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Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: December 14th, 2015, 8:25 pm
by gearhed
I was curious if anybody has had any luck at straightening a warped funny car body? On mine the sides get a little too wide at the bottom, between the front and back tires.

Re: Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: December 14th, 2015, 8:31 pm
by Vcut670
Suggestion ,perhaps you could lay out in the sun for a while ,with the use of a clamp to pull the lower half of the body in gently.

Re: Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: December 14th, 2015, 10:36 pm
by Lovedr
I've done it using a heat gun and clamps. Just make sure you move the heat gun back and forth and don't sit in on area too long

Re: Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: December 15th, 2015, 9:11 pm
by gearhed
Thanks for the suggestions. Although we are warm for December I think I'll need to use the heat gun.

Re: Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: December 16th, 2015, 11:31 am
by RcBurnout
I've done lots of work on real boats. Relief cuts seem to work the best for me. This will also relieve stress.... Once you have relief cuts in place you can brace up the inside of the car to the original shape and re-fiberglass the out side. The down side is your going to have to lay new fiberglass and add the gelcoat to seal the fiberglass. The heat gun may work or may just add insult to injury. N

Good luck


Dominick


Imagination feeds creativity

Re: Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: December 20th, 2015, 3:08 pm
by c103110
Fiberglass resins (polyester or epoxy) are thermoset materials, meaning that a one-way chemical reaction occurs between the resin and hardener. Heat will somewhat reverse a thermoplastic material's shape, but thermoset not-so-much. I'd use a cut-off wheel to cut the body half-way through its thickness at the body line. Bring the sides in and brace as necessary and then apply fiberglass to the joint. Grind, apply filler, sand, prime and paint.

Re: Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: December 20th, 2015, 7:32 pm
by gearhed
So much for an easy fix. Thank you for the suggestions. Looks like I will need to make a wooden jig to hold the body where I want it then start performing surgery.

Re: Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: December 21st, 2015, 12:25 am
by Emilio
how about an iron and rag on the inside with a curb?

Re: Fiberglass Straightening

Posted: February 3rd, 2016, 1:25 am
by lalacurf121