That original paint that was on there... very original
Nice work man. I have a couple quick comments.
1. Make sure you are overlapping the sheets of glass to avoid water intrusion.
2. I tried to use as few cuts as possible to avoid water leaks.
3. Consider installing your foot holds and building the sides at the same time. it will reduce the cuts you have to make and speed up the process.
4. Make sure you have ground down all the paint and gelcoat on the hull where the new glass is going to be laminated to. If you don't do this the new epoxy will not bond with the old hull. I mean clean man all of it. I found one little crack already from where I missed a little of the paint from the old paint job . It didnt crack until after I had it painted...so its there permanently. Gonna get a sticker to put over it.
5. Mine is done and rode it yesterday...you are gonna love it!
I'll update my thread on Pwc...was a crazy weekend but got to ride her yesterday.
How much work and how hard was it shaping the tray foam?
Yeah I am using one. I am trying to make a fairly tight bend. I kept going out there and rolling it down every 15 minutes and it finally stayed down once it was a little more dry. Keep the tips the coming though!Quinc, are you using a roller? My game completely changed when I started rolling. comes out way better with much less resin. I got mine here: http://www.uscomposites.com/fgrollers.html. previously I was using too much resin and the glass would 'float' up and suck air in. I'd brush it all out and it would be good for 5 min then…air pockets again. roller works way better. I'm no pro but just an idea.
Quinc, something else I've been meaning to mention (while you still have glass materials out), check the front lip where the hood fits in the hull. Right behind the handle pole. I've been fighting the hood seal battle on my SN for a year now. Tried 3 different designs of hood seals and it still leaks like a sieve. Last week, had the tank and battery out for stator work (yup water intrusion issues). Put a light and my go pro in there strapped the hood down and used the wifi to my iPad while I sprayed it with the hose at different places and found exactly were the hood is leaking. It is in the center of the front (right between the hood hooks). I laid a straight edge across the hull lip and sure enough it sags 3/8s of an inch! Hood seals couldn't make up for that. Checked 3 other SN hulls (friends) and theirs are not as bad but the same. I'm going to get the hull as level as I can and glass that channel to a level status. Hopefully the epoxy will self level and help. While your are glassing anyway would be the time to do it. Don't mean to preach, just a problem I have that I think is common.
First of all..it is looking very clean. Also, are you putting down a later of resin on the area you are planning on laminating glass to? I used a brush a painted on the resin first than layed the cloth....than rolled it out to get ride of bubbles. Than repeat. I ended up with some pretty big air bubbles that I had to grind out and fill with thickened Resin. The tray was the worst part for that. Looking good though and you are getting closer but still a lot more work to be done.OMFG! I hate fiberglass!!! Doing the glass on the sides and keep getting airpockets!!!! =(
First of all..it is looking very clean. Also, are you putting down a later of resin on the area you are planning on laminating glass to? I used a brush a painted on the resin first than layed the cloth....than rolled it out to get ride of bubbles. Than repeat. I ended up with some pretty big air bubbles that I had to grind out and fill with thickened Resin. The tray was the worst part for that. Looking good though and you are getting closer but still a lot more work to be done.
Take a breathe...I was ready to fly at the point you are at...but there is still more work to be done. Make sure you do it right the first time.
Oh..and I noticed one error...you had a Corona while you were glassing. That is really poor quality beer and it will reflect in your work. I recommend Sierra Nevada considering your proximity to the brewery. The darker beers will calm your nerves and steady your hands for the glass work.
Ok..here is a quick glassing lesson. I think you are missing a few steps that are making things harder.
Step #1: Paint the mixed resin onto the hull or place you are laminating to. This will give it a little bit of time to get tacky while you prepare the cloth.
Step #2: Place your precut / mesaured cloth on to a piece of cardboard or something you don't care about. Pour resin onto one side of the cloth and spread it out with your roller. Make sure every bit of cloth gets wet.
Step #3: Flip cloth over and repeat step 2 with less resin...you just want the entire piece to clearish...so that it is wet on both sides.
Step #4: Use your roller to squeegie out the excess resin on to the cardboard. Work from the middle out to the edges.
Step #5: Remove now completely wet cloth and place where you want it to go.
Step #6: Use our roller to roll the cloth into place. I also use my hands to get it in place.
Step #7: Any edges that will not adhere need either more resin to weigh the cloth down or you might need to wait a little bit for the resin you painted on in step #1 to get a little more tacky. I use my hands here to push the cloth into place and a paint brush in a stabbing motion and use the left over resin on the cardboard to adhere the edges.
Step #8: Take a minute or two to start preparing your next layer of cloth. Drink a little bit of beer, check out your good work, check facebook, and other tasks that only take a few minutes. You want to give your cloth a few minutes to start setting up. Once it sets up you'll see the air pockets form. I use a little more resin on the brush again in a stabbing motion to force the resin in to the cloth and push out any air.
Step #9: Move on to another section but come back to check after the glass has gotten harder but is not completely set up. This was key for me. I saved myself a lot of grinding filling time by going back over what I had already done with the brush and stabbing motion.
I learned this from another member and I am sure there are a million other ways of doing it but it was pretty successful for me.