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Fiberglass/canopy questions.

L

LyleM

Active Member
After reading several builder web sites and looking all over the forms, plus the construction manual, I still have some fiberglass/canopy questions. Maybe I just didn?t look in the right place. They have to do with the fiberglass around the windshield on the -8.
What fiberglass to use? Unidirectional, Bidirectional, S-Glass, E glass?
What weight?
What Resins?
Is Glass Bubbles the same as Micro balloons? If not, where can I buy Micro Balloons?
What primer works good over this fiberglass?
Thanks
 
What resin - West Systems 105 with slow harder is good. Just be sure to get a kit with pumps and use a scale too for smaller batches.

Any epoxy, or urethane (called 2K for two komponent) will stick well to a sanded epoxy. Get some peel ply too. That is a dacron cloth that you can put over the last glass layer and smooth it in. It will soak up excess resin and leave the surface ready for the next layer. Use many small strips, it does not flow over compound curves well, like the fiberglass cloth will.

Also, get some black pigment for the resin, this will black it out so light can not be seen from the back side.

I think you have it all now. The instructions should suggest all of the above.
 
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How much resin?

Hey thanks guys, you made it easy. However it brings up one more question. How much resin does it take to do the canopy/windshield? One quart, 2 quarts? Thanks
 
LyleM said:
Hey thanks guys, you made it easy. However it brings up one more question. How much resin does it take to do the canopy/windshield? One quart, 2 quarts? Thanks
Click to expand...

If all you are doing is the windscreen, I am guessing a finished qt kit is plenty. I just used 3/4 of a qt kit for laying 5 layers of 16"x 34" for reference. You can figure the number of layers and area. This includes some micro mix instead of bondo as a filler.
 
Me too..

My vote is for West systems 105 epoxy also, but I use the Tropical hardener as it has a "U.V." filter in it and sets up a little slower for more working time. I like to use 3 oz. "S" cloth to start with and 8 oz. to fill and thicken, then mix a jell-coat with mico-balloons and some colloidal mix. The jell coat is then more easy to sand and prime. Hope this helps. Yours as always. R.E.A. III #80888
 
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