell.

I should be able to sell them in the very near future. (August stimulus money?) I will start a list soon of who wants which style and when etc.
more soon.

08-01-2009, 06:41 PM	#142
Mordachai Fat Fendered Fleetside Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: WPB, S. FL, USA, Earth Posts: 718	Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass Well, in between working on the second mold and doing a few small odd jobs here and there, I made the first glass fender, just pulled it from the mold yesterday!!!!! Fresh out of the mold: And then I trimmed it up and sanded down the parting lines. I used some white gelcoat that I had leftover from some repairs I made to my dad's boat awhile ago. It had kind of gummed up a bit, and was too thick to spray(I don't like thinning gelcoat - and gummed up it might not have helped anyways) So I brushed it on, not ideal, but for the first run it's ok. and the inside of the fender not too bad huh? Frankly I'm impressed with how strong this darn thing is. I think it weighs around 20# or so, I need to get a scale to weight it on. (BTW- does anyone know what a stock fender weighs?) I made it with only chopped strand mat too! so when I make a 'real deal' fender with some cloth instead of the mat, it will be even stronger, and a tad lighter(CSM has a higher resin:fiber ratio than cloth) Also, I now realize I need to build the parting lines up with more gelcoat, so when I sand down the seams, I can down to a nice gelcoat, instead of having to sand to resin/glass like I did. Nothing wrong with that per say, but I'd like to have a better surface for painting, so I'll be sure to build the gelcoat in those areas. Also I brushed it on, so up close you can see a few thin areas in the gel in the form of a brush stroke. I did have some little bubbles in the rear edge of the fender too, if you look close you can see them. I think this was also because of the old gelcoat and it was at the very edge of the lay-up. I also laid down some of the white gel on a fiberglass plate, and it cured very slowly and then lifted in some areas when I tried to glass over it. I've taken to always doing a test with old material for just this reason. The next one should be flawless. I need to take my weights and stack them on the fender so you guys can see how strong they are. Unfortunately pictures don't really give you an idea of how strong they are. Somewhere somebody said something about 50# of mud being a problem, well I can guarantee that it will hold 50# of mud, that is if you can get 50#of mud to stick to it!!! So I'm getting ready to have the second mold finished, and about to make the drivers side for the GMC and 68 chevy fender style. Since I don't have the passenger 69-72 fender front it looks like the GMC style will be the first matching pairs I can sell. I should be able to sell them in the very near future. (August stimulus money?) I will start a list soon of who wants which style and when etc. more soon. __________________ 71 GMC lwb 56 Big window swb 93 GMC Sonoma (dd) radiused fiberglass fender project for 67-72 Last edited by Mordachai; 08-01-2009 at 08:00 PM.