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

[mattw]

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

The left hand door panel is now well under way..

 

[Logan]

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

This is still an awesome thread. It looks like you are making great progress.

 

[TYTILIDIE]

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

Not sure how I ever missed this thread, very nice! I was thinking how sweet it would be to make my 1980 Vette with fender flares out of CF, thinking my 4 car garage wont be enough room :lol:

 

[mattw]

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

My left hand rocker mold is complete. I can't wait to make a part in it and see how it comes out..

I've already started setting up the plug so that I can make a mold of the right hand rocker..

This is an original rocker and as you can see they tend to mis-shape over the years:

That lower edge is supposed to sit flat..

To make my mold proper I have to hold this part in its original shape when I mold it.. To accomplish this I made a fixture out of wood and siliconed the rocker to the wood..

In this pic its all clamped into place while the silicone dries:

Once the silicone dries I remove the clamps and all that cribbing then start to make my mold over the original and now straight part..

This is the last mold that I need to make.. I'm very excited to finally start making my 4-door specific parts...

 

[mattw]

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

I finally had the chance to try out my most recent molds...

Rocker and door panel:

Here are some brackets(rocker and door panel) and round discs that still need to be trimmed...

I'm very happy with the way my parts are turning out.. Pics of them installed coming soon to a sy/ty site near you..

 

[blackty]

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

I think I have the winning raffle ticket...Jim

 

[mattw]

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

I think I have the winning raffle ticket...Jim

huh?


So here are my door brackets on either side with a stocker in the middle:

Here are my rocker brackets with a stocker in the middle:

And finally my mounting discs. Stockers are black...

My rockers are kinda installed. They aren't riveted in place and are just sitting on the bracket with a bolt stuck through a few of the holes.. The fitment is great. Forcing the stockers into shape before I molded them paid off...

 

[mattw]

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

I got my fixture made up to re-create the mounting lip on the back of the door panel...

 

[TeeTopZ]

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

That is awesome! Keep up the good work!

 

[littleblackpsycho]

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

Wow you my friend are a god. Christ I thought I was good making rtv molds for musky baits. Nice job man.

 

[mattw]

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

Wow you my friend are a god. Christ I thought I was good making rtv molds for musky baits. Nice job man.

Thanks! I should have the last 2 molds finished up in the next week or so.. It feels so good to finally be getting close to the end of this project!

 

[Sportmachines]

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

Amazing work Matt! Coming along nicely! Keep it up!

 

[NCTyphoonKid]

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

this is awesome work I wish I had the talent to do this:tup:

 

[mattw]

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

this is awesome work I wish I had the talent to do this:tup:

Thanks.. I'm not so sure its talent it takes but rather time and determination...

The last two molds are done. I just need to build my fixture that will allow me to re-create the mounting tabs on the rear corner..

Here is my left rear corner mold with the original part still in it.. It's actually a 3 piece mold so that it can be separated to allow the original part to release..

This is my right rocker mold. I'm giving it some time in the sun to make sure it's fully cured before I release the original part..

 

[mattw]

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

Rocker mold is done. Still need to make the fixture for the tabs for the rear corner mold. Also, I have several molds prepped and ready to make parts in..

 

[wheels]

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

This is awesome. Good job.

 

[DaveP]

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

I was looking at this pic and thought to myself "that's a 2-door stock Ty corner. Matt is building parts for a 4-door. The 4-door corners are shorter. I'm sure he knows this, so what am I missing?"

I skimmed the pics, and didn't see the answer until I got to the Opening Post:

So I'm on a mission to have my 4-door cladding done before NATs. In lieu of trying to cut up and glue together stock cladding I've decided to make open face fiberglass molds of a stock cladding set. I will then be able to make fiberglass reproductions of the parts, cut those up, and re-glass them together to make my 4-door cladding..

So there's my answer. And of course it makes sense. The GRP parts are easier to cut and match as needed for the 4-door, and you have tooling left over to produce parts that are in higher demand (2 door Typhoon) if you were to produce parts for sale.

Incredible undertaking. You with your 4-door, and Chip with his ext-cab "Faux-GT" get 10's for effort. I hate prepping and painting stock cladding. I'd just shake my head and say "No -Fing-Way" if I contemplated a project like you two have taken on requiring custom-fit cladding. I'd never finish it. Just too much.

Way Cool. :tup:

 

[DaveP]

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

I have another question out of pure curiosity that I can't answer myself as I no longer own a 4-door as an example:

Are the 2-door and 4-door rear arches the same?

Thanks.

 

[mattw]

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

Thanks for the compliments. Actually both the rear corner and the arches from the 2-door fit perfectly..

I am going to cut my arches though as they will swing apart when the rear doors are opened..

The faint line in that image represents where they will be cut.

This is how I am building the the 4-door cladding...

The rockers, rear corners(top of arch will be bonded to corner.. no seam), and rear door pieces will all be custom..

I have another question out of pure curiosity that I can't answer myself as I no
longer own a 4-door as an example:

Are the 2-door and 4-door rear arches the same?

Thanks.

 

[DaveP]

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

Thanks for the compliments.

You're Welcome. They are well-deserved.

Actually both the rear corner and the arches from the 2-door fit perfectly.

I wasn't sure about the arches, but that the corners are the same surprises me. I had the assumption that they were different because of the way the inside spare tire arrangements differ between the 2-door and 4-door. I assumed that these differences were because the rear of the wheel well to rear interior panel was shorter in the 4-door, so the outside 1/4 panel must be shorter too.

Obviously not. One can learn something new everyday, even about something they know quite a bit about. :lol:. Thanks.