Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

[Logan]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

If you come up with four door cladding I am building a 4 door Ty! That would kick ass. One question I have is what is the durability of these parts vs. factory? I know fiberglass is rigid so would that make it harder to work with or more susceptible to breaking on a daily driven truck?

 

[mattw]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

If you come up with four door cladding I am building a 4 door Ty! That would kick ass.

What do you mean if!!!

I wasn't planning on making molds of the custom 4-door specific parts but depending on what you are willing to pay you may be able to talk me into it..

One question I have is what is the durability of these parts vs. factory? I know fiberglass is rigid so would that make it harder to work with or more susceptible to breaking on a daily driven truck?

Time will tell as far as durability goes but running fiberglass parts on vehicles is nothing new.. For years and years and years vette bodies were made almost entirely of polyester based fiberglass products.. You are correct about the parts being more rigid but I don't think thats necessarily a bad thing.. It may make them a bit more difficult to lay nicely against the body of the truck(some sanding may be required) but I doubt they will be more brittle or anything than the 20+ year old factory parts.. My hunch is that they will hold up just fine..

 

[Logan]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

Awesome news because I have about 2 pieces of cladding that aren't broken. If you are just doing one offs on the 4 door stuff I may have to start saving the pennies. I have an idea that an Olds Bravada could make s good conversion platform for a 4 door Ty. But that project will probably be a bit down the road. One of these years.

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

One question I have is what is the durability of these parts vs. factory?

I am starting think that our original plastic cladding gets more brittle with age. Trucks that sit outside all the time maybe much more susceptible vs garaged examples. This is only my theory but if I am right, the demand for cladding will go up.

 

[mattw]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

:tup: Pick away , lol .
The post cure is a great way to avoid warping , good thing your wife doesn't mind the odor .If you dont want to use the bathtub , a 5 gallon bucket and some sanding sponges work great . A few drops of dishsoap will also keep the sanding grit from loading up your sand paper/sponge too. You should have no problems with making epoxy parts out of your poly mold as long as you give it a few good coats of wax/polish , and then pva . A step up above that would be semi-permanent releases . Worth looking into for future stuff if you can swing it , some are big $$ in comparison .

So next question.. How many times do you wax your plugs and molds? I've got 5 molds and and 3 plugs in my basement that I've been waxing twice daily and I am getting SO sick of it.. i've got 6 coats on them now.. I've read that 10+ coats is recommended... What are your thoughts??

 

[Quickstop [UK]]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

I am starting think that our original plastic cladding gets more brittle with age. Trucks that sit outside all the time maybe much more susceptible vs garaged examples. This is only my theory but if I am right, the demand for cladding will go up.

It's no theory. Mine are brittle as hell - I didn't realise they actually used to be flexible parts. Some of mine seem like they crumble like the old lumbar supports. I think it's heat rather than sunlight. Mine are both from Saudi Arabia and breaking cladding is a perennial fear.

My only reservation about fibreglass was based on my experiences with kayaks at school - it seemed pretty easy to deform etc. but if you guys are saying it is actually more rigid then great. I had visions of the cladding wobbling like jelly at speed on the motorway.

These pieces look great. Keep up the great work, Matt!

 

[mattw]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

It's no theory. Mine are brittle as hell - I didn't realise they actually used to be flexible parts. Some of mine seem like they crumble like the old lumbar supports. I think it's heat rather than sunlight. Mine are both from Saudi Arabia and breaking cladding is a perennial fear.

My only reservation about fibreglass was based on my experiences with kayaks at school - it seemed pretty easy to deform etc. but if you guys are saying it is actually more rigid then great. I had visions of the cladding wobbling like jelly at speed on the motorway.

These pieces look great. Keep up the great work, Matt!

The rigidity of the parts is directly related to the number of layers of MAT that you apply. That arch that I did is 3 layers and its quite a bit more rigid than the stock part.. I'm thinking small parts like that could be 2 layers.. Think about the sides of a fiberglass boat and how rigid they are.. Thats because of how thick the part is made...

I agree about stock cladding getting more and more brittle as it ages.. I've been extremely careful with the parts that I am molding and I've still had some break. Guess thats what they make 2-part epoxy for...

 

[MRKING]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

So next question.. How many times do you wax your plugs and molds? I've got 5 molds and and 3 plugs in my basement that I've been waxing twice daily and I am getting SO sick of it.. i've got 6 coats on them now.. I've read that 10+ coats is recommended... What are your thoughts??

That question depends on what your using as a release agent really .I saw you had mentioned pva above , but the Fibrelease in your pics isn't actually a pva (polyvinylalcohol). It is a water-based release and I have used it successfully in the past . It works great with no pre-release but I would only recommend that for seasoned molds instead of new ones .
How many times you wax/polish your molds/plugs all has to do with how close to a class A surface finish your starting with . On something with great paint or a scratch free surface , you could get away with 3-4 coats of wax . If a part is rough textured or it has a lot of light scratches , polishing waxes will help take away light blemishes .Then standard waxing of a few coats after that .

On a surface finish worse than that, you'd be better off going the normal route of 220/400/600/800 wet sanding .Then a few coats of wax .

 

[mattw]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

That question depends on what your using as a release agent really .I saw you had mentioned pva above , but the Fibrelease in your pics isn't actually a pva (polyvinylalcohol). It is a water-based release and I have used it successfully in the past . It works great with no pre-release but I would only recommend that for seasoned molds instead of new ones .
How many times you wax/polish your molds/plugs all has to do with how close to a class A surface finish your starting with . On something with great paint or a scratch free surface , you could get away with 3-4 coats of wax . If a part is rough textured or it has a lot of light scratches , polishing waxes will help take away light blemishes .Then standard waxing of a few coats after that .

On a surface finish worse than that, you'd be better off going the normal route of 220/400/600/800 wet sanding .Then a few coats of wax .

OK. cool.. I did wet sand these down.. The surface of the molds was actually really nice to start but I still wetsanded 600-1000-2000 grit then I started with the wax. They are rather shiny and reflective with 0 scratches or imperfections.. I did the same with the plugs so I'm guessing they are probably all good to go.. I'll throw a couple more coats on over this week just to be safe. I'll probably take a day off next week and try to make a rear corner and front cover from my molds...

Its hard to capture the shine on camera but this is what they are looking like...

 

[mattw]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

So I'm setting up a rocker and getting ready to make a mold of it but I'm not sure this one is shaped quite right.. If anyone has one laying around can you lay it on a flat surface and let me know if this edge lays flat or curves up like the one I have does....

 

[ziembic]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

I have one but won't be back until sat. Let me know if no one responds by then. I will pm my cell.

 

[93 TY 2185]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

Looking good Matt!

 

[T-Bone]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

Matt, kudo's to you for some long needed "ambition in action" in developing cladding molds to produce replacement SyTy cladding parts. I have no doubt you will recoup your investment + and my hat is off to you for your labor and sacrifice of time. Hope to meet you at Nats :tup:

 

[mattw]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

Matt, kudo's to you for some long needed "ambition in action" in developing cladding molds to produce replacement SyTy cladding parts. I have no doubt you will recoup your investment + and my hat is off to you for your labor and sacrifice of time. Hope to meet you at Nats :tup:

Thanks for the compliments.. Looking forward to meeting you as well.


So, after comparing the rocker to the bracket that it bolts to and also comparing it to the rocker on my car I determined that all of the edges are supposed to be straight and parallel. I built up a wooden support to hold the rocker the way that it is supposed to be.. Then I used silicone to glue the rocker to the wood. I clamped it all up and let it dry a few days

I let it dry a couple of days and removed the clamps.. Luckily the silicone did its job..

A couple coats of wax and it will be time to start making the mold...

 

[mattw]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

I got the day off and am attempting to make some parts.. Front cover, rear corner, rear arch, and one of these support brackets that goes under the rocker.. I've got the gel-coat sprayed, waiting for it to tack up then I will start laying glass.. Hopefully I'll have some pics at the end of the day or tomorrow..

 

[mattw]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

Happy happy joy joy!

So there are some imperfections but nothing major.. Mostly learning curve type things..There are some spots in the molds where its difficult to get the cloth close to the gelcoat.. I just need be more aware of that and more careful in those areas.. These parts are more than good enough though and will definitely be used on my truck..

 

[MikeRenz]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

yum

looks great

 

[MRKING]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

That does look good , having that much space to do everything makes me jealous Well done Matt

 

[93 TY 2185]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

Awesome!:tup:

 

[ziembic]

Re: Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mold?

I don't know Matt, I think you are going to have to send those parts to me.... you know, manufacturing has a lot of "waste". lol nice work. I still wish I had the ambition and follow through that you have.