ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Build Diaries, How-To, DIY => Topic started by: mnotter on April 19, 2012, 05:50:15 PM
-
I'm doing my first Samurai build on an '87 I picked up at an auction in the fall of '11. Some of the things I've done so far are a new clutch and pressure plate, a different transfer case with 4.16:1 reduced gear ratio, Old Man springs and shocks, 30 inch tires on different rims, an ARB air locker in the front (found used with compressor), and more that I can't think of right now. Anyway, I needed new (bigger) fender flares...but there aren't many aftermarket flares for the Samurai that keep the stock rounded look. So, being a fiberglass guy, I decided to make my own. I've enclosed a few pics to show the method I used. I had to kind of figure out how on my own...there's not really any info out there on how to do it.
This is the flare just about complete...just needs some fill and paint.(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25088;image)
This is the 1/4 inch plywood and sheet foam frame. Everything will be coated in fiberglass resin, so don't worry about the wood. The fender is a little offset, that's why the space in the middle of the back plate. The stock metal flare mount has been removed.(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25048;image)
Now we need to fill in all that space with a product called Pour foam. I'm using just some scrap laminate for a dam.You can see how the flare will be attached. The scraps of wood contain a nut with a washer on the end with prongs that stick into the wood...I forget what they are called. I didn't want any bolts showing from the outside.(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25050;image)
The Pour foam expands in just minutes, and can start to be shaped in half an hour. It's compatible with polyester products so it won't deteriorate. I'm talking about stuff like Bondo and polyester resin.(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25052;image)
This stuff can be cut with a small saw or utility knife and sanded and shaped, and it isn't very tough. You can take your fingernail and dent it...so we'll be putting on a layer of fiberglass to protect it. But first I'll use some Bondo to fair it up as best as I can.
(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25054;image)
Two down...two to go...(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25056;image)
-
Nice detail. Keep it coming, I like what you are doing.b
-
Thanks, Brd Huntr!
-
GREAT WORK! When you get around to making them for Trackicks, I'm first in line to buy a set!
-
Thanks, bentparts! I'd like to try making a set for a Tracker or Sidekick. Maybe when I finish the Sami...
-
Nice work! I am second in line for a trackick! Have you tried any carbon fiber work?
-
Thanks, mvptrukin. I have worked quite a bit with both carbon fiber and kevlar. Carbon is much stiffer than fiberglass and therefore harder to make conform to complex shapes. That's where vacuum bagging comes in. And it's not hard to do it just requires a vacuum pump, bagging plastic, and some bag tape...and a few other things. I've made a few carbon canoes in female molds where the carbon doesn't need to be vacuum bagged in place, but other things might...like a core material. But carbon is a weight saver because it doesn't absorb the resin like fiberglass does. Here's a trick...add powdered graphite (available at fiberglass supply stores) to polyester resin (the common fiberglass resin) and when you wet out the fiberglass it turns black and looks just like carbon fiber. Even a trained eye would have trouble telling the difference.
Here's a 16.5 ft. solo I made. It's carbon outside, Kevlar inside, with wood core.(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25060;image)
Here's a shot of the core. It was vacuum bagged in place and covered in fiberglass...which wets out clear when nothing is added to the resin. The core is cedar and redwood. This canoe weighs about 38 lbs.
(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25062;image)
-
The canoe is a work of art! I think you could sell flairs for sammies and trackick all day. I don't know why but I like the look of carbon fiber.
-
Thanks for the compliment! I like the look of carbon fiber too...it looks high tech, rich, light, and has depth.
-
sweet looking canoe 8)
-
Thanks!
-
Really, beautiful work. I'd almost be afraid to put something that nice on my Tracker ( almost, but still would ;D.) I happily volunteer my Tracker as test vehicle.
-
very nice solo canoe!
But carbon is a weight saver because it doesn't absorb the resin like fiberglass does.
Not actually true. I have been working with aerospace composites for decades, and have built several small home built aircraft as well as repairing military aircraft.
You probably do know this already, this is more for the edification of others.
Carbon fiber and fiberglas does NOT absorb resin, the fibers are inpenetrable, they can only be COATED, the process of adding the resin is referred to as "wetting out". The weight savings from composites using carbon fiber is due to the high tensile strength by weight of carbon compared to glass, so far less carbon is needed to make a item with similar strengths and thusly a smaller amount of resin is required to get the proper ratio of resin to fiber.
And then the choice of your resin will affect the strength and weight almost as much as the type and weave of fiber used, the HDT of the resin is very important to take into consideration.
Carbon and glass is very brittle, but with excellent tensile strength. It is the plastic of the resin that holds the fibers in the final shape and what usually fails first allowing the fibers to bend and snap/shear releasing a bunch of energy. That is why Kevlar and polyethelene has become the material of choice for safety body parts as it will not shatter or break, only the resin and prevent any Cf/glass from becoming a lethal projectile.
-
Well said! And thanks for the compliment.
-
Not sure if you were aware of US Composites urethane casting foams, the 8lb foam can be sanded and worked like a soft wood like pine, and the 16lb stuff will take a hammer strike to make a dent, but is sandable with a power sander.
what I prefer the 16lb stuff for is to add a significant amount of stiffness to female molds after all the glass and reinforcements have cured, box the back side of the molds, fill with foam.
-
That sounds like a nice solution. This foam I use here is only 2 lb. density. It's great for flotation, but not great where a stiffer core, or mold substrate, is needed. Just about all of the molds I've made are pretty large...the smallest being a 16.5 ft. solo canoe. I just use multiple layers of glass cloth or mat with indexed flanges for stiffness and splittable seams. If I were to make a smaller mold, like one for fender flares, boxing it in with heavier foam would be a sweet solution. Thanks for the info. One of the things I love about composites is that after over 40 years of messing with the stickey/stinkey stuff, there's always something new to learn.
-
I stopped working with the stinky stuff decades ago and only work with epoxies now and they are just about all odor free or low odor, but still require ventilation/respirators depending upon the resin. I mostly use the vacuum bag with ramped temperature curing cycles and post curing. All it takes is that aluminum backed insulation foam board from the lumber store, a roll of duct tape, some heat lamps, a fan and a thermo switch to make an oven capable of producing aerograde composites.
-
I guess you didn't notice the walls in the pic of the canoe (top one). It's actually part of my shop that I used as an oven for heat curing epoxies. But that discussion can be for another thread on another board...I think I'd like to keep this thread focused on making fender flares utilizing easily attained materials with methods that anyone can try...don't you agree?
-
Yes, I agree >:D
-
LOL,, missed that! LOL
I do like the picture of your almost completed flare(first picture), I like how you incorporated the edge ridge as a stiffner, most people would have tried to make the flairs smooth sided.
-
The nuts you were at a loss to remember the name of, are called blind nuts.
Are you contemplating making some molds from these or will they be the final product?
-
Blind nuts...thank you.
I wanted to add a little shadow line on the edge of the flare, plus like you pointed out, it stiffens up the edge a bit. I won't be making molds of these...I'd like to get this thing done in the next couple of months, and I still have to figure out what to do with the top and back. I'm thinking of putting a raised pickup bed in it...like over the wheel wells. I can store the spare, and other stuff under it. And I want to put a slider window in it behind the front seats...think Chevy Avalanche or Honda Ridgeline. I know I won't be able to put too much in the bed, but it will be somewhat functional.
A couple of members have expressed interest in fender flares for their Tracker or Sidekick. Making them for the Sami, with it's fairly flat fenders, is easy compared to the complex curves in the others. Any ideas how you would approach that problem?
-
to make the face that attaches to the fender just apply some clear packing tape onto the fender/wheel well, apply some wax and then lay up a composite backer vrs the ply backer used on your sammi flairs, when cured drill your holes for the ply blocks with blind nuts. remove and cut to shape, install with your blocks with blind nuts, add your blocking and ribs, remove and add your foam then shape and finish. (that makes it sound so easy, doesnt it?, LOL)
you could just use the same basic shape as your sammi flairs, it isnt that disimilar to the body clading on my 98' Sidekick(same as the sport clading) right above the fender wells, you would just continue it down like you did your sammi flairs.
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g96/talonxracer/IMG_1295.jpg)
-
You make it sound so easy...
Nice looking Sidekick!
-
You and I both know it isnt all that easy,LOL especially with that nasty guy Mr. Murphy lurking around...
thnx, I plan on fabbing up a 2 piece cab wall for it, similar to what you described for your sammi. I already have a front RallyTop hardtop section(no sense re-inventing the wheel everytime, LOL) and started cutting the 1/2" blue foam board to shape to make the lower wall last week.
I will make a thread with pics when closer to being finished, I think you will like it.
-
I'm looking forward to that!
Are the fenders on the Sidekick single or double paneled? One nice thing about the Samurai, at least for attaching flares, it that it's single walled and will be fairly easy to get at most of the bolts from behind.
-
they are single paneled and I have been kicking around building molds for sidekick fenders for years..
-
Do you mean build molds to make parts to sell? Or just build flares for your rig?
-
Okay...the fender flares are done and here I'm starting to work on the running boards. These are just going to be mud deflectors and not for stepping on, so I do want them to stand out from the body a few inches. And I'm not planning on doing any rock crawling so they won't be too beefy. But if I was I could laminate in some aluminum angle iron or something like that to really beef them up.
My son and I have taped off the area with red sheathing tape. I like this stuff over clear tape because you can see where it is...and more importantly, where it isn't. I used a scrap piece of quarter inch ply for the bottom, and a couple of pieces of scrap so the bottom doesn't sag as I build up layers of glass. The red area is covered with release wax also. I want to be able to remove the piece I'm molding and use foam to build it out.(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25229;image)
We built up three layers of fiberglass mat, and as you can see they form perfectly to the flares and rockers. We'll add a couple more layers before we pull the part for foaming and shaping. I'll add pictures as I go, but this is as far as I am right now...(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25231;image)
-
I like the red tape,,,,,I have only used the clear stuff,,,not any longer! thnx for the tip, see old dogs can learn new tricks! LOL
-
That red tape is nice...nothing will stick to the shiny side...but the other side can be a bugger sometimes!
Here's what we did today...
Pulled the part away from the vehicle...it came off easily.(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25234;image)
A band saw was used to trim the excess off. And then the edges were sanded with a random orbital sander.(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25236;image)
More blind nuts (thanks talonxracer) and some ribs. Foam to follow...(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25238;image)
-
Finally had a chance to get a little more done on the running boards...
Just a little more body work and the Zuk is ready for paint! ...Oh yeah...I'm going to build a fiberglass top and back for it before paint.
(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25326;image)
(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25328;image)
Picked up the seats last week off of Craigslist...they're out of a 4runner that a guy had reupholstered in camo...
(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=35247.0;attach=25330;image)
-
Very nice rockers!
-
I'll bet there's a market for those rockers, I know I'd take a set.