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73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Interior & Equipment => Topic started by: 74on40s on January 31, 2010, 09:52:05 pm

Title: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on January 31, 2010, 09:52:05 pm
Well, as this being my first post i guess you figured im a noob here....But you gotta start somewhere.
I just thought i would share some progress of my interior renovation as it being my first fiberglass attempt ever lol...so far i think it's turning out pretty good.

Keep in mind this all started when i ordered some new corbeau baja ss seats to replace the worn out bench seat and it all kinda exploded from there.

I pulled the dash pad off thinking that i could just spray it with some interior paint and it would look half decent... Well, thats what i get for thinking. The foam backing was seperating from the metal frame and the metal frame was starting to rust on the drivers side, so i figured what a better time to strip it down to the frame and start from scratch. What a p.i.t.a that was. Being that it was my first time glassing i learned some do's and don'ts for it lol.

Although after pulling the dash pad off and seeing the wiring mess underneath made me want to drive back to the guys house and ask him what he was thinking ( of course alot of other things were running thru my mind ) but being that it's a public forum i will keep it polite. I could tell he was a carpenter. Everthing was just ran w/o any care and everything was wire nutted. He went the extra mile and bought a complete painless harness for in the truck and turned around and made it painfull. I bet ya theres at least 100 wirie nuts behind there. So now i get the joy of fixing all that as well.  Anyhow here are a couple pics to get you up to date on my progress. My seats should be here tuesday so i have to fab up some brackets for them as well. And my headliner material should be here this week also. I'll update as progress is made.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on January 31, 2010, 09:54:55 pm
after doing some fiberglass and my arms itching like crazy
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 1983stepside on January 31, 2010, 11:12:09 pm
wow that dash looks great man, for the first time useing fiber glas it looks good, whats the plans for the rest of the interior? besides the seats, you going to make a center console? any and all other mods you do be sure to post pics of what your doing keep it up man 8)
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Irish_Alley on February 01, 2010, 04:05:19 am
on horse power or one of those shows one guy was doing fiber work with out no gloves or anything on i was like hate to be him in a hour
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: frogman68 on February 01, 2010, 06:18:07 am
Wash up with COLD water wont itch as much (warm or hot water will open your pores)
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: heavychevy91 on February 01, 2010, 03:40:21 pm
wow, thats looks a whole lot better than my first fiberglass job...
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 01, 2010, 11:26:10 pm
Thanks,

I learned real quick how messy fiberglassing was, before i knew it my gloves were stuck together and i couldn't let go of the brush.

I'm glad to be on to the body filler stage but man o man i don't think i have ever sanded anything so much. But then again I'm very particular on how i want it done and I'm only doing it once so I'm doing it the right way.

I ordered some autometer gauges for in it tonight, stoked about that. Has anyone ever used the electric oil pressure and electronic temp gauges before? I got them thinking that running wires is going to be alot easier than fishing the 1/8th copper tubing up thru the dash. We'll see i guess.  I also bought some hyper LED blue light bulbs. I'm going to drill a 3/16 hole in the back of the gauge and glue them in along with the light that is included with the gauge to give them a blue glow at night, I'll let you know what comes of that.

I plan on doing a fiberglass consol with some kind of subwoofer enclosure and amp rack, just not sure as to how I'm going to do it yet. I had two 12" audiobahns behind the seats before i tore everything out, i would somehow like to incorporate them back into the truck, as they sounded amazing and i enjoyed the back massage after a long day at work.

I hope to have some more updated pics tomorrow with my seats and hopefully the final sanding stages of the dash. I'll be sure to post them when i can.


P.S.... I'm also looking for ideas on what to have air brushed on the dash. So I'm open to suggestions.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: bigwillie82 on February 01, 2010, 11:35:12 pm
skulls are cool. i put that on a fork lift for a guy lol.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Captkaos on February 02, 2010, 03:03:23 pm
Nice work.!
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Thermonuclear on February 03, 2010, 10:42:28 pm
I like this a lot. I hope you don't mind if i steal it >.>
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 04, 2010, 12:33:52 am
thanks for the compliments.... Im deffinately ready for it to be done. My arm feels like its gonna fall off. I know one think, im not looking forward to doing the center console.

I got some more work done tonight, which in the end made me wanna kill the previose owner even more. I shoulda took pictures of it but i counted 103 wire nuts that i took out from under the dash. I almost have all of it straightened out. What a nightmare, and i absolutely hate wireing. About the only thing i have to wire back up is the dome lights to the door switches and run the wires for the new electronic gauges.

I sanded down the lower section of the dash and sprayed it tonight, i think it turned out pretty nice for spray bombs and clear cote w/ metal flake. I tried taking pics but i don't believe they do it any justice.

My seats came in yesterday and i got the mounting frame done, now i just have to figure out how in the world im going to mount them to the floor. I guess i deserve it for being cheap and not paying corbeau 200 bux for seat brackets. But oh well, i have a welder and a grinder  ::)

I think im going to pass on the airbrushing of the dash. One, i have no idea what i want put on it and Two. I really don't want to wait about 3 weeks to get it back. The truck has to be done and out of the garage by next week and between working a full time job and 40+ hrs a week at a part time job my only time to work on it is at night. Now here it is 1:25a.m and i just finished for the night.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 04, 2010, 12:36:20 am
some more pics to cover me till this point....

The las picture in this group is what the dash usta look like.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Grover 1 on February 04, 2010, 02:21:35 am
Really looking good!  Keep the dash pics coming.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 1983stepside on February 04, 2010, 12:20:30 pm
looks good man i love the dash i may try to do something like that with my old dash pad in the winter months after my truck is done, just to see but looks good keep the pics comin 8)
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: beastie_3 on February 04, 2010, 12:52:18 pm
Nice progress!
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Thermonuclear on February 05, 2010, 09:30:05 pm
How many layers of fiberglass is that....?
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 05, 2010, 11:26:13 pm
2 layers of matte ( sp ) and a couple coats of Tiger Hair and smoothed out with some kind of special body filler. Not sure but i check tomorrow. I tried to fill in as many imperfections as possible with the glazing putty and after about 4 coats of high build primer 4 coats of gloss black 1 coat of clear effects clear coat and 3 coats of regular clear i still managed to find a couple spots i missed >:( but im not too terribly upset about how it came out as it was my first attempt at glassing.

We wired up the guages and stuck it back in the truck tonight. and it fits like a glove. I have a buddy that is going to a vo-tech school for precision machining so i gave him my stock gauge bezel and he is going to make me a cover out of polished alluminum for over it... Im going to try and get my hands on another bezel b/c he thinks that if he had one to keep up at his class they would be able to make a complete bezel out of solid alluminum for me but it would take some time. So im going to be happy with a cover for now and let them work on a complete one for in the future.

Here are a couple pics, sorry about the quality. There just cell phone pics.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 05, 2010, 11:27:57 pm
pics......OK well maybe it's not going to let me upload them at this very moment, but as soon as it's done pouting i'll post them up
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 06, 2010, 12:14:19 am
keep in mind that there will be a polished plate that covers that middle grate thing whatever that was for and there will be polished trim rings around the defrost vents
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: SLOW-N-LOW74 on February 06, 2010, 10:37:18 am
WOW!!   That looks great,  nice job
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Grover 1 on February 06, 2010, 10:51:03 am
Excellent!  Can't believe it's your first time!
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: eventhorizon66 on February 06, 2010, 11:12:42 am
Cool.  I've long thought about a fiberglass dash.  It looks like yours turned out great.  But I have one concern.  Isn't that glossy dash gonna blind you on a sunny day?  I might have gone with a flat textured finish.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 06, 2010, 01:19:52 pm
Thanks.... Im pretty stoked about how it turned out, and yeah....i probably shoulda thought the glossy paint choice thru a little more but oh well i guess.... Live n learn. I'll try and get a couple more pics up that are better in the truck.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: beastie_3 on February 06, 2010, 04:49:27 pm
Come do mine! Ill even let you do it for free!
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Thermonuclear on February 06, 2010, 08:52:33 pm
Well if i ever get some good weather imma try it out :D loooksss greatt
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 07, 2010, 10:45:54 pm
Well....................

The dash is in. The guages work. The tachs in and it works. Ash trays in and i attemted the glove box. And so far the only thing that has manage to be an issue is that glove box...Is there a trick to it that im not getting. Im half tempted to grind the pain off and weld the dang thing shut. Any advice. I just cant seem to get the slop out of it.

The carpets in just cuz i couldn't stand looking at the truck without it in anymore.

AND last but not least before the pics. Does anyone have any ideas on mounting brackets for bucket seats in these trucks. Im stumped, normally i can come up with something quite decent but im at a loss here. Corbeau wants $200.00 for brackets and i cant justify spending that kinda cash on somthing like that. Not trying to sound cheap but theres gotta be a easier way...So any advice will be greatly appriciated.

Now on to the pics ......Ok it's being iffy again so i'll post them asap.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 07, 2010, 11:07:14 pm
pics
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: SUX2BU99 on February 08, 2010, 12:17:59 pm
Nice work. When I put my buckets in, I made a post out of 1x1 steel square tubing to support the front inner corner. Mine is only bolted by a long bolt and washer/nut assembly that sandwiches the seat corner and post to the cab floor. The post should ideally be welded to the floor.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Captkaos on February 08, 2010, 03:27:26 pm
See this for Bucket seat info and a template to make the brackets.
http://73-87.com/7387garage/interior/factory_buckets.htm

BTW the Suburban buckets will have the inner mount welded to the floor.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 08, 2010, 03:43:21 pm
maybe i missed it but whe you say "See This".....what am i seeing? lol sorry, just confused
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Captkaos on February 08, 2010, 04:17:30 pm
Sorry forgot to paste, fixed it.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 09, 2010, 08:44:26 am
Did my headliner yesterday and put in back in last night....Wasn't too bad of a process but a pain in the :( to put back in by urself lol. I had to use my head on that one, litteraly.

I sat the seats in there to see how much im going to have to raise them up and from what i figured out, if i can mount the frame i made directly to the floor it would be perfect. My buddy tried telling me that i could use the old bench seat frame to mount the seats to. That didn't work out so well, after giving him the benefit of the doubt i proceeded to spend 1hr tearing apart the old bench seat to realize theres absolutely no way that it was going to work.

So im gonnna throw a milk crate in it tonight and drive it to my other shop were the welder n stuff is so i can get them seats in before the big snow storm tomorrow. I'll update pics as i get them in.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 14, 2010, 09:46:56 pm
as dumb as this may sound and i can't believe im actually asking this but could someone take a pic of there glove box hinge and the latch. Thanks in advance......  :-[ ???
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Thermonuclear on February 17, 2010, 02:04:06 pm
After you stripped all the foam off, what did you do to prepare it? Looks like you added some metal mesh and stuff
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 18, 2010, 12:38:32 am
scrubbed the crap out of it and my fiance went to town with a scotch brite pad. And yeah thats metal mesh to fill in some of the voids.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: Grover 1 on February 18, 2010, 12:56:09 am
Did you use spray adhesive on your headliner?  Looks like it's on there pretty good
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 74on40s on February 18, 2010, 01:11:14 pm
yup.....3M makes a specific spray adhesive for carpet and headliners...Got it advanced auto.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: nates79sbc on February 18, 2010, 11:51:12 pm
that headliner rocks man, i had an S 10 with a confederate flag as the headliner.
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 2502 on February 27, 2010, 12:01:53 am
haha nice flags. i had a guy ask me the other day about doing a flag on his hood, but then he quickly reconsidered driving it around here before he committed to the paint job. lolol... i like that dash, what did you use to mold it?
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: 2502 on February 27, 2010, 12:05:55 am
Thanks,

I learned real quick how messy fiberglassing was, before i knew it my gloves were stuck together and i couldn't let go of the brush.

I'm glad to be on to the body filler stage but man o man i don't think i have ever sanded anything so much. But then again I'm very particular on how i want it done and I'm only doing it once so I'm doing it the right way.

I ordered some autometer gauges for in it tonight, stoked about that. Has anyone ever used the electric oil pressure and electronic temp gauges before? I got them thinking that running wires is going to be alot easier than fishing the 1/8th copper tubing up thru the dash. We'll see i guess.  I also bought some hyper LED blue light bulbs. I'm going to drill a 3/16 hole in the back of the gauge and glue them in along with the light that is included with the gauge to give them a blue glow at night, I'll let you know what comes of that.

I plan on doing a fiberglass consol with some kind of subwoofer enclosure and amp rack, just not sure as to how I'm going to do it yet. I had two 12" audiobahns behind the seats before i tore everything out, i would somehow like to incorporate them back into the truck, as they sounded amazing and i enjoyed the back massage after a long day at work.

I hope to have some more updated pics tomorrow with my seats and hopefully the final sanding stages of the dash. I'll be sure to post them when i can.


P.S.... I'm also looking for ideas on what to have air brushed on the dash. So I'm open to suggestions.
i airbrush, where u located?
Title: Re: My first fiberglass project
Post by: heavychevy91 on February 27, 2010, 01:53:17 pm
do you still need those pics of the glovebox latch?