And so it begins....

[ajracer]

Rob:

Just came across your "styrofoam" problem and there is a little trick
you must do in order to be able to fiberglass over the foam. The chemical
attacks the styrofoam as you have "nicely" displayed. I have been really
busy this part five days with organizing a major convention for our church
group at the Metro Trotonto Convention Centre so I need to locate the
"Trick" and then I will reply. BETTER yet please call me or e-mail me in 24
hours and I should be able to handle this for you. So don't panic and work
on something else.

Allan


PS> My Super should be on the road in a couple weeks !
Question: When is or was the May club meeting ?

[Rob]

Hey Allan,

The meet is tomorrow night.
Let me know if you can make it, maybe you can get me the info then.
Although I am now also considering using wood for the template.

Rob.

[BWE]

Rob,
Just a thought about your fiberglassing problems. There are two ways that I know of to stop the "melting" issue. (which is caused by the way by the Styrene in the resin. Styrene, I've been told, is also the main component of most foams (styrofoam?)
1: Cover the foam with regular white glue, you'll probably need to give it a couple of coats, and make sure all the pinholes in the glue are well filled. Then just fiberglass over the whole thing like you normally would. You may want to touch the hardened glue with a little sandpaper to roughen it up (may help the FG to "stick")
2: Use a Epoxy resin which will not contain Styrene. Many "Marine Grade" resins are Epoxies.

Just as a note of interest, you could use the styrofoam sheets that are used to insulate basements/houses. If you made a solid blank of the entire shape you where trying to build, you could then FG over it and "melt" the foam blank out of the middle with acetone (which will not harm cured fiberglass). I've seen it done when making prototype kayaks. Oh, and the "sludge" that the foam melts into should be sealed into a can (large paint can, etc.) and can be disposed of as hazardous household waste.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Dave

[BWE]

Rob, about the alternator question from the other night. I looked up a GM three wire alternator and it goes like:
A terminal: excitor wire from ignition switch. On two seperate wiring diagrams the wire is classified as 'resistor wire'. The only reference that I could find for it was a voltage less than 9V and greater than 2V.
B terminal: thin (red) wire feeds back to the starter and attaches to the same terminal as the large + wire (see below)
+ terminal:feeds back to the starter and attaches to the large power terminal.

Well hope that helps somewhat... Maybe Crappy Tire would have a single wire alternator? It would just be sooooo much easier

Cheers,
Dave

ps: thanks again for the seat stops. One more thing off my list!!

[Rob]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys !

I decided to put the FibreGlass project on hold for now and focus on other areas.
See the website for more details, but basically I finished the wiring harness (I hope), installed the exhaust manifold, and got her off the ramps to see what kind of clearance I have (not much)



Oh yeah, I also installed my high-tech, light weight race seat and had my driver check it out


Rob.

[GS guy]

Hi Rob,

Nice and interesting project you're doing there!
About the styrofoam and fiberglass problems. One thing you can do is to cover the styrofoam with self adjesive aluminum tape. This tape is typically used on home and commercial ductwork, a little heaver than your typical aluminum "foil". Just cover the form you want to fiberglass with it, effectively sealing the foam. I believe you can also wax the tape, allowig the 'glass to be removed once cured.
Another option is to use polyurethane foam - pretty sure it's the stuff they make surfboards from and I don't belive it is attacked by typical resins used in fiberglass work (polyester, vinylester or epoxy). They've been fiberglassing over foams for decades, key is using the right kind of foam.

Jeff