Restoring Fiberglas Wheelpants

New at this am I so how about a little advice here? First of all I have
already washed one of the two wheelpants and it was filthy with oil, grease,
5606, rottweiler pi**, and ramp dreck, so the washing took a long hour
scrubbing and rinsing. I'm thinking that when the sanding and paint
removal begins it will need to be upside down on a pedestal, like maybe a
3-legged stake skewered into expanding foam which has been shot into and
filled the hollow wheel well. So that when it's worked it won't be
flopping around like a beachball or lose its form the way it did when I had
it in the bathtub. It needs to be in a fixed position and nailed down, i.
e., stable so when using elbow grease on it, the thing will stay put. How
about it? Who's done this and can give me a little guidance here? I'm
put in mind of working the fiberglas cowl half, which flopped all over the
place as I sanded it. Somehow the cowl has to be stabilized on a form or
something so that when sanded and worked, it won't flop and bend so. It
almost puts me in the mind of having to build a mold. Do you follow me?

I found all kinds of stuff on restoring fiberglas boats but couldn't
extrapolate.

The other question is, the old paint needs to come off. I think. Should
this be done by sanding it off or using paint remover like methylene
chloride? I'm thinking that sanding will do the trick and I've had
experience with the microspheres and epoxy and flocked cotton and that sort
of thing. And filling pinholes.

Thanks a lot in advance for the usual splendid cerebral fervor and keen
insight usually displayed by the altruists who hang out here. I'm going to
make pics and try to put the progress up on a website. You can't see me,
though. Too ugggly.

jls wrote:

New at this am I so how about a little advice here? First of all I have
already washed one of the two wheelpants and it was filthy with oil, grease,
5606, rottweiler pi**, and ramp dreck, so the washing took a long hour
scrubbing and rinsing. I'm thinking that when the sanding and paint
removal begins it will need to be upside down on a pedestal, like maybe a
3-legged stake skewered into expanding foam which has been shot into and
filled the hollow wheel well. So that when it's worked it won't be
flopping around like a beachball or lose its form the way it did when I had
it in the bathtub. It needs to be in a fixed position and nailed down, i.
e., stable so when using elbow grease on it, the thing will stay put. How
about it? Who's done this and can give me a little guidance here? I'm
put in mind of working the fiberglas cowl half, which flopped all over the
place as I sanded it. Somehow the cowl has to be stabilized on a form or
something so that when sanded and worked, it won't flop and bend so. It
almost puts me in the mind of having to build a mold. Do you follow me?

I found all kinds of stuff on restoring fiberglas boats but couldn't
extrapolate.

The other question is, the old paint needs to come off. I think. Should
this be done by sanding it off or using paint remover like methylene
chloride? I'm thinking that sanding will do the trick and I've had
experience with the microspheres and epoxy and flocked cotton and that sort
of thing. And filling pinholes.

Thanks a lot in advance for the usual splendid cerebral fervor and keen
insight usually displayed by the altruists who hang out here. I'm going to
make pics and try to put the progress up on a website. You can't see me,
though. Too ugggly.

Well, for what it's worth...

A buck of come kind makes it a lot easier to handle.

Doing the surface on my cowl was fairly simple because
I had the plug to hold the parts still.

For a wheel pant? Hmmm...
I think I'd look around for post of some kind the pant will fit over.
Pad the end of the post with towels/duct tape?
Hang the pant nose up or nose down as needed.

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:54:46 -0500, " jls"
wrote:

New at this am I so how about a little advice here? First of all I have
already washed one of the two wheelpants and it was filthy with oil, grease,
5606, rottweiler pi**, and ramp dreck, so the washing took a long hour
scrubbing and rinsing. I'm thinking that when the sanding and paint
removal begins it will need to be upside down on a pedestal, like maybe a
3-legged stake skewered into expanding foam which has been shot into and
filled the hollow wheel well.

I agree that the wheelpant will need to be held fixed during the
sanding. Instead of the foam idea - could you make a fixture that
attaches to the mounts of the wheelpant? For example, the wheelpants
on my Cherokee 180 are attached by 1 bolt on the outside and 3 bolts
on the inside.

The drawback would be that the bolt heads/washers would need to be
removed to sand underneath their location.

-Nathan

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:54:46 -0500, " jls"
wrote:

New at this am I so how about a little advice here?

I did the restore on a set of cherokee spats and nosebowl, wing tips
elevator and rudder tips. washed them out with a cheap aerosol can
degreaser. (the fibreglass is waterproof so you can get it all as wet
as you like.)
I used a disk sander and woofed off all the paint and most of the bog.
hand sanded it to a smooth finish. used glass and polyester resin for
the repairs (the original resin was polyester on these)
sanded off all the rough bits.
used a johnsons baby powder and poly resin mix to apply a thin weave
filling coating. this was screeded on with a scraper cut from an
icecream tub lid. sanded and more applied in the depressions, wasnt
long before all the shape was smooth.
after a final sanding it went off for painting.

use a gentle hand on the sander and it is a piece of cake.
wear a dust mask.

I found all kinds of stuff on restoring fiberglas boats but couldn't
extrapolate.

it really is quite easy. you can always sand off any mistakes and
start again. just do it and be patient, the job will teach you how it
needs to be done.


the cherokee's nose bowl was quite spongy so after sanding it inside
and out I fibreglassed it on both sides. this makes a 3 ply of the
original layup and stiffens it back to original.

I see the cherokee ocasionally and the fibreglass is still in top
notch condition.

btw when you are ripping off the paint use a coarse disk so that it
doesnt clog up as much.

Stealth Pilot
Australia

Hello,
I have worked with composites for years, the idea I have for your
pants is simple and can be used to stabilize any irregular shape. Here
is the method...

Parts needed:

1. Cardboard or Wood box to surround your part "Not mandatory but
less mess"
2. Plastic Sheeting
3. Pourable Urethane or Canned insulation Foam

Ok
1. cover part with plastic sheeting
2. pour/dispense foam into box, enough to bed 1/2 of part
3. before foam cures bed your part 1/2 way
4. let dry.....
5. once dry, remove part. If symetrical you can flip and use for both
sides

hope this will help you...

Craig




Stealth Pilot wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:54:46 -0500, " jls"
wrote:

New at this am I so how about a little advice here?

I did the restore on a set of cherokee spats and nosebowl, wing tips
elevator and rudder tips. washed them out with a cheap aerosol can
degreaser. (the fibreglass is waterproof so you can get it all as wet
as you like.)
I used a disk sander and woofed off all the paint and most of the bog.
hand sanded it to a smooth finish. used glass and polyester resin for
the repairs (the original resin was polyester on these)
sanded off all the rough bits.
used a johnsons baby powder and poly resin mix to apply a thin weave
filling coating. this was screeded on with a scraper cut from an
icecream tub lid. sanded and more applied in the depressions, wasnt
long before all the shape was smooth.
after a final sanding it went off for painting.

use a gentle hand on the sander and it is a piece of cake.
wear a dust mask.

I found all kinds of stuff on restoring fiberglas boats but couldn't
extrapolate.

it really is quite easy. you can always sand off any mistakes and
start again. just do it and be patient, the job will teach you how it
needs to be done.


the cherokee's nose bowl was quite spongy so after sanding it inside
and out I fibreglassed it on both sides. this makes a 3 ply of the
original layup and stiffens it back to original.

I see the cherokee ocasionally and the fibreglass is still in top
notch condition.

btw when you are ripping off the paint use a coarse disk so that it
doesnt clog up as much.

Stealth Pilot
Australia